Purplebricks, Yopa or private

JamesN

googler wrote: »

Yes, and that puts it on nationwide & worldwide view of the general public, in order to publicise it to them.

How does that qualify as "private"?

Surely a private sale is one in which you find your buyer and conclude the sale without making this known to the public?

I’d class private as having no agent involved. A bit like when you list a car on auto trader. If it’s an individual it’s private if it’s a business it’s trade.

For me it’s a reference as to who closes the deal rather than who markets it.

pattypan4

I avoided viewing all PB properties, the good EAs were worth every penny to the sellers, the best ones had done their homework and were able to answer questions about the property. I chose a good EA when I was selling, EA guided me through difficult times and their legal team finally got the purchase through, they knew exactly the right words to shift the purchaser from a stale point and the transaction finished on a good note. Was worth the cost without any doubt

JamesN

Well I must say I didn’t expect to be in this position but I’ve started looking at some estate agents. I’ve called 6 so far. One has a fixed fee of £2,400 which is decent. I’ve got one down to 0.85% + vat.

What swayed it for me is how put off buyers are when dealing with purple bricks. Plus estate agents will have a bigger pool of buyers that may be interested. I want to sell quite quickly (though not to the detriment of the price).

Does anyone have any tips for choosing an estate agent? I’ve looked at some listings they have on Rightmove and they’ve got varying levels of quality. Some pictures are very low res which puts me off.

rlg3961

As someone trying to view a property with PB I would say AVOID

I've had my viewing rescheduled three times so far in less than a week with no explanation. PB/the agents think nothing of cancelling with a few hours notice. The houses are overvalued in my opinion too.

jimbog

You could look at Rightmove's sold listings for your area and see what the actual selling price (Land Registry price) and asking price was. Also, what agent seems to be getting sales there too.

Alybea

We went for the one who took the best photos.
Not very scientific, but they all cost the same and all chatted the same rubbish sales patter.
But making the house look appealing on Rightmove to entice viewers in was something some if them just didn't seem to grasp. Taking a photo on an iPhone in 2019 does not cut it.

We discounted the house we're buying because the photos were rubbish, we only viewed it because the estate agent was showing us another house nearby and offered to take us, while we were in the area.

muhandis

As a recent buyer, I had a poor experience with properties advertised by PB. It was hard to set up viewings (presumably because it involved me suggesting a time, then PB dropping the seller an email, waiting for them to respond and then coming back to me), most of the properties were speculatively priced with the owner in no hurry to sell and the PB equivalent of the estate agent displayed very little interest in selling.

All this is in comparison to my experience with more "traditional" estate agents.

JamesN

So I’ve done some negotiating. Just trying to decide between national chain or local independent. I’ve got a good deal with a local but their database is half the size. Though I’d like to think the listing on Rightmove is the major factor and the sales pitch. Any thoughts?

warby68

Unless your property might need interest from all over the country to attract a buyer, which a new build is unlikely to, I'd go local but ask around- make sure its the right local one. If you can't get third party feedback and don't know the local players very well, have a chat with a couple of staff and a senior negotiator type person or preferably a partner - gives you a feel for how they operate.

Our local firm is brilliant at negotiating between buyers and sellers so that each feels they got a good deal - they are a little more open perhaps than some about each other's circumstances. We've bought and sold with them so seen both sides. Its the negotiation/persuasion/reassurance that gets many deals done, the good photos are only the first hook

kinger101

JamesN wrote: »

So I’ve done some negotiating. Just trying to decide between national chain or local independent. I’ve got a good deal with a local but their database is half the size. Though I’d like to think the listing on Rightmove is the major factor and the sales pitch. Any thoughts?

Don't worry about the database thing. It's just a list of numbers EAs call to give people details about the wrong size house in the wrong area that they won't be remotely interested in. Sometimes even a year after you've actually bought somewhere anyway. I suspect they do this to give the appearance they're busy when the manager is scratching their chin wondering who the first redundancy will be.

People will find you on rightmove.