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When it comes to selling a house or more important, selling a home, there are a number of considerations you need to make and one of these is which estate agent you are going to use, are you going to use a high street estate agent or one of the many UK online estate agents that have changed the way that we sell a property?
Why use an online estate agent
There’s no getting away from the fact that we like things that make our life that little bit easier and if we can save some money in the process, we’re all for it.
Online estate agents do just that, we can essentially sell our house without ever having to leave it unless viewings are taking place of course and you will be saving money on the estate agent fees as they generally adopt a different pricing model.
Who are the UK online estate agents?
The one that we have probably all heard of and seen the advertisements for is PurpleBricks, but there is also Yopa*, Strike, emoov, 99home and Doorsteps.
Are they regulated?
Thankfully online estate agents in the UK are subject to the same regulations as those of their traditional counterparts.
As a general rule, the companies that I have mentioned above are regulated by the Property Ombudsman.
Therefore should you have any disputes with the agent the ombudsman will act to resolve these.
How do the fees compare with bricks and mortar estate agents?
If you’ve ever sold a property with your local high street, you’ll know that their fees vary considerably.
When I sold my Nan’s property a few years ago we had a few estate agents come to the property with their fees ranging from 0.9% upwards of 1.5%.
In a survey conducted by The Advisory, the average estate agent fee between May – July 2018 was 1.18% + VAT.
With the average house price currently, £248,271, you would be paying roughly £2,929 as your fee.
Online Estate Agents in the UK will generally charge you a fixed fee, which could result in you saving hundreds if not thousands when it comes to selling your property.
What price modelling do they generally use?
This depends on the online estate agent that you use, but they will generally give you a few options in regard to the fee that you pay.
More often than not they will offer you the ability to pay upfront, pay later, as with traditional agents or on a no sale no fee basis.
So what are you paying for with online estate agents?
Depending on your package, as a minimum, you should before handing over a penny get a free valuation*, expect photographs of your property, a floor plan, for sale board, access 24/7 to a property portal and an advert in the major property portals.
With optional extras, you might also get viewings led by agents and a premium listing in the property portals.
Where would your property be marketed?
There is no point in paying a fee if no one is going to see it that your property is for sale, so depending on which online estate agent you use, and which extras that they might offer, your property should be listed as standard on the major property search portals, such as Rightmove, Zoopla and Primelocation.
Some of these online agents will charge you a further fee to have a premium listing on these portals, so that is something to be mindful of as this will clearly increase the amount that you are paying should you go down that route.
Who deals with your property’s viewing?
This is where the decision might be made for you, in deciding whether to use a traditional estate agent over an online estate agent, because more often is the case you will be responsible for showing those interested in buying your property.
This might be a blessing and a curse.
I say that it might be a blessing as you will get a feel for the people that are viewing your property and know whether they are serious and a curse for the same reason in that you will get a feel for those that are wasting your time or just want a nosey around your house.
Again, if showing people around your house isn’t something that you want to do then, you’ve guessed it for a further fee, you can have an estate agent led viewing of your property.
Dealing with the full sales process
Your local agent appointed by the online estate agent should look after this process for you, so they will negotiate the sale price on your behalf and like a traditional agent, provide you with details of any offer made, for you to decide whether to accept or decline it.
Will you get the best price for your home?
This is a concern for any seller regardless of whether they are selling using an online estate agent or one on the high street.
In either case, so long as you have obtained a few property valuations and are realistic with your sale expectations, there is no reason why you should expect to sell your property for less than you would by selling with a high street estate agent.
Do you have to use online estate agents exclusively?
When we were selling my Nan’s property, we had an exclusivity agreement with the agent, meaning that for 12 weeks we could not use another agent to sell the property. This was because of their no fee, no commission structure.
If you have already paid upfront for an online agent then there shouldn’t be any restrictions on how many agents that you use, but I guess the question might be, why would you want to have already paid upfront for their service, this will could effectively result in you not only paying the online estate agent fee, but also the high street agents commission if they are the ones that are in fact successful in selling your property.
If you do use Yopa and opt for their no sale, no fee, payment option you will be expected to online market your property with them for 16 weeks.
Reasons to consider using a UK online estate agent
- They are generally cheaper than high street agents
- Ability to contact your local agent at the weekend
- They market your property on all of the major search portals
- You can tailor their service to fit your own requirements
Why would you consider using a traditional estate agent over an online estate agent?
I might only use a traditional estate agent if I knew that my property was in an area that might be difficult to sell.
The traditional estate agent should be a local property expert and therefore should know their market inside out, working in your best interest to find a buyer, using their list of potential buyers that are actively looking for what you are selling.
So should you use an online estate agent?
I hope that this post gave you an insight into what online estate agents might be able to offer you over high street agencies.
Whether you use one will depend on your circumstances and a number of other factors, so the decision shouldn’t be taken likely.
While cost should be a consideration, you should also take note of what others say about their experiences, so I’d always recommend you do your own research to see whether using their service is right for you.
If you have made up your mind and feel that you want to give an estate agent a go then you can get a free valuation with Yopa* here.
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