Online estate agents

[Nimrod103]

WHat is the general view about using an online estate agent, rather than an established local High Street agent?

Purple Bricks business model clearly didn't work, but is Strike any better? The cost difference between an online agent and a Hight Street agent is enormous, yet I assume most people looking for property go first to a Rightmove or Zoople listing, for which a High Street location is irrelevant.

[Dod101]

WHat is the general view about using an online estate agent, rather than an established local High Street agent?

Purple Bricks business model clearly didn't work, but is Strike any better? The cost difference between an online agent and a Hight Street agent is enormous, yet I assume most people looking for property go first to a Rightmove or Zoople listing, for which a High Street location is irrelevant.

The thing is that selling houses is not like selling cans of beans and I think that the more or less personalised service and advice you can get from a High Street agent is probably worth it, at least amongst the better ones. Like any businesses, some are a lot better than others.

I am vaguely looking to downsize and my first port of call is as you say Rightmove or similar to buy, but as a seller I feel I need good advice from someone who really knows the market. I am not afraid to ditch an agent if I feel they are not giving me what I want, not in terms of price level (!) but in terms of advice and knowledge about how the local market is going.

Dod

[Nimrod103]

WHat is the general view about using an online estate agent, rather than an established local High Street agent?

Purple Bricks business model clearly didn't work, but is Strike any better? The cost difference between an online agent and a Hight Street agent is enormous, yet I assume most people looking for property go first to a Rightmove or Zoople listing, for which a High Street location is irrelevant.

The thing is that selling houses is not like selling cans of beans and I think that the more or less personalised service and advice you can get from a High Street agent is probably worth it, at least amongst the better ones. Like any businesses, some are a lot better than others.

I am vaguely looking to downsize and my first port of call is as you say Rightmove or similar to buy, but as a seller I feel I need good advice from someone who really knows the market. I am not afraid to ditch an agent if I feel they are not giving me what I want, not in terms of price level (!) but in terms of advice and knowledge about how the local market is going.

Dod

True I would have thought for estimating the price to put the house on the market for, especially where there may be many local sales which only an infomed local agent will know the actual prices and level of demand.

In this case a relative wants to sell (in fact arguably needs to sell) a modern house in a desireable village location, where not many houses come up for sale. IMHO having got estimates of the market price from various agents, it is really a case of just putting it on themarket, and see who "walks through the door with an offer". If there is little demand (and I suspect the market is weakening), then there may be few actual buyers. But if there is a lot of interest, then my relative knows to try to hold out for a higher price. I'm not at all clear how the expensive agent earns their percentage.

[Dod101]

The thing is that selling houses is not like selling cans of beans and I think that the more or less personalised service and advice you can get from a High Street agent is probably worth it, at least amongst the better ones. Like any businesses, some are a lot better than others.

I am vaguely looking to downsize and my first port of call is as you say Rightmove or similar to buy, but as a seller I feel I need good advice from someone who really knows the market. I am not afraid to ditch an agent if I feel they are not giving me what I want, not in terms of price level (!) but in terms of advice and knowledge about how the local market is going.

Dod

True I would have thought for estimating the price to put the house on the market for, especially where there may be many local sales which only an infomed local agent will know the actual prices and level of demand.

In this case a relative wants to sell (in fact arguably needs to sell) a modern house in a desireable village location, where not many houses come up for sale. IMHO having got estimates of the market price from various agents, it is really a case of just putting it on themarket, and see who "walks through the door with an offer". If there is little demand (and I suspect the market is weakening), then there may be few actual buyers. But if there is a lot of interest, then my relative knows to try to hold out for a higher price. I'm not at all clear how the expensive agent earns their percentage.

When I sold my last house it was one of the more expensive ones in the village. At first we appointed a local agent but discovered he was really not much good so I fired him and had a national one come in. The difference was amazing, much better brochure and they had buyers on their list who were looking for properties where I was selling. Within two or three weeks I had the price I wanted and what is more these national agents (or at least the one I used) either know about the buyers resources or made sure they had them before they even saw my house. I got a very good price and completed the deal quickly and with no fuss. It will not always work but it certainly worked for me at the time. I think that the more expensive ones earn their fee by their network of buyers and detailed knowledge.

