Estate agents charge more than lawyers and private doctors
Proof that £300 to print a contract is extortionate? High street estate agents charge more per hour than doctors, lawyers and electricians, new research has found.
According to online estate agent eMoov, the average high street agent spends between five and 15 hours selling a property – valuing it, marketing it online, hosting viewings and completing a deal.
Once you've factored in average commission of 1.6 per cent on the average home worth £272,000, high street agents charge about £870 an hour.
That's compared with £425 for a lawyer, £280 for a private doctor and just £45 for a vet. Which, when you take into account that those industries have much higher barriers to entry, ie. require qualifications, is surprising.
"When you start to consider properties above the average UK price, this sum begins to spiral to unfathomable amounts of money," said eMoov.
"For the high end estate agents dealing with these sales and charging as much as 2.5 per cent of the property price, this equates to an hourly rate of £10,000." Ouch.