Purple Bricks Estate Agent

[jawillwill]

Anyone ever used Purple Bricks (or other online estate agency) to sell a property?

 

Opinions? Better than high street estate agents?

[Batman]

I have used Yopa.

an online agent, very good. But any agent is if your place sells

 

Yopa charge a flat rate (outside of London) of £780 and you get 6 months to pay it.

an agent will come round, value your place and then it is up to you to sign up with them (for the fee above)

you are free to market the property with any other agent if you wish.

 

you will do your own viewings mind.

[TwoPints]

I am currently selling a property and we had Purple Bricks around to give us a valuation as they had recently sold a neighbours property and the neighbour was very pleased with the whole process.

 

However, in the end we decided to opt for a traditional Estate agent for a few reasons really:

 

1. Purpose Bricks valued the property at circa £30k less than the traditional Estate agents that quoted (we've since had an offer of the asking price). Could just be the individual valuer getting it wrong though.

2. With Purple Bricks you pay their fee whether they sell it or not. Obviously they have an incentive to sell the property as their reputation depends on it but if they fail, then you're £800 down.

3. All the traditional agents advertise properties online now and we just felt it was better to have that personal contact where the agent can build a relationship with potential buyers and talk them into viewing rather than leaving them to make their own decisions based purely on what the pictures look like on the website.

 

Just a few of my thoughts on it. As I say, they sold a neighbours property and they were happy with the service but for us, the pros of a traditional agent outweighed the online offering.

 

The agent we used was brilliant so if you're in the area, I would suggest getting Enfields round to give you a valuation. They've been great for us and very professional... and before you ask, no, I don't have any connection with them. Just a happy customer (so far).

 

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[egg]

Selling a saleable house is the easy bit. Purple bricks can do that as well as anyone. Estate agents only prove their worth if an issue arises with the deal or chain. Good, experienced agents have the ability to deal with those scenarios. You gets what you pay for and personally I wouldn't use an Internet cheapy to sell my house.

[JackanorySFC]

We sold our last place (at full asking price) using Tepilo in August last year. £640 in total (quotes from 3 local agents ranged from £4k - £6k). I think Estate Agents are a huge waste of money and frankly, along with convincing solicitors part of a racket.

 

Hardly anybody pops into a local agent these days, people use Rightmove (mostly) and Zoopla (excellent valuation/ market tools). After being shown round numerous houses by agents we decided against them for various reasons including:

 

- The absolute failure to turn up on time regularly

- Giving me bull**** such as a house that backed onto a train line being in a great location as "it will never be built on"

- Never knowing utility bills/ council tax bands/ broadband speeds

- Not knowing the house's history (extensions, maintenance, neighbours etc)

- Desperation to sell you into a chain that they "own"

 

Tepilo have an amazing app allowing you to manage viewings, deal with offers, check out Rightmove, Zoopla analytics etc. Their conveyancing service via their online solicitor is brilliant (allows you to simply print, sign, scan and upload contracts/ docs etc rather than ****ing post them like most solicitors). All I did to show people around was invite them in, tell them where everything was and invite them to take as long as they needed and ask me any questions whilst I put the kettle on. The questions they asked were exactly the sort of questions a spotty, shiny suit wearing Estate Agent wouldn't be able to answer (neighbours, boiler install, broadband, bills, when extension was completed and by who etc). Whole process simple and feel in control of the entire process (unlike waiting on agents to return calls/ update on offers etc).

 

Genuinely don't think Estate Agents are fit for purpose anymore unless selling substantial/ unique properties/ land.

[OldNick]

I would have thought if you have a house on an estate or road where they are basically all the same Purple Bricks would be ideal.

 

Surely the problem comes with properites that are of high value where a smart London or local estate agent can do the work. If you are not experienced selling it is so easy to say the wrong thing innocently whch putss the buyer off even though it was not really an issue. Im not saying you have to deceive or tell lies but innocent things that dont seem important can easily deter a buyer.

An example was that we were looking at a high value property and the vendor said to us that the next door neighbour was a drummer with a chart topping band, thinking that would enhance the property when it alerted us to a possible nuisance. Fprtunately for both of us, we took it on board but decided it was not a problem. It turned out that way and we are friends now.

 

My biggest gripe with estate agents is their lack of follow up. I dont worry if the person looking doesnt want the house but just to get their reasons why and so then seeing if there is a pattern.

 

Another thing is remember the public will mislead as much as an agent.

[JackanorySFC]

I would have thought if you have a house on an estate or road where they are basically all the same Purple Bricks would be ideal.

 

Surely the problem comes with properites that are of high value where a smart London or local estate agent can do the work. If you are not experienced selling it is so easy to say the wrong thing innocently whch putss the buyer off even though it was not really an issue. Im not saying you have to deceive or tell lies but innocent things that dont seem important can easily deter a buyer.

