Why do people dislike estate agents so much?

I must point out that this is in reference to estate agents who SELL property, NOT letting agents. That is a whole other topic.

So, why do people dislike estate agents?

AS THE SELLER, you decide you want to sell your house, you presumably do a little research, you instruct an agent and the process begins. There's very little an estate agent can get wrong. They talk to you about your goals and motivations of selling, discuss an appropriate opening listing price, take some photos, write a description and stick it up on rightmove and the other portals. Once you've checked and approved the brochure and signed their contract, not a lot else to do but wait. The agent will either call with some viewing appointments or they won't. If they don't, then it's either the price or YOUR house. And if they do get you some viewings and nobody puts in an offer, hardly their fault if nobody wants to buy it, they're not miracle workers if you're priced incorrectly or located in an undesirable area then it's up to you to do something about that to make it more appealing.

AS THE BUYER, who cares what you think, the agent works for the seller. The agents job is to get as much money out of you for their PAYING client as possible. The more they can get out of you, the happier their client and the more professional an estate agent they are.

So why all the hate for estate agents, they're only doing their job to the best of their ability.

I'm not sure they do but if anything it'll be because they are the middle men and want to take a cut for themselves and if they can spin things out, maybe they can make a bit more money.

Some estate agents are really good, their description of houses are thorough with plenty of pictures and a floor plan - even if it's a cheap fixer-upper.

They have really good communication and are generally a pleasure to deal with.

Some are complete crap, minimal description and one or two pictures showing very little.

They barely ever pick up the phone and take days to get back to you.

'Other portals'. I paid £800 up front for a very reputable Estate Agent to 'market' my property.... they won't even put it in the window, let alone the Property Guide (apparently that's 'extra')

And as a seller I expect my negotiator to work for me - that's what I am paying him for, he won't even do a mail shot. Sticking it on Rightmove is not enough.

In my opinion (based on experience) Estate Agents are nothing but lazy, greedy sharks.

'Other portals'. I paid £800 up front for a very reputable Estate Agent to 'market' my property.... they won't even put it in the window, let alone the Property Guide (apparently that's 'extra')

 

And as a seller I expect my negotiator to work for me - that's what I am paying him for, he won't even do a mail shot. Sticking it on Rightmove is not enough.

 

In my opinion (based on experience) Estate Agents are nothing but lazy, greedy sharks.

You should probably read the statistics how the majority of houses are sold nowadays and the percentage who find their next property purchase online. Yes, sticking your property online should be quite enough. A mail shot, the property guide, a listing in the window? It's not 1995. The agent is being paid to get your house listed, to hopefully find interested buyers, to coordinate any viewings and to "negotiate" the sale which I'm sure they will do, after all, they want their fee.

£800 up front seems rather hefty, what percentage are you paying on sale?

Q: how come EAs fees are still (usually) set at a % of the sale price?

Conveyancing fees haven't been assessed on fixed scales for over 40yrs.

Q: how come EAs fees are still (usually) set at a % of the sale price?

Conveyancing fees haven't been assessed on fixed scales for over 40yrs.

There's no doubt that high street agents are going to undergo some very interesting changes over the next few years, like will they even survive. Lots of online agents are now grabbing market share with great results with seriously reduced fees.

Not all estate agents are good, when selling my last house I looked at it online and there was no pictures the lady at the estate agents said it won't make any difference people rarely look at photos!!!

Of course, house-price inflation has meant that no EA ever needs to increase the fixed %. Every price increase leads to greater fees.