Online estate agent or not

Surrey_EA

selina37 wrote: »

Just make sure its no sale no fee - otherwise there is no incentive for them to keep pushing for you.

It's normally a case of, very low fee, or no-sale, no-fee, pick one.

antilles

I live in St Helens - I sold a house there (in Clock Face) this year using House Network - they were brilliant, very proactive and a lot cheaper than high street agents (I paid under £600 where the high street agents were coming in about 2 grand, so it was a no brainer really). The listing and photography were brilliant.

I had the house listed with a couple of local agents in St Helens and took it off the market for a while when it failed to sell, then I relisted it with House Network after I realised the high street agents were basically just taking phone calls and listing it on Rightmove. It sold within a week with House Network.

I did the viewings myself but it sold on the first viewing anyway.

I'm still in St Helens now and the house I bought was listed by PurpleBricks - their local agent was really nice and seemed to know his stuff.

I'd never use a high street agent again now - money for old rope basically.

LittleMax

Brightspark87 wrote: »

Just to add my thoughts. I hated being shown around some of the houses by online agents - they didnt know the area, house or anything. Local agents really sold us our home and made us see full asking was reasonable.

I thought most online agents were cheaper because they get the vendor to do the viewings. Being able to meet the vendor and ask them about the house is always preferable to me when I am buying.

eddddy

LittleMax wrote: »

I thought most online agents were cheaper because they get the vendor to do the viewings..

I suspect that the 'cost' of conducting viewings is less significant than other costs.

I suspect that much more of the EA's time and effort can go into negotiation and sales progression.

And the really big difference in costs is...
- Pay whether or not you sell (fixed up front fee)
- Only pay if you sell (No Sale No fee)


If you instruct an EA and then decide that they are useless, I guess it's nice to be able to move to another EA, without having to pay the useless one anything.

Rain_Shadow

antilles wrote: »

I had the house listed with a couple of local agents in St Helens and took it off the market for a while when it failed to sell, then I relisted it with House Network after I realised the high street agents were basically just taking phone calls and listing it on Rightmove. It sold within a week with House Network.

.

Did you list it at the same price as the agents did?

googler

antilles wrote: »

I live in St Helens - I sold a house there (in Clock Face) this year using House Network - ... (I paid under £600 where the high street agents were coming in about 2 grand

I'd never use a high street agent again now - money for old rope basically.

Would you still have paid the £600 if your house hadn't sold?

Surrey_EA

googler wrote: »

Would you still have paid the £600 if your house hadn't sold?

House Network appear to have two payment options, either £699(inc VAT) upfront, or £699(inc VAT) paid on completion of the sale or after 12 months, whichever happens first.

skimper

We sold our apartment in Warrington with House Network & I couldn't fault them. We paid the £600 up front - it was a risk but it was a popular area & good for rentals.

We also did the viewings our self - but I prefer that as we can answer all the questions viewers have.

If we were to sell again I would go back to them.

hazyjo

I'm using online agents soon. Will save me thousands. Have decided it's between Housenetwork and eMoov. Both seem to have had very good reviews lately.


Jx

sheff6107

Sold a 125k flat with an online agent in 6 weeks.

Tried the same thing with a 550k house and still unsold after a year.