Online Estate Agents

SwiftBryant

Thanks for the help all!

eddddy wrote: »

If you'll be living in the US whilst trying to sell a property in the UK, and/or you're not very familiar with how buying and selling property in the UK works...

... I would definitely go for a "traditional" estate agent who only gets paid on completion.

They will be motivated to make the sale happen by sorting out problems along the way, encouraging the buyer to keep moving etc.


But bear in mind that not all "traditional" estate agents are good estate agents. Take the time to find a good one.

I asked a friend of my relation for a recommendation and I ultimately am going with a local traditional agent. It should be listed soon. The fact that it's on completion is good.

ScroogeMcSwan wrote: »

I recently used an online estate agent ( YOPA ) to sell my house, and it went well. We also received more than expected going by the home report, and more than nearby homes according to Zoopla, so I'm not convinced you'll get less if the area you're in has good demand. If you need an agent to drum up sales, then they should maybe be avoided. Remember that you get to set the asking price.

I reckon I saved about £2,000 opting for an online agent. I possibly could have saved more if I'd went with a cheaper online agent too.

There are several websites you can use to assess whether you want to go for an online estate agent. [] is good as well, and you can see here that not many online agents reduce their prices (as you might fear).

All that said, online estate agents can be a bit hands off, and maybe impersonal. It might be less stressful if you go with a traditional estate agent who might be more willing to guide you through the process a bit more.

Hope this helps!

Thanks. This was good reading, and if I lived there, I think there's a few from the Online Agent Picker website that I'd consider, and YOPA would be one of them. My only concern is that I'll feel more out of control as I won't be there.

GDB2222 wrote: »

That's a guide to alternative online services.

I recently let a property using an online service, and it saved me a lot of money. Plus, I got to vet the prospective tenants myself. It worked really well for me.

BUT, I am very familiar with the requirements for letting a property. Also, I was local to the property and could do viewings myself.

If I were out of the country, I would grit my teeth and pay a full service estate agent to do the whole job.

Yeah, I think I could save a lot of money too. Some agents I considered look like they'd save me a lot given the results of the valuations I ordered, but not knowing what I'm getting into really, was worrying me. I feel like the guys I've got will be actively marketing it (even though I know most people use Rightmove), and pushing it along. I feel like I don't have as many concerns this way.

Also, a few people mentioned 1% price, but I wasn't able to get any better than 1.3%.

Thanks again all.

ScottFinley

That was a rare situation, glad that you were able to sort it out. I haven’t experienced hiring online agents so I’m not sure about how they work. I had hired one of the estate agents Plymouth based that my sister recommended to me when I was selling my house last year, but we did the transactions as usual and in person. From what I’ve heard though, online agents are becoming more and more like traditional estate agents these days, so I guess they’re becoming somewhat more similar? So maybe if you really have no other choice but to hire an online one, be extra careful with everything you will disclose with them. But then again, going traditional with these agents can be a bit of a hassle at times, but it’s undeniably the best course of action to do.