Most people selling a home focus on the estate agent’s commission percentage. But that’s only the beginning of what it actually costs to sell via a high-street or online agent. Add up the real numbers, and the picture looks very different.
The commission: what you’re actually paying
A 1.5% + VAT fee on a £300,000 property is £5,400. That’s before EPC fees (£75 to £150), professional photography (£150 to £500 if your agent uses a photographer), floor plans, and premium listing upgrades. Some agents now charge for ‘enhanced’ Rightmove listings as an optional extra, always ask what’s included in the fee.
The fall-through cost
Around 1 in 3 UK property sales collapse before completion. When a sale falls through, you lose the legal fees you’ve already paid (typically £500 to £1,200), any survey costs the buyer ran, and, critically, the time. Starting again from scratch usually adds 3 to 6 months to the timeline. On a £300,000 property, 3 extra months carrying a mortgage can easily mean another £3,000 to £5,000 in interest alone.
💡 The fall-through rate with cash buyers like Bettermove is effectively 0%, because there’s no mortgage to fail, no chain to collapse, and no change of heart from a buyer who got nervous.
The carrying costs nobody mentions
While your property sits on the market, you’re still paying: mortgage interest, council tax, buildings insurance, and utilities. On a £300,000 property with a £200,000 mortgage at 5%, that’s roughly £833 per month in interest alone. A 6-month sale adds £5,000 in interest before you’ve even calculated council tax and insurance.
Preparation and presentation costs
Estate agents often suggest (and sometimes insist on) remedial work before listing: freshening up paintwork, tidying gardens, minor repairs. These costs range from a few hundred to several thousand pounds. None of this applies with a cash sale, buyers price in cosmetic condition and purchase as-is.
The honest total
Take a £300,000 property, sold via estate agent after a 6-month campaign: commission (£5,400), conveyancing (£1,200), carrying costs for 6 months (£7,000+), staging and preparation (£500), EPC and photography (£300), one fall-through delay (£1,200 in wasted legal fees). Total: over £15,000, before your next property costs a penny. That’s 5% of the sale price before you’ve moved.
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