Online Estate Agents - Who is best

ellie27

We used Scothousemove and they were great!! Local, based in Glasgow, they come round to take pics/put board up etc and they negotiated for us. They were on the phone all the time to us, arranging viewings and then quick to return feedback. We used a local solicitor.

We had high street estate agents round give us what they recommended we advertise the sale price at first. We sold for more than they were recommending as we felt they were setting a low price.

mystic_bertie

ellie27 wrote: »

We used Scothousemove and they were great!! Local, based in Glasgow, they come round to take pics/put board up etc and they negotiated for us. They were on the phone all the time to us, arranging viewings and then quick to return feedback. We used a local solicitor.

We had high street estate agents round give us what they recommended we advertise the sale price at first. We sold for more than they were recommending as we felt they were setting a low price.

I have bookmarked them as i think it would help using a Scottish based firm to sell. Housesimple seem to have really good fees but then i read a lot of bad reviews about them. Its the upfront fees that are a problem for me. Im unemployed and skint. Im trying to borrow from a family member to take advantage of the low prices using an online estate agent. I found a private surveyor who does the Home Report for £250 inc vat, if anyone knows of a better deal please let me know.

Its true what googler says, many of these companies are English based, so im not sure how competent they are dealing with selling Scottish homes.

movingon

I'm thinking of using housenetwork. Both they and Emoove have a more expensive option where you dont pay up front, just on completion, but equally, you dont have to pay anything at all if you dont sell. (Or, so they say!)

ellie27

mystic_bertie wrote: »

I found a private surveyor who does the Home Report for £250 inc vat, if anyone knows of a better deal please let me know.

Just be careful when choosing who to do your home report. If its done by a 'registered' surveyor then the home report may be accepted by a buyers mortgage provider. If its not accepted then your buyer may ask you to get a 'proper' one done by a registered surveyor as their bank may not accept it.... do a wee bit of research on this. I cant remember the exact qualification etc. Think we paid about £400 for ours.

mystic_bertie

as it turns out i am unable to go for the cheaper deals and the cheaper home report, i dont have the money to pay up front, i asked a family member to borrow the money but they are unable to help. So my only option is to find a local estate agent who can defer all fees till after the sale. So it looks like i will be paying about £1500 instead of £750.

antilles

I'm using House Network at the moment too, another thumbs up from me. Very efficient and very good at chasing people down. I originally tried to sell with a local agent who weren't very good. Plus I saved around £1500.

I think House Network have just changed their packages so you get the option of paying on completion now, definitely worth a look.

worried_jim

joesab wrote: »

Not that Ive ever used an agent but my parents have bought and sold a few times and every time that Purple Bricks advert comes on, we are all flabbergasted as to why anyone would use an agent who has gone out of their way to look like incompetent idiots

I find every sort of advert now contains an absolute knuckle dragging idiot who should take themselves out of the gene pool for the sake of humanity.

mystic_bertie

antilles wrote: »

I'm using House Network at the moment too, another thumbs up from me. Very efficient and very good at chasing people down. I originally tried to sell with a local agent who weren't very good. Plus I saved around £1500.

I think House Network have just changed their packages so you get the option of paying on completion now, definitely worth a look.

It seems there are plenty of online agents that you can pay on completion, my main problem is the home report because im in scotland, most surveyors need the fee up front, online agents dont let you defer the home report fee, some local estate agents will, albeit it at a cost.

estwrt

With regards to the legal work you may want to have a look at iconveyancing.scot where the conveyancing costs are totally transparent. The basic conveyancing cost is £299 plus VAT and disbursements. You can receive an instant quotation online, not only covering the legal fees but also estimating government costs such as legal reports and registration fees. The legal work is undertaken by major legal firms, based solely in Scotland.

[Deleted User]

Thinking of using Housesimple, £395 on completion. Filled out the online form and booked a date for them to come round. They emailed me the name and contact number of the guy who is supposed to be coming round, me being me, I googled his name and number and he appears to be some sort of professional freelance photographer. That's great in a way as the photos will be good but what does a pro photographer know about valuations, property descriptions, floor plans, etc?!

Apart from the fees, online agents don't appear to be any more better or honest than high street agents.