Is an online estate agent as good as a traditional one?

bootalishus

hi
has anyone any experience of online estate agents? I have had 3 agents round and quoting me between 1% to 1.5% plus vat which will be £10k plus on my house.

Have had bad experiences in the past so I am loathed to pay this amount.

Can anyone recommend an on line agent? I have never seen any online agents for sale boards in my area - would this put people off? Are their any advantages to your traditional local estate agent?

Also is this online method acceptable for top end of the market or will I give buyers the wrong impersion.

All advice appreciated

moanymoany

Ask agent hard questions.

What advertising do you do?

Is my house ready for the market, do I need to do anything?

How is my house price compared to others of it's type in the area?

If I price it below this, will you push the sale?

How many viewers are houses like this getting?

How often will they contact you to let you know what is happening?

Keep your end of the bargain, keep it clean and tidy. Do what the agent asks. Pay the commission but make sure they earn it.

melc29

My friend and I (her house 400k) my flat (200k) put our properties on 2 quite popular websites and neither of us had any REAL leads...altthough it is painful...negotiate the % and go with est age... or...put it on both (spread your bets!) my estate agent was not bothered when I told him it was online and wrote into the contract that any sale via internet would not incur charge... good luck

Davesnave

I think a local agent is really crucial at the moment, but as indicated above, not any old agent.

At present, there is much less interest arriving via the Internet, so an agent worth their fee will be cross-checking records and constantly 'phoning round instead of waiting for business to come to them. Suddenly, instead of people drifting in and out of their offices, agents are getting a better handle on exactly who's out there, what they want, what they might also consider etc. Well, let's face it, there aren't so many buyers to keep track of!

Apart from the things already mentioned, get onto Rightmove and look at which agents present their properties well. The photos will be crucial to those who are still being attracted through on-line browsing.

The agent you pick should be prepared to sit at the computer with you and set your price with reference to the local opposition, whatever it is, rather than just plucking figures out of the air. Make him point out your house's strengths and weaknesses to see if you agree. While (s)he's there, (s)he should be willing to evaluate his/her own work too. For example, mine said:'That front photo is dull, I'll come round and re-shoot it tomorrow when the sun gets round there.' That's the sort of attention to detail you want.

Yes, I'd be a bit wary if the vendor was selling a house like yours through an Internet-only agent. It wouldn't stop me viewing though, if the place was well presented.

GracieP

I agree with using a local agent. We've just sold and were very tempted by online agents and if we sold a year or two ago I certainly would have used one. But in this market it's worth paying a good local agent. We ended up selling to a couple who had been buying a different property through our agent but their vendor pulled out if the sale. So straight away the agent sent them round to our house and they offered. If we hadn't been with that agent we might still be on the market.

bootalishus

hi
one of the agents that came to look as phoned to say he has someone who wants to view, i said i hadn't decided who i was going with yet, he said he would charge me a one off fee. Has anyone had experience of this? would this be ok without me being locked into selling with them, also what would people suggest was a reasonable one-off fee (they haven't produced any details, photos etc yet).

Thanks

rOCH1976

Try Turtle Homes who a brand new online estate agency. They will market your property for £500+VAT (including a Home Information Pack) with just £650+VAT commission when they sell your home. They are a good compromise between a traditional and online estate agency.

poppysarah

bootalishus wrote: »

hi
one of the agents that came to look as phoned to say he has someone who wants to view, i said i hadn't decided who i was going with yet, he said he would charge me a one off fee. Has anyone had experience of this? would this be ok without me being locked into selling with them, also what would people suggest was a reasonable one-off fee (they haven't produced any details, photos etc yet).

Thanks

So its not for sale right now with any EA?
In that case this buyer will wait whilst you decide who to go with and when it's for sale properly this "mystery" buyer can come and view.

chickmug

bootalishus wrote: »

hi
one of the agents that came to look as phoned to say he has someone who wants to view, i said i hadn't decided who i was going with yet, he said he would charge me a one off fee. Has anyone had experience of this? would this be ok without me being locked into selling with them, also what would people suggest was a reasonable one-off fee (they haven't produced any details, photos etc yet).

Thanks

As a retired agent I would say this can happen now and again but not really that often. More likely the agent is up to tricks.

stormCat99

I guess each person's experience is different. But for us, the online agent (Housenetwork) was FAR better. We tried 3 of the 4 local agents, and had big big problems with all of them.

Whereas we've had no issues whatsoever with the online agent. And in fact have actually also had far more viewings through them. Can't complain for £400 fee!

poppysarah

Online EAs can't be any worse than real ones?