What Do Real Estate Agents Charge For Selling Property?

[chickencurry]

I'm just wondering if there is a ball-park percentage that most agents use.

[churchill]

5%

[stgrhe]

I know of a one agency in Pattaya, one of the better one I recon, that still only ask for 3%, which is a much more reasonable figure. Also, it is common among the agencies to ask for a higher percentage from developers then for resales, which is one of the reasons why they seem to give priority to new developments.

Here in Hua Hin some of the agencies have risen their fee for new developments to 8%, which is much too a high figure.

[quiksilva]

I work for a major multinational agency here, and generally speaking 3% is still common place for Bangkok, with 5% being more common in Phuket.

We only do very limited resales, deliberately limiting our efforts to prestigious properties. We give preference to new developments due to the sales volume that is achievable not because we can charge more, in fact its not uncommon for fees to be below 3% for large scale or very high value projects.

For obvious reasons I cant disclose more than that but I trust gives a you better insight.

However, if you know of projects that want to pay 8% please let me know !

Edited September 25, 2009 by quiksilva

[katabeachbum]

3% is very common as lowest commsion, but some are up to 10%.

[QED]

It's up to them, they are totally unregulated and usually unqualified.

An acquaintance in Pattaya was one of these wide boys, he used to ask the vendor what they would accept and make an agreement for that price. He would then market the property himself at an inflated figure and pocket the difference. Sometimes he'd get lucky and make upwards of 20%, sometimes he'd make nothing. Very dodgy geezer.

[chickencurry]

Thanks guys - very much appreciated. That gives me a clearer idea.

[wasaskater]

It's up to them, they are totally unregulated and usually unqualified.

An acquaintance in Pattaya was one of these wide boys, he used to ask the vendor what they would accept and make an agreement for that price. He would then market the property himself at an inflated figure and pocket the difference. Sometimes he'd get lucky and make upwards of 20%, sometimes he'd make nothing. Very dodgy geezer.

yup...thats right...we have quite of few guys do that here. They do it on the rental units too...if they even pay you if they rent it out.

[loverboy44]

I have been in the position to work for a development.

There are very few real estate agents who work professionally. Actually the only one i know is Engel&Voelkers.

The commission for an agent usually, for new developments is 5 %. For private sellers, yes they are there too, it is 3 %.

As in 2006 it became more difficult to sell, some projects started offering 10% to encourage agents to sell their projects. Worked very well as the talk is the same, only the income has doubled.

I am very upset about this kind of selling. Have to say that those developers didn't lose money this way but only put the commission on top of the house price.

I am talking about Hua Hin.

[wilsongbrown]

Phuket having been infested with numerous carpetbaggers aka non-reality estate agents over the past few years, I put my gaff up for sale on every website there was and found that at least a good proportion of the farang contingent had embraced the concept of 'competitiveness' and most of them had actually brought their percent down to a half way reasonable 3% as opposed to the money grasping 5% implemented a year after the long lamented 'gold rush' (think about it, uk 1.6? tops?). If they don't succumb (and you can see the steely glint in their eyes and the tightenting of the jaw when it's pointed out that 3% now the norm), simply don't go with them. Hordes more.

They're all the same anyway. Referring to potential buyers as 'their customers'?! Believing we as sellers, should all be grateful for the chance to have some timewaster book to view at a minute's notice, and then change the time at will, just to kill a few minutes being dragged around some property by some non salesman before the bar/restuarant opens.

[tangoll]

The real estate agents that I have dealt with in BKK would all initially ask 3% commission from sellers for selling a condo. However if a deal is imminent, most small agents would cut their commission to secure the deal. On my last sale, an agent took a commission of 80,000 baht on a sale of 5.65 mil baht. The big agents like CBRE or Jones Lang would not budge from their 3%.

A rip off is where a sale of a purchase contract occurs on a project still under construction and not yet transferred ownership. The agents all ask 3% on the unit's calculated sale figure even though the actual sale value, or the amount received by the seller, is much less than the contracted sale price that will be eventually transferred. This is a big rip-off by the agents.

