Estate Agents in Leicester?

[newdawn]

Anyone had decent dealings with one?  

My head is spinning.  We've had IPS and Vincent's here today.  

IPS super professional and seem to know their stuff, but if we want their best deal, we have to pay £700 + VAT up front which is non-refundable...even if they don't sell the house.

Vincent's is 1% if sold in 90 days or less and .5% after that, but he was a total cowboy and priced the house 20k less than IPS and about 10k less than what we know it can go for.  Plus he wore horrible cheap cologne that I swear he bathed in before arrival.  

We've Your Move calling to the house tomorrow evening and I'm seriously considering calling a few more after what went down with the first two.

[Blownupdolly]

Errrr...are you seriously telling me that this IPS shower are demanding you pay them an extortionate amount of money whether they do the job you are hiring them for or not???.... Not on your nelly they would for me!! In effect they can take your money and trot off bak to the office and play candy crush saga for 3mths knowing they have your money whether they do any work or not! Dick Turpin springs to mind.

[newdawn]

Yeah Blownupdolly...that pretty much sums it up for me too. It was amazing. He kept pushing the fact they do the lot for no commission but a flat fee instead. Once I had time in the evening to sit down and read the fine print of the 'deal' I discovered the 'pay on completion' deal was twice the price of their 'pay some up front' deal. When it was all added up, their 'pay on completion' deal actually works out at significantly more than just paying someone else commission! Pity, because he really was professional and we would've been very happy to have him represent our sale, but I'm not signing up to those terms!

I've done the google research and read up on loads of them, but can't find any reviews on the agents around the Leicester area. That's why I've asked if anyone knows of any reputable agents around here. We're moving to America start of June, regardless of whether it sells or not by then so pressure is off for a fast sale. Trying to find someone we can trust to handle it though has been a bit of a nightmare so far.

[dakgm]

There all the same, lie through there teeth, I would go for a deal on commission, at least you know where you stand.

[Deleted]

Anybody has to be better than that IPS deal. The chance of money for nothing, or what?

I know nowt for over there, maybe have a peruse & read here hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-selling/how-much-should-i-pay-the-estate-agent/

[newdawn]

Ah jess...thank you! I'm such a fool. My OH showed me that link last week and I bookmarked it to read later, but never got to it and eventually forgot about it. Will soak up the lot before I agree anything with anyone.

We'd another crowd over this evening and were told it was a flat fee of £2,000 upon completion regardless of property price. A bit high on the percentage scale for what we're selling, but they do all the viewings for us and have more offices within 10 miles of us where IPS doesn't. Only problem being my OH didn't like the rep. Fingers crossed there's something in that link that backs up my fears with IPS and brings OH around.

[dakgm]

We sold our house in London last January, we paid 1% and they done all the viewings we had to go out and leave them to do the viewings alone.

Hope this helps

[Deleted]

Jan 15, 2014 23:43:31 GMT newdawn said:

Ah jess...thank you! I'm such a fool. My OH showed me that link last week and I bookmarked it to read later, but never got to it and eventually forgot about it. Will soak up the lot before I agree anything with anyone.

We'd another crowd over this evening and were told it was a flat fee of £2,000 upon completion regardless of property price. A bit high on the percentage scale for what we're selling, but they do all the viewings for us and have more offices within 10 miles of us where IPS doesn't. Only problem being my OH didn't like the rep. Fingers crossed there's something in that link that backs up my fears with IPS and brings OH around.

It was an OK reminder then, Dawn!  If your hubby is thinking of going with IPS, then I really hope there is something on there. I also hope you manage to find a decent agent & soon.
Yes, they are about, as both my nieces were EA's.

[newdawn]

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii - FINALLY have it sorted! Thanks to the link you reminded me of jess, I was able to use information from there to browbeat the crowd we really liked into submission. I don't care what time of day it is. I've just poured a glass of wine to celebrate!

[Deleted]

That's great, newdawn, bloody great! Here's hoping they get you a buyer very soon.

[newdawn]

Cheers! That'd be the icing on the cake. Fortunately we're not under pressure for a quick sale because we have extra funds and we'll move to America in June, regardless. Our solicitor or a family member can sign the contract on our behalf if needs be.

I was INCHES from saying sod it and selling it ourselves when I woke up this morning. Such a relief to get on with other things now. I've got a brand new Phoenix that isn't going to coil itself so it's time to get cracking on the how to's of that. Brace yourself Super-Shiny and apologies in advance!