An example was that we were looking at a high value property and the vendor said to us that the next door neighbour was a drummer with a chart topping band, thinking that would enhance the property when it alerted us to a possible nuisance. Fprtunately for both of us, we took it on board but decided it was not a problem. It turned out that way and we are friends now.

 

My biggest gripe with estate agents is their lack of follow up. I dont worry if the person looking doesnt want the house but just to get their reasons why and so then seeing if there is a pattern.

 

Another thing is remember the public will mislead as much as an agent.

 

Our place was a large, detached, 1920's property in Botley different from every other house on the road. That's why (IMO) it was far better for me to explain it's history and uniqueness than an Estate Agent. Got 6/7 viewings booked within 48 hrs of being on Rightmove/ Zoopla then let the house take care of itself and answered questions honestly to prospective buyers. My take was any lies/ deceit/ exaggerations will come out in a thorough survey anyway. We are actually still friends with the family that bought off us.

 

Literally don't know how Estate Agents can justify £4k-£6k for what we did, Tepilo did the floor plan, uploaded our pictures and helped with the valuation. The viewings come from Rightmove and Zoopla, not a tiny Estate Agents basic wordpress site. After that we used their 24hr support line (rarely) and their app (frequently). It was an absolute dream compared to our experience of buying through Agents.

 

For specialist homes (£2m+) with large land areas etc yes, specialist estate agents can certainly help. But for 90% of UK sales I think they will not exist in their current format in 5 years time.

[Batman]

the way we saw it. When looking for our new place, we looked on Rightmove, Zoopla and less so, Prime Location.

if it was not on there, we would not bother. YOPA and such internet companies market your houses on those sites (as well as the high street agents)

 

also, you have your own online dashboard to manage your listing and viewings. Your Agent will message you on there or by text and people who want yo view your place can ask you questions via the dashboard

 

we had to be home for any viewings, so it made sense to go with an online company

One high street agent wanted £2750 to sell our place (that was a special offer, reduced fee). YOPA wanted £780 and that was payable within 6 months

 

Walking down our version of London Rd for example and registering with high street agents just never crossed our minds.

 

https://www.yopa.co.uk/

Edited 18 August, 2016 by Batman

[Patrick Bateman]

We sold our last place (at full asking price) using Tepilo in August last year. £640 in total (quotes from 3 local agents ranged from £4k - £6k). I think Estate Agents are a huge waste of money and frankly, along with convincing solicitors part of a racket.

 

Hardly anybody pops into a local agent these days, people use Rightmove (mostly) and Zoopla (excellent valuation/ market tools). After being shown round numerous houses by agents we decided against them for various reasons including:

 

- The absolute failure to turn up on time regularly

- Giving me bull**** such as a house that backed onto a train line being in a great location as "it will never be built on"

- Never knowing utility bills/ council tax bands/ broadband speeds

- Not knowing the house's history (extensions, maintenance, neighbours etc)

- Desperation to sell you into a chain that they "own"

 

Tepilo have an amazing app allowing you to manage viewings, deal with offers, check out Rightmove, Zoopla analytics etc. Their conveyancing service via their online solicitor is brilliant (allows you to simply print, sign, scan and upload contracts/ docs etc rather than ****ing post them like most solicitors). All I did to show people around was invite them in, tell them where everything was and invite them to take as long as they needed and ask me any questions whilst I put the kettle on. The questions they asked were exactly the sort of questions a spotty, shiny suit wearing Estate Agent wouldn't be able to answer (neighbours, boiler install, broadband, bills, when extension was completed and by who etc). Whole process simple and feel in control of the entire process (unlike waiting on agents to return calls/ update on offers etc).

 

Genuinely don't think Estate Agents are fit for purpose anymore unless selling substantial/ unique properties/ land.

 

Agree with this. Two industries that are ripe for taking to pieces and modernising; Estate agencies and conveyancing solicitors.

 

Estate agencies are full of morons who really are only interested in their commission, despite the cr*p they feed you. I'd far rather do it all online next time.

 

Conveyancing solicitors are just ridiculous. All the chasing and harassing to get them to DO the job you're paying a lot of money for only to get back "oh haven't you had that yet, we posted it ... " F**KING posted it?? POSTED! Okay yes, there are certain docs that need signatures, but most of the to and fro discussions can happen by email or phone or getting in the room. I'm sure the solicitors for both parties are actually making up questions to ask as well. Another letter another £19 either side. It's all a complete con.

 

I remortgaged last month ... £900 for a solicitor to speak to the banks and do what I could have done. Seriously. Then they had to cheek to charge me to transfer the money to my bank, ARGH.

[Ashtead Saint]

I wouldn't use Purple Bricks.

 

I viewed a house being marked by them in March. The house was vacant. I said that I liked it but was only willing to proceed if the seller could exchange and complete quickly due to ehupcoming change in SDLT rates for buy to lets. They said that they would speak to the Seller and get back to me. They didn't.