Estate Agents VS Direct Sale

CS2811

We’re currently searching for our first home in the Dublin South City. I’ve heard numerous horror stories from friends and family about estate agents. Many have advised that if we’re really interest to knock on the vendors door and speak to them directly as their offers were not being relayed from the auctioneer to to the vendor. Has anyone ever experienced this? We’ve been searching numerous months, with many houses we have viewed already 10% over the asking price. However, we’ve heard a few times that the house is “close to closing” and yet, they’re still not sale agreed. I’m wondering if the estate agents have been exaggerating bids? Any experience with this?

miketheDIYman

You would probably have a problem trying to deal directly with the vendor as the Estate agent always makes them sign an agreement to allow them to sell their property thus tying them in so they get their hefty fee - usually at least 1.5% plus VAT e.g. if an Estate agent were to sell a house for 400,000 their fee would be € 7,000 Nice money for a few phone calls and maybe a printed hand out !!!

blackbird 49

When we were looking to buy a house which was over 18 years ago now, we were looking in a particular area, we had viewed a few nothing came of them,one particular one we liked which we though was a little over our price but we put an offer in, did'nt hear back from auctioneer, phoned a couple of times but he never replied so we left it, heard about 6 months later it went for less than we had offered, kept looking viewed a house same auctioneer again( yea stupid us,) same crack again we found out from the owners months later it went for less than they would have liked, we actually would of given them more, the house we eventually bought and we are still here we bought from the buyer who had it in the buy and sell magazine, he had gotten it valued, but wanted to cut out the middle man, we got it for 2000 pounds less that was back in 1999, it all worked out ok , the solicitor was the one who drag it out a bit, cant really help you, things are probably a lot different now, but you never know unless you try, good Luck

CS2811

I suppose I’ve heard a lot of stories from friends who have bought recently, who have got frustrated with the agent and knocked on the door of the house for sale. One of them in particular knocked on a door after weeks of not hearing back and was told that the estate agent never made her aware of the offer which she was more than happy to accept.

miketheDIYman

She probably had to pay the Estate agents fee too !!!

Aikens96

We signed up to an agency who turned out to be dreadful. They poorly advised us, over inflated our house price, didn't know the area well to be able to "sell" it and sent a different agent every time we had a viewing. We decided to change to a local agent who actually lives in our area and understood what we were trying to achieve. I could not recommend this agent highly enough (PM me if you wish to have name as I am in South Dublin too). He is realistic, rational and always available. He does all his own viewings and has guided us through some difficult situations. His advice is always spot on and because he is a small agent his reputation is everything to him in the local area so his service is great. We have been approached recently about a private sale and we actually have said "no" because no house sale is without its challenges and you need to be experienced enough to manage it but apart from that we felt that our agent put in so much effort we felt he deserved his fee. I see agents get a bashing quite a lot on some threads but we have experienced both really poor from an international agency versus super service from a local one so my advice is to find a local agent that cares about their reputation in the locality more than a few quid thrashing out prices

CS2811

Aikens96 wrote: »

We signed up to an agency who turned out to be dreadful. They poorly advised us, over inflated our house price, didn't know the area well to be able to "sell" it and sent a different agent every time we had a viewing. We decided to change to a local agent who actually lives in our area and understood what we were trying to achieve. I could not recommend this agent highly enough (PM me if you wish to have name as I am in South Dublin too). He is realistic, rational and always available. He does all his own viewings and has guided us through some difficult situations. His advice is always spot on and because he is a small agent his reputation is everything to him in the local area so his service is great. We have been approached recently about a private sale and we actually have said "no" because no house sale is without its challenges and you need to be experienced enough to manage it but apart from that we felt that our agent put in so much effort we felt he deserved his fee. I see agents get a bashing quite a lot on some threads but we have experienced both really poor from an international agency versus super service from a local one so my advice is to find a local agent that cares about their reputation in the locality more than a few quid thrashing out prices

Yeah I’ve definately heard some horror stories about estate agents but I also do believe there is some very genuine ones out there. I’m hoping we come across one soon.

