Posts with tag: online estate agent

Majority are Happy with Their Estate Agent

Published On: August 17, 2015 at 1:53 pm

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Most people are happy with the service provided by their estate agent, according to Which?

It found that out of 1,990 people surveyed in June regarding their experiences with buying and selling homes, 65% were either very or fairly satisfied with their agent.

Majority are Happy with Their Estate Agent

Majority are Happy with Their Estate Agent

Just 16% were fairly or very dissatisfied, while the rest did not feel strongly either way, states the consumer organisation.

Recently, The Times reported that estate agents are “repeatedly named among the most-hated professions in Britain”.1 However, it seems that the customers are not doing the complaining.

However, Which? also found that out of home-moving service providers, estate agents came bottom of the list.

Of those surveyed, 69% were satisfied with their surveyor, 71% with their mortgage broker, 72% with their conveyancer and 77% with their mortgage lender.

Furthermore, Which? advises those buying homes to not just search online.

It says prospective buyers should search the area they want to buy in and register with estate agents face-to-face.

Advising vendors, Which? says: “OnTheMarket.com is owned by a consortium of high street estate agents who want to disrupt the market dominance of Zoopla and Rightmove.

“If your agent has signed up to list properties with OnTheMarket.com, they will only be allowed to list properties on one or the other of Zoopla or Rightmove (this is a contractual stipulated by OnTheMarket).

“If you’re not comfortable with this then you will need to choose a different estate agent.”1

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/two-thirds-of-people-happy-with-their-estate-agents-says-which/

easyProperty Sales Sector Has Just One Home to Sell

Published On: August 17, 2015 at 10:55 am

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Online agent easyProperty recently launched a sales sector, but has just one home listed for sale.

Despite offering the first 200 instructions fee free, as of yesterday, Rightmove had just one property for sale through easyProperty – a £1m, two-bedroom flat in London.

As it’s early days, it is not yet clear to see how successful the new division will be, but the company has sales packages ranging from £475 to £1,500 and has 327 rental properties listed on Rightmove.

easyProperty Now Does Sales

Published On: August 11, 2015 at 2:57 pm

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Online agent easyProperty has ventured into the residential sales sector, believing it will save “home-sellers across the UK thousands of pounds in hefty high street fees.”

The new offerings are priced from £475 to £1,500.

easyProperty aims to reassure vendors by stating that most of its staff as “ex-high street agents with years of experience at big-name firms.”

It also says: “It’s little wonder online agents are starting to become pretty popular indeed.”

easyProperty claims to offer customers an average saving of £3,269 and £9,584 in London.

easyProperty Now Does Sales

easyProperty Now Does Sales

The firm launched in September 2014 with a lettings division and more recently a commercial property sector.

Robert Ellice introduced the site, which says: “We advertise on all the UK’s leading property websites, to line up prospective buyers fast – not all agents do.”

It emphasises that high street agents cannot list on Rightmove and Zoopla if they also use OnTheMarket. easyProperty states: “We advertise your home on both the UK’s biggest portals, where buyers search first.” 

easyProperty is now offering three packages, all with fees paid upfront and in full.

For £475, vendors host any viewings and deal with the sales progression.

At £825, sellers host viewings but easyProperty handles the sales progression.

The most expensive deal, at £1,500, involves a full service, including premium listings on Rightmove and Zoopla.

The lowest price is cheaper than Purplebricks’ flat price of £798. Purplebricks charges £1,158 in some areas of London.

Other agents’ prices vary massively, with split fees becoming increasingly popular. With these deals, vendors pay a cost upfront and then another fee upon sale.

For instance, a seller could pay £9 per week with House Simple and a £495 fee on completion, or £395 if they have sold through House Simple or been listed for 12 months.

Tepilo charges from £595 to £955. eMoov’s prices range from £594 to £1,194 on a no-sale no fee-basis. Hatched charges £295 upfront plus £595 on completion, or nothing upfront and £1,495 upon a sale or £595 upfront.

eMoov states that it is still analysing its no-sale no-fee price plan.

Hatched, run by Adam Day, is no longer focusing on being a low cost service.

The first 200 vendors to sign up to easyProperty are being offered “the chance to sell their home without paying any agency fees.”1

Yesterday on Rightmove, easyProperty had 408 properties available for rent.

The company said it may float on the stock market later this year, hoping to fund international expansion and a room rentals division alongside entering property auctions. Last year’s fundraising valued the firm at £66m.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/easyproperty-goes-into-sales-promising-to-save-sellers-hefty-high-street-fees/

HouseSimple Defends New Fee Structure

Published On: July 20, 2015 at 1:15 pm

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After introducing a pay-as-you-go fee option, which includes a success fee, online agent HouseSimple explains what its customers want.

The firm also confirms details of Carphone Warehouse founder, Sir Charles Dunstone’s investment in the company and its plans for improving the online estate agency sector.

HouseSimple is due to begin advertising on television “imminently” and will fundraise soon as it hopes to quadruple in size over the next 12 months.

