Estate Agent Fees in London (How To Keep Those Insane Fees At Bay)

So what’s a cheaper (and effective) solution to beat London estate agency fees?

So the reason I wanted to touch on the subject of loopy estate agency fees in London, is because many people still aren’t aware of the FREE house-selling service offered by Purplebricks, the UK’s largest online estate agents.

So in other words, they make it possible to sell houses all over the UK for absolutely free.

Yes, free.

Even in London.

And no, there isn’t a catch or gimmick.

I’m not going to cut the full promo right now, because I’ve already done that in my Purplebricks overview blog post. But here are the key features of their service:

Estate Agent	Rating	Duration	Includes / Notes	Price
PurpleBricks	Rating 3.9 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 6 months	Includes / Notes Free package Key features Zoopla listing PrimeLocation listing Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation No sale, no fee 13 weeks Sole Agency contract App - manage viewings, offers & communication with buyers *YES, Purplebricks now offer a 100% free house-selling service, no strings attached.	Price Free *Free	Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation

Just to clarify once again, my only intention is to make you aware of the fact that Purplebricks free house selling service is available nationwide, including London. I have no idea if you’re open to using an Online Estate Agent or not, but if you are, they’d certainly be a good option to explore.

If you’re unfamiliar with Purplebricks and the realm of online estate agents, don’t worry! You can get up to speed by checking out my comprehensive guide to online estate agents. I strongly recommend reading my guide if you’re completely unaware of the surge in popularity among UK home-sellers for online estate agents. It opens doors to a whole new landscape. While it may not be an exact match for you, it could potentially be a great fit.

High-street Estate Agency fees in London

This article on propertyindustryeye.com shows a “league table” of the biggest UK Estate Agents. I have grabbed a few of the agents (many of which you’ll be aware of, because they’re literally scattered on every street corner in London) to highlight what their fees are.

Side note, it was quite concerning and extremely frustrating to discover that most estate agents don’t disclose their sales fees on their website, because, I quote, “costs will vary depending on the value of your property and its location”.

Urgh, spare me! Sounds like BS. We all know they could list their prices if they really wanted to. Funny enough, they seem to be more than happy to flaunt their letting service fees. Anyways…

I ended up using getagent.co.uk to collect their average fee across all their branches around the country, which of course, won’t necessarily reflect their London prices.

To be honest, I think it’s safe to assume that most agents in London will charge roughly the same fees (before and after negotiating).

The presumption is that you understand the difference between online estate agents and high-street agents in practical terms, so this is purely to bring home the fact that using Purplebricks free service is remarkably alluring.

Is Purplebricks REALLY an effective solution to selling your house in London (even though their service is free)?

I certainly think so.

I believe Purplebricks, like many of the other online estate agents that include Rightmove and Zoopla listings with their packages, are extremely effective. That’s simply because that’s where and how most estate agents, including traditional high-street estate agents, generate a bulk of their enquiries.

Essentially, if Purplebricks’ free service didn’t include Rightmove and/or Zoopla listings within their package, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. This is because I wouldn’t be able to view them as an effective solution. To ensure the best chance of a successful house sale, advertising on the two largest UK property portals is absolutely essential!

There are other free methods of marketing property for sale [which don’t include Rightmove & Zoopla listings], but none quite as effective in my opinion.

If you’re baffled by why and how Purplebricks are able to offer their service for free, while the likes of Yopa (the second largest online estate agent in the UK) are offering very similar service for approx £1000, I explain all in my Purplebricks.co.uk review.

Other fees to pay attention to (and how to also keep them at bay)

Estate agents, both online and high-street, make a large portion of their revenue by upselling additional services (e.g. conveyancing) required to complete a house sale. Generally speaking, they won’t offer you a great deal on those services because they mark-up the prices, but arguably, they will provide convenience, since you can order everything from the same place.

Below is a list of services you may need to budget for beyond estate agency fees. These are the services you’ll likely be offered by your agent as an “add-on”. I’ve also provided alternative outlets providing the same services, which are likely to offer you significantly better rates.

For more details, you can jump over to my in-depth blog post on the costs of selling a house (and how to keep them down).

Happy selling xoxo