Real Estate Agents Sales Fees

[ket]

Hi,
does anyone have any idea on what is the range of fees charged by REs to sell a property. I have heard of anything from 2-4% plus advertising fees. I am especially interested in WA. I don't want to short change the RE, just interested in other peoples experiences. I am looking to sell in the $250-300K range.
I think "advertising fees" seems a bit vague too!
Ta
K

 

[Xenia]

average is around 2.5%, but 2 to 4.5% is a range they work with, depending on the agency. It is all vague, and it will be until someone gives you an accurate quote.

There are various "marketing packages" that they try to sell you depending on how much exposure you want your property to have.
Make sure that what they charge is what they pay, some charge extra and pocket the difference (on top of the commission you pay them).

I think it's crazy, you are paying them for finding you a buyer and they charge you more to advertise for one!
That's like asking for a carton of milk and the supermarket wanting to charge you extra to go out and milk the cow!

I would negotiate that if it dosent sell at their appraised vale or more, they get NOTHING! Not even advertising fees. Look around until you find an agent that will accept your terms! Don't let them waste your money!

 

[Gertie]

Fees

I agree that R/E agent fees are too much.

In WA the R/E agents whinge about the stamp duty, but what about their fees? They do not seem to have changed the fee structure with the increase in property prices. To pay someone $10-15 K to stand around in your kitchen at a home open and hand out leaflets is robbery. And they are always saying "the house sells itself" anyway!

 

[paulie]

Hi Ket,

I am a real estate sales person in the eastern suburbs of perth. I would charge you in the vicinity of 3% to 3.5% of the sale price of a $250-300K property. I would typically include advertising in these fees, but may wish to have a condition that if you withdraw the property from sale, that you would pay between 100% and 50% share of the spent advertising expenditure.

The average "quoted" fees for a $250 - $300K home would be 3.5% to 4% of the sale price, but discounting does occur.

Hope this helps, good luck with the sale of your place.

Paulie

 

[redwing]

Why not try selling it yourself first..shouldn't be hard in WA's Market

REA's in WA are having a *wild* time at the moment and raking in the money, whilst looking for the next quick sale..why would they change thier fee structure?

Make sure the contract you sign is what you want, not what the agent wants..I'm sure there's some great posts on this site somewhere regarding what to put into the contracts to protect yourself in the event that you get a 'dud' REA

 

[lizzie]

i notice in newcastle that more agents are charging advertising costs as well as their fee - this is a new trend in our area. perhaps this is because properties are taking longer to sell, hence higher advertising costs as they leave it on realestate.com.au longer and in the local paper week after week.

 

[meg]

I've just had 3 valuations and quotes to sell our PPOR (Perth) and the best was 2.5% and no advertising fees. All fees are negotiable and due to low stock you can throw your weight around. Let the fun begin!
http://www.somersoft.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif
Meg

 

[DD1]

For Qld its all fixed

With the REIQ guidelines including sales fees for agents to charge, it is another example of how WA is again overcharging in relation to other states.

Fees in Qld are set at 5% for the first $18000= $900 and then 2.5% fixed for the balance upto the selling price.

The only thing not regulated is if they charge a set fee for advertising. We have an arrangement with one qld agent that if they sell the property, advertising comes out of their fixed commission. If they dont sell it we pay the advertising only and move on.

DD1

 

[DD1]

Selling it privately through a buyers agent

As Redwing has said the Perth Market is booming, ok so you dont want 100 people stuffing up your coffee and newspaper ritual on sunday morning.

A buyers agent works for the buyer, but if you present your property to any one of the birddogs/buyers agents online they will only need the figures and pics you take . Same as a selling agent would open it to the general public, a buyers agent has a client base of potential buyers. Usually with the ability to tie up the deal with a lot less fuss and intrusion into your life.

Fee comparison is usually very favourable too, as for someone buying through me I charge $2000 +GST and for a sale $1000 +GST. If its not sold for you no fee is payable. Please compare this to other birddogs/buyers agents as they all have different structures.

As an alternative, it beats sitting and pondering.

Personally I dont do many sales in WA due to my lack of faith in the managing agents and their poor customer service in general. Maybe a local would approach it differently but you should market it to your best advantage.

I hope this helps

DD1

 

[Les]

G'day DD1,

Fees in Qld are set at 5% for the first $18000= $900 and then 2.5% fixed for the balance upto the selling price

And that is also what I was led to believe. I believe (now) it was the MAXIMUM a RE agent in Qld was allowed to charge, but, over time, it became the "norm".

However, as I understand it, the actual figure is still open to negotiation, with the above as a maximum,

Regards,

 

[Kevin Hockey]

G'day DD1,

And that is also what I was led to believe. I believe (now) it was the MAXIMUM a RE agent in Qld was allowed to charge, but, over time, it became the "norm". However, as I understand it, the actual figure is still open to negotiation, with the above as a maximum,

Regards,

Correct Les, Qld remains the only regulated marketplace for REA commissions in Australia. The maximum fee an agent in Qld can charge is set out in DD1's post, and don't forget to add GST. Companies such as Virgo Patterson, Ruby Realty, Changing Places and us at Go Gecko are now providing alternatives to traditional fees although I might add only Virgo Patterson and Go Gecko provide a truly FIXED fee regardless of sale price.

Kev
www.gogecko.com.au