"Selling with an estate agent gets you the most money." It often does — but the headline price isn't what lands in your bank account. Here's the full picture, so you can compare your options honestly.
High-street agents typically charge 1%–3% + VAT of the sale price. On a £250,000 home that's roughly £3,000–£9,000. Online agents charge less but leave more of the work to you.
The average sale takes several months from listing to completion. Throughout that time you're still paying the mortgage, council tax, insurance, and bills on the property. Three or four months of holding costs can quietly add up to thousands.
Many properties don't sell at the first asking price. Reductions to attract a buyer are common, and the final sold price is often below the initial hopeful figure.
Repairs, redecoration, cleaning, and staging to present well — plus the disruption of viewings — all have a cost in money and time.
Around a third of agreed sales fall through, often because of a broken chain. If that happens, you're back to the start — more months, more holding costs, and the stress of doing it all again.
None of this means an estate agent is the wrong choice — for a mortgageable home in good condition with no time pressure, it usually nets the most. But when you compare it to a fast cash sale, don't just compare headline prices. Compare what ends up in your pocket, on a date you can rely on:
Open-market price − fees − holding costs − likely reductions − fall-through risk
vs.
Cash offer − £0 fees, on a date you choose.
Once you count everything, the gap is often smaller than it first appears — and sometimes a fast, certain sale comes out ahead.
Want a figure to put next to your open-market estimate? Get a free, no-obligation cash offer. General information, not financial advice.
Property Sale Express