Online estate agents

[Wolfie]

I have a fairly straightforward house in nice condition…

Don’t mind doing viewings myself

And certainly don’t want to pay over the odds for a bricks and mortar service

The way I see it, is that you need good pics and floor plan, plus access to Rightmove / Zoopla

Any experiences?

Any alternatives to Purple Bricks you’d recommend?

I did a viewing through Purple Bricks and thought the experience was excellent (integrates portal on Rightmove)

Ben

[ralphy]

We have both bought and sold using Yopa within the last two years. The purchase went smoothly as did the subsequent sale, in fact far better than the sale of another property which was done by a bricks & mortar estate agent.

R

[Gunnersaurus]

I purchased via purple bricks and found the whole experience awful. In fairness I think that is because they leave the bulk of the work to the vendor who in my case was scatty as f**K

[watchstudent]

Sold a house via purple bricks. Wouldn’t do it again because the solicitors we had to use we’re worse than useless. So bad even they admitted it and we were refunded half the solicitors fee.

Estate agents in my eyes are mostly a joke. Cost so much and basically just hold keys, in the days of Rightmove I don’t know why we really need them.


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[MCFastybloke]

We have just sold six Four bed townhouse we built using settled, rightmove presence, online comms with the portal, did our own appointments, viewings etc, when i had them there i took there fone numbers and we took it to direct msg or txt. Manage your own advert/pictures, chop and change as you please it worked fine.

[Devonian]

To me the right high street agent at the ‘right’ price is very much worth it. I’m currently selling a couple of flats and the agent has been fantastic. On the flip side, a purchase in another town had been complete rubbish. The agents are useless.

To me one of the most important thing is to use an agent who actually does sales progression. The agent we’re selling with has someone solely dedicated to that role. I’ve seen so many sales take months instead of weeks, or fall through completely because no one was on the ball.

[hogthrob]

I moved house three years ago. I think I'd still be waiting to complete if my estate agent hadn't been constantly hassling everyone involved (buyer, solicitors, me!) to get stuff sorted, signed and returned.

I'm not saying this was a typical experience, but they aren't all wide boys in shiny suits.

I've never used an online agent, but I would be looking for a significant committment to project managing the sale. Your solicitor isn't going to phone the buyer and tell them to get their finger out, for example.

[Wolfie]

We have both bought and sold using Yopa within the last two years. The purchase went smoothly as did the subsequent sale, in fact far better than the sale of another property which was done by a bricks & mortar estate agent.

R

I hadn’t heard of Yopa…. No difference in price between them and the market leader in pride though…. Why Yopa?

I purchased via purple bricks and found the whole experience awful. In fairness I think that is because they leave the bulk of the work to the vendor who in my case was scatty as f**K

Yep…. You self serve to a degree and I’d be all over it!

Sold a house via purple bricks. Wouldn’t do it again because the solicitors we had to use we’re worse than useless. So bad even they admitted it and we were refunded half the solicitors fee.

Estate agents in my eyes are mostly a joke. Cost so much and basically just hold keys, in the days of Rightmove I don’t know why we really need them.
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I’ve had some bad conveyancing experiences…. If you pay up front (and you have to pay anyway) is select my own

We have just sold six Four bed townhouse we built using settled, rightmove presence, online comms with the portal, did our own appointments, viewings etc, when i had them there i took there fone numbers and we took it to direct msg or txt. Manage your own advert/pictures, chop and change as you please it worked fine.

Settled for £499 sounds good! What’s the catch?

[Wolfie]

I moved house three years ago. I think I'd still be waiting to complete if my estate agent hadn't been constantly hassling everyone involved (buyer, solicitors, me!) to get stuff sorted, signed and returned.

I'm not saying this was a typical experience, but they aren't all wide boys in shiny suits.

I've never used an online agent, but I would be looking for a significant committment to project managing the sale. Your solicitor isn't going to phone the buyer and tell them to get their finger out, for example.

My only concern is that they get paid either way…. What’s the incentive?!! I don’t mind paying up front but, would rather they had a commission to work for

[MCFastybloke]

Settled for £499 sounds good! What’s the catch?

For us there wasn't one, we are house builders so i was on site everyday to deal with visits etc, the portal is good on the phone access, the ad is on right move, they will do the leg work for you but we chose to get direct contact asap, for the out of hours queries, flipside is the incoming can be at unsociable hours, you have direct access to the clients so no Japanese whispers in the communications. The upside is and i guess its a reflection in the efficency of the business, they faciitated the sale of 6 units and have not invoiced me yet,despite the ad being taken down at our request, this is slack.

[ralphy]

I hadn’t heard of Yopa…. No difference in price between them and the market leader in pride though…. Why Yopa?

Because we bought through them and I was sufficiently impressed with their service to try them for the selling.

R

[ralphy]

Sold a house via purple bricks. Wouldn’t do it again because the solicitors we had to use we’re worse than useless.

'Had to use'?

R

[Wolfie]

'Had to use'?

R

Yes…. If you don’t pay up front you have to use their solicitors

[ralphy]

Yes…. If you don’t pay up front you have to use their solicitors

On that basis I wouldn't use them.

R