Is selling your home online a good move?

As a reputable High Street agent, vendors often compare our fees to those of online agents such as eMoov, PurpleBricks and Housesimple. The question is “Are they really better value?”

A recent BBC report looked into the issue and they examined the flat fees charged by online agents which are often less than those charged by traditional High Street agents.

However, online agents charge whether they sell the property or not. This leaves some people with a bill – and an unsold home.

One seller who signed up with PurpleBricks, said she had no viewings at all on her flat in 10 months and now owes a fee to a third party. She deferred her £798 fee which, in effect, meant that she was taking out a loan in order to pay later – a point that is explained in the terms and conditions.

She says that a lack of communication and an overly optimistic valuation led to the lack of sale. After all, with a fixed fee where is the motivation to get the price right?

Another vendor said: “Not having a pool of agents for us was a massive downside. Our main issue was the agent, he was pretty awful. He drew the plans up incorrectly and his valuation was £75,000 north of what we sold it for. We ended up just forgoing the money and going with a High Street agent.”

And they would have lost lots of time on the market and perhaps missed a much better buyer than they ended up with.

The main attraction of online agents is that their fees are often hundreds of pounds when traditional agents charge thousands. What is a few thousand pounds, when a good traditional agent can often get tens of thousands of pounds more for your property?

The clear downside for sellers is that online agencies do not operate under a “no sale, no fee” basis. In the BBC report, it was pointed out that 20% of all of the properties on Rightmove have been on sale for six months or more. That means if they are advertised with companies such as eMoov and PurpleBrick, the fee has been paid without the home being sold.

So, sellers using online agents find it is much cheaper, but only if they manage to sell. Otherwise they have, in effect, joined a very expensive listing site and a traditional agent does much more than just put a property on the internet.

For instance, many sales can fall through after they are under offer as a good agent ‘nurses’ the deal once it is in the hands of solicitors. Local knowledge and being ‘on the ground’ as it were can often make the difference between a sale and no sale. If it doesn’t matter to the agent whether they sell or not, this part of the job can often be neglected.

The BBC report concludes that based on the experience of some sellers, anyone thinking of using an estate agent, online or on the High Street, should remember to read the terms and conditions closely.

At Winkworth, we don’t tie you in to contracts and we generally have no upfront costs. Like a good accountant we believe that we will save you far more than our fees cost you, by making sure we get the highest price possible for our clients and at the same time, working hard to ensure that once under offer, the deal proceeds smoothly to completion.

Additionally, if required, we can provide advice on your onward purchase to help you save money when buying too.