I can only say that it worked for me.

Dod

[Lootman]

When I sold my last house it was one of the more expensive ones in the village. At first we appointed a local agent but discovered he was really not much good so I fired him and had a national one come in. The difference was amazing, much better brochure and they had buyers on their list who were looking for properties where I was selling. Within two or three weeks I had the price I wanted and what is more these national agents (or at least the one I used) either know about the buyers resources or made sure they had them before they even saw my house. I got a very good price and completed the deal quickly and with no fuss. It will not always work but it certainly worked for me at the time. I think that the more expensive ones earn their fee by their network of buyers and detailed knowledge.

It might not be the case in Scotland but if you are in any desirable rural part of England then you probably want to market it as much to people in London as market it locally. And that means either a national chain of estate agents or a local agent with a reciprocal marketing relationship with a London agent.

When I sold our Devon period property in 2010 I used a local agent with a London connection. And sure enough the eventual buyer was an all-cash buyer from London who found my listing through the connected London agent.

So I'd agree that is worth paying for. That said in a seller's market (which it may not be right now) any agent can probably sell a house for you. It is in a buyers market that you might see a big difference with a higher-rate agent.

[Gerry557]

I have used online agents with mixed results.

Last time I interviewed several agents to get a feel about them and what they would look to market at. I did offer one if he matched an online vendor but he refused.

I sold it myself in the end. This worked well and I had the time to deal with things. It might not for others

[Dod101]

When I sold my last house it was one of the more expensive ones in the village. At first we appointed a local agent but discovered he was really not much good so I fired him and had a national one come in. The difference was amazing, much better brochure and they had buyers on their list who were looking for properties where I was selling. Within two or three weeks I had the price I wanted and what is more these national agents (or at least the one I used) either know about the buyers resources or made sure they had them before they even saw my house. I got a very good price and completed the deal quickly and with no fuss. It will not always work but it certainly worked for me at the time. I think that the more expensive ones earn their fee by their network of buyers and detailed knowledge.

It might not be the case in Scotland but if you are in any desirable rural part of England then you probably want to market it as much to people in London as market it locally. And that means either a national chain of estate agents or a local agent with a reciprocal marketing relationship with a London agent.

When I sold our Devon period property in 2010 I used a local agent with a London connection. And sure enough the eventual buyer was an all-cash buyer from London who found my listing through the connected London agent.

So I'd agree that is worth paying for. That said in a seller's market (which it may not be right now) any agent can probably sell a house for you. It is in a buyers market that you might see a big difference with a higher-rate agent.

I found that one or two of the local agents are going for volume rather than top prices and of course if they are charging much lower fees they have to do that to get their turnover up, but my previous house was not and my current one is not a 'commodity' type of house and I think it pays for this type of house at least, to get a big national agent who really knows the market.

Dod

[bluedonkey]

We used a local agent who knew the market intimately. There's more to selling than just advertising, you have to let the agent put all the positives to the prospects when they show the house.

We paid 1.25 % plus VAT, negotiated down from 1.5 per cent.

[Hariseldon58]

I have sold one house and one flat via an online agent, plus one other property without an agent at all, about five years ago, it was very successful.

I took my own pictures* and got the property on Rightmove at minimal cost. Provided you are happy to do all the work it’s good and very cheap. The online agency service was pretty awful but it didn’t matter.

*I took the pictures myself, I was a photographer at that time, as I was photographing properties on a regular basis I was familiar with the local hosing market.

Without that experience I would suggest an active estate agent is worth paying for…

[murraypaul]

When we sold our house, our estate agents more than made their money back for us, plus took all of the hassle out of it. We never even met our buyers, or even talked to them, which is exactly the way I wanted it.

Walk around the local streets, look for houses similar to yours that are for sale/sold, see if there is an estate agent or couple of agents whose signs keep showing up. They will have the experience of selling your sort of house, and probably a book of people looking for something like it.