Web advertising only

shirlgirl2004

I've seen this EA which offer web only advertising. There are no glossy brochures but the cost is only £450 +VAT. They are in my local area. I've had 2 agents in to give valuation which were on a par with what had thought. They both gushed about the house but I guess they all do that don't they? The commision to them would be about £7.5k so we could save about £7k by not using the gushing polished EA.

I guess my question is, "Is it worth it?". Don't most people use the internet now? I would only use them if they would produce a basic floor plan as part of the HIP because our property is quite large with 12 rooms so I feel a floor plan is a must, but is the high street presence needed?

Thanks

david29dpo

May be worth a try, who knows. I know some people who have been successful. Floor plans have nothing to do with the HIP.

alexlyne

If the 450 doesn't include them doing a floorplan, do it yourself, and ask them to put it on with their property details. Room details, photos are all easily diy, so you're paying them for their registration on rightmove, and I assume showing buyers around.

As a potential buyer, all I look at is RM.. so assuming there are others like me, the 450 seems like a good deal. Especially as all you'll get for another 7k is a photo in a shop window, and some printed leaflets. How to make sure you're treated the same as the people who are paying the full rate is another question...

edit:
sorry, I now see a link. i thought you were talking about a high street EA offering 2 different rates for levels of service...
when buying, I prefer to deal with High Street presences, easier to talk to them about the market, and all the properties they have in an area.

HOMEcycle

Up to 75% of people will start looking for their next home online - to answer your question "is it worth it" to have a traditional estateagent? well it all depends on how comfortable you are in dealing direct with potential purchasers.
Do you have an easy rapport with people? Are you comfortable chatting to them and asking details about their finances?
Remember there is a different between sites where you pay a one off fee to advertise your property (you do all the work), and online estate agency who will do all the negotiation on your behalf.

In my opinion four things sell a house: Location, Condition, Price, and Marketing. If you do decide to go with an online only estate agent make sure to de clutter the house and take as many pictures as you can.

googler

There's many people who say "75% of buyers look on the internet first" when looking for a house, or similar phrases, but can anyone provide definitive proof of this figure or any other quoted figure?

If you promote your house on internet only, you'll only get the buyer base who look at your online listing, predictably enough. It's not good enough to say 'put it on Rightmove' because there's areas of the country where Rightmove doesn't have dominance over property listings. It might be the most viewed on a countrywide average basis, but some areas fare better than others.

If you list it with a local agent, you get access to ;

The agent's buyer base
The agent's recent contacts (some of whom may be ideal buyers for your home)
Passing trade who see it in the agent's window
Passing trade who see the agent's sale board at your home
You may even get leads from other agents who keep an eye on your agent's listings, and would be happy to pass 'their' buyer to your agent for a referral fee
The agent may do the viewings for you
The agent will negotiate for you
etc etc

Up to you to decide whether you think the above (and any other promo your local agent does) is worth their fee.

DPX

There is little doubt that the Internet is a major tool in the Arsenal of Estate Agents, but not all buyers have internet access and there is still a proportion of the property buying population who still drive around the area they like board spotting, I know not all properties have Boards but if approahes are made to the Agents who do have borads on display they can at least ppoint potentioal buyers in your direction.

Some of the Internet only sites offer a Sale Board option (at additional cost of course)

Rightmove is undoubtedly the most significan property search websit avaialble and If i was to market with an Internet only agent it would certainly be the one I wanted to be on, Ask them what other websites they use, Primelocation for example is another excellent website.

Have yoyu though of sites like HouseLadder, Homeswapper, Swaptogo, Fish4Homes, VivaStreet etc. they all offer online services which you perhaps tap into in addition to your Agents efforts, some charge, others don't.

shirlgirl2004

david29dpo wrote: »

May be worth a try, who knows. I know some people who have been successful. Floor plans have nothing to do with the HIP.

Although floor plans aren't part of the HIP the EAs I've spoken to say the floorplans are produced by the person the does the energy assessment. I could produce my own but if I later decide to go to a traditional EA then they might decide that it isn't good enough and want to charge me to produce another one.

david29dpo

The EPC inspector only measures the square footage and volume of the rooms.

shirlgirl2004

david29dpo wrote: »

The EPC inspector only measures the square footage and volume of the rooms.

Sorry but the two EAs I have spoken to have told me the EPC inspector produces their floor plans. It may not be a requirement for them to do so but obviously some of them are doing it as part of their service.

scw1

Our EA is doing our floor plan next Tues when she photos.

I think I would prefer to use a high street EA - for the reasons above. However, it could be worth a try.

shirlgirl2004

alexlyne wrote: »

If the 450 doesn't include them doing a floorplan, do it yourself, and ask them to put it on with their property details. Room details, photos are all easily diy, so you're paying them for their registration on rightmove, and I assume showing buyers around.

As a potential buyer, all I look at is RM.. so assuming there are others like me, the 450 seems like a good deal. Especially as all you'll get for another 7k is a photo in a shop window, and some printed leaflets. How to make sure you're treated the same as the people who are paying the full rate is another question...

edit:
sorry, I now see a link. i thought you were talking about a high street EA offering 2 different rates for levels of service...
when buying, I prefer to deal with High Street presences, easier to talk to them about the market, and all the properties they have in an area.

Well I called them and it turns out they do the negotiating and will show people around. They do have a presence in the town but not town centre, so people can pop in and chat and browse photos in the window if they want to. TBH it seems too good to be true but as a HIP will cost us £350 +VAT if we went with the best alternative agent it isn't really costing us much extra to take a chance with them.