How Much are Estate Agents' Fees for Selling a House?
Estate agents traditionally charge the vendor of a property a percentage of the final selling price. In addition to this, most auctioneers will charge an additional advertising fee and some charge “outlays”. Depending on the agent, advertising and outlays could add another €500 to the final bill.
In terms of the percentages charged, again these vary but industry standard would be in the region of 1.5% + VAT at 23%. So let’s suppose you are selling a property for €300,000, a typical bill from the auctioneer would be as follows:
| Selling Commission | (€300,000 X 1.5%) = €4500 |
| Advertising | €300 |
| Outlays | €200 |
| Total ex VAT | €5000 |
| VAT @ 23% | €1150 |
| Total Bill | €6150 |
Use our slider below to see the savings on offer from Auctioneera depending on the final selling price.
Such a massive differential in the prices charged by competitors isn’t normal. In the above example, our fee is €4552 less (74% less) than the regular price. Accordingly, the main question we get is “what’s the catch?” “this seems too good to be true!” “what aren’t you telling me?” “are you registered with PSRA?” etc. For the record, the answers are: there’s none, it’s actually not, nothing and yes!
So Why Are Estate Agency Fees So God Damn Expensive!
The current fee structure probably had some validity before the Internet. Pre-Internet, potential property buyers went from estate agent to estate agent looking at the properties that they had available in books with photographs. There was no Daft, no MyHome so no central database of all of the properties on offer in any given location. In this environment, things like a prominent shop front and a list of potential buyers had value. Selling property was slow, clunky and had high transaction costs. So charging a few thousand Euro (Punts at the time) could be justified as there was quite a lot of work and overhead involved in selling a property.
Alas, things have moved on, but the pricing structure hasn’t. Nowadays, the reality is that Daft and MyHome do the heavy lifting of selling a property by acting as central hubs where literally 100% of the market search for properties. There is absolutely no need at all whatsoever for an expensive high street presence.
The idea behind charging a percentage of the final selling price of the property is that this fee structure solves the “principal / agent” problem ie it aligns the goals of the seller and the auctioneer, which is to get the highest price possible. Implicit in this fee structure is that auctioneers won’t do their best for their clients unless they are financially incentivised to so do. That doesn’t reflect well on the profession at large. You don’t pay a doctor a higher fee depending on the outcome of their treatment; the fee is fixed and you trust their professional integrity that they will do the very best they can for you.
Another problem with the percentage of selling price structure is that it implies that an auctioneer can get a vendor a higher price for their property. Assuming an agent ensures the taking of high quality photography, lists the property on Daft / MyHome and shows the property to everyone who wants to see it, there is no further technique to drive the price higher. The agent sits in the middle, accepting offers and the highest offer is presented to the vendor at the end of the process. If the vendor is unhappy with the offer, the estate agent can relay this information to the buyer and advise that the property will not be sold for this amount. The buyer can agree to raise their offer or hold firm – the estate agent has absolutely no control over any of this. The property is valued by the market in the amount that the highest bidder is willing to pay. So in our view, agreeing to pay the estate agent a percentage of the final selling price in order to incentivise him/her to get you a higher price is utter insanity as the ultimate price achieved frankly has nothing to do with them. It is worth simply what the highest bidder is willing to pay.
Auctioneera’s Fees are a Fraction of Everyone Else’s – There Must be a Catch!
When selling something for several hundred thousand Euro, the last thing you want to do is to be penny wise and pound foolish. For example, saving a few Euro by selling yourself (and thereby not being on MyHome as only estate agents can list on there) or taking the photos on your phone is madness. You don’t want to save money on anything that will give you the absolute best possible chance of selling your property for the highest price. In order to do this, you need:
- Professional Photography and 2D Floor Plans
- A Well Written Description
- Daft & MyHome Listing
- For Sale Sign
- Regular Open & Private Viewings to Accommodate All Interested Parties
- A Qualified, Professional Auctioneer to Accept Offers Offline or Online as Per Buyer’s Preference
- An Auctioneer to “Negotiate” at the End of the Process if the Desired Price Hasn’t Been Achieved
Anything over and above the above list is frankly just waste. We get asked “do you advertise in the newspapers?” Some people like to see their property in the newspaper. The reality is that 100% of the market is on Daft & MyHome – if your property is on there, everyone interested in your property will see it. If a client insists, we will advertise in the papers and pass the cost along but we do so grudgingly as we have yet to see someone open up a Sunday newspaper, see an advert for a property and decide to pick one up – property doesn’t get bought like that. People conscientiously study all the options on Daft and/or MyHome and view their favourites within their budget. “Hunny if you’re going to Tesco later, would you mind picking up some charcoal for the barbecue as it’s on offer this weekend. You might pick up a 3 bed semi in Lucan also as I see a new estate has just been launched there” ..said no one ever! Buying property is not an impulse purchase and is not suited to display advertising. It is one of the most, if not the most, involved purchases of a person’s life so is heavily researched on Daft and MyHome.
So when you add up the cost of all the above tasks, if bought in bulk, they come to less than €1499 and hence our price of €1995+VAT. Our margins are tight for sure and we certainly don’t get very rich selling a handful of properties per week, as do the traditional competition. But we believe that one man’s margin is another man’s opportunity. While we make very little profit per property we sell, we believe we will ultimately control the entire market as more and more vendors vote with their wallets and decide to keep their hard-won equity. We will take a small profit from a large number of customers and not the other way around.
So the next question we get asked is “ok, you sell lots of property, does that mean your service is worse?” Talk is cheap so we point you to the genuine reviews of those who have sold with us to date.
Excellent customer support! Very quick via chat too. Thank you!
Had an amazing experience with this company. Dealt with Robert throughout it all and Eddie stepped in when Robert was on holidays so no being left in ... read more
I was very impressed with Lee, the Auctioneera team and their platform from start to finish of sale. Their communication and professionalism throughou... read more
I would highly recommend Auctioneera on anybody thinking on selling there property, Lee was Auctioneera was always on hand to assist in anyway needed ... read more
Helen did her best to provide me with the information regarding the viewings of the property. She was very helpful and patient, which is rare these da... read more
Most professional estate agent I’ve dealt with in the last 8 months , done his best to help , very polite and mannerly
Amazing level of service, especially for such a low fee. Everyone we interacted with, from the photographer to the accounts, and especially our agent,... read more
Just booked a viewing with auctioneera they were very quick to get us organised and very helpful.
Having just gone sale agreed in record time I can honestly say that Auctioneera helped us and guided us expertly through the process. Everyone we deal... read more
Very happy with the service provided by Robert and his team. I'm so glad I clicked on the Auctioneera website saving thousands of Euro in estate agent... read more
On the contrary, like medical centres of excellence, we believe that because of the amount of property we sell on a daily basis, we become absolutely totally attuned to the very latest market developments. We live and breathe property everyday so we know the market intimately. Above all else, when we get engaged to sell a property, we want to create a happy client and so we are meticulous about customer service. So before you agree to pay over the odds to sell your property, speak to us.