Today's thread about Purple Bricks.....BBC report

pinklady21

Using them is like a "£1000 coin toss" apparently....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42915433

Gabbs_the_Newt

I don't doubt that when the market matures some very good, online, fixed fee agents will surface, but like with all emergent industries the early adopters are not great.

PokerPlayer111

pinklady21 wrote: »

Using them is like a "£1000 coin toss" apparently....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42915433

Good job many understand using the BBC as a reliable information source is not a coin toss.

Ebay had problems at first and still does but overall Ebay has been a great step forward in trade. Lets hope some online housing sites can offer the same step forward in housing.

If the company purplebricks dont improve maybe others will take the leed. Anything that replaces traditonal estate agents is money in all of our pockets vs theirs. The tradional EA system has to go 1 way or another its just so bad to interact with and costly.

Kidder81

A coin toss it may be but that model is having an effect on agents in my area. They're now offering lower fees upon completion than they were years ago just to compete. So in this sense, it's already good news for vendors.

Surrey_EA

PokerPlayer111 wrote: »

If the company purplebricks dont improve maybe others will take the leed. Anything that replaces traditonal estate agents is money in all of our pockets vs theirs. The tradional EA system has to go 1 way or another its just so bad to interact with and costly.

Traditional estate agents will not disappear, as seems to be your wish. However, it is inevitable that more sellers will choose the "DIY, pay upfront" model in years to come. This will in turn result in fewer estate agents, and hopefully the ones who offer a poor service will vanish, leaving the decent ones in business.

For some the "DIY pay upfront" model will be a success and potentially save them £££, for others it will prove to be a disaster, and end up costing more in the long run. A lot depends on the type of property and where it is located, as well as the motivation of those involved.

Some sales can be very straightforward and require little management, but you don't need to spend long reading threads on here to understand that others can become complex and need plenty of shepherding to reach a successful completion. A good EA can be the difference between a sale happening and falling through. It is not as black and white as you paint it.

HouseBuyer77

Haven't paid much attention to recent purple bricks threads but I wonder if a lot of the complaints stem from people not understanding what they're signing up for. Purple bricks is not just a cheap EA it's a different way of selling that requires the vendor to do more. Those expecting a standard EA experience will be disappointed.

PokerPlayer111

Surrey_EA wrote: »

Traditional estate agents will not disappear, as seems to be your wish.

My wish is they are used at a minimum. Keeping middlemen out of any trade or at tiny cut is in most cases good for buyer/seller. ATM we are stuck with traditional EA monopoly. :wall:

troffasky

PokerPlayer111 wrote: »

Keeping middlemen out of any trade or at tiny cut is in most cases good for buyer/seller.

Absolutely.

PokerPlayer111 wrote: »

ATM we are stuck with traditional EA monopoly. :wall:

Given that this thread is about a method of selling houses that is not a traditional estate agent, they can't really have a monopoly, can they?

googler

PokerPlayer111 wrote: »

Keeping middlemen out of any trade or at tiny cut is in most cases good for buyer/seller. ATM we are stuck with traditional EA monopoly.

... because, I would suggest, most sellers WANT someone to do the work for them. You may have the time to do your own sale, but most folks don't.

They want to be able to carry on with their working and home lives while someone else takes phone calls, organises viewings, etc etc.

Haven't you got things you would rather do than deal with viewers who don't turn up, buyers who don't buy, and all the others? Or do you really want to do this, regardless of how much time it takes away from your work and leisure?

googler

PokerPlayer111 wrote: »

If the company purplebricks dont improve maybe others will take the leed. Anything that replaces traditonal estate agents is money in all of our pockets vs theirs. The tradional EA system has to go 1 way or another its just so bad to interact with and costly.

PB are becoming more like a traditional EA with each passing day. I'm sure they'll admit themselves that they're a "hybrid" agent, not an online one.

PokerPlayer111

googler wrote: »

... because, I would suggest, most sellers WANT someone to do the work for them. You may have the time to do your own sale, but most folks don't.

They want to be able to carry on with their working and home lives while someone else takes phone calls, organises viewings, etc etc.

Haven't you got things you would rather do than deal with viewers who don't turn up, buyers who don't buy, and all the others? Or do you really want to do this, regardless of how much time it takes away from your work and leisure?

Yeah i get your point if you generally would rather pay traditional EAs to do it and have spare funds sure go ahead. End result is you feed the traditional system though and it is parasitical - if that triggers EAs so be it. If it were good value and enjoyable to interact with most EAs then it would be fine.

There is a huge group of people in UK who do have the time and need to save on EA costs but are economically illiterate and could do with getting stuck in. Probably most have some kind of mental barrier from the heavy nanny state indoctrination/socialization in UK. Its not healthy, most people should be comfortable with trade/learning trade else the market in that area becomes unhealthy (which it kinda is). The traditional EAs will forever justify why you need to use them, they are bias. They'll probably use some fear selling argument about what things can go wrong blah blah blah or how they will sell your house for more blah blah blah.

BTW if Purplebricks turn out garbage then use anyone else, much choice out there.