Estate Agent or Purple Bricks

never_again_123

We've used Purplebricks to sell and I think it very much depends on the agent working your area. Ours has stepped in and helped,  but only when things have got really tricky. All the chasing and liaising up and down the chain otherwise has been down to us.
We have thought that if our chain breaks again this time, we'll stay put till the Spring and will then pay the extra for a different estate agent. Comparing our experience to my friend's, her journey has been a lot less stressful! Having someone to put the survey into perspective to a buyer for example and actively chase things along when you're in the thick of it is actually much more valuable than you might think at the start of the process. We realise now how naive we were back then!

lady1964

We sold earlier this year using PB, we did all the viewings ourselves, we found the online portal reasonable, the agent wasn’t the best but we got there in the end, I say that as it was our buyers solicitor that caused the delays we had. We didn’t use PB conveyancers, we chose our own one, maybe that made the difference. We did get high street EA’s to value as well, their valuations were broadly the same. DH preferred to use PB against my better judgement, that said, I’m not sure I would use them again, but like said, I think a lot depends on PB agent you get. 

frogglet

We used House simple for a short time pre covid . As we showed the viewers  round it was clear there were a number of time wasters not sure if they verified anyone.

robatwork

A good EA does earn his/her money.

But finding one that's better than PB is the challenge. Have you had a reference from a friend or someone you can trust?

Also, you can negotiate on fees. I've never paid more than 1%. Sometimes less..

NameUnavailable

From what I have heard from friends who have used PB, it's fine if you have a property that is easy to sell. They don't seem to offer much in the way of after sales service so once an offer is agreed it's pretty much up to you to do all the pushing along.

As a buyer I do like the fact you can book a viewing online without the need to engage in a lengthy conversation with an agent to register you before they will arrange a viewing and then the constant phone calls afterwards with stuff that's of no interest.

The other thing I have noticed with PB in particular is that they often don't list properties correctly so they don't come up in a search for a particular area! Whether that's a lack of 'local knowledge' or an issue with their software I don't know.

hollie.weimeraner

I've actually spoken with someone who is with PB's locally and he's said if he knew then what he knows now he'd have gone with a local agency.  Ho hum looking at reviews now

[Deleted User]

When I was buying a BTL recently, as Id look through the Rightmove listings, if I saw an online agent my heart would sink. Im 55 and used to traditional agents. 

What house do you have to sell ? Is it likely to attract young IT savvy buyers who can handle the online process or older style buyers like me who need that EA hand holding ? 

hollie.weimeraner

Densol said:

When I was buying a BTL recently, as Id look through the Rightmove listings, if I saw an online agent my heart would sink. Im 55 and used to traditional agents. 

What house do you have to sell ? Is it likely to attract young IT savvy buyers who can handle the online process or older style buyers like me who need that EA hand holding ? 

Probably both (Hopefully)

Cuddlybearman

Purple Bricks use independent EAs as almost a franchise so i guess the you get what you get. The guy i am using has been fantastic - constantly updating me and always replying when i need it. The conveyancing they recommended is not the best at communicating but i would guess that's the same for all conveyancers at the min as they are so stacked with work.

But in regards to PB - you should be able to "interview" the estate agent before you go ahead with anything and make your're own mind up. And i would recommend paying the extra for them to manage your viewings too then you get the full service. I'm sorry but i would rather pay £1800 and do a bit of chasing that 5-6K to some high street agent.

rik111

Love the " Both have stated they would expect the property to sell very quickly."
Who would ever go with an agent that told you the truth, its on page one of the estate agents manual ,compliment the vendors lovely house and tell them it will sell extremely quickly 🤣. That is just below make sure you sign them up for sole selling rights for  minimum 6 months..... Make sure you cross out their sole agency / selling rights for however many weeks and change it to 30 days, They cant say a lot they've just been telling you it will fly out. This immediately puts you to the top of list of priority properties they pit most effort into marketing.
None of the above applies to Purple Bricks, all your paying for with them is a Rightmove etc listing....