[loverboy44]

In times when real estate is difficult to sell, the seller will surely pay more commission than 3 %.

Because ih he/she does not the agent will simply sell another object where they get more.

So, in my experience with agents they usually have 3-5 offers. And they all have in mind that they sell the last one they will show you.

Because its the most beautiful and well build and the most profitable for their wallet.

Experienced this many times until i did not allow them to go arround and show the houses alone to make your own property bad just because they get more commission somewhere else. This a bunch of sharks man.

Another thing is that they simply don't do their homework and start checking you up first to see if the plots are seperated already and a valid land title exists which is the case in about 85 % of the developments in Hua Hin.

"This development is so big. If they are that big you don't have to worry" one of them said. I could write a book about those amateurs.

[stgrhe]

In times when real estate is difficult to sell, the seller will surely pay more commission than 3 %.

Because ih he/she does not the agent will simply sell another object where they get more.

So, in my experience with agents they usually have 3-5 offers. And they all have in mind that they sell the last one they will show you.

Because its the most beautiful and well build and the most profitable for their wallet.

Experienced this many times until i did not allow them to go arround and show the houses alone to make your own property bad just because they get more commission somewhere else. This a bunch of sharks man.

Another thing is that they simply don't do their homework and start checking you up first to see if the plots are seperated already and a valid land title exists which is the case in about 85 % of the developments in Hua Hin.

"This development is so big. If they are that big you don't have to worry" one of them said. I could write a book about those amateurs.

I have experienced this stepping-up method myself while looking for houses and I did not like it. It was actually rather easy to see through how the agent worked and I did not buy it. I had on the other hand a large check-list and had also beforehand sent very detailed requirements to the agents, especially technical and legal, and one of the three agents told my I was one out of a hundred doing so.

I am also talking about Hua Hin and of the three agents I used I found one to be very serious, one (a Thai from E&V) was probably also fairly honest but was simply not skilled enough, while the last one would probably not hesitate to fool his customers.

[chickencurry]

In times when real estate is difficult to sell, the seller will surely pay more commission than 3 %.

Because ih he/she does not the agent will simply sell another object where they get more.

So, in my experience with agents they usually have 3-5 offers. And they all have in mind that they sell the last one they will show you.

Can see the logic in line 1 though not happy about that (as a potential seller).

When we bought our house, we bought the first house that the agent showed us. The house was already on our "short list". We did go and look at a lot of others after as it seemed ridiculous to buy the first one you see. So, not always the last one.

[dickie58]

I'm just wondering if there is a ball-park percentage that most agents use.

A lot of the agents in Pattaya are asking 5%, I have only found a couple of farang agents who still only charge 3%. There are a few local Thai agents who are still happy to accept 3% though.

A lot of the farang agents also asking for there sales commision/fees when the customer pays the deposit.

Heard the Russian agents are charging 7%?

A number of the local Pattaya developers are offering the agents higher commision to market there properties/developments, so goes without saying the agents are pushing those projects more.

[dickie58]

A lot of the agents in Pattaya are asking 5%, I have only found a couple of farang agents who still only charge 3%. There are a few local Thai agents who are still happy to accept 3% though.

A few of the farang agents, including some of the REBA agents, also asking for there sales commision/fees when the buyer pays the deposit & signs contracts.

Heard the Russian agents are charging 7%?

As of 27th Sept 2009, i have my house listed with 13 local agents, almost all have my house on there web site, although only 3 have even advertised my place in the local press etc

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estat...sale-28866.html

A number of the local Pattaya developers are offering the agents higher commision to market there properties/developments, so goes without saying the agents are pushing those projects more.

Edited September 27, 2009 by dickie58

[loverboy44]

In times when real estate is difficult to sell, the seller will surely pay more commission than 3 %.

Because ih he/she does not the agent will simply sell another object where they get more.

So, in my experience with agents they usually have 3-5 offers. And they all have in mind that they sell the last one they will show you.

Can see the logic in line 1 though not happy about that (as a potential seller).

