purple brick

thenoblebunny

it is interesting to see a new competitor emerge in this area. Given the dominance of right move and Zoopla it is unsurprising that Purple bricks have spent so much on marketing to try and get a cut through. However it lists properties on both of those sites as well.

The crux of what they are trying to do is in the real time portal to manage the process.
If you think about what eBay did for creating a true market place for sellers of everyday items, Purple bricks is trying to bring that into the property market.

To be fair it is actually a very natural evolution. its surprising that RM and Zoopla haven't looked to create their own equivalent in the past. Having said that they do have close ties with estate agents.

I was actually at a breakfast the other day and Alex Chesterman was one of the guests. He acknowledged that companies like PB and other property disruptors are making them re-innovate instead of defending from the top. A folly certain tech companies from SV have fallen foul of.

The problem as outlined previously is the level of customer care. It sounds to me that they either have them on their own books (that would be costly) or they are utilising agents in an almost freelance way (uber model) which obviously has its pros and cons in either direction.

For me any kind of disruption is fascinating to see, if it saves consumers and makes life easier and more transparent then all the better.

GoldenShadow

We offered on a property via Purple Brick. I found it really difficult to figure out how to use the website and it seemed impossible to be able to speak to one, channels of communication were rubbish.

In the end I had to chase and find out if offer was going to be accepted/rejected because I wanted to offer on something else. They obviously didn't go a good job of vetting the buyers for that house because the vendor had said they weren't sure what their mortgage situation was and I strongly suspect that's why it fell through. I've seen quite a few sell then go right back up with PB.

Surrey_EA

thenoblebunny wrote: »

it is interesting to see a new competitor emerge in this area. Given the dominance of right move and Zoopla it is unsurprising that Purple bricks have spent so much on marketing to try and get a cut through. However it lists properties on both of those sites as well.

The crux of what they are trying to do is in the real time portal to manage the process.
If you think about what eBay did for creating a true market place for sellers of everyday items, Purple bricks is trying to bring that into the property market.

To be fair it is actually a very natural evolution. its surprising that RM and Zoopla haven't looked to create their own equivalent in the past. Having said that they do have close ties with estate agents.

I was actually at a breakfast the other day and Alex Chesterman was one of the guests. He acknowledged that companies like PB and other property disruptors are making them re-innovate instead of defending from the top. A folly certain tech companies from SV have fallen foul of.

The problem as outlined previously is the level of customer care. It sounds to me that they either have them on their own books (that would be costly) or they are utilising agents in an almost freelance way (uber model) which obviously has its pros and cons in either direction.

For me any kind of disruption is fascinating to see, if it saves consumers and makes life easier and more transparent then all the better.

I'm not sure I would consider PB a competitor of Rightmove & Zoopla. PB will be using RM and Zoopla as a platform to advertise their client's properties in the same way as traditional agents do.

I am also not surprised that RM and Zoopla have not set up a competitor to PB, why would they? Rightmove in particular is making a fortune under the present arrangement, without having to provide any of the content.

SteveRT

From a buyers perspective they are worse than useless. I've rang up at least 5 times now for basic information on a flat they are 'delighted to bring to market' ie, length of lease, ground rent, etc etc and each time I get through to what sounds like a school leaver who tells me that a 'senior advisor' will ring me back. So far zippo. If I was selling my property through these idiots I would be seriously aggrieved at how they treat potential customers. Do yourself a favour if you need to sell your property and go to a high street agent. I'd rather spend the extra money and know for sure they had an incentive to actually SELL my property.