We have looked at many houses on their first viewing and even then, they were well above asking price. It’s quite defeating as we have a very humble budget. At first, I thought we’d never find somewhere but the more I talk to people, the more I hear about positive house hunting experiences which keeps up the morale!

blackbird 49

CS2811 wrote: »

I suppose I’ve heard a lot of stories from friends who have bought recently, who have got frustrated with the agent and knocked on the door of the house for sale. One of them in particular knocked on a door after weeks of not hearing back and was told that the estate agent never made her aware of the offer which she was more than happy to accept.

That's what happen with us, when we were talking to the owners she said she was'nt aware of any offers, what she got for it we would of went a bit more,

wordofwarning

The fact is a lot of EA went to the courts, paid a small bond of just over €1,000 and were able to call themselves EA. They had no formal training at all. Their regulatory body has not made them go complete a course like new EA have to do.

A lot of EA are perfectly fine and run professional businesses. It doesn't help when you hear horror stories from someone's best friends second cousin's boyfriend aunt who clearly had a phantom bidder on a house she liked. If there was really a phantom bidder, she could have reported the agent.

Mrs Shuttleworth

I'm completely at a loss to appreciate why anyone would use an estate agent and pay those hefty fees in the Internet era. Nothing they say is binding, all the formalities are exclusively through the solicitor.

They tell ferocious fibs - I lost out on a property in Malahide about 15 years ago, my offer wasn't passed on and the vendor then (as is want to happen) found out indirectly.

They play solicitors for both sides in a sale off against each other, telling pork pies to both vendor and purchaser to make each respective solicitor look incompetent.

To the OP I would definitely make a direct approach, the worst the owner will do is say no.

kala85

What happens where this is two agents on a property.

CS2811

We’ve actually came across one particular agent who seems to look after almost ever house we’re interested in. At our last viewing with him, the house was 10K over the asking price (this was the second viewing) and he explained that he was planning to hold 4-5 more viewings.

davindub

CS2811 wrote: »

We’ve actually came across one particular agent who seems to look after almost ever house we’re interested in. At our last viewing with him, the house was 10K over the asking price (this was the second viewing) and he explained that he was planning to hold 4-5 more viewings.

Unfortunately you will need to get to know the agents. I have a good relationship with some and know if they are genuine when they say things like closing at this price in the next few days etc. I avoid some companies, I just won't deal with them.

CS2811

davindub wrote: »

Unfortunately you will need to get to know the agents. I have a good relationship with some and know if they are genuine when they say things like closing at this price in the next few days etc. I avoid some companies, I just won't deal with them.

We’ve actually found a house we love, which is under budget & in our ideal area. Unfortunately the EA is one we’re not too fond of. We’ve contacted numerous occasions about this house, but no reply!

Skyrimaddict

CS2811 wrote: »

We’ve actually found a house we love, which is under budget & in our ideal area. Unfortunately the EA is one we’re not too fond of. We’ve contacted numerous occasions about this house, but no reply!

If possible a direct sale would be best, if you can manage it. My experience of estate agents since 2003 has never been good

LiamoSail

What does an estate agent do that's not possible for most to do themselves?

Genuine question. As far as I can see, they advertise on daft, run a few open viewings and take the bids. Eventually the highest bid is accepted and the Solicitor deals with it from there.

If you're in Dublin or a similarly high demand area, I don't see how an estate agent is worth their fee. Maybe they know people who would be interested in your property, but presumably these people keep an eye on daft etc if they're interested enough to bid.

miketheDIYman

Exactly Liamo I made that observation in an earlier post - its no wonder they are driving fancy cars !

Claw Hammer

LiamoSail wrote: »

What does an estate agent do that's not possible for most to do themselves?

Genuine question. As far as I can see, they advertise on daft, run a few open viewings and take the bids. Eventually the highest bid is accepted and the Solicitor deals with it from there.

If you're in Dublin or a similarly high demand area, I don't see how an estate agent is worth their fee. Maybe they know people who would be interested in your property, but presumably these people keep an eye on daft etc if they're interested enough to bid.

