Online Estate Agents

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Tue May 12, 15 7:45 pm

The house is going up for sale in a few weeks so I have been looking at Online Estate Agents, has anyone had experience good/bad sold or not sold through them?

Cheers

Dave81 · Post by **Dave81** » Tue May 12, 15 9:54 pm

When we went through it two years ago Carl, the advice was usually you get what you pay for!

For me.......the opportunity to walk into an established office close to home was worth the slight increase in cost!

I have read on various forums of people having major issues when Bananarama! hits the fan over something. Not being able to get hold of them etc

Just due the ole due diligence!

RoelB · Post by **RoelB** » Wed May 13, 15 8:17 pm

Carl, just sold my house using an established agent. It is worth it, no time wasting and they also advertise online anyway. Feedback from a proper agent is also very good.

Mossy68 · Post by **Mossy68** » Wed May 13, 15 8:57 pm

I'm with the others mate.
A human throat is much better to squeeze than a mouse if necessary !

autofetish · Post by **autofetish** » Wed May 13, 15 9:52 pm

If it's not on right move .......

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Thu May 14, 15 7:38 am

The online agent I was thinking of using advertise properties on right move zoopla and prime location. Less than a 1000 quid against a High St agent who would want about 3 grand. I would also get an agent that does all negotiations and conveyencing 24/7 phone helpline and an online area to check property progress as well as editing your listing.

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Thu May 14, 15 9:26 am

whoever you use just be aware of the valuation and their sliding scale on the % you pay them if it sells for specifc price

i.e if they value at 300K and you have to pay 5% for that

but they offer something like

290k 4%

280K 3 %

anything below 280K £2.5% (and this is the killer)
there is a good chance you house was worth £280K or less, there is no incetive for them to try for more and there never was They never expected more than 2.5% comission on the sale but even if you give in after 6 months at £230K they still get their pound of flesh becasue they know the price range its likely to sell in is most likley outside the sldeing scle they agreed with you. it was never designed to get them any more cash unless a complete fluke happened it was only designed to get you to go with them as the agent

my dad never used an agent

got a valuation done by an indepenedent and advertsied every house we ever had in the paper.... treated the whole process like he was selling a car.

don't know if you can get away with that these days but it worked from the 60s until the late 90s. he was a buyer for a big metal processor so i guess doing deals was part of his daily life. i doubt i'd choose that method but it was/is possible to get a house sold without involving the leaches

Dave

latil · Post by **latil** » Thu May 14, 15 9:50 am

Just shop around,most wise agents are using onthemarket.com,so much better than rightmove and is giving good exposure. I used a local agent and paid 1% on £240K

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Thu May 14, 15 9:51 am

That is 1 reason I looked at online agents, no commission fee at the end the price I pay is final. High St agents I got to value the property wanted 1% another wanted 0.75% which would still work out to about 3k plus solicitor etc. What more does a high st agent do than what an online agent does? Both advertise on line these days both act on behalf of seller and buyer and both leave it to the seller to show buyers around most of the time. Oh but you get nice glossy details, or used to most send details via email, and those properties are online anyway. So your paying 2k more for the same service as you get from an online agent?

latil · Post by **latil** » Thu May 14, 15 11:31 am

purplebricks seems to have the best reviews,for sellers at least. You will be doing all the work re viewings/appointments and negotiating rather than paying an agent to do the work. Do you have the time and flexibility to be available for viewings or would it be easier to give an agent the keys?

Dave81 · Post by **Dave81** » Thu May 14, 15 12:55 pm

Do they use premium rate phone lines?

If it all goes swimmingly then I can see that maybe using online would be worth it.
Only you can say if piece of mind over putting a name to a face and knowing where they are located is worth the extra!

Where you looking to move to mate?

Staying local or moving a distance?

Good luck with it!

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Thu May 14, 15 1:25 pm

Have to stay fairly local to where I am now due to work.

Here is an example of an online estate agent which a mate at work recommended today, he sold his house through them.

http://www.bearestateagents.co.uk/#pop-contact-form