Does selling online work e.g. Purplebricks?

ReadySteadyPop

Skiddaw1 said:

Might a traditional auction be a better option? Have to say that if two local EAs have failed to attract a buyer I doubt PB or similar will result in much interest either.

It is more likely the price than the EA`s, there is only so much an EA can do, people ultimately are looking at price, size, location and in this case work needing done. Auction will be full of hard nosed cash buyers looking to get the price right down so that could be an even worse option?

Millsandovis

My estate agent warned me against going with buyers who were selling their property through PB as he said they’re hard to get in touch with as opposed to a local agent as I was contemplating accepting a chain offer. That’s something else to consider for buyers 

powerful_Rogue

RSTime said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

2 EAs, 8-12 weeks each? One price drop? Sounds like whilst the second EA may be negative, the price expectation is possibly more of an issue.

We have dropped the price several times (significantly) and it really is good value now. Even with costs of modernisation it represents good value. 

Not good enough value it seems. At the right price, any property will sell.

LHW99

Although photos also can increase interest, if they give a good initial impression. Its easy to check hat the listing looks like online, and either give the agent new / additional photos or suggest a re-ordering.

Seems daft, but can improve interest.

RHemmings

ReadySteadyPop said:

RSTime said:

We have had to move my mum into care and are selling her home. Her house in London needs considerable renovation (not been touched for over 40 years) and we have dropped the price to reflect this, however, after trying two estate agents we have not sold the house. We have had some negative feedback concerning our current estate agent (apparently they have been negative about the property in a viewing) and I am looking at other options. 

Does online selling work, any issues I need to be aware of?

I would plan to move into my mum's house for a while to conduct viewings. I would welcome the experience of others who have gone this route. Purplebricks is the only company I am familiar with, are they still the market leaders?

On a separate note, is the market really slow in (North West) London, I understand developers are not active due to high interest rates and people are struggling to get mortgages?

I believe PB went bust recently and got taken over by another company? Houses were selling themselves when interest rates were zero, now it is more tricky, all PB offer is a known name with a web space to display your property, they are not going to do any graft to sell it from what I hear, they make their money from fees to advertise not from actually selling. As other posters have said, if you have no offers the house isn`t priced correctly, unless demand in your area is way down? The EA may think that the price takes into account work needing done, but for people buying it seems it may not?

PB also get properties onto Rightmove and other platforms. Which for selling nowadays is a large proportion of what needs to be done. And, their online platform manages viewings. In all cases where I viewed a house being sold on PB, it wasn't the owner that handled the viewing, but an 'independent' EA. I will say that I found the quality of the independent EAs for PBs to be ... variable. 

I've no idea how far PB does in handling the 'EA' part of buying a house. Is there anyone who bought or sold a house using PB? 

AskAsk

if the house is not selling with 2 EAs then it won't be the EA's fault.  you need to reduce the price further.  properties in need of refurbishment need to be sold very cheaply as costs of renovations have doubled with high inflation.

with high interest rates, investors, who would be the people interested in your property, are far and few between so there is less interest from them.

you should lower the price again and continue to do so until it sells, and then consider auction if it doesn't sell on the market.

taking matters into your own hands is only going to make it worse as EA will be much better at selling the property than you are, and if they haven't been able to do it, you wouldn't have a chance!

online portals like PP, are only suitable in a vibrant market, which we aren't in, and for hot properties that sell themselves as there is little input from PP, except to advertise it on their portal.

kinger101

In my experience;

Purple Bricks vastly overprice properties as they have practically no experience in local markets
Purple Bricks cannot arrange viewings to suit purchasers convenience.  You book Saturday afternoon and they change it to a Wednesday without asking you first.
Purple Bricks will also do their very best to get kickbacks from you and the buyer for recommending a really dreadful conveyancer.
Online agents also have a tendency to book in viewings without buyer qualification (i.e., someone who still needs to sell or is only vaguely interesting in moving).

Online agents can work well as a means of getting a property listed if you're prepared to do the viewings yourself, and the property is an easy sell.  If not, I'd stay with a traditional EA.

JustinTime19

As others have mentioned pricing is likely to be the problem for the current market. Have you compared similar properties. From the viewings that did occur, was there feedback that is worth actioning ? PB is not going to be the platform for you, if you have a hard to sell property.

If your priority is to offload the property rather than getting the most money (which is likely not what you think it will be), get some new local agents in and ask them what value do they recommend for a quick sale, and think about doing offers over and see what offers you get. 

missimaxo

I had a quote for selling through PB at the beginning of the year. The free service only lists on zoopla not rm, I couldn't add room sizes with the free service even if I did a room plan myself. To get on rm and have room sizes which imo was important I'd have had to pay, I can't recall how much but it was getting to the realms of the standard agents. Also if its not sold after 12 weeks you had to agree to reduce the price by 10%. I wasn't happy about this set amount, on more expensive properties maybe so but on cheaper end of the market this could be a big chunk. They also wanted me to list at 220k when the traditionals suggested 225k and I had 2 offers after around 8weeks at 225k. I'm glad I went the traditional agent route even though I did my own viewings. The agent I chose I cannot fault.

theartfullodger

Remember that not long ago Purple Bricks were themselves sold for all of £1.  

That they then and the buyer thought that was a fair price tells us all a lot about the company.