Estate agent fees

We are looking to sell our property in the Murcia region, we have had a quote for selling and think that their commission is quite high, not knowing what the charges are in Spain can anyone perhaps give us some ball park figure of what to expect. 

Thanks in advance

Kevin

On average around 5% of the selling price, although some agents,  Viva Estates, who may have gone bust,  was one, used to charge 7%

Money for old rope comes to mind !

simple internet search for estate agents fees in spain will give you an answer 

When researching estate agents I recommend you ask to view one of their properties on display and see how well they are working for the seller, how much effort they put in etc.  During that time ask how many similar properties they have sold and in what timescales.

1 or 2% paid for the best service and the best result is better than a cheap option of an agent who just wants houses on the books without bothering to work hard on your behalf.  

Brian, 1 or 2% paid for the best service and the best result is better than a cheap option of an agent who just wants houses on the books without bothering to work hard on your behalf. 

1 or 2%,for the best service.

You clearly are not talking about the Spanish property market, even 'cowboys' would never charge that little

John.    

If you read my post again and think of a difference of 1 or 2% between agents fees, you will have the correct understanding of what I’m saying.  

Your advice concerned an 'average' of 5% with one cowboy being 7%.    This would suggest there are differences of 1 or 2% between agents fees.    My advice is to get the best agent, then negotiate a fee where you can and get them to work hard for you.

it seemed better advice than mentioning an agent who went bust and charged 7%.   Im sure the OP will sort out the advice without you having to look for flaws in my wording.  

Sorry Brian but you did not say 1% or 2% DIFFERENCE but  ‘1 or 2% paid for the best service’.

I accept you may have meant to say that.   Almost everyone would agree paying a little more to get a top quantity service would seem sensible.  From experience though I think such a service might be very hard to find.

NB   I did not say,   “ Your advice concerned an 'average' of 5% with one cowboy being 7%.”   

 What I said was, “On average around 5% of the selling price, although some agents, Viva Estates, who may have gone bust,  was one, used to charge 7%”

If  Viva Estates still exists , you misquoting me, and in effect you calling them cowboys might leave you open to problems . 

Hi John,

I accept your apology.   

The rest of the message you placed last seems to be meaningless drivel.   I hope the OP is taking the positive points from this though.

Brian,  I was not apologising but pointing out that you appreared to have failed to say what you meant when you posted:-

1 or 2% paid for the best service and the best result is better than a cheap option of an agent who just wants houses on the books without bothering to work hard on your behalf. 

John.  Thanks for the apology, and for pointing out what I appeared to have failed to say.  

Why is it that so many people are focused on the percentage that people are charging and comparisons between agents and the UK

I admit it,  I am a money grabbing  estate agent, I regularly sell properties to people in the Murcia area around the Mar Menor, people that it costs a great deal of money to get, adverttsing, inspection trips etc

Surely if it is a percentage then the rate should be based on tne actualy starting price on the property, some agents may charge say 3% but have a minimun commission rate of say €5k, remember that there is 21%VAT to add to any selling fees

Often the best way to list and sell a property is to start by being honest with the agent and explain how much money you need to get for the property, then let the agent add their commissiom ontop

Select an agent based on their abillty to actually sell the property, rather than the % they charge, are they selling well locally, are they a listing agent, do they do inspection trips, have sold a property local to yours recently

Get a few local agents advice on a valuation, believe me there is no standard pricing structure and remember that property prices in Spain are much less, 2% of 100k is a lot less than 2% of 500k

inspectahome

I can only guess th ereason so many people focus on the percentage is they are comparing esate agents costs in Spain to those in the UK.

Sadly in my experience a better service in the Uk for less percentage seems to be pretty normal (even comapring websites the UK estate agenst are far superior in content and service)

Estate agents in Spain really have not done the industry (or themselves) in Spain any favours and there have been many who have had very bad experiences.

I do not know if this is due to lack of regulation or incompetent, unqualified and untrained staff etc. or whatever

I am sure there are some good estate agents somewhere in Spain

If you tell an estate agent how much you need to get for a property and then let them add their fees on top it’s got to be the worst system anyone can be involved in.  

The agent is selling the property on your behalf not owning it until it’s sold at the price they can jack it up to.  And if we can believe the similar current post, the agent doesn’t even bother to ensure there is a habitation certificate.   It’s like the Wild West with rodeo clowns out there ha ha.  

briando55 I know that in your case that you have a particular dislike for agents, but unlike many people here I do this for a living, every day and I believe that there is some really useful advice on my post

As I have tried to explain it isn't about the percentage that they charge it is about the quality of the agent, their area of expertise, success, which is why I suggest speaking to MULTIPLE AGENTS to get local advice

The agents with the system ONLY gets paid when they sell the house, tell me why they woulld possibly want to sit on it not selling,, why spend money on advertiising, marketing, viewings

Again the agent, if they are reputable will ask for ALL of the documents before they will lis it, we do even an EPC, not all agents are the same

Luckily I can post based on real life experiences

The standard to achieve for agents is not based on what your experiences are or what good points you can put into the posting.  The standard to achieve is regulating the procedure of buying and selling properties that is fair and honourable.  And to wear the badge of 'we do even an EPC, not all agents are the same' is nonsense, its a required document that all agents should provide and all prospective buyers should be given access to.

