Selling house with Purplebricks

dalehitchy

I may be a little stupid here.... But I don't even know why agents (Inc purple bricks) are needed.

We bought through PB as a first time buyer this year. Other than opening the door.... What do these agents actually do? Most people use Rightmove or zoopla so their individual websites arnt that important.

If the person who I bought off was still around to open the door then I really don't understand what use the estate agent would have been.

marliepanda

dalehitchy wrote: »

I may be a little stupid here.... But I don't even know why agents (Inc purple bricks) are needed.

We bought through PB as a first time buyer this year. Other than opening the door.... What do these agents actually do? Most people use Rightmove or zoopla so their individual websites arnt that important.

If the person who I bought off was still around to open the door then I really don't understand what use the estate agent would have been.

Only agents can list on rightmove so without them, currently, nothing would be on there.

I suppose it's to stop it becoming gumtree...

Davesnave

dalehitchy wrote: »

We bought through PB as a first time buyer this year. Other than opening the door.... What do these agents actually do? Most people use Rightmove or zoopla so their individual websites arnt that important.

I think if a house has a unique selling feature,or two, people will find it, provided it's made obvious in the Rightmove listing.

However, there are many thousands of properties that don't have even one outstanding feature, so for those, an on-line, please-yourself sort of agent with a fee paid up-front, won't be the best. They will maybe need a push from someone with a bit of local knowledge, and a little persuasion for both sides when it comes to a deal on price.

No reason why an on-line agent can't do the above, of course, if their catchmernt is manageable.

RancidM

I'm selling with PB and have been in direct email contact with a potential buyer.

Im buying via a high street EA and all communications has to be via the EA, i called the EA 3 times in the last 3 days to speak to the branch manager as he is the only one who can speak on behalf of our vendor.

id much rather be speaking to the vendor directly.

haras_nosirrah

dalehitchy wrote: »

I may be a little stupid here.... But I don't even know why agents (Inc purple bricks) are needed.

We bought through PB as a first time buyer this year. Other than opening the door.... What do these agents actually do? Most people use Rightmove or zoopla so their individual websites arnt that important.

If the person who I bought off was still around to open the door then I really don't understand what use the estate agent would have been.

I am not an estate agent but do a lot of work with them professionally. They do a lot more than just stick a property on rightmove and wait for the phone to ring

When a property market appraisal is booked they phone through their existing data base in the right sort of price range to let them know something may be coming to market to see if a potential viewing could be booked in if it comes to market. They value the property and take professional pictures and floor plans, they write the descriptions and get it checked and produce brochures, window displays, put boards up, rightmove listings. They then ring everyone again to get viewings booked in, conduct the viewings, chase for feedback, report feedback and monitor data trends e.g. number of click views against viewings. When the property sells they negotiate offers to get the most they can for their client and confirm the buyers position, check the chain to make sure the whole chain is proceedable, chase solicitors, chase other agents, field calls from buyers and sellers who constantly threatening to pull out on each other if something doesn't get done by a certain date, sort out negotiations about fixtures and fittings, chase the chain and solicitors for paperwork being returned, solicitors enquiries being answered, verifying ID and fulfilling money laundering criteria. At the end of it all 1 in 3 don't make it to exchange as people pull out sometimes on the day of exchange.

They take no money upfront so could legitimately do all the above work for 3-4 months and the vendor changes their mind on exchange day and they get absolutely nothing. This is why online agents charge upfront.

It is more than taking a photo and sticking it on rightmove.

sazandy25

If you do stay with Purple Bricks, Please do not use their conveyancing firm.

For the sake of your sanity & your buyers avoid them.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5686373

Crashy_Time

02346631 wrote: »

I had a good experience with purplebricks as well, i didn't get the house but i liked the way the whole thing was in your own hands a bit more. I do get the impression it depends totally on the area though and the quality of the agents they have. It's still earlyish days for the online estate agents like purplebricks.

I certainly think this is the direction of travel though, so much is done online via rightmove these days. There seems to be less and less justification for the price that high street estate agents charge for their services.

Yep.......

peterogers_2

I think its a scam, you pay them and they do nothing but find other schmucks to pay before they sell. Avoid them, you dont need anyone to self sell but may need help advertising on the web as the big sites are pro only although I heard there is a way around this. Dont ask me wat it is but there is a way I was told?

capital0ne

I think it's time for a web app, bit like these GoCompare sites, that rates estate agent's

It should show advertised price, sold price, weeks on the market, number of viewings, weeks to complete, failed sales, total sales and finally costs. This could be organised by area, agent's etc so a comparison could be made.

Some of this info could be 'scraped' from existing sites to form the basic app.

Come on developers, it can be done.

googler

dalehitchy wrote: »

I may be a little stupid here.... But I don't even know why agents (Inc purple bricks) are needed.

We bought through PB as a first time buyer this year. Other than opening the door.... What do these agents actually do? Most people use Rightmove or zoopla so their individual websites arnt that important.

If the person who I bought off was still around to open the door then I really don't understand what use the estate agent would have been.

Most sellers have working lives, and aren't available to take enquiries about their property during the working day. That's one thing you hire an agent for.

Many viewers will want to view your property at times when you're at work. Most sellers will be unable to drop out of work at a moment's notice to go home for a viewing. That's one thing you hire an agent for.

Much of the back-and-forth to finalise matters will be done during the working day, and few sellers will, again, be able to duck out of work to field phone calls from their buyer, buyer's agent, surveyor, and possibly calls relating to their onward purchase.

You're a first-time buyer. You haven't sold yet. You may well not be involved in a sale for a number of years, and may not sell again for a number of years after that.

Given this wide gap between your experiences of selling, would you really be the best person to handle it? Wouldn't it be best left to someone who does this every working day?