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document.write("<h5>Of course estate agents will try to protect their turf</h5>");
document.write("I am not saying there isn't a time and place for estate agents, but my experience is this:<br />1. I have bought and sold many properties and believe I have the appropriate skills to manage these processes myself, particularly on the legal side<br />2. The last property I sold I originally approached the agent, who offered a marketing price almost 10% less than I felt a very reasonable price would be. So I decided to at the same time advertise the property on the internet. I sold the property within 2 weeks at 100% of my asking price before the agents had even managed to hold a show day (learning: agents often lower prices to ensure a sale and at least some commission)<br />3. Last time I bought a house through an established and well-known estate agent, he really messed something up which he, as the agent, was responsible for. We almost had to sue him for damages (before he agreed to pay out) and the emotional toll and logistical nightmare that resulted would have actually been avoided if we'd been dealing directly with the sellers<br />4. In my experience, agents do not spend anywhere near the amount of time claimed with sellers or buyers; the biggest problem I have with estate agents is that I don't believe the value they can add is worth a whopping 5-7% of the property's selling price.. ");
document.write("<h5>laughable</h5>");
document.write("I'm selling my property for 4.5m and it is laughable to think that it is \"reasonable\" to give an agent over R200 000 to sell it for me. What advertising costs do they really incur? for that kind of figure I would at least expect a half page ad in the Cape Times! Agents are greedy and for too long have had control, now people are becoming more aware they can sell their own places and make a profit without having to give most of it to an agent. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside to see them going out of business and retrenching. (apologies if you think that's harsh but it is my view)<br /><br />You only need to see the scandals involving dealings between agents and bond originators to feel as I do!. jason");
document.write("<h5>I sold privately and had no problems</h5>");
document.write("At the end of day, some people lack the confidence to sell privately, and so there'll always be a role for agents. I made use of a website called www.sellingprivately.co.za, which put my property on the big property portals, and sold within 5 weeks. A good conveyancing attorney is more help than an agent!. Steve");
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