1. Valuation.
Most people have a difficulty valuing their own property, even estate agents.
2. Devising a marketing strategy.
This means being in touch with the current fads in the market.
3. Negotiating. Most people have no experience. many can't keep purchasers interested.
4. Handling messers. Most people have no experience.
5. Handling awkward architects and solicitor causing problem. Again most people have no experience.


any attempts have been made to set up systems of For Sale by Owner etc. The Solicitors tried to set up their own agency. If EA weren't ding something right they would be out of business.

Jim 77

As a buyer, if I felt that an EA wasn't relaying my bids to the seller or generally offering poor service then I'd contact the seller directly. I would definitely recommend doing some research on how best to do it... obvious things like being friendly, not pressurising the seller etc.
I remember bidding against a guy in a direct sale, I actually got the house even though my bid wasn't the highest because the other bidder was threatening the seller that he'd remove his bid if she didn't accept it within a short time and was being quite pushy. I'd also established a good relationship with the seller which helped. Similar thing happened with another direct house purchase.

stargazer 68

We are looking at the moment too. Seems every house I call about is under offer or under negotiation! How do you find direct sale properties - just pot luck?

Jim 77

Admittedly the properties I purchased directly were made over 10 years ago and I found them on Buy and Sell (not sure if it's still around). I can't really advise you on where to go nowadays except the very obvious places like daft.ie

Edit: Seemingly donedeal.ie has largely taken over from Buy and Sell, so you might find some direct sales there.

LiamoSail

Claw Hammer wrote: »

1. Valuation.
Most people have a difficulty valuing their own property, even estate agents.
2. Devising a marketing strategy.
This means being in touch with the current fads in the market.
3. Negotiating. Most people have no experience. many can't keep purchasers interested.
4. Handling messers. Most people have no experience.
5. Handling awkward architects and solicitor causing problem. Again most people have no experience.


any attempts have been made to set up systems of For Sale by Owner etc. The Solicitors tried to set up their own agency. If EA weren't ding something right they would be out of business.

Perhaps if the property is somewhat unique or complex, but your average Dublin 3 bed etc doesn't require much work with regard to valuation, marketing strategy or architects etc. A quick look at the PPR and daft will sort that. I'd also add that many estate agents aren't great at valuations themselves, as anyone with knowledge of the Dublin market will testify.

Granted you'll have to deal with negotiations and messers, but that's fine if it's going to save you in the region of 5k.

CS2811

We have our eye on one house in particular but it’s so hard to get in contact with the agent. We’ve called & email and have yet to hear anything

LiamoSail

CS2811 wrote: »

We have our eye on one house in particular but it’s so hard to get in contact with the agent. We’ve called & email and have yet to hear anything

Probably busy devising a marketing strategy :pac:

listermint

Aikens96 wrote: »

We signed up to an agency who turned out to be dreadful. They poorly advised us, over inflated our house price, didn't know the area well to be able to "sell" it and sent a different agent every time we had a viewing. We decided to change to a local agent who actually lives in our area and understood what we were trying to achieve. I could not recommend this agent highly enough (PM me if you wish to have name as I am in South Dublin too). He is realistic, rational and always available. He does all his own viewings and has guided us through some difficult situations. His advice is always spot on and because he is a small agent his reputation is everything to him in the local area so his service is great. We have been approached recently about a private sale and we actually have said "no" because no house sale is without its challenges and you need to be experienced enough to manage it but apart from that we felt that our agent put in so much effort we felt he deserved his fee. I see agents get a bashing quite a lot on some threads but we have experienced both really poor from an international agency versus super service from a local one so my advice is to find a local agent that cares about their reputation in the locality more than a few quid thrashing out prices

That agents not... You by any chance...

LOL. Biggest sales pitch ever

Aikens96

listermint wrote: »

That agents not... You by any chance...

LOL. Biggest sales pitch ever

LOL - I did think someone would comment and say same. I genuinely just think EA's get a bashing (and we have had really poor service by one well known agency) and when you come across one that is pretty genuine it makes all the difference! I have no affiliation whatsoever to any agent BTW:)