Our fees. All of them, in public.
Most agencies will tell you their rate on the telephone, once you have asked twice. Here is the whole card — what we charge a buyer, what we charge a seller, and the one thing we will not do at any price.
2.5%
Of the price you actually pay. Fixed in writing before we begin, paid at closing, the same for everybody.
That is the buying fee. We also act for sellers — 3% on a sole agency, 5% on an open one — but never for both parties to the same sale. Whichever side we are on, we are only on that one, and the engagement letter says so in the first paragraph.
The whole card
| What we are doing | Fee | Paid by | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buying — we act for you | 2.5% | You | At closing |
| Selling — sole agency | 3% | You, the owner | On completion |
| Selling — open agency | 5% | You, the owner | On completion |
Percentages of the price actually achieved. Stated in figures in the engagement letter before any work begins, with the tax position shown, and they do not move afterwards. Open agency costs more because the fee is shared with whichever other house introduces the buyer.
We never act for both parties to the same sale.
- An agency paid by both sides of one transaction cannot honestly argue for either. Most of the industry does it anyway and calls it efficiency.
- Every engagement letter states which side we are on, in the first paragraph, and it does not change mid-transaction.
- If a house on our own selling books would suit a buyer we act for, we tell them we act for the vendor before they view it — and they are free to instruct someone else for that purchase.
- So when we negotiate for a buyer, every euro off the price is genuinely theirs. Nobody in the room is quietly hoping the number goes up.
One side. Named, in writing, before you see anything.
If we fail you, we pay for it.
- The Ninety-Day Search
- Your home in front of you within ninety days, or you owe nothing. Brief us properly and the right house is in front of you inside ninety days — most files close inside thirty. If we fail, you end the engagement and no fee is due. We would rather say so plainly than search forever.
- The Clean Title Guarantee
- We will assist and bring in a trusted notary to check the title and everything for you. We do not do the title check ourselves — the notary does, and we will bring in a trusted notary to examine the title and the full paperwork before you commit, so that nothing material is left to surprise you at the deed.
- No Keys, No Fee
- Nothing is due until the keys are in your hand. No retainer, no hourly rate, no fee for the search, no fee for the viewings, no fee for the negotiation. If the search ends without a purchase, you owe us nothing at all. We are paid on the doorstep or not at all.
All three are written into the engagement letter, in those words. None of them is a marketing sentence we would rather you did not read closely.
The arithmetic
№ 31 in the register — Ta’ Lellux, in Għarb — closed at 4% under asking. Taking that as the illustration:
| The house | Our fee (2.5%) | A 4% negotiation | You are ahead by |
|---|---|---|---|
| €1,000,000 | €25,000 | €40,000 | €15,000 |
| €1,500,000 | €37,500 | €60,000 | €22,500 |
| €2,500,000 | €62,500 | €100,000 | €37,500 |
The 4% is an illustration drawn from a real file, not a forecast and not a promise — no honest house forecasts a negotiation, and you should distrust any agency that does. What we will promise is above, and it is deliberately about the things we control rather than a vendor’s mood.
- The whole-market search — listed, quiet, and never advertised
- Off-market soundings through notaries, architects and other houses' back rooms
- Every candidate visited, measured and photographed before you travel
- One concierge, the same person from the first letter to the keys
- The negotiation, conducted in writing on your side of the table
- Konvenju, AIP permit and notary, coordinated through to the final deed
- Keys handed over by a member of the house
- Stamp dutyabout 5%Paid to government. Reliefs exist for first-time and Gozo buyers.
- The notary1,5% – 3%Your notary, chosen by you. We coordinate; we do not appoint.
- Searches and registrationvariableTitle searches, plans, registration.
- AIP permitwhere it appliesNon-residents buying outside a Special Designated Area.
- Architect or structural surveywhere you want oneWe will tell you when we think you want one.
None of these is ours to keep. Figures are the ordinary case and are indicative: they follow the law, and the law changes. We estimate the lot for you in writing before you commit to anything.
The questions people actually ask
Why would I pay a fee when the agent showing me the house is free?
They are not free. On a €1,000,000 house the vendor's agent earns roughly €50,000, and it comes out of the price you pay. What you get for nothing is a guide. What you do not get is anybody whose interest is served by you paying less.
The question is not whether there is a fee. It is whether anyone in the room is paid to argue for you.
But you take listings too. Isn't that the same conflict?
It would be, if we took both sides of one sale. We do not, ever. On any given transaction we act for the buyer or for the seller, it is named in the engagement letter before anything begins, and it does not change.
Where a house on our own selling books would suit a buyer we act for, we say so in writing before they view it — and they are free to instruct another agency for that purchase. We would rather lose one fee than be unable to answer the question you have just asked.
Is the 2.5% negotiable?
No, and that is the point. A fee that moves under pressure was never a fee, it was an opening position — and a house that discounts its own price to win you will discount its attention once it has.
It is the same figure for every client, printed in the engagement letter before any work begins, and it does not change afterwards.
When do I pay?
At closing, when the keys are in your hand. Not on signature, not on the first viewing, not as a retainer. If the search ends without a purchase, there is nothing to pay.
What if I find the house myself?
Then you have not needed us and there is no fee. The engagement letter covers houses we introduce you to. We are not in the business of charging for a coincidence.
On my purchase, are you paid by anyone other than me?
No. When we act for you as a buyer we take no commission, referral or other payment from that vendor or their agent — that is a term of the engagement, not a courtesy. We earn seller-side fees on other transactions, never on yours.
If we introduce you to a mortgage intermediary, a notary or a property manager and receive anything for it, we tell you in writing at the time.
Is there a floor?
The register begins, as a rule, at €1,000,000. Below that a search is handled by the Annexe, by a junior concierge, at precisely the same standard and on the same terms. We do not have a cheap service. We have a smaller one.
What happens on the first call?
Twelve questions, none of which is your budget — that is question thirteen, asked later and quietly. If Hypomo is the wrong house for your search we will say so on that call and tell you where to go instead. Open a file →
Six places remain.
The house carries forty searches at a time, one concierge to each, because one person can only open so many doors personally. Three questions, about a minute, and a reply within one business day.
Open a file