Free Purplebricks House Selling, any good?

noah1234

Hi,

I got a valuation for my house from Purplebricks as I contacted them about 5 years ago and their local agent was amazing.

They gave me a valuation which was too good to be true.

I decided to go along with it and see what happens.

But when I came to instruct them, they are asking for £899 upfront for a mid range package. Which made me suspect the high price valuation.

They also offer a free package with a Zoopla listing.

I wonder if anyone tried their free package and had any success? 

What do you think of it? Is it a good idea?

Taking my own pictures and dealing with appointment booking myself fits perfectly for me. This is why I favoured purplebricks over traditional estate agents. But so far it seems too good to be true, there must be a catch somewhere. As they also do a free anti money laudering check in the free package as well!

Thank you for reading.

gwynlas

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

A High St EA does more than list properties

Doing things yourself is like trying to find a private buyer for a top of the range car Mr & Mrs average would rather go through a dealer

chanz4

you have to pay for right move listing, buyer has to pay loads of fees now instead I would avoid them now fully. Our current house was brought via them, i hated their support

HillStreetBlues

Might be worth a read
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-13566813/Purplebricks-sell-home-FREE-best-price.html

Neil49

Are you obliged to use their own solicitors as part of this deal. If yes, then I would think twice about using them.

From experience they use online solicitors who typically farm out the work to trainees or people working from home. They will ask you for some more information on a specific issue then days or even weeks later will ask for more information on another specific issue - it will just drag on.

We use a local group of solicitors who offer no sale (or purchase), no fee apart from minimal up front costs and where you can actually talk to the person doing the work. 

propertyrental

Use the search function for loads of posts about PBs.

Or use your time more productively and get 3 local EAs round.

housebuyer143

gwynlas said:

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

A High St EA does more than list properties

Doing things yourself is like trying to find a private buyer for a top of the range car Mr & Mrs average would rather go through a dealer

Where do you get that information from?  People find a house they like and would they really discount it because it's PB? Seems unlikely. 

silvercar

gwynlas said:

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

A High St EA does more than list properties

Doing things yourself is like trying to find a private buyer for a top of the range car Mr & Mrs average would rather go through a dealer

housebuyer143 said:

gwynlas said:

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

A High St EA does more than list properties

Doing things yourself is like trying to find a private buyer for a top of the range car Mr & Mrs average would rather go through a dealer

Where do you get that information from?  People find a house they like and would they really discount it because it's PB? Seems unlikely. 

I agree. To disregard a house just because of the agent seems silly. 

comeandgo

silvercar said:

gwynlas said:

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

A High St EA does more than list properties

Doing things yourself is like trying to find a private buyer for a top of the range car Mr & Mrs average would rather go through a dealer

housebuyer143 said:

gwynlas said:

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

A High St EA does more than list properties

Doing things yourself is like trying to find a private buyer for a top of the range car Mr & Mrs average would rather go through a dealer

Where do you get that information from?  People find a house they like and would they really discount it because it's PB? Seems unlikely. 

I agree. To disregard a house just because of the agent seems silly. 

I have refused and would still not use Purple Bricks after getting rubbish service from them previously.  I feel house buying is stressful enough without adding in an extra inefficiency.

Albermarle

noah1234 said:

Hi,

I got a valuation for my house from Purplebricks as I contacted them about 5 years ago and their local agent was amazing.

They gave me a valuation which was too good to be true.

I decided to go along with it and see what happens.

But when I came to instruct them, they are asking for £899 upfront for a mid range package. Which made me suspect the high price valuation.

They also offer a free package with a Zoopla listing.

I wonder if anyone tried their free package and had any success? 

What do you think of it? Is it a good idea?

Taking my own pictures and dealing with appointment booking myself fits perfectly for me. This is why I favoured purplebricks over traditional estate agents. But so far it seems too good to be true, there must be a catch somewhere. As they also do a free anti money laudering check in the free package as well!

Thank you for reading.

Did you know they were sold for a Pound last year, after losing £42million pound in 2022?

MobileSaver

comeandgo said:

silvercar said:

gwynlas said:

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

housebuyer143 said:

gwynlas said:

Most buyers do not consider looking at houses advertised by Purple Bricks.

A High St EA does more than list properties

Doing things yourself is like trying to find a private buyer for a top of the range car Mr & Mrs average would rather go through a dealer

Where do you get that information from?  People find a house they like and would they really discount it because it's PB? Seems unlikely. 

I agree. To disregard a house just because of the agent seems silly. 

I have refused and would still not use Purple Bricks after getting rubbish service from them previously.  I feel house buying is stressful enough without adding in an extra inefficiency.

I agree with @silvercar and @housebuyer143, I don't believe many people could care less who the estate agent is. It's a house you are buying, not a service from an Estate Agent. Besides there are little enough houses available as it is so few people could afford to be so picky even if they wanted to be.

All the EA really has to do is advertise the property so you notice it. Yes it would be nice if the EA also did the viewing, really sold you on the benefits of the property, updated you regularly and held the chain together if there are problems but those are all WIBNIFs and far from essential. 

I bought a seven figure house without ever meeting the EA; I emailed them and they arranged a viewing with the current owner, a couple more emails where they acted as intermediary while we negotiated the price and that was it. Everything else was handled remotely by my solicitor and in fact I can't even remember who the EA was.