housenetwork - a review

new_home_owner_3

I instructed the housenetwork i went the for the 199 fee and and they kept on saying the hip pack was not right, i think they was trying to get me to buy another one through them, in the end they managed to get my property on, but by that time it was three weeks later, i told them i was not happy and i did get a full refund.

If you are thinking of the housenetwork i would not bother, i would try housesimple and go for the 0.5% deal, then if they dont sell you have got nothing to lose, and it hasnt cost you any money.

With the housentwork they take the money up front, plus if your house is on for 12 months you now have to pay a additional fee, so think about? why would they want to sell your house when they have been paid for it up front and if it? and the longer it stays on the market they get another payday.

Housesimple use all the major portals like rightmove, findaproperty, heres the link

http://www.housesimple.co.uk/

Chinahand

Love reading all your news in the UK re the housing - thankx.

If it is in any way a backup to people in the UK. I live in China (Hong Kong) and will in the future move back to blighty. (been away for 28+ years now) and my favourite place to look for property is on Rightmove.(Expats I am friendly with or who have gone back to the UK over the past 24 years here - ALL cited Rightmove as their first choice for looking and 'Stags' for property in the South of England.

Primelocation site is too slow, annoys the hell out of me. :-(

One tip I would give as an 'internet' buyer is the more pics the merrier and the inclusion of primary schools, secondary schools. (I don't need either - nor do I want to be living next door to one - been there, seen that...

not_loaded

googler wrote: »

Same applies to Rightmove in large areas of Scotland, so that's a double negative whammy for Housenetwork....

Clearly it doesn’t make sense to extend a business into an area where life will be difficult, especially right now. Common sense?

Make the best of the situation before they work out how to do it!

googler wrote: »

I haven't looked everywhere, but down my way (Lothians), barely 25-30% of the available properties seem to be on RM - and even then, RM just duplicates what's on the agents own sites..... so why not look at the source?…

RM and other portals pull the information into just one place for your search to be more efficient. You mean ‘why not look at the sources?’. Many sites or one site? Easy choice I’d have thought.

googler wrote: »

With established SPCs and SPC websites, it becomes a case of "How can RM/PL pull the web traffic away from the established sites....?"

Slowly but surely, is I think, the answer to that.

cashndash wrote: »

has anyone else got any recent experience of Housenetwork please?

Have a gander at:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1912833

googler

"RM and other portals pull the information into just one place for your search to be more efficient. You mean ‘why not look at the sources?’. Many sites or one site? Easy choice I’d have thought."

Your search will only be improved for 25-30% of the total listings, and it seems they're unlikely to have more for some time, given the way that the market's going here - I really don't see RM making any inroads.

I did mean 'the source' as in the source of all the aggregrated data.

mouse10

I am selling with Housenetwork and have been happy with their service.
They came round and took loads of good pictures and provided the Hips.
The viewings we have had have all been arranged smoothly and they chase the viewers up for feedback, which is more than traditional estate agents do in my experience.
I would recommend them.

vbt

We put ours on teh market with them last Thursday and have nothing but praise for them so far. It went on Rightmove on friday and we had a request for a viewing that day. The people that came round have requested a second viewing so we'll see if anything comes of it. The viwers did mention as well how professional and much more helpful housenetwork had been from their end than some high street EAs in the area, so i'm taking that as a good sign too.

googler

It might help if everyone could advise which part of the country, or which county, they are selling in.....?

cashndash

googler wrote: »

It might help if everyone could advise which part of the country, or which county, they are selling in.....?

that would be useful, I was thinking the same thing! but to hear they offer a good service is great.

I rang today to see how they answered the phones etc. wasn't keen on the 'choose this option....' system, however the phone only rang 4 times before it was answered by a human, the chap didn't actually know the house (which is something a real agent would) and he was pleasant enough and happy to post me details which was the nature of my enquiry. I was, however surprised that he didn't take either my phone number or email address, so he won't be able to follow me up to see if I would like to view - that seemed a bit slack!

We are tempted to try the £199 deal and if we get nothing after a month or perhaps 6 weeks, go for a real agent. One thing that was mentioned by a friend is it is all very well saving the money (we will save about £5000), but will they really get the best price for your house, could you loose that money with poor negotitations?

Doozergirl

cashndash wrote: »

that would be useful, I was thinking the same thing! but to hear they offer a good service is great.

I rang today to see how they answered the phones etc. wasn't keen on the 'choose this option....' system, however the phone only rang 4 times before it was answered by a human, the chap didn't actually know the house (which is something a real agent would) and he was pleasant enough and happy to post me details which was the nature of my enquiry. I was, however surprised that he didn't take either my phone number or email address, so he won't be able to follow me up to see if I would like to view - that seemed a bit slack!

We are tempted to try the £199 deal and if we get nothing after a month or perhaps 6 weeks, go for a real agent. One thing that was mentioned by a friend is it is all very well saving the money (we will save about £5000), but will they really get the best price for your house, could you loose that money with poor negotitations?

Find me any agent that will chase you up to see if you want to even view a house! That really would be a thankless task. How many sets of details do you reject before you decide to view one house?

Also, I have to say that House Network tell it like it is. Good negotiation for me is simple negotiation - the butt of it is that the vendor has a bottom price, the buyer a top one. To me it is dependant on the buyer and seller and the way they play things that determine the outcome, not an agent. What can an agent really say to change things? It's nice to have an agent as a go between as it is awkward negotiating directly for some people but agents for me should simply pass messages on rather than fluff things up.

not_loaded

cashndash wrote: »

…We are tempted to try the £199 deal and if we get nothing after a month or perhaps 6 weeks, go for a real agent.

Even with their higher price options you’re not risking much. We’re extremely pleased with the flow and quality of viewings. My phone experience with them has been good. Happy sounding, helpful people.

I like the ‘go for a real agent’ bit!

cashndash wrote: »

One thing that was mentioned by a friend is it is all very well saving the money (we will save about £5000), but will they really get the best price for your house, could you loose that money with poor negotitations?

You decide what you will accept, not them.

To date we’ve had two viewers progress to offers, both close to asking. One is not proceedable and probably never will be. The other looks promising, with more viewings imminent.

Good luck, whatever you decide.