Online estate agents

steve1980

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I really don't understand the part about estate agents having 'a good client base.' Aren't these the same clients that look at Rightmove to see other houses with other agents?

I do wish someone could tell me what exactly an estate agent does that having a good advert on Rightmove doesn't cover.

In my experience they send you to houses that are entirely inappropriate and will do anything to get their exhorbitant fee.

There are some people that don't know how to use the internet and rely on an estate agent to find them a property.

Have you seen some agents attempts at advertising a property on Rightmove?

When you say they they send you nothing but inappropriate properties are these the ones in a booklet form? When you call the agent do you say "I'm looking for a 3 bedroom property upto £250,000" and they send you a 2 bed priced at £200,000 but with the potential to extend?

GAH

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I really don't understand the part about estate agents having 'a good client base.' Aren't these the same clients that look at Rightmove to see other houses with other agents?

I do wish someone could tell me what exactly an estate agent does that having a good advert on Rightmove doesn't cover.

In my experience they send you to houses that are entirely inappropriate and will do anything to get their exhorbitant fee.

Having previously worked in estate agency for many years, it is extremely common that if somebody calls up regarding a particular property, the majority of the time they won't buy the one they have enquired about, they will buy something else.

I know there is a lot of negativity on here about what agents actually do for their money, but good agents will know their database of clients and will match the right ones to the right properties.

Its not rocket science, but its also not as easy as it sounds as well.

Hoof_Hearted

I used Housenetwork and they were great. There is a whole thread on here about it somewhere.

Stand by for Googler to appear.....and Richard Webster.....

richardw

GAH wrote: »

but good agents will know their database of clients and will match the right ones to the right properties.

But this is ignoring that more and more buyers are becoming more and more internet savvy and are quite capable of finding what suits their requirements without having to be 'sold' something.

googler

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

I used Housenetwork and they were great. There is a whole thread on here about it somewhere.

Stand by for Googler to appear.....and Richard Webster.....

Well, since you and WebGuru have already spammed both your favoured sites, how can I refuse?

spam button clicked in both cases.

WebGuru

Yep, as this site is called Money Saving Expert, and the amount of money saved on estate agent commission just on the current number of properties for sale with online agents is £14 Million, then I think it should get a mention....

£14 Million is quite alot, isn't it?

Hoof_Hearted

timmyt wrote: »

How many more millions have been lost to sellers by some online agents not having any incentive to squeeze the buyers for that extra £5k etc?

:eek:

If a high street agent had got me an extra £5,000, I would still be worse off.

WebGuru

So you have fallen for the sales patter that high street agents give you and you pay more than you are prepared to?

googler

WebGuru wrote: »

Yep, as this site is called Money Saving Expert, and the amount of money saved on estate agent commission just on the current number of properties for sale with online agents is £14 Million, then I think it should get a mention....

Sounds like a sales pitch to me.

How is this figure derived?

Laf_2

Thank you all for your comments. I will shop around for an online agent. It is not that I have anything against high street ones, I am just happy to negotiate and deal with viewings myself and could do with saving the money.

Many thanks.