‘Well, that was a total waste of money!’

How many times have you heard that?

How many times have you said it?

How many times have you done it?

Buying that spiralizer cookery set because the TV made curly carrot look so appealing and yet it’s never even made it out of the box.

Snapping up the abdominal machine for £24 a month because, hey you can afford ten minutes a day for a body like hers!

Buying that jumper that never saw the light of day because you didn’t try it on until you got home, only to find out it itches, even after a wash.

Joining the gym and not going? Sadly, it isn’t enough to have a membership, it only works if you turn up and sweat.

You can likely list on both hands and more how many times you have paid up, signed up and never used something that you really mean to. If I added up my fails, I would be rightly mortified at how much I have wasted. We all have. But before you get to feeling too bad, take comfort that your wastefulness will pale into insignificance when you read the huge sum of money wasted below.

The Unfriendly Purchases…..

ITV Purchase Fail:

Buying the social networking site Friends Reunited in 2005 for a reported £175m. Seemed like a great investment at the time, Friends Reunited was fast becoming a success.

Until Facebook launched a year later.

ITV Sale Fail:

ITV sold Friends Reunited for £25m in 2009.

The website closed down in 2016.

£150m plus whatever money was ploughed in to try and keep it going, gone!

That must have hurt.

Because let’s face it, it does hurt when you realise you have spent money you shouldn’t have or when hindsight rolls up and makes what seemed like a great idea at the time, look silly now.

So, let’s change things up.

Don’t spend money unwisely in this new decade, especially if you are thinking of moving home.

Across Banstead and Epsom we all too often see people wasting their money by using estate agents who charge a cheap fee to sell a home BUT end up getting their client a lot less for the property due to a lack of skill, will or advertising budget (please do NOT go with an agent not advertised on Rightmove – their money saving tactics for themselves will seriously impact your audience numbers!).

This difference can be tens of thousands of pounds in some cases.

Cheap Agencies are Not Cheerful

Look at this simplified but relevant example:

An agency says they’ll charge you a 0.5 per cent fee to sell your home, which they put on the market for £500,000.

You’ve chosen them over an agency that charges a 1.5 per cent fee. You wanted to save a few quid, you’re being savvy, right?

Wrong!

The cheaper agency only gets you £450,000 for your property – blaming the market and telling you this is the best you’ll get for your biggest tax-free asset.

After their fee you have £447,750 left.

In a parallel world, the other more motivated and skilled agent gets you the asking price of £500,000. They put more money into marketing your property, including paying the expensive Rightmove monthly fee and they send knowledgeable staff out to your viewings who spend time with your viewers to show them every £1 of additional value your property offers.

They take their well-earned £7,500 fee leaving you with £492,500 — nearly £45,000.00 more.

So, the ‘cheaper’ agent, who, at first glance looked to be saving you dosh, ended up wasting it.

The cheapest option is therefore rarely the wisest. Think carefully before deciding who to market your home with and if you have any property related questions, including how to get the best possible price for it, please get in touch as we’d be delighted to answer them for you without obligation.

Want to save yourself some money in 2020?

Have a look at how to make your cash go further from Mr Money saving expert himself, Martin Lewis here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/chat-tips-gold/

Whatever you spend your money on this year make it count – and please, if you can, make it last.

Happy shopping everyone!