If you’re thinking about getting in touch with your local estate agent, it’s important to know what to expect. In this article, we’ll be looking at the average cost of working with an estate agent and how much you should budget for it.
Agency Fees
Agency fees are the costs you pay to a local estate agent when they sell your property. These fees can be paid by either the seller or buyer or shared between them.
Estate agents charge different amounts for agency services depending on their location and experience. The average cost of an estate agent’s service will depend on:
- How much experience do they have selling similar properties in your area – More experienced agents will charge more than newer ones as they’ll have more connections with clients who want to buy your house
- Where in the country you live – London is one of the most expensive places in which to buy and sell property so expect higher prices than in other areas
Expenses
- Advertising costs
- Website costs
- Brochure printing and distribution costs
- Signage for the office and/or your vehicle(s) (e.g., business cards, letterheads)
- Stationery (e.g., letterheads, envelopes)
- Telephone lines (in case you need to keep in touch with clients outside of normal working hours)
Letting Fees
Letting fees are charged by the local estate agent to the landlord, and they cover the cost of advertising your property, credit checks, and inventory checks. In addition, they may also include other charges such as referencing tenants, drawing up contracts, and arranging viewings.
Letting fees are typically a percentage of annual rent (e.g., 2% – 8%). As a result, if you’re renting out your home for £500 per month this could mean paying anywhere between £10 and £40 per month in letting fees depending on how much you charge for rent.
Average Cost of a Local Estate Agents
As you can see, the average cost of local estate agents varies greatly depending on the type of property and size. The same is true for location and property conditions. For example, if you’re looking to sell a detached house with four bedrooms in an upmarket area then it’s likely that your agent will charge more than someone selling a semi-detached house with two bedrooms in an average area.
However, if we take into account all these factors we can still provide some ballpark figures as guidance on what fees you might expect from different estate agents:
It is important to shop around, as prices can vary greatly
It is important to shop around, as prices can vary greatly. Make sure you get a good service and that the estate agent has your best interests at heart. You should also check out their website and ask friends and family for recommendations. If you’re looking for an independent estate agent, then look at reviews online before you choose one – this way you’ll know what kind of experience other people have had with them in the past!
Conclusion
We hope this article has helped you to understand how much local estate agents charge for their services. We also think it’s important that you know how much they are likely to earn in commission from selling your home, so we’ve provided some figures on average commissions earned by different types of estate agents across the UK.