Any decent ways of selling without agents

sweetd

in the same way that personal letters delivered by middle men (postmen) have been replaced largely by e mails........ just no need for them

GAH

Now is probably a better time to use an Estate agent, loads of the rubbish agents closed during the recession, normally the ones that actually weren't that good at selling.

Sweet d: you sound as though your mind is already made up to go without an agent.

But, Agents bascially work for free until they have sold you property, Online Agents have no motivation to sell your home as they take an upfront fee.

Having previously worked in agency for a number of years, You will def get more people through your door than an online agent will get you and a good agent will always get you the best price they can.

As every single property is different, no statistics of EA vs online will make a difference. The only way you would be able to compare for yourself is by putting it on with both.

And if you do decide to put it with an online agent, there is no reason why you couldn't try an EA, as it could be a win win for you, if they don't get you a better offer, you dont have to go with it.

spook

sweetd wrote: »

if they were banned and replaced by the internet after a while do you think someone would invent them (ignore the argument about non internet savvy people)

I think they would.

I agree with you that there's some doubt over whether they do really offer value for money (to be honest I think it depends on how 'sellable' the property is, i.e. how much help it needs to sell). But I think the negotiation side is very important. Many people don't have the skills, time or determination to do this for themselves, and will be quite happy to pay someone to do it for them.

If you were to compare (a) using a high-street agent with (b) using an online agent but not doing any additional selling work yourself I think you'd find (a) far more effective.

googler

sweetd wrote: »

I asked for facts and figures and no-one has them, here is the question, if they were banned and replaced by the internet after a while do you think someone would invent them (ignore the argument about non internet savvy people)

You asked for facts and figures but deem your own to be irrelevant?

Would someone invent EAs if they didn't exist in our internut age? Yes, probably, because primarily most folks have their own work, business or occupation to concern them, and don't have the time (or inclination) to upload their own property, conduct their own viewings, and haggle with buyers, for a start.

You may be lucky enough to have most of the day, evening and weekend free to do all this and more, but I feel you may be in the minority there.

sweetd

gah - good response, I guess i was hoping for a survey of people that who had done exactly this, I hadn't made up my mind yet which was why I was searching for evidence, it is true that I think the fact that Righmove won't let individual customers advertise direct is an awful market restriction but I am open minded, if I thought they would sell quicker and for a higher price than other avenues then I would not be reluctant but I think we have established that no-one knows at this point in time. As for my experience I have always used them in the past but this does not mean I could not have sold it without them. In terms of the time you would need to show people around and negotiate I think this is well exaggerated, there won't be that many viewings and would be simple to get someone smartly dressed that we trust to let them in. You still not have sold me on negotiation - both sides will have prices in their heads and there will be stand offs and the outcome will be a function of the level of desperation - the seller is involved in this process independent of whether an EA is involved or not

GAH

IF you are really strong a negotiations then I don't think it is a problem.

From previous experience though Its very rare that people are great at negotiation. And yes there are also agents out there that aren't great at negotiation either.

But there are plenty that are.

I have had personal experience when I have had vendors think they knew better and stuck it on with an online agent, and I can tell you this honestly, never did an online agent sell anything I had on my books and neither did they hardly get any viewings.

sweetd

I think my point about negotiation is that the seller is always involved, he negotiates advertising price with EA, and then indirectly gets involved in any haggling and reacts according to his market experience and how desperate he is to sell, no seller ever says to his EA "just see what you can get and don't bother me......."

any directors of Right Move out there who can tell us why oh why don't you let customers advertise direct?

googler

sweetd wrote: »

any directors of Right Move out there who can tell us why oh why don't you let customers advertise direct?

I'm not a director of RM, but AFAIK, RM only accept ads from agencies because only agencies are subject to the Property Misdescriptions Act - therefore, RM are 'guaranteed' that the adverts are essentially truthful.

Private sellers aren't subject to the same regulation, and can therefore say anything they like, true or not - and again, AFAIK, there's no legislation that prohibits them from doing so, and no legislation to protect buyers if they do.

Want the legislation changed, so that RM will open up to private sellers? Don't write to Rightmove, write to your MP.

Edit; You don't need to write to RM, just read their pages;

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/resources/property-guides/selling-guide/selling-through-an-estate-agent.html

"In order to give buyers and sellers the best possible protection and service, Rightmove does not accept property advertisements from private sellers or private landlords. All the property featured on our site must comply with the requirements of the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991."

GAH

The majority of these online agents shouldn't even be advertising on rightmove. Rightmove state that Agents, be it online or shop fronted should be visiting peoples homes to carry out appraisals.

High Street agents do, these online agents don't. Some of the online agents send a photographer to take photos but thats it. So they shouldn't even be advertising there. But Rightmove don't really care anymore.

sweetd

oh yes protection of the buyer from false information, yet another false objection to a non EA perfect internet maket......... most buyers would visit the property and get a survey done, that's enough protection....... I smell restrictive practices and a "profession" in retreat.......