Would you buy from an online estate agent?

MobileSaver

jenni_fer said:

in a market where suitable houses are in short supply I wouldn't miss out on a property just because the current owners chose to use an online agent. I'd whinge and moan about it all the way along but I'd still buy the property.

^ This.

The sort of person who would genuinely dismiss your property because you are using an online EA is the sort of person who would dismiss your property because you chose the biggest high street EA in your area but that person had had a previous bad experience with them. It's cutting off your nose to spite your face and although there are exceptions to every rule I just don't believe it happens in the real world.

At the end of the day someone either wants to buy your home or they don't and they're paying you not the EA that you chose. In a similar vein how many people do you think would pull out of a purchase when they discover the solicitor's firm you are using is one they've had a previous bad experience with? I'd hazard it's practically as close to zero as possible...

julicorn

MobileSaver said:

jenni_fer said:

in a market where suitable houses are in short supply I wouldn't miss out on a property just because the current owners chose to use an online agent. I'd whinge and moan about it all the way along but I'd still buy the property.

^ This.

The sort of person who would genuinely dismiss your property because you are using an online EA is the sort of person who would dismiss your property because you chose the biggest high street EA in your area but that person had had a previous bad experience with them. It's cutting off your nose to spite your face and although there are exceptions to every rule I just don't believe it happens in the real world.

At the end of the day someone either wants to buy your home or they don't and they're paying you not the EA that you chose. In a similar vein how many people do you think would pull out of a purchase when they discover the solicitor's firm you are using is one they've had a previous bad experience with? I'd hazard it's practically as close to zero as possible...

Sure, but that only really holds up when there is not much choice. In most places, there will be several properties up for sale that meet one's criteria, and an online estate agent (and the reflection it has on the seller) can be a key point against that one property. Similarly, buyers can pull out any time before exchange if they find something better. If all they keep getting is red flags for months and months of the purchase process, they might cut their losses at some point. That's especially true for less experienced buyers and FTBs who get cold feet more easily - I know we almost dropped out of the purchase with YOPA at some point. 

Snookie12cat

julicorn said:

MobileSaver said:

jenni_fer said:

in a market where suitable houses are in short supply I wouldn't miss out on a property just because the current owners chose to use an online agent. I'd whinge and moan about it all the way along but I'd still buy the property.

^ This.

The sort of person who would genuinely dismiss your property because you are using an online EA is the sort of person who would dismiss your property because you chose the biggest high street EA in your area but that person had had a previous bad experience with them. It's cutting off your nose to spite your face and although there are exceptions to every rule I just don't believe it happens in the real world.

At the end of the day someone either wants to buy your home or they don't and they're paying you not the EA that you chose. In a similar vein how many people do you think would pull out of a purchase when they discover the solicitor's firm you are using is one they've had a previous bad experience with? I'd hazard it's practically as close to zero as possible...

Sure, but that only really holds up when there is not much choice. In most places, there will be several properties up for sale that meet one's criteria, and an online estate agent (and the reflection it has on the seller) can be a key point against that one property. Similarly, buyers can pull out any time before exchange if they find something better. If all they keep getting is red flags for months and months of the purchase process, they might cut their losses at some point. That's especially true for less experienced buyers and FTBs who get cold feet more easily - I know we almost dropped out of the purchase with YOPA at some point. 

The whole point of online agents is to get you in touch with the buyer. You must exchange details or choose one that gives you the person's details or it doesn't work, as most really are terrible at any follow up. 
Best to think of it as a private sale where you don't speak to the agent ever again after sales memo sent.

The buyer would have no need to pull out or get red flags because you chose an online agent if you are moving things along and everyone is keeping in contact. It's all about communication, whether you use a normal estate agent or an online one. 

MobileSaver

julicorn said:

MobileSaver said:

At the end of the day someone either wants to buy your home or they don't and they're paying you not the EA that you chose.

Sure, but that only really holds up when there is not much choice. In most places, there will be several properties up for sale that meet one's criteria, and an online estate agent (and the reflection it has on the seller) can be a key point against that one property.

The recurring theme on this site is that choice of properties in the right area at the right price has been limited for years.

Indeed, thinking about it, in 30 years of house buying I have never had the luxury of choosing between two otherwise identical properties and so choosing based on the seller's choice of EA just isn't a thing. I suspect the vast majority of buyers are in the same boat.

julicorn said:

buyers can pull out any time before exchange if they find something better. If all they keep getting is red flags for months and months of the purchase process, they might cut their losses at some point. That's especially true for less experienced buyers and FTBs who get cold feet more easily - I know we almost dropped out of the purchase with YOPA at some point. 

Of course but that's true of all EAs whether online or high street; there are plenty of complaints on this site about high street EAs being useless. Besides, pulling out because of actual poor service is one thing but that's quite different to not even offering on what could be your perfect home because of what might go wrong. I just don't believe many if any buyers would be that narrow-minded in the real world.

It's also very telling that despite all the problems you had with an online EA you didn't actually drop out; it's understandable why and 99.9% of people would have made the same pragmatic decision which is why in my opinion the choice of EA is immaterial to the buyer in 99.9% of cases...

julicorn

Snookie12cat said:

Best to think of it as a private sale where you don't speak to the agent ever again after sales memo sent.

