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Comments
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What?!
What good is an estate agent if it cant attract buyers? That would be literally as useful as an underwater hairdryer...
If it is known widespread that online agents cant sell, then people wont use them...
One of the most absurd comments I have heard....
It doesn't need to attract buyers, it needs to attract sellers.0 -
Are you deliberately missing the point? 'Many people will just sign up'... That is just not true, hence the lack of interest in our property. If loads of people would then why does the agency only have 2 flats within a 10 mile radius or so on their books? This is whereas a high street agent that charges 1800% of the online agent has a whole range of them.
The fact they have only 2 flats within a 10 mile radius of yours is irrelevant. Their business model is such that they cover virtually the whole of the UK. Rightmove tells me they have nearly 2000 properties currently listed, in barely a year of trading.
Whether any of these properties sell or not makes no difference to their short term revenue. As you point out, if in the medium to long term it becomes apparent that if you sign up to dorrsteps then you are unlikely to sell then their reputation will be harmed. However, reliable statistics for such things are notoriously difficult to produce. I suspect by the time any such evidence becomes available, if indeed it is the case, then the current owner will be long gone.0 -
Where did I say we would not be treating it as a business?
In the section of your post that I quoted. Should I quote it again, with what I see as the salient points?
OK ...
"we have no USP and have no visions of grandeur or immediate rush to generate profit or medium-term desire to make massive profit. There are no financial pressures to ensure it is a success but we are willing to give it a go, test the market and see if we can make it work."0 -
No, still cant see where I said we wont be treating it as a business.0
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Are you deliberately missing the point? 'Many people will just sign up'... That is just not true, hence the lack of interest in our property. If loads of people would then why does the agency only have 2 flats within a 10 mile radius or so on their books? This is whereas a high street agent that charges 1800% of the online agent has a whole range of them.
No mate, you're missing the point. The two below explained it just fine so I'm outa here.AnotherJoe wrote: »It doesn't need to attract buyers, it needs to attract sellers.
^^This.The fact they have only 2 flats within a 10 mile radius of yours is irrelevant. Their business model is such that they cover virtually the whole of the UK. Rightmove tells me they have nearly 2000 properties currently listed, in barely a year of trading.
Whether any of these properties sell or not makes no difference to their short term revenue. As you point out, if in the medium to long term it becomes apparent that if you sign up to dorrsteps then you are unlikely to sell then their reputation will be harmed. However, reliable statistics for such things are notoriously difficult to produce. I suspect by the time any such evidence becomes available, if indeed it is the case, then the current owner will be long gone.
^^This.2024 wins: *must start comping again!*0 -
AnotherJoe wrote: »It doesn't need to attract buyers, it needs to attract sellers.
That's right.... as long as you continue to blissfully ignore that if there are no buyers, then no sellers will want to be there...
So I think that buyers are kind of important. If not, why even put a telephone number for buyers to enquire?0 -
That is because you have not understood the market these companies are in. People like Doorsteps are not trying to be estate agents and 'sell' properties, they are a cheap listing service enabling the owner to sell their own home themselves.
They are offering a different type of service, with a different pricing structure.
You would think I would realise that having stated that I have listed my property via Doorsteps. However, if they are charging fees and not getting any traffic, then future sellers wont bother if they know this.
An estate agent that has around 100 properties listed will a) get more people calling them / more buyers on their books and can b) recommend other similar properties to buyers that they may not have looked at. If you have 2 properties on your books then you have nothing to recommend and therefore have less buyers lurking around.
Not difficult to understand....0 -
We have recently put our house on the market with Doorsteps, which charge as little as £99. This is great but there has been an obvious downside
In 2 months the interest in our property has been poor and so we are now moving to a high street estate agent and already the interest has picked up.
It may be me but I am struggling to get this. How has moving it to a high street estate agent changed how much interest is in the house? Do people still actually go into estate agents to look for property? There is never anybody in the ones near where I work.
I assumed, possibly incorrectly, that in this day and age, the first port of call if you are looking for a house to buy would be online on your Rightmoves and Zoopla, etc?0 -
But, they're not trying to be estate agents in the traditional sense. They do not want prospective buyers ringing them so that they can recommend other possible properties. They aren't going to hold details of prospective buyers on their books. As has been mentioned above, they are trying to attract sellers, not buyers.
An estate agent that has around 100 properties listed will a) get more people calling them / more buyers on their books and can b) recommend other similar properties to buyers that they may not have looked at. If you have 2 properties on your books then you have nothing to recommend and therefore have less buyers lurking around.
They are purely a pay upfront listing service, with the property owner dealing with the buyer direct.
I'm not entirely convinced of that.Not difficult to understand....
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That's right.... as long as you continue to blissfully ignore that if there are no buyers, then no sellers will want to be there...
So I think that buyers are kind of important. If not, why even put a telephone number for buyers to enquire?
These EAs, or at least the OPs , don't have buyers, they don't sell anything.
As the OP said, I didnt need them to 'sell' my house. I needed them to take the photos, do a floorplan and an EPC; advertise my house and let me know when someone wanted to view it and when an offer was received.
So the telephone is just for someone to call and make an offer. And that's about it.
So it's pretty much a proxy for getting a good looking listing on RM or Zoopla. Nothing more. There's no one plugging away trying to sell your house, it's not what they do..0
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