You would think we would be put off by moving considering my previous subject but needs must and we are considering putting our house up for sale. Ive been watching Sarah Beenys programme about selling on the internet and wondered if anyone had gone down this route rather than the traditional high street agents. I'm slightly dubious as she has got her own Web agent so has a biased opinion but we would try anything if it saved us money in the long run. Wish we could pick our house up and move it but my other half works far away and is finding commuting difficult.
Would you buy a house off an internet agent? I wouldn't. A good agent does far more than just send you a board to stick up in the front garden and for this service you need an agent who is local and has been around a long time.
Lots of dodgy people about,you may lose house and money.Stick to well known high street names .Try to save a few quid and you may lose thousands.Not worth the risk.
------------- i dont sell cheap tat.I sell tat cheap
Is there a saving, for some there maybe but I would argue that a Bricks and Mortar agent would get more for your property than, selling online, so there is no real saving.
Of course the value of the property has to be factored in, a property worth £750k would be worth selling online, typical Estate agent would charge 1.5% so £13,500 with the vat.
But a property worth say £150k would cost £2,750, so not really worth the online saving.
There are some Estate agents around here that advertise a set fee, say £2k not sure if they have an upper limit on property value though.
What I have noticed though, is that many properties that start of with either an online board up, or one of the set fee estate boards up, of switch to one of the more local Estate agents, usually after the property has been on the market for 6 months or more.
We downsized in 2013 from a 3 bed semi, to a 2 bed terraced, the market was slow at that time, and it took us 12 months to sell, we dropped our price by a good £20k and lucky for us the house we were buying agreed to drop by the same amount, it is tricky selling and buying when the market is in decline, but a property will only sell for what the market is prepared to pay.
The house that we bought in 2013 had been on the market for 4 years, and had come down by £50k from it's original asking price, lucky for the seller they had no mortgage.
House prices in our area have dropped massively since 2008 maybe a 25% drop or so! to when they were at there peak, but since last year are starting to rise again.
When I think about all the costs involved, Solicitors, Estate agents and removal etc, as an overall % of the sale, it not such a huge cost, providing that you have plenty of equity in the property.
A house in right condition at right price will sell. Any agent that takes some decent photos will sell it (online or hiogh street)
Providing they are on Rightmove for most areas, you have a good chance of being seen by majority of potential buyers.
One bit you miss out on for an online agent is regular customers or landlords who may have relationship with local agents and walk ins (aside from managing the transaction as well which any decent agent should be doing)
One option that some people use when fairly desparate to move house is to trade in their old property for a newbuild via the Builders of the new development. On paper this may look like a good idea, but the truth of it is that often only plots that are hard to sell due to position or design are included in the deal, no other discounts or freebies will be offered like they would be to a no trade in buyer, and the valueation of your old property given by their appointed estate agent who works on contract for the builder, is one that is 'priced to sell' and often the lowest valueation with selling costs then deducted to equil a very low market price. It may look a good deal, but the builder is in a win-win situation all the way, clearing his own slow moving stock at full asking price, buying in cheap property to renovate and sell on at a profit, and clearing out the risk of a non completion of sale if a client cannot sell their own property in time.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
I sold our house in 2007 using an online estate agent - Housenetwork. It was very straightforward and I would do it again if selling again. They are still trading today and advertise properties on Rightmove. We had to set our price, write our own description and show people around. They sent a photographer around to take pictures and provided the For Sale board. We had access to our own page on their website where we could see how many people had viewed the house, they were excellent in chasing up viewers for feedback and prompt at contacting us when people wanted to view. It was a set fee paid in advance, but saved us £0000s compared to a high street estate agent.
All estate agents I know have an internent presence, AS WELL AS a shop outlet.
Walk down your high street and just stop for several mins and see how many people look at the properties for sale in the window of an estate agent.Ccant do that online.
How many folks drive around an area they like then go to the local town and check out info from the listing agency.....
If your selling wouldnt you want to "cover all bases" and maximise your advertising.
You pays your money and you takes your choice. Personally I found no difference in the visibility of my property to prospective purchasers and sold for close to the asking price. As for buying a property - I bought in 2009 and didn't set foot inside a high street shop. Did all the searching online. Due to a change in circumstances that house is now being rented out, did that all online too and didn't pay any fees to a rental agency either.
I have sold 2 houses in this country the last one was in 1987 and each time I just stuck a 'FOR SALE' sign in the window and both sold within the week. Neither were on main roads in fact both were in cul-de-sacs. I think times may have changed though.
I sold my house via emoov and they were excellent and it only cost me £500 and the house was on rightmove, zoopla etc.
The arranged the EPC and for a photographer to come round for the pictures.
the only bits they did not do was the blurb about the house and viewings but neither were a problem for me.
ignore those who have dismissed the idea as I had no problems and it saved me £000's of pounds in commission!
I dont see how you can lose if you use a competent solicitor. And i dont mean one 'tied' to the internet sales site. If you cant use your own, walk away. Otherwise, as most High Street agents are on t'net, wheres the difference - apart from the premises/overheads difference in fees?
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Online estate agents
