HouseNetwork

anokayperson

DreamweaverB wrote: »

Another thumbs up for House Network here; Just sold my house (Hemel Hempstead area) for £415k after a few months on the market. I went for the 'First Class' package which was still under £1000... compared to over £4000 all the local EAs quoted so a no-brainer.

Service was excellent, everything was online, viewings were all confirmed by email as was resultant feedback and a full history of everything to do with the property available online 24/7. When my named rep was off one day his stand-in knew exactly what the situation was and progress with buyers wasn't delayed at all.

I'm afraid the days of using a High Street estate agent must be numbered.

Excellent news for you!!! well done. can I ask was it the price you wanted to sell at or did you have to reduce.
also, had long had you had it on with them and
did you have many viewers. thanks

DreamweaverB

anokayperson wrote: »

can I ask was it the price you wanted to sell at or did you have to reduce.
also, had long had you had it on with them and
did you have many viewers. thanks

I had it on at £425k which was the same as a couple of similar properties in the area. Originally it went on the market just before Christmas so not the ideal time to sell but I still had plenty of viewings and then accepted an offer. Sadly the potential buyers then pulled out for personal reasons.

A steady stream of viewings continued through January into February with a couple of low offers refused and then I accepted the £415k offer. The very next day a previous viewer came back with a £420k offer and surprisingly the Christmas buyers also then came back on the scene saying their personal reasons were resolved... so I could have got more and probably full asking if I'd wanted but I'm a man of my word and was happy and confident my chosen buyer would complete - which she did just over a week ago.

FireWyrm

googler wrote: »

This poster apparently is from London. Hoof, who ceaselessly promotes HN, is/was from just outside the M25, so their results seem to tie in with what's reported in the press - London thrives, and the rest of the country is in the doldrums. Therefore, the quoted success in and around London may not be repeatable or achievable elsewhere.

Oh put a sock in it Googler. House Network just works and for a fraction of the cost that 'normal' EAs charge. Any vaguely intelligent adult could do a viewing, it doesn't require an 'expert' who charges thousands for a phantom 'service'. All a vendor really needs is access to Rightmove, some decent photos and finally, when an expert is actually needed, a solicitor. Your posts are consistently critical of a business model that is growing in popularity and yet you fail to offer any actual personal experience for your biased viewpoint. The sales of the houses in this thread might have something to do with location, but my property wasn't anywhere near London and a cursory check of HN show that many others they list arnt either. The truth is that EAs were greedy before the boom but viewed as a necessary evil since HN and others didn't really exist then. Now the online agents are becomming well known, traditional EAs are an endangered species. It's called supply and demand. If company A is offering the same service that company B is offering, but for 1/10th the price, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out which one to go for.

Estate Agents are not 'professionals', they are sale men/women who do a job for a vastly inflated asking price. Sellers are finally wising up and grasping the fact that selling a house uses exactly the same principles as selling a car, you advertise, you Market, you show. Ordinary people can do it and traditional estate agents are completely beside the point in the age of the Internet.

Better_Days

Thanks to you all sharing your experiences re HN - I have been seriously considering using HN as I have been totally underwhelmed by our local EA's. Looking through the thread the positives and negatives appear to be (in no particular order, just as they occurred to me):

Positive
1. Cost - significantly cheaper
2. Property appears on RM and other major portals
3. Good quality photo's
4. Convenience of dealing with EA online
5. Viewings - will need to be done by vendor, who is most likely to be knowledgeable about the property than the EA.
6. Are not forced to deal with an 'unimpressive' local agent because there is no other option
7. HN provides vendors with RM data to assist in gauging interest in the property (and the quality of details)
8. No lengthy tie in with HN or extra charge for duel/multi agency
9. 5 selling options so vendor can tailor to their needs
10. HN don't try and flog mortgages to vendor and/or buyer

Negative
1. Cost - although significantly cheaper, fee is paid 'up front'
2. Valuation - vendor needs to have a good idea of the realistic valuation as HN is unlikely to have in depth local knowledge - this is likely to have a knock on effect when HN are negotiating with potential buyers
3. Lots of photo's may put off potential buyers
4. Bias towards London and SE? - a negative if this is true and you are not selling in this region
5. Not everyone has access to the internet or if they do, they may prefer to conduct the sale and/or purchase of property with someone they have met 'face to face'
6. No ads in local press or 'shop window'
7. HN unlikely to have built up a relationship with local solicitors and conveyancers which may be an advantage when progressing a sale
8. Viewings - will need to be done by vendor which may not be possible due to work commitments, ill health etc
9. HN will not have a list of applicants who they can ring to see if they are interested in the property
10. How well do HN screen out timewasters?
11. 5 selling options (plus optional extras) - some vendors may find this confusing
12. HN have the money up front so vendor has to trust HN to put the work in to sell the property for the best price

No doubt I have missed some, those of you who have used HN, and those of you who are high street EA's (or ex EA's) - do you have any +/- to add please?