When we bought our house, we bought the first house that the agent showed us. The house was already on our "short list". We did go and look at a lot of others after as it seemed ridiculous to buy the first one you see. So, not always the last one.

In a market where you have more offer than demand and lets say you got 10 houses to offer, 4 houses where you get 3 % commission, 2 houses where you get 5 %, 4 houses where you get 8 % and 1 house where you get 10 %. Which house would you like to sell if you have to make a living from it? The first one where you get 3 %?

That you bought the first house they showed you can mean that you know what you wanted, which mostly is not the case, or simply because the agent was not a real salesman/girl like the ones before may 2006 and a permanent holiday maker getting some satang out of a naive short stay holiday maker.

[Asianrider]

It's up to them, they are totally unregulated and usually unqualified.

An acquaintance in Pattaya was one of these wide boys, he used to ask the vendor what they would accept and make an agreement for that price. He would then market the property himself at an inflated figure and pocket the difference. Sometimes he'd get lucky and make upwards of 20%, sometimes he'd make nothing. Very dodgy geezer.

In Pattaya agents seem to charge between 3-5 %

The practice of them marketing at any price above what the vendor would agree to sell for i find unethical & distasteful. It is their job to get the the vendor the best possible price, not line their greedy pockets.....

[wilsongbrown]

A lot of the agents in Pattaya are asking 5%, I have only found a couple of farang agents who still only charge 3%. There are a few local Thai agents who are still happy to accept 3% though.

A few of the farang agents, including some of the REBA agents, also asking for there sales commision/fees when the buyer pays the deposit & signs contracts.

Heard the Russian agents are charging 7%?

As of 27th Sept 2009, i have my house listed with 13 local agents, almost all have my house on there web site, although only 3 have even advertised my place in the local press etc

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estat...sale-28866.html

A number of the local Pattaya developers are offering the agents higher commision to market there properties/developments, so goes without saying the agents are pushing those projects more.

The Russians are bloody useless and follow the Thai business model of - if no customers, just put the rates up.

As to agents in Pattaya only having put 3 in the local press, on Phuket none of them do (except for those selling complete developments) and when I enquired of one very high profile British agent here as to why they didn't, pointing out that this was standard practice for agents in the UK, (not everyone uses the web, after all) I was told in no uncertain terms that if I wanted it in the local press I could bloody well pay for it myself and would I like to be removed from their books?!

[Topprofile]

A lot of the agents in Pattaya are asking 5%, I have only found a couple of farang agents who still only charge 3%. There are a few local Thai agents who are still happy to accept 3% though.

A few of the farang agents, including some of the REBA agents, also asking for there sales commision/fees when the buyer pays the deposit & signs contracts.

Heard the Russian agents are charging 7%?

As of 27th Sept 2009, i have my house listed with 13 local agents, almost all have my house on there web site, although only 3 have even advertised my place in the local press etc

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estat...sale-28866.html

A number of the local Pattaya developers are offering the agents higher commision to market there properties/developments, so goes without saying the agents are pushing those projects more.

The Russians are bloody useless and follow the Thai business model of - if no customers, just put the rates up.

As to agents in Pattaya only having put 3 in the local press, on Phuket none of them do (except for those selling complete developments) and when I enquired of one very high profile British agent here as to why they didn't, pointing out that this was standard practice for agents in the UK, (not everyone uses the web, after all) I was told in no uncertain terms that if I wanted it in the local press I could bloody well pay for it myself and would I like to be removed from their books?!

Maybe they didn't think your condo was worth the money or easy to sell so why waste money with an ad in the newspaper? Also as you probably have the condos listed with 13 other agents who might sell it tomorrow, why risk the advertising money on it unless they know that they are the only agency advertising your condo..

It seems most agents in Pattaya are going the Thai way.. No money is coming in so we raise the commissions from 3 to 5%. It's like raising the rental price of your property because it has been vacant for 6 months and you lost money.. so no you need to recoup what you "lost"..

We have 4 houses in Pattaya and never have we met a decent agent in Pattaya, no matter the company and how visible they are in the local press.. We have been asked for "extra money" just for bringing a client to our house for viewing. The explanation was that her salary was not enough... What is that? We have farang agents who can't even call the owners themselves to make appointment, but use their thai staff to make arrangement just to have it go wrong in translation..

