Experience with online agents (eMoov, HouseSimple etc.)

googler

Which decade is/was the 'net decade'?

Why has the repeal of The Property Misdescriptions Act and the adoption of Consumer Protection Regulations changed the situation for online agents? If you're going to quote legislation, get its name right, if nothing else....

I'd be surprised if the CEO of Poundland had any difficulty raising half a million for anything, so don't see why this is particularly relevant to estate agency.

With regard to your last point - in house selling, you're buying a service, not a widget.

whalster

Ok misdescriptions indeed ,I blame a slip of the ipad for that one however the principle remains the same .

The fear is evident in the tone of your postings but your right SOME people will always pay for a service however the balance will swing massively the other way .
I suppose horse breeders were afraid on introduction of early tractors but hey we still have horses ,for pets!

A link below for a little more clarity

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-it-easier-to-trade/supporting-pages/buying-and-selling-property-online

googler

What 'fear' ???

jackie99_2

I tried to advertise my property via emoov and housesimple.

I must say this is a good concept but there are scammers like housesimple who will mislead you into thinking that you have got to pay nothing as long as there is no sale or after 12 months.

I got an offer from another agent and told Housesimple to remove my advert after 2 weeks of posting.

They told me that I will still have to pay the £395 plus VAT fee (about £500) regardless.

Now on their main site, they mention if the property sells or if it is over 12 months.

When you actually register and accept terms, there is this sentence about paying regardless.

This is what I call misleading marketing. Tricking people into thinking they dont have to pay anything unless they have assisted you.

So right now, I am suppose to pay them for putting my advert up and getting me one viewing for nothing.

BEWARE!

Stay away from these scammers. I googled their reviews and the good reviews are from people who got something sold. They dont allow just anyone who has chosen them to advertise to write a review however, I found trustpilot site and that is where you see their true face.

suecoo66

richardw wrote: »

If it'll look good in photos online and the price is right, you'll probably get viewings.
You'll have to do all the viewings though and all the chasing up to get the sale through.
So you need to be a bit of a salesperson and understand the sale process.
You might get a good fee quote from a traditional estate agent if they can see a swift sale at £250k.

Most sellers conduct their own viewings anyway.
I've used an online agent and negotiations etc were dealt with by the agent

sheff6107

I sold a flat with an online agent in 6 weeks. Tried the same with a house four times more expensive and it didn't sell. Moved to a traditional agent and got twice as many viewings. Don't know why since everyone does Rightmove, but there you go.

JP08

sheff6107 wrote: »

I sold a flat with an online agent in 6 weeks. Tried the same with a house four times more expensive and it didn't sell. Moved to a traditional agent and got twice as many viewings. Don't know why since everyone does Rightmove, but there you go.

I think it's because a "good" estate agent will know which house might pique the interest of people already looking on his books - possibly better than they know themselves. The old "not quite what you're asking for" or "over your preferred price range" followed by the buyer falling for something about the house they didn't even know was on their criteria.

You don't get that happening when they are rejecting a place on Rightmove because it's 10% over superficially similar properties in an area. Or because the frontage picture is a little "challenging"

hazyjo

This is a very old thread which has been bumped - just mentioning it as there have been a few new posts.


Lots of far newer posts about online agents.


Jx

cashbackproblems

Lots of experience with online agents and all have been far more efficient than high street ones and a fraction of the price e.g. purple bricks.

Cash_Cow

I used House Simple for a Let and they were absolutely shocking {text removed by MSE Forum Team} they wouldn't refund an inventory check 'add-on' that wasn't required as they couldn't let a bone to a dog and so I had to pay again and use a high st agent who let it in 3 days. Despite their catalogue of errors, frustrations and failure to communicate or let they just kept the full fee.

What is absolutely shocking though is {text removed by MSE Forum Team} Truspilot reviews (and others). Just have a look at the fake reviews by staff on there - mostly bigging each other up by name. Real reviewers tell a different story. Trustpilot {text removed by MSE Forum Team} have no interest in taking these fake reviews down - only getting the fees from the company. I was so disappointed but they 'aren't able to judge if a review is genuine or not' even when it is staring them right in the face This makes their site a chocolate teapot, but worse, misleads people making buying decisions based on fake reviews.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/housesimple.com