Hevb

I wish I had read some of these reviews before going with purplebricks. They are utterly rubbish. We paid a higher rate for their service as we live in London. £1900, including the extra £200 for the agent to conduct the viewings.
We were given poor advise regarding selling with a short leasehold as the agent had no knowledge and tried to get us to pay £700 to talk to a lease valuer, which only cost £300 via our freeholders management agency.
We then had to have our open day, after only three days on the market as the agent was going on holiday.
A prospective buyer turned up unannounced to view the flat at 8am, as the viewing had automatically been confirmed by the automated 24/7 online system. I had to show him round in my dressing gown!
The agent then sprung the surprise that we automatically had to use their conveyancing company as we had opted for the pay later option. This was never mentioned and I complained to head office. (Terrible call centres that have no idea what's going on, so you can only complain to the agent if you have their number).
A viewing was cancelled without discussion with me as it was booked via the online system for a bank holiday and our agent was on holiday. I had to call three other PB agents to find out who would be covering the viewing in the absence of our agent, but the area manager finally just cancelled the viewing without asking if I could accommodate it. The buyer never rebooked.
The agent flip flopped on price - as we had a short and extended lease price. He constantly changed his mind on the best approach as so on rightmove which tracks the price changes it looked terrible that it was constantly being reduced and then put up again.
We had an offer - via the online system - which I asked the agent not to decline and to wait until later viewings. He declined it.
I felt the agent never chased up on feedback from people who had viewed. He constantly talked over me, on the phone and I ultermately asked for a different agent... Who hardly bothered to respond.
Purplebricks is just an expensive advert on rightmove/zoopla.
We have since gone with winkworth who closed the deal with the first person who viewed it - who said they had previously seen the flat on purplebricks but dismissed it as the pictures were so bad!
They wasted a lot of our time - summer selling time with their terrible service and approach. Better to spend the extra on an proper agent as PB have no incentive and just don't care if you sell.

Conrad

I've tried some internet agents both as buyer and seller and found them dire. The main issue seems to be lack of local expertise, often little knowledge of a property, annoying answer machines and just an overall lack of interest on anything other than getting up front fees. As an investors my first question is length of lease, services charges etc and you can set your watch by them not knowing - it's as if I'm the first person ever to ask for such 'bizzare' info.


When selling, a simple instruction such as my wanting a price alteration is seemingly impossible to enact. An over reliance of their much loved techy systems, but an actual lack of real world meaningful action.

I have also realised I subconsciously avoid looking at properties when on with this type of agent as you just know it's going to be some person in a distant location that knows nothing.


Lastly I know of people that have set up these online firms and in all but one case none had any background in property and thus had that notion being an agent is simple, that a property sells itself which is very often not the case.

socmwils23

with regards the sale side they were great. the agent knew her stuff and took very good photos. Id rate her 10/10 in all honesty.

The aftersales side however is non existent. We are in a farcical chain and it is the estate agent at the top of it who is working damned hard to get it all to go through. Purple Bricks have never even contacted us post sale to see how things are going.

So id rate their after sales service as 0/10 i.e non existent.

As for their conveyancing service...... can we give minus scores?

Ellsey

Don't do it. We have wasted 5 months waiting for our house to sell with them. We paid upfront and the extra for assisted viewings, what viewings though! We have been on market with an independent local estate agent less than a week and we have had an offer. I repeat, don't do it!

Leeds19

PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. I have had a terrible experience with Purple Bricks. The agent has been nowhere to be seen since signing me up 6 months ago; the only contact I have had is automated emails recommending I drop the price of my house in order to sell it. This is after they recommended a sale price £5k (around 4%) below market value for a 'quick sale'.

They pride themselves on 24/7 contact (not sure who contacts their estate agent at 3am) and I did fall for this gimmick when my rep told me he was negotiating a sale at 11pm on a Sunday night. I got an offer at a similar time on a Sunday and requested help to negotiate as it was a low offer (7% below original asking price) but the buyers wanted to move quickly and so did I. PB rep emailed me 3 days later but by this time I had accepted for fear of losing the offer. I have asked him since to chase for a moving date etc - nothing. No response to my emails. Basically, I have had zero help from PB.

If you do need to cut costs then just put it on Rightmove, Zoopla etc yourself and manage the sale yourself. It is stressful, but £600 (plus VAT cheaper) and at least you know that you are acting in your own interests and are relying on yourself rather than having the constant stress of chasing an estate agent that is never going to do anything for you. As other people have said on here, once they have you signed up, where is their incentive to sell? (While you might not pay upfront, you do pay regardless of a sale!)

I am in the process of looking into my options to report them to the relevant body - you don't need this stress on top of a chaotic and long drawn out sale. AVOID them at all costs!

cashbackproblems

Well iv done viewings with these guys and found the whole thing very professional, you book and offer online and have contact with a local agent same as an EA.