Internet based estate agents (Purple Bricks etc)

[Oscar's dad]

Has anyone sold a house using an internet based estate agent such as Purple Bricks as opposed to a traditional office / High Street based estate agent?  If so do you have any experiences you'd like to share?

Thanks in advance.

[videoman]

I know someone who recently purchased a house being sold by Purple Bricks and their solicitor had a nightmare dealing with Purple Bricks.

Don't know about selling though as they appear to be getting very popular.

[trekker12]

I have no personal experience but talking with estate agents - who are obviously protecting themselves - the cost savings are substantial but if your house doesn't sell in the first few days to a week it can have a habit of slipping down searches on Zoopla Rightmove etc. The estate agent is more keen and will keep refreshing the ad to ensure it holds a high priority with others in the same price.

If you are in a competitive area with lots of similar property it might be better with an estate agent, if you are confident the house is unique and will attract a lot of interest just by itself then you can possibly do away with the estate agent. Expect to have to work for the cost saving. As said above you will have to chivvy up an unknown call centre/e-mail box to deal with the solicitors.

It's like everything these days, do you prefer buying your bike in a shop for a higher price but it comes with personal service or have you the time and interest to do it yourself and buy it online?

[Ben T]

No but watching the thread with interest.
We just sold through a normal estate agent, had it on with one for about 6 weeks, switched to another and it sold within about 2 weeks.
They did a 'video' which was basically one of those that's just stills but panning/zooming them cleverly to look like a video - not sure if that helped.

I think photographs are key - you ideally want a wide angle lens and put it far back as possible to make the room look as big as possible, and pay attention to general photography concepts, mainly respecting light, i.e. don't let light from an open window blow out the photo and cause it to underexpose room detail. Get a tripod and go HDR if necessary, probably wouldn't get that from a trad. estate agent. Put a centre piece like a fruit bowl on tables, etc, tidy any clutter. Take exterior pictures on a sunny day with the sun at least partially behind, i.e. in the morning for a west facing shot and in the evening for east-facing.

You also need a good accurate floor plan. I'm also not sure whether if you get it wrong, i.e. describe a room as bigger than it is , whether you are guilty of misselling, or whether 'sold as seen' applies, and whether using a traditional estate agent delegates that responsibility.

You've got to think of what is the traditional estate agent doing for the money you're paying them and are those services worth it to you. We didn't trust any estate agent to show people round without us being there, for instance, so that's useless to us, but might be a worthwhile service to you if you trust them and people want to come round when you're at work.

[ian]

Depends, I suppose, on your 'market'.

The two houses we have sold have gone immediately and I suspect the bricks and mortar EAs didn't add much, by the time they'd got stuff printed and put a nice spread in the window it was pretty much a done deal. The main benefit is that they have lists of people looking.

Of course, this is the modern age and people log on and search rather than passively wait for email. Well, the younger generations do, I can't imagine my parents would, but then I can't imagine them moving house.

Of course, EAs do technically help throughout the process. Technically. Our last bunch (KFH) completely lost interest once we had a buyer (you'd think they'd know they only get paid when the deal completes). I wouldn't come close to saying they were VFM – over £10k for a couple of pictures a bit of advertising and slot in the window. That said, the EAs for the house we bought, a smaller local operation, were pleasant and helpful and didn't distinguish themselves by telling us big fat lies.

But yes on the pictures and advertising. In a country obsessed with property, I was constantly amazed that so many people when selling that property couldn't even be arsed making it look attractive in the pictures. Not to mention the number who didn't bother making it presentable in reality. I mean, you're trying to sell over half a million pounds of house, surely fifteen minutes pulling up the weeds in the driveway would time well spent? Apparently not.

[Wombat]

Just sold my house with YOPA.  Took 2 days...

I already had the EPC, plans and photos, so after the lady had visited us and discussed value, we went for £10k above what we thought was its true value.  I emailed her the stuff, it went on Rightmove, Zoopla, etc., and after one visit from one couple who were clearly the type who visits houses for sale as a form of entertainment, (they booked the viewing within an hour of it going live) we had another visit two days later, and they offered £5k under the asking price, which we accepted.  The online viewing appointment system, and offer making/accepting, was pretty snappy.

The reason we have not moved yet is nothing to do with YOPA, its down to Mr Bowers the liar, of a village not a million miles from Berriew who kept us waiting for 6 weeks after accepting our offer, and then pulled out when we asked what the hell was going on, and the painfully slow solicitors for the third house we had an offer accepted on.  Why is honesty and house selling mutually exclusive?  I'm desperate to get into our new home before hell (and Wales) freezes over.

