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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

My First Property Sale: 'I earned £75 and wonder if the old system was better'

A veteran estate agent has revealed his first commission, which earned just £75.

John Pring, director at Fisks Estate Agents in Essex, has put together his own My First Property Sale video where he reminisces about the sector when he started in the 1960s.

He sold his first property, a bungalow, in 1965, and revealed the commission was £75.

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That fee would be worth £1,840 nowadays.

The industry was different back then, Pring explains, as there was a scale of charges rather than agents setting their own commission.

The scale of charges system was later banned by the Monopolies Commission – a precursor to the Competition Commission - which claimed agents had an unfair advantage.

Pring queries in the video whether this was the right thing to do.

He said: “The way transactions were handled has changed.

“There was a scale of charges but this changed when the Monopolies Commission did a report that said agents had a monopoly, 

“I never understood this as it as always been possible for a homeowner to sell their own home.

“It was decided that standard scale fees would be abolished.

“The jury is out on whether that is right or wrong for the consumer.”

You can watch the full video below: 

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