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Property/DIY

Should I pick an online EA or a high street one?

48 replies

Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 15:52

I want to sell my house and I'm trying to decide which estate agent to use. I've had visits from two high street agents, one local and one that is part of a chain. I much preferred the local agent despite her stated commission being .25% more expensive than the chain. I know that I should negotiate the commission but realistically I think I'll only manage to get the .25% off which means that I could be paying £5000 or £6000 including vat. Alternatively, I have looked at the online agent Yopa who would cost only £835 and claim to offer full estate agent services.

So I need to choose whether the personal service of the local estate agent would be worth paying up to £5000 more for. This is my first move in over 15 years so I'm very unfamiliar with the whole system.

For what it's worth my house is very well presented but it is slightly niche so it won't necessarily sell itself.

Does anybody have any thoughts or experience that could help me decide?

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PurpleDaisies · 22/07/2017 15:53

In my experience, online estate agents are absolutely rubbish. I'd go for a high street one every time.

Allwashedup · 22/07/2017 15:56

We recently sold through an online agency and had nothing but trouble with them. They are nothing more than an advertising portal. We would never use or recommend any online agency.

SquashedInTight · 22/07/2017 15:58

We are looking to buy atm. We don't consider anything with an online agent. We sold ours through a High Street agent. They have been great!

Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 15:59

You both sound very emphatic and you reflect what some of my concerns about online agents are. I think I would find there is a big difference between visiting an agent in their office to discuss issues and trying to navigate online seller '. dashboards'

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Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 16:00

Squashed how buyers feel about dealing with an online agent is an important point I had thought deeply about.

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jazzmin · 22/07/2017 16:04

We sold with Yopa. Our local agent is great and always available on the phone. Look at the reviews to see your local agent and their feedback. Saved us thousands of pounds. There were a couple of viewers put off by them through, they knocked on my door as they didn't like booking online!

Allwashedup · 22/07/2017 16:06

It was Yopa we sold through but they caused so much stress. Utterly incompetent call centre and useless, uninterested local agents.

Allwashedup · 22/07/2017 16:08

Forgot to mention that we did all of the work ourselves and our buyers almost gave up on trying to arrange their first viewing.

Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 16:08

Jazz, All your comments are an interesting juxtaposition! I'll have a look for reviews.

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Ginorchoc · 22/07/2017 16:12

Ewemove has good reviews for an online. Also need to check who will do the viewings, will they negotiate for you etc.

Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 16:15

From what I've read so far I would have to do the viewings with Yopa, something I'm not that comfortable about, but they say they manage sales progression.

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PurpleDaisies · 22/07/2017 16:18

they say they manage sales progression.

This is where the major issues usually come in. It's fine if everything is straightforward but the minute there's a problem they have no idea how to handle it, can't be reached by anyone, you speak to a different person every time who doesn't know the situation..,

Allwashedup · 22/07/2017 16:26

Yopa certainly DON'T manage sales progression. We ended up doing our own.

They will do hosted viewings though for an extra fee.

Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 16:31

I'll be really relying on my estate agent to help me through the whole process as I'm so inexperienced so call centres and online tools probably aren't for me. I think I'll go for the local high street agent. I did really like her, we seemed to be on the same wavelength and she seemed a very safe pair of hands.

What can I say to her to try to knock her % down a little? I'm apprehensive about negotiating about it.

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Bunnyfuller · 22/07/2017 16:31

Tepilo - horrendous. Zero viewings in 6 months. Got several friends and family to try to book a viewing and no response from Tepilo. Horrid little man came to take photos and they massively over-valued the house then blamed us. They're all doing it on the cheap on a call centre model and the lack of experience and personal touch is very apparent. Housesimple seems to have good reviews but as a pp said, most don't want to have to faff for a viewing and register etc.

MeltorPeltor · 22/07/2017 16:37

Local agent every time. They know the area, they may even have people on their books waiting. No fee if they don't sell your house and our agent has been so good. They do all the viewings too, I've been to view one property with Purple Bricks and it was really awkward as the owner showed me around (shoes on or off, so confusing) and the property was nothing like the advert, dark, cramped and missing several acres of garden that turned out to be the field next door and the 'spacious' garden with garden room was a tiny square of lawn with a painted shed! 9 months later house is still for sale, despite houses in the area not hanging around.

Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 16:45

I looked at Telipo, Sarah Beeny is a good draw for them, but it all sounded a bit convoluted. Zero viewings in six months is dreadful, I'd be pulling my hair out.

I was really impressed with the local agent, she put a lot of emphasis on how well they would look after us during the sales progression and they insist on conducting the viewings, which is ideal for us. They will do a much better job with prospective buyers than I could.

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Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 16:47

I'll phone the agent on Monday.

Thanks everyone, you've all been really helpful.

Jazzmin I'm not ignoring your positive experience!

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jazzmin · 22/07/2017 17:39

No worries, sounds the best decision for you, good luck! I've bought and sold a few times so quite happy showing people round and messaging my buyer to nag them for things. I've earnt my EA fee saving through years of experience!

jazzmin · 22/07/2017 17:41

No worries, sounds the best decision for you, good luck! I've bought and sold a few times so quite happy showing people round and messaging my buyer to nag them for things. I've earnt my EA fee saving through years of experience!

OlennasWimple · 22/07/2017 17:44

I would use an online agent if:

  • my property was a standard layout, nothing unusual about it
  • in an area where property is selling well
  • I was prepared to do all showings myself
  • I was willing and able to do all the post-sale liaison with the buyers
  • I wasn't in a chain


Otherwise, a good local agent is worth paying for
Lostwithinthehills · 22/07/2017 18:46

That's a succinct list Olennas and I'm not sure I can tick any of the points.

I think without proper guidance my inexperience would be glaringly obvious as things moved along.

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footphobic · 22/07/2017 19:07

We went on the market in May with our most popular local high street agent. Sold almost immediately, four weeks down the line with our own 'dream house' purchase progressing, our buyers pulled out. The agent was really ineffective in moving things forward and we lost our onward purchase.

We wanted to change agent so that we could appear new to RM and pop back up on alerts and searches again, the only way to do that with the same agent is to reduce by more than 2% which we didn't want to do at the time.

I researched a bit and we went with HouseSimple for a fixed price of £600. I did have to write the listing, bit of a faff, but worth it to save £2500. They were efficient in arranging a photographer whose photos were much better than the original agents.

We sold again in a week and have moved to their sales progression team. Early stages but it is going well at the moment, we do have a designated assistant.

It is not as personal, communication is not as good in some ways, but actually better in others as viewings, offers, all come through to your account page and can be dealt with directly and at your convenience anytime.

Obviously I'll make an overall judgement when it's all done and dusted, but for the moment we're more than happy.

Boredboredboredboredbored · 22/07/2017 19:17

Don't do it! I sold with emoov in January. 4.5 months later my buyers pulled out as the couldn't get the mortgage. They were not vetted properly imo. The sales progression was shit. I've gone with a local agent now and there is no difference.

I think it's fine if the sale is straightforward but I'd never chance it again.

LazyDailyMailJournos · 22/07/2017 19:33

I'd echo Oleanna's advice. Our vendor is using an online agent and I can tell you from the buyer's perspective that it has been utterly shit. They have been AWFUL to deal with right from the word go - even trying to get hold of someone to book a viewing was difficult. Sales progression is non-existent; the offer we put in never got recorded and it was only 48 hours later when we got a phone call from an - unrelated - department at the agent to ask us for feedback, that it became apparent that our offer hadn't been logged on the system, let along passed along to the vendor!

Their stack-em-high-sell-em-quick model is completely predicated on loading all of the shit-work on to the person who wants to buy the house. If we'd been in a position where there had been another house that we'd like as much, then I would have walked away from this in a second, purely because the agent has been so appalling. The additional stress and misery it's caused is horrendous, made even worse by the fact that our agent who's handling our sale, is really helpful, reliable, prompt and easy to deal with. The difference being that she's a high street agent and we're paying more than thruppence for her services. You get what you pay for.

So in a nutshell, I'd avoid them like the fucking plague.

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