[The Family Cyclist]

I know it's maybe slightly off topic but when we bought our house which was from family so no chain and no negotiation to be done we used conveyancing which was free with mortgage. We nearly lost the mortgage offer as took 6 months and only got resolved when mortgage advisor rang them and after 2 hours on hold for it sorted. I'd pay more if doing again for an office I could sit in at closing time, that's the office not a pub closing time OD btw, and make them sort it if they wanted to go home.

[rogerzilla]

I think you have to pay the fixed fee whether the house sells or not.  That's the catch.

[Oscar's dad]

I think you have to pay the fixed fee whether the house sells or not.  That's the catch.

Correct.

[ian]

It's all hit and miss. The first house we bought - EAs actually fine, we used a local solicitor for conveyancing and they were shit. And the people we were buying from were less pleasant than an outbreak of genital herpes. A combination of serial lying on their paperwork and useless solicitors was not a good one. We used the same EA when we sold that house and they were still fine, and blimey, got a useful solicitor online. She was very good. The EA we were buying from was lying shitbag though. If we don't know, we make it up was their motto (and they didn't know much). It was a new development and it was easier to talk direct. When we sold that house, as mentioned another quick sale, but our EA was crap thereafter. We used the same solicitors, utterly awful this time. Though the EA we bought from was fine and the previous owner of the house wasn't a lying nutcase. I did learn a lot more about her philandering, lying husband than I strictly needed to know however. I wasn't sure that was entirely germane to the process.

All said, buying and selling a house doesn't rank highly in my things to do again.

[Snakehips]

If you have an unattractive looking house you might be better off using an EA. They will offer it to clients on the basis of the functionality that it offers and which they believe the clients are looking for.

Online purchasers might just look at the picture of the outside and move swiftly on.

[The Family Cyclist]

Anyway you can't move from the centre of the known universe OD

[Blodwyn Pig]

Friend is selling a flat thro Purple bricks,, so far its been 7 months, not even exchanged. Thing is, when you sign up, you either pay up front, or defer payment via a credit company (aka Close Brothers), either way they have their money, whether it sells or not, so if a sale is agreed, so what if it takes a year, they don'tcare. Yes you save money, but if you are in a chain, or want the money soon ish, then I wouldn't bother. Also PB charge extra if you want them to do the viewings. We've just refurbed a house (its what we do) and put it on with the agent we bought it from for, 1% (haggled a bit), anyway its sold in 4 days,  survey done within a week of the viewing. We bought the house in 3 weeks, viewing to completion, you can't do this with PB. Tread carefully, all that glitters is not gold.

[Oscar's dad]

Anyway you can't move from the centre of the known universe OD

I'm not, don't fret. My sister and I are selling my mum's house.

[Wombat]

If you have an unattractive looking house you might be better off using an EA. They will offer it to clients on the basis of the functionality that it offers and which they believe the clients are looking for.

Online purchasers might just look at the picture of the outside and move swiftly on.

But PB and the others ARE estate agents.  They will write (or help you to write, whichever you want) appropriate wording to sell your house.  Estate agents don't offer to specific clients in some exotic hand picked club scenario, they just send out to their mailing list, and it goes on Rightmove and Zoopla, where most of the business is done.

The comment about "if it doesn't sell, you still have to pay" I find a bit puzzling.  if your house fails to sell, having spent £800 on an estate agent is the least of your problems, as you are stuck with £250k+++ worth of house you don't want.  Basically you need to sell it, so you'll persevere till it does.

[Wombat]

Friend is selling a flat thro Purple bricks,, so far its been 7 months, not even exchanged. Thing is, when you sign up, you either pay up front, or defer payment via a credit company (aka Close Brothers), either way they have their money, whether it sells or not, so if a sale is agreed, so what if it takes a year, they don'tcare. Yes you save money, but if you are in a chain, or want the money soon ish, then I wouldn't bother. Also PB charge extra if you want them to do the viewings. We've just refurbed a house (its what we do) and put it on with the agent we bought it from for, 1% (haggled a bit), anyway its sold in 4 days,  survey done within a week of the viewing. We bought the house in 3 weeks, viewing to completion, you can't do this with PB. Tread carefully, all that glitters is not gold.

Surely that's the conveyancers, not the agents?  If its sold subject to contract, i.e. an offer accepted, then the estate agents have done their bit.  Yes, I have to arrange my own key handover.  Big deal, I'd rather email the buyer and agree that with her, than pay another couple of thousand or more, for an estate agent to do it for me.

[stu1102]

We sold a relatives house ourselves

Mock up a board, put your phone number on

Draw up particulars of sale

Post some adds in you local newspaper

total cost £150

We also did the conveyancing ourselves

[Oscar's dad]

Update, we decided to go with a traditional estate agent in the end. The house sold in a weekend and so far the estate agents are doing a great job post sale, there have been some problems but they have dealt with them well.