I have personally seen many instances of an agent not actively marketing properties. I have known instances where a seller will say I dont know what my property is worth, or I need to pay off my mortgage of x thousand so thats my bottom line.  The incentive not to be actively marketing that property is to make the seller more deperate as time goes on and accept almost any offer that crops up later.

Guess what, the agent or the agents pals (whoever has the handy capital at the time) buys the property at a knock down price, then rents or sells on at a big profit later.  The seller who may be a thousand miles away reading how bad it is selling on the costas has been done up like a kipper.

'tell me why they woulld possibly want to sit on it not selling'  Thats one very big reason, and thats why it's like the wild west in the system your advocating.

Many thanks for all replies, looks like the going rate is going to be around 5% of the selling pricing. We are in the process of getting a few valuations so we will see. However we were a little surprised and disappointed so far with our first valuation as to how they achieved the selling price. It appears that they had already decided what our selling price was even before they had seen our property, purely by working out what we originally purchased for and what other properties had sold for locally. Well first of all our house is far different due to work done from when we originally purchased it and secondly the local properties recently sold bare no resemblance to our type of property. Anyhow I am sure we will find eventually someone we feel comfortable with, but we do realise that a house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it 👍🏼

Very sensible Kevin, if you want information on perhas better agents in the area please PM me

Brian thousands of properties are sold every year and unfortunately, on this forum, we only ever hear from the same group of people who choose to knock the system and not from, the thousands of happy buyers

Brian can you please explain how you personally have seen many agents not marketing properties, when and where this was becauss I can personally say that we are desperate to find decent properties to list and sell

Again people seem to want to say things like I have experience of agnets doing this that or the other, well I have real practical experience of doing the job right now, what is going on on the market right now, of the new developments that are selling out almost as soon as they are announced, off plan

If an agent fails to provide any documents that  a client asks for then more fool the buyers for dealing with them, there is enough published that explains the process

I deal with more than 30 agents in ths area, ALL of them insist on receiving full documentation before they will even list a property for sale, otherwise we will not work with them

We would love some cerification as decent agents but in Spain this isn't going to happen anytime soon

One of the most basic things that I suggest is that you vet the agents and talk to multiple agents, that you obtained a BALANCED view on the saleability of the property, any seller can look on a website and portal to see how and if their property is being marketed

My experiences are REAL & CURRENT not the nornal rant on here about how bad Spanish estate are

Kevin.   Good response and your probably well positioned to make a better judgement now.  

Roy.  I understand your keen to promote your services when you can, that’s a given.  But because you ask, here’s some more thoughts from abroad.  

If an agent fails to provide any documents that a client asks for:  

This pre supposes that a client knows exactly what documents are available and what they should be asking for.  The correct method should be to have all the documents, both required and otherwise, for a property available for a client and make the agents responsible for not supplying them and the conveyencing solicitor liable for not having them at the handover stage.

Unfortunately we only hear from the people who knock the system and not from the thousands of happy buyers:

Thats not a surprise is it.   Why would you hear from the people who havnt had anything go wrong (yet)?   The ones with the worst experiences are the ones who should be listened to more,  Then the action can be taken to ensure it stops happening.   That would also be one way of achieving certification which may happen sooner.

Can I provide you with information that would help you find properties to list and sell, from my experiences?   Unfortunately things like I mention only become knowledge after the fact, probably because of the lack of regulation and certification you say won’t happen anytime soon.   

Hope that helps.

Brian as I hope that you know from my posts it is nothing to do with my services, it is more to do with, from my experience here, today, theactualy way that the system is operating

Agents should retain a full documentation pack, the Escatura, Nota Simple, COH, Utility Bills, copy passports etc but it is the buyers lawyers to obtain and check all of this independantly, before completion

On a resale simple things like they should record and check the inventory before and ideally again, on the day of completion

Every single week in this area hundreds of people complete without any issues, I have 6 new builds completions in December, all buyers that bought off plan, paid their deposits, staged payments and are getting their properties ontime, have I been lucky

The truth is that if you get good service and have a good experience you will tell 2 people, if you have a bad experience you will tell 20 and this forum like many others the posters are mainly people that have had bad experiences, which are not current

In terms of fees, estate agents charge a percentage fee, which can be anywhere between 0.75% and 3.0%+VAT of the agreed selling price for your home depending on the type of contract you opt for with your estate agent