One agent seemed to get upset when we refused to pay 5% sales commission when most other agents accepted 3% by , quote:

"There are over 200 property agencies you can choose from in Pattaya. Some might even work for Baht 10,000/= commission. But we are not one of them

The question is who is the right one who can sell your property. We have good quality clients and we offer a high quality service. The choice is yours."

Well we didn't take them up on their nice offer of 5%..

[dickie58]

A lot of the agents in Pattaya are asking 5%, I have only found a couple of farang agents who still only charge 3%. There are a few local Thai agents who are still happy to accept 3% though.

A few of the farang agents, including some of the REBA agents, also asking for there sales commision/fees when the buyer pays the deposit & signs contracts.

Heard the Russian agents are charging 7%?

As of 27th Sept 2009, i have my house listed with 13 local agents, almost all have my house on there web site, although only 3 have even advertised my place in the local press etc

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estat...sale-28866.html

A number of the local Pattaya developers are offering the agents higher commision to market there properties/developments, so goes without saying the agents are pushing those projects more.

The Russians are bloody useless and follow the Thai business model of - if no customers, just put the rates up.

As to agents in Pattaya only having put 3 in the local press, on Phuket none of them do (except for those selling complete developments) and when I enquired of one very high profile British agent here as to why they didn't, pointing out that this was standard practice for agents in the UK, (not everyone uses the web, after all) I was told in no uncertain terms that if I wanted it in the local press I could bloody well pay for it myself and would I like to be removed from their books?!

Maybe they didn't think your condo was worth the money or easy to sell so why waste money with an ad in the newspaper? Also as you probably have the condos listed with 13 other agents who might sell it tomorrow, why risk the advertising money on it unless they know that they are the only agency advertising your condo..

It seems most agents in Pattaya are going the Thai way.. No money is coming in so we raise the commissions from 3 to 5%. It's like raising the rental price of your property because it has been vacant for 6 months and you lost money.. so no you need to recoup what you "lost"..

We have 4 houses in Pattaya and never have we met a decent agent in Pattaya, no matter the company and how visible they are in the local press.. We have been asked for "extra money" just for bringing a client to our house for viewing. The explanation was that her salary was not enough... What is that? We have farang agents who can't even call the owners themselves to make appointment, but use their thai staff to make arrangement just to have it go wrong in translation..

One agent seemed to get upset when we refused to pay 5% sales commission when most other agents accepted 3% by , quote:

"There are over 200 property agencies you can choose from in Pattaya. Some might even work for Baht 10,000/= commission. But we are not one of them

The question is who is the right one who can sell your property. We have good quality clients and we offer a high quality service. The choice is yours."

Well we didn't take them up on their nice offer of 5%..

Don't know where you got the idea my place was a condo, as you can see the link above links to a nice house, not a condo?

As you also appear to be a real estate agent, what is your company called?

[skate44]

I have recently put my condo for sale with the agents in Pattaya, mixed impressions and there did not seem to be a set commission fee

East Coast 5%

Alan Bolton 5 %

Pattaya Realty 5 %

Farang Property 3 %

Soho Property 3 %

Town and country property 5%

CCR Property 3%

Paragon Property 5 %

I think that 5 % is too much but if it sells my property I suppose it is worth it in the end. As long as I get what I want they can charge whatever they want. ho and by the way none of them have sold my condo yet so I am going to put it on TV classifieds and see if that does anything.

[Bemused]

Slightly off topic - but another thing to avoid is Agents who are also developers.

These agents will always (obviously) look to sell their own developments before your property. What is really annoying is when they take people who have enquired about your property to see their own development and give it the hardsell.

The majority of sellers in Thailand try listing the property themselves in papers, magazines and websites etc (as the agent won't bother) and give the agent as the contact details to undertake the sales process. Big error as if the agent has their own stuff to sell, they will simply use your lead to their advantage. Your efforts turn out to be part of the sales and marketing effort for the agent's pet project. Agents in Thailand often take properties on their books for other reasons than actually wanting to sell them. Publishing overestimated rental incomes as a way of increasing the valuation of investment property is a whole forum topic in itself.