That's exactly what it is - and a private sale wouldn't be top of my list of recommendations for a FTB either. 

julicorn

MobileSaver said:

julicorn said:

MobileSaver said:

At the end of the day someone either wants to buy your home or they don't and they're paying you not the EA that you chose.

Sure, but that only really holds up when there is not much choice. In most places, there will be several properties up for sale that meet one's criteria, and an online estate agent (and the reflection it has on the seller) can be a key point against that one property.

The recurring theme on this site is that choice of properties in the right area at the right price has been limited for years.

Indeed, thinking about it, in 30 years of house buying I have never had the luxury of choosing between two otherwise identical properties and so choosing based on the seller's choice of EA just isn't a thing. I suspect the vast majority of buyers are in the same boat.

There are no 2 identical properties, but there are pros and cons to each. We're currently house hunting and even now, early January (when the selection is pretty small compared to other times of the year), we have around 30 houses currently for sale that fit our key criteria, budget and location needs, and that we 'like'. Sure, some have a better garden, some bigger bedrooms, some are closer to the sea - it's about weighing up the pros and cons, and an online agent would be a big con given our previous experience. A house advertised by YOPA would have to be a lot better than anything else around for us to consider using them again. 

It's also very telling that despite all the problems you had with an online EA you didn't actually drop out; it's understandable why and 99.9% of people would have made the same pragmatic decision which is why in my opinion the choice of EA is immaterial to the buyer in 99.9% of cases...

My partner would have dropped out in a heartbeat, but I was in love with the property and not in much of a rush to move. That doesn't change the fact that I would avoid having to do this again for future purchases. MobileSaver said:

Of course but that's true of all EAs whether online or high street; there are plenty of complaints on this site about high street EAs being useless. Besides, pulling out because of actual poor service is one thing but that's quite different to not even offering on what could be your perfect home because of what might go wrong. I just don't believe many if any buyers would be that narrow-minded in the real world.

A buyer dropping out during the process is surely even worse for the seller. And to be honest, I don't really care if you find it narrow-minded to rule out houses based on this, there are a fair few people here who would. I've seen threads on here about people ruling out houses because there's only a small garage plus one additional parking spot in the driveway for a 2-bed house - that seems narrow-minded to me, but we all use different criteria when making decisions. Around where we live, there is enough choice luckily, and online agents also make up a very small proportion of houses advertised, which means it's not much of a sacrifice. 

Snookie12cat

julicorn said:

Snookie12cat said:

Best to think of it as a private sale where you don't speak to the agent ever again after sales memo sent.

That's exactly what it is - and a private sale wouldn't be top of my list of recommendations for a FTB either. 

You are right, it no doubt makes the process a little more confusing and maybe stressful for FTB and first time sellers as sometimes it would be nice to have someone at the end of the phone to hear your complaints or questions.
That being said, as others have said there are not loads of identical properties all coming up at the same time. The property I found took me 6 months to find and in the 6 months after offering nothing else came up I would have considered. With this in mind, the worst agent in the world could have listed it and I would have offered on it. 

julicorn

Snookie12cat said:

julicorn said:

Snookie12cat said:

Best to think of it as a private sale where you don't speak to the agent ever again after sales memo sent.

That's exactly what it is - and a private sale wouldn't be top of my list of recommendations for a FTB either. 

You are right, it no doubt makes the process a little more confusing and maybe stressful for FTB and first time sellers as sometimes it would be nice to have someone at the end of the phone to hear your complaints or questions.
That being said, as others have said there are not loads of identical properties all coming up at the same time. The property I found took me 6 months to find and in the 6 months after offering nothing else came up I would have considered. With this in mind, the worst agent in the world could have listed it and I would have offered on it. 

And that's completely understandable. If you don't have the choice, then you've got to do what you've got to do. 

KeepOnKnitting

julicorn said:

 I've seen threads on here about people ruling out houses because there's only a small garage plus one additional parking spot in the driveway for a 2-bed house - that seems narrow-minded to me

This made me giggle. The reason I am buying such a huge house (for one person) is because I am dead-set on having a garage. Nothing smaller than a 3-bed in my chosen area had a garage.  

The house I am buying is through a high-street agent. They don't seem very on the ball. They share one email address across the whole office, I have never spoken to the same person twice, they had no idea why a contract pack was taking so long, and then they managed to give me the vendor's email address because they don't understand how forwarding works. 

It's worked out for me, as now I can contact the vendor direct. I hope my vendor got a good deal for the service.

eddddy

MobileSaver said:

The sort of person who would genuinely dismiss your property because you are using an online EA is the sort of person who would dismiss your property because you chose the biggest high street EA in your area but that person had had a previous bad experience with them. It's cutting off your nose to spite your face and although there are exceptions to every rule I just don't believe it happens in the real world.

I think you've missed the point.

The risk is that sales are more likely to fall through with an 'online agent' - or no agent at all. So you're more likely to lose fees and waste time.

That risk typically doesn't apply to the "biggest high street" EA. In fact, it's likely to be the opposite. They got to be the biggest because they're really good at sales progression, so they lose very few sales, and make big profits. (TBH, that's often been my experience.)



So in very simplistic terms, when you're considering whether to make an offer on a property most people make a list of pros and cons. Many people would add 'online agent' to the cons list, because of the increased risk of the sale falling through, losing fees and wasting time. But if there are enough 'pros', I expect they'd offer anyway.