Owning your own home

0.75% (up North).

But I'd defo tell 'em to stick the charge for the photos.

Professional photos though...

Also what level of involvement will they have? When we were selling we told the EA to do all the showings, just tell us when to be out of the way. Make them earn their £3750 (plus V.A.T.)
If you are doing the showings, argue it for a lesser fee
(And bollocks to paying for the photos, they won't any interest without pics, it's part of the service, shirley?)

One option would be to move the exchange date to March or to closer to March say Mid Feb. It's not unusual to have some kind of delay between agreeing an offer and exchange date and then a further gap to the completion date. Buildings Insurance is the key thing I know of you need to start from the date of exchange. I'm guessing you will have surveys that will need to be completed or further checks you might want to do (perhaps you have already done these).

If you want to negotiate further you can always do this until the date of exchange. But ultimately if you are happy with the price you are paying and they are happy with the price they are selling it may be best not to upset this balance.

Exchanging contracts early has the advantage that you are sealing the deal (assuming you are happy with it). Exchanging contracts later means that there is a risk that the seller pulls out. Normally mortgage offers are valid for a certain period of time (months) so as long as you are within that time it shouldn't be a problem.

Just realised I was replying to a post a few pages back @hovis so not sure if this still relevant!

Yeah, I'd say their chance of selling the place without photos is zero. Anyone taking photos for work is "professional". They don't need to win a Pulitzer but just to show people how nice the kitchen is.

I've gone back and said 1.2% all inclusive. If they go for it, I will. If not then my whole house-hunting plan will probably just grind to a halt for another two months because I'm busy and can't be bothered.

Anyone taking photos for work is "professional".

thanks

I think 'outdoor sockets' have their own fuse. Or it may be on the 'kitchen sockets' fuse. Could you make it so that the same fuse became the 'outdoor (or kitchen) AND shed sockets'?

An agent should not be charging you an additional fee for photos. As an agent myself the cost is usually around £40 so £149 is ridiculous. I'd be surprised if they would agree to 1.2% including VAT.

So what costs £40 for some photos these days ?
Not exactly a wedding is it ?

If they don't then I'll either do nothing, and stay put, or take a punt on an online agent. The fee they charge to quickly sell a small flat to a BTL landlord is ludicrous.

Jeezus Christ, what the fuck has driving got to do with it? If someone charges for a service, then the person delivering that service is doing so in a professional capacity.

Funny enough there is no problem running an extension cord in the garden, anything not fixed is classed as a temporary extension. If you need a socket in the garden first then you can get away with going straight out of the back of an existing socket through the wall. It needs to be on a circuit protected by an RCD (any circuit near a garden door should be RCD protected anyway). There are things you are supposed to check when doing that but in principal if there's no exterior wiring to the socket then it doesn't need signing off.

Not sure why you need a fuse box in the shed though, an extension cord has a max 13amp fuse in it anyway.

Strictly speaking a professional must be a member of a professional body.

The Royal Society of Cunts? How much are the subs?

By invitation only. You not had yours?

It said I needed a referral from a Platinum member so I was waiting until I saw you next to ask a favour.

Does it count if it’s in a pub toilet? Asking for a friend.

Most estate agents I've experienced are either professional door-openers or professional bullshitters - 'selling' has very little to do with it.

top bantz.

if you shag a colleague in the office bogs does that make you a prostitute?
No - and don't beat yourself up about it.

professional door-openers or professional bullshitters

= marketing/advertising/selling - no ?

I’ve heard it put as ‘you buy a house, you can’t be sold a house’.
Certainly held true for us when buying.

Sure, but there’s all sorts of shenanigans that an effective estate agent can pull to mean that you pay top dollar for the house.

You should have a read of the estate agents chapter of Freakonomics. In fact read the whole thing, it's excellent.

It says that the estate agent doesn't care if you pay top dollar or not, unless hits his or her own property. He or she cares that you buy it. At 2% the difference on their cut of the commission is peanuts between you paying, say, £600,000 and £580,000. Their time is far more effectively spent selling somewhere quickly, so that they can sell more properties, than extracting the highest price.

But do they know that?

And what of external motivation- i.e. the sales manager giving them a target of n hundred k per month, with (assumption!) associated accelerators?

Anyone can take pictures that show what a room looks like. Not everyone can take a photo that looks like it might have been taken by a Pulitzer.

My colleague won a Pulitzer for his pictures of the migrant crisis. He's very good at what he does but I wouldn't recommend him for taking pictures of your house.