HouseSimple Defends New Fee Structure

HouseSimple Defends New Fee Structure

It will also start advertising on the London Underground in the future.

On the new fees, HouseSimple CEO, Alex Gosling, says: “Until last week, HouseSimple did offer customers a no sale, no fee option.

“We introduced the £995, plus VAT, option back in 2007 but it has consistently been our least popular choice amongst our customers.

“The no sale, no fee price plan has now been discontinued.

“We have listened to our customers and given them what they want.

“We have brought our fees down to a much more appealing and realistic level, while still focusing on offering a high quality service.”

Gosling also states that Dunstone and his business partner invested £5m in HouseSimple.

He explains: “The investment agreement was for £5m and the valuation was in double digits.

“HouseSimple.com is also likely to be raising significantly more in the coming months.

“The company has doubled in size in each of the last two years and is now looking set to quadruple in size over the next 12 months.”1

eMoov’s Russell Quirk places HouseSimple fourth in a ranking of online agents, based on current inventory and weekly run rates. The top ten is as follows:

  1. Purple Bricks
  2. eMoov
  3. House Network
  4. HouseSimple
  5. Tepilo
  6. Hatched
  7. Open Houses
  8. Urban Sales
  9. Estates Direct
  10. MyOnlineEstateAgent.com

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/customers-did-not-want-no-sale-no-fee-says-online-agent/

 

Online Agent Changes Fees to Pay-As-You-Go

Published On: July 16, 2015 at 4:49 pm

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HouseSimple, an online agent, has introduced a new fee structure.

Customers can choose to have one week’s free trial of the new fees followed by a weekly pay-as-you-go charge of £9, plus a success fee of £495 if the property sells.

Alternatively, they can pay a lump sum of £395 on completion of the sale or after 12 months of the property being on the market, whichever comes sooner.

Fees are reduced if vendors use the company’s conveyancing and mortgage broking services.

Sellers are not tied into a contract and under either payment plan, they receive services including valuation guidance, photography, floor plans and marketing on Rightmove and Zoopla.

HouseSimple also arranges viewings, and manages the negotiations and sales progression through to completion.

CEO of HouseSimple, Alex Gosling, says: “Unlike high street estate agents, who stubbornly refuse to change their commission model to provide a better value service to home sellers, we are continually striving to meet the needs of our customers.

“We recognise there is still some uncertainty amongst home sellers around online estate agents and the existing up-front fee model can dissuade people if they’ve never sold a property online before.

“We wanted to address that concern and make the service more accessible to all.

“The free one week’s trial and pay-as-you-go payment plan that we’ve introduced gives home sellers the opportunity to see how selling their property online works.

“Once they’ve dipped their toe into the water, they’ll wonder why they never tried selling with an online estate agent before.”

Gosling ignored the high street’s no-sale-no-fee model, but claims: “Consumers are fed up with paying the exorbitantly high fees that traditional estate agents charge.

“Many home sellers are paying through the nose for a poor quality customer service experience from a high street agent.

“Online estate agency is the future of this industry. Not only do we offer an equivalent service to the high street agent for a fraction of the cost, but we also secure more sales than high street estate agents and achieve a higher asking price on sales.”1

Founder of Carphone Warehouse and Chairman of TalkTalk and Dixons Carphone, Sir Charles Dunstone, alongside his business partner, Roger Taylor, recently invested £5m into HouseSimple.

HouseSimple claims to achieve an average 99% of the asking price and an average selling time of 20 days.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/online-agent-changes-fee-structure-to-pay-as-you-go/

Online agent trials pay-as-you-go fee structure

Published On: July 16, 2015 at 10:08 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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An online estate agent has announced an innovative service aimed at property sellers.

HouseSimple has launched a weekly pay-as-you-go estate agent scheme, whereby sellers pay from £9 per week in order to market their home. There is also a £495 ‘success fee’ if their property goes on to be sold.

The agent says that this will run with its existing fixed-fee option, where customers pay £395 on successful completion of a sale, or when is a year is up, whichever occurs first.

Structure

It is hoped that this structure will assist the needs of the customer more closely, as many may be unfamiliar with how agents work and what charges they could bring about. In addition, the agent claims that the pay-as-you-go option will enable sellers to put their property on the market and try out the online service, without paying the upfront fees that have been criticised in the online business model.

This means that the seller is not bound by a contract and therefore can cancel the service at any time. Vendors can also advertise on the agency’s website as long as they pay the weekly charges.

Online agent trials pay-as-you-go fee structure

Online agent trials pay-as-you-go fee structure

‘Unlike high street estate agents, who stubbornly refuse to change their commission model to provide a better value service to home sellers, we are continually striving to meet the needs of our customers,’ said Alex Gosling, chief executive of HouseSimple.[1]

Gosling acknowledged that, ‘there is still some uncertainty amongst home sellers around online estate agents and the existing up-front fee model can dissuade people if they’ve never sold a property online before.’ He said that his firm, ‘wanted to address that concern and make the service more accessible to all.’[1]

[1] https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/7/online-agent-tries-pay-as-you-go-fee-structure

 

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