FireWyrm

Better_Days wrote: »

Thanks to you all sharing your experiences re HN - I have been seriously considering using HN as I have been totally underwhelmed by our local EA's. Looking through the thread the positives and negatives appear to be (in no particular order, just as they occurred to me):

Positive
1. Cost - significantly cheaper
2. Property appears on RM and other major portals
3. Good quality photo's
4. Convenience of dealing with EA online
5. Viewings - will need to be done by vendor, who is most likely to be knowledgeable about the property than the EA.
6. Are not forced to deal with an 'unimpressive' local agent because there is no other option
7. HN provides vendors with RM data to assist in gauging interest in the property (and the quality of details)
8. No lengthy tie in with HN or extra charge for duel/multi agency
9. 5 selling options so vendor can tailor to their needs
10. HN don't try and flog mortgages to vendor and/or buyer

Negative
1. Cost - although significantly cheaper, fee is paid 'up front' Yes, but for £500, isn't it worth a punt, as opposed to a guaranteed cost of many thousands. Even if it doesn't sell, this way, you havnt lost much in real terms of buying and selling houses...
2. Valuation - vendor needs to have a good idea of the realistic valuation as HN is unlikely to have in depth local knowledge - this is likely to have a knock on effect when HN are negotiating with potential buyers You would have to have this anyway. If you are unsure, go along and look in the local EA shop windows for a ball park figure or check Zoopla and LR for actual sold prices in your area. I don't see this as an issue personally. House prices are all about what you can get, not what they are 'worth'.
3. Lots of photo's may put off potential buyers I'm buying a house, not a washing machine. I want to see many more photos than you would typically get in an eBay listing and I want to be able to imagine it before I waste my time with a visit.
4. Bias towards London and SE? - a negative if this is true and you are not selling in this region It's not true. It just happens the recent sample indicates this. HN sell all over
5. Not everyone has access to the internet or if they do, they may prefer to conduct the sale and/or purchase of property with someone they have met 'face to face' As the vendor doing the viewing, you are face to face. Some people may want to deal with a traditional EA, but so what...I don't buy cars through exchange and mart, it doesn't mean no one does.
6. No ads in local press or 'shop window' Nothing stopping you doing so yourself. Take the photos HN supply, they're yours and knock up a flyer for the local shop. HN supply a for sake board anyway which is the way most potential buyer spot houses in the area they are interested in.
7. HN unlikely to have built up a relationship with local solicitors and conveyancers which may be an advantage when progressing a sale HN use a 'whole market' system for solicitors. It's how I found the solicitor I dealt with twice ultimately. I didn't have a problem and found them to be reasonably efficient and frankly, cheaper than the traditional solicitors. Some would make this as a negative, but I decided to take the risk and wasnt disappointed either time. In reality, it was always the opposition solicitor causing my solicitor grief, not the other way around...but that's purely personal opinion
8. Viewings - will need to be done by vendor which may not be possible due to work commitments, ill health etc Perhaps. But there is an element of deciding whether you really want to sell this house in this Market or not. You make arrangements to suit your situation. Personally, as a buyer, I wanted to look the vendor in the eye, not some local EA who has no idea and couldn't answer even basic questions. The EA I dealt with as a buyer was just a key holder, nothing more.
9. HN will not have a list of applicants who they can ring to see if they are interested in the property I don't think this is true. Yu can register interest in an area and get email updates of new properties listed, just like traditional EAs. In reality, I was contacted once by an EA drumming up interest in a new development. It wasn't suitable according to the criteria we had given, so his call was a complete waste of my time. He was just spamming.
10. How well do HN screen out time waster?They don't. Time wasters are just that, it happens whether you are selling cars or houses. Live with it.
11. 5 selling options (plus optional extras) - some vendors may find this confusing Perhaps. Is the vendor a reasonably intelligent adult and can they read?
12. HN have the money up front so vendor has to trust HN to put the work in to sell the property for the best price HN don't set the price, the vendor does. It's up to them to get it right. If it's not shifting, lower the price, you can do so through your vendor options online. It takes 2 minutes.

No doubt I have missed some, those of you who have used HN, and those of you who are high street EA's (or ex EA's) - do you have any +/- to add please?

I've added some comments.

geoffky

It looks like a great working model and i really hope it cuts out the estate agents who charge over 6k to sell a house...time is up for the dinosaurs i think..Well done all sellers

CJHKing

Housenetwork has provided an excellent service at about 10% of the price we were quoted by local Estate Agents. Viewers commented how helpful the Housenetwork employees had been on the phone and how useful it had been to make an immediate booking for viewing. All queries were promptly dealt with – and as a result, we have nothing but praise for the Housenetwork service and have already recommended them to several friends.