[Rooo]

Well here in Samui , used to be 5 % under 10 Million. Properties over 10M 3%. CBRE wanted 5% +VAT on property over 10 million.

[BCH]

I work for a major multinational agency here, and generally speaking 3% is still common place for Bangkok, with 5% being more common in Phuket.

We only do very limited resales, deliberately limiting our efforts to prestigious properties. We give preference to new developments due to the sales volume that is achievable not because we can charge more, in fact its not uncommon for fees to be below 3% for large scale or very high value projects.

For obvious reasons I cant disclose more than that but I trust gives a you better insight.

However, if you know of projects that want to pay 8% please let me know !

Hi Quiksilva,

I Pay 8% on my villa project in Pratumnak, Pattaya. If you are interested our villas start at 8.7m baht for semi-detached and higher for the detached. only 400m from the beach,there are just eleven,fully furnished villas on a quite Soi,next to beach road Pratumnak. we have 9 standing in various degrees of completion and we will be fully finished by April 2010. send me a mail here if your interested and i will forward all contact numbers.

BCH

[alexanderthai]

the problem is the mark up the price from general price. I think you should find the market price yourself .Then,give them % doesn't mattter. But don't let them make up for their capital gain without investment themselves.

[LennyW]

Excuse me alexanderthai, but what is the "general price" you speak about???

[Bemused]

Excuse me alexanderthai, but what is the "general price" you speak about???

Hi Lenny

I think alexanderthai has a fair point here about Estate Agents overvaluing properties, although I agree that it is more difficult to establish what the 'going rate' is in Thailand than it is more bouyant and better documented property markets. I take the 'going rate' to be the average price for acutal sales of a comparative properties in the same locale. The problem is that we have too little comparative data on actual sales.

I reckon the overvaluation is down to the fact that a lot of Thailand's estate agents are also developers in their own right. Overvaluing property in Thailand is a scam to support higher profit levels for developers. If they put your property on at a sensible price then it shows up their own developments as being overpriced.

Edited October 16, 2009 by Bemused

[LennyW]

Excuse me alexanderthai, but what is the "general price" you speak about???

Hi Lenny

I think alexanderthai has a fair point here about Estate Agents overvaluing properties, although I agree that it is more difficult to establish what the 'going rate' is in Thailand than it is more bouyant and better documented property markets. I take the 'going rate' to be the average price for acutal sales of a comparative properties in the same locale. The problem is that we have too little comparative data on actual sales.

I reckon the overvaluation is down to the fact that a lot of Thailand's estate agents are also developers in their own right. Overvaluing property in Thailand is a scam to support higher profit levels for developers. If they put your property on at a sensible price then it shows up their own developments as being overpriced.

I think you will find that most of the resale and rental prices are set by the owners, with a very limited input from the agents, the agents usually just act on the owners instructions.

But who is to say exactly what "overvalued" is, if someone is willing to pay that price then surely that must be acceptible, whats the old saying, "the correct price is the price agreed between the buyer and the seller"

I see on another post you are trying to let a house without a pool for 15,000 a week, so are you guilty of overvaluing your property?

[Bemused]

I think you will find that most of the resale and rental prices are set by the owners, with a very limited input from the agents, the agents usually just act on the owners instructions.

But who is to say exactly what "overvalued" is, if someone is willing to pay that price then surely that must be acceptible, whats the old saying, "the correct price is the price agreed between the buyer and the seller"

I see on another post you are trying to let a house without a pool for 15,000 a week, so are you guilty of overvaluing your property?

Estate agents not give an opinion on what something is worth? No way. People use estate agents to value their properties everywhere else in the world. Why is Thailand different.

Incidently, the price of 15,000 a week is considerably cheaper than the amount onwers of neighbouring villas are asking. I am taking a judgement on the correct price in relation to comparative rents and the amount charged by neighbouring hotels.