Traditional Estate Agent or Purple Bricks or similar

lisyloo

Approach them directly and negotiate.
It can't possible be cheaper to involve a 3rd party that they have to pay.

antilles

Sold 2 previous houses using House Network (online agent) after several recommendations on MSE. The traditional agents were nearly 4 times the price and I saw no difference in service. We had a dedicated member of staff for each sale (plus designated backup) that chased the sale all the way through. We also received a weekly call on top of the normal calls, House Network refund your fee if they fail to make the weekly call. On the second house even got 5k more than the asking price.

I have employed 2 traditional agents for a sale, can't see how either of them had anything over the online agent. If you are comfortable doing your own viewings then go for it. Incidentally, both traditional agents wanted me to do my own viewings too.

martin1959

We are listing tomorrow with a High St EA. We had several round inc Purple Pricks. The ‘Property Expert’ from PB was anything but. A nice lad, but I felt sorry for him. He spent nearly 90 mins trying to baffle me with various % and trust pilot reviews, showing how great PB are. However, questions like % of sale agreeds that go through to completion, he could not answer.

There is simply no incentive for them to push the sale through when they are paid in advance. How can they provide a good service for £800 fee? Bearing in mind the Property Expert probably gets about £200 of this.

We have agreed 1% inc VAT. I do not begrudge paying this for a service that will avoid time wasters, help keep any chain together, and constant updates.

I am sure some online agents are ok but I am sure they will be in the minority.

diggingdude

what i would say trying to buy a house the last few months is if people are saying Purple Bricks make bricks and mortar estate agents look good then they must be bad as I have met more intelligent chimps than some of the ones I have dealt with

Badger50

I have recently used online agents Hatched and, owing to different circumstances, a high street EA. They were both straightforward house sales which found buyers within a week or two. I was very pleased with Hatched's service and price. The high street EA's service was no less satisfactory but I felt their 1% fee, as an actual sum of money, was a lot more than their contribution was really worth. The only things they did that Hatched didn't do was deal with a few viewings and hand over the keys on completion.

csgohan4

wanted to view a property on purple bricks a few years ago, agent never got back to me.

If their not bothered, why should I?

Racky_Roo

I second that if you have a regular property in an area which sells easily then online agents are fine. I’ve used hatched twice and would use them again.

Mutton_Geoff

From a buyers point of view, I wouldn't even consider viewing a PB listed property as it reflects on the type of vendor I would have to deal with.

Diddydot

As a buyer Purplebricks are crap. Agent forgot to take the property off the market (too lazy) and now I’m in a bidding war. Conveniently so. I know local estate agents get a bad rep for squeezing and lying but once a bid is accepted it honered. My mortgage advisor said he has had problems with them before. Total cowboys!

Old_Git

I can’t even get the local agent to do a valuation