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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to not want husband to use Purple Brick to sell our house?

83 replies

LittleMG · 22/06/2019 17:32

So I don’t really know why, but I feel worried about selling our house using Purple Bricks instead of a regular agent. You have to pay if you don’t sell £800 odd and I’m worried we won’t sell and will end up losing our money and having to sell with a normal agent anyway. AIBU? Has anyone got really good things to say about them? Cheers.

OP posts:

Soola · 22/06/2019 17:34

I wouldn’t because I’m a snob and the for sale signs look cheap and naff.

Use a reputable and established agent.

malmi · 22/06/2019 17:36

If the house is appropriately priced and listed on rightmove then it will sell. The agent is pretty much irrelevant unless they actively try to sabotage the sale.

Original poster

LittleMG · 22/06/2019 17:38

Oh no! I agree with both your comments! 🤔

OP posts:

ToftheB · 22/06/2019 17:39

We’re using them - no problems at all so far. Sold nice and fast, seem fairly on the ball as far as follow up stuff goes. I agree, the sign is fairly ugly though...

FuckBrussel · 22/06/2019 17:40

From my DB's experience selling our DM's house - you are wise to be wary. Don't do it.

RedHelenB · 22/06/2019 17:40

Seem to take their time to sell round our way.

ColaFreezePop · 22/06/2019 17:41

You don't need to put the sign up, you just need to get your house online at a sensible price.

MoreSlidingDoors · 22/06/2019 17:41

Settled.com are far better than PurpleBricks.

coral13 · 22/06/2019 17:41

They are a horrendous company and as you pay up front have no reason to actually do anything for you.

I wouldn't even view a house that was a Purple Bricks house.

The experience as a buyer (let alone a seller) is terrible. The solicitors they persuade you to use are even worse.

We backed out of a sale that was PB bricks be it got ridiculous. Then there was a PB house at the end of our last chain and it held everything up because issues to do with the PB solicitor that they used.

Sometimes in life you get what you pay for.

There was a similar thread recently where a PB house wasn't getting views and nearly everyone that replied said they wouldn't view a PB house.

Xyzzzzz · 22/06/2019 17:42

My sister had this issue, used them and then regretted it. She then swapped to an agent and it told ASAP. She complained with PB as they were terrible.

Horsemenoftheaclopalypse · 22/06/2019 17:42

I used housesimple as I think the branding of purple brick is proper budget and housesimple looks nicer.
It was approx £1k and I only paid if it sold

I saved £7k and have NO REGRETS AT ALL

lastqueenofscotland · 22/06/2019 17:44

YANBU.
You have to pay regardless so the motivation isn’t there to sell your houses.
Also I bought my house through them and they were horrific “lost” over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS I had transferred to them for my deposit which delayed my completion a week.
The progression staff I dealt with were also all shite.
Never again.

Ginger1982 · 22/06/2019 17:44

I thought about using them but seeing as they have your money upfront I don't think they have an impetus to sell or put in any effort.

Namechangerextraordinare101 · 22/06/2019 17:44

We used Doorsteps, a company even cheaper than Purple Bricks. It cost us £199 to get our house listed on rightmove with professional photos etc.

I was very sceptical at first but they were actually brilliant. We sold our house within 2 weeks.

whereonearth · 22/06/2019 17:44

We had a great experience tbh 🤷‍♀️

Lou573 · 22/06/2019 17:46

We considered it but they valued our house way under what two traditional agents did. Went on to get asking price so would have missed out on a lot if we’d gone with them. Also not convinced by the aftercare which is the important bit.

RickAstleyGaveMeUp · 22/06/2019 17:47

Our real life EA took stunning photos, sold the house to someone who they knew had viewed similar properties in the area the first day on the market, and worked their arses off to keep the chain alive when the people we bought from were being pricks. Worth every penny. Doubt PB would have been as good.

Ribeebie · 22/06/2019 17:49

As a buyer I found purple bricks a faff to try and get a viewing. You need an account and to log in online. The agent then changed the appt we had booked and I had to log in to agree or it just wouldn't happen.

The estate agent then came to the viewing late and I just felt he wasn't that interested. I found out by asking him that they had 'sold that house' three times and it all seemed to be finance/buyers not in right position to move which made me think they don't check that much that the buyer is proceedable.

The house sold (not to us) but I then noticed it online again a month or two later with a new agent - it was then snapped up and I haven't seen it on the market again since.

So my experience as a viewer/potential buyer makes me suspicious of them.

EmmaJR1 · 22/06/2019 17:51

Purple bricks undervalued my in-laws house by over £30k.... just be careful

GhostsInSnow · 22/06/2019 17:51

It's taken the house across the road almost 2 weeks to actually appear on Rightmove and the PB site from the day the sign went up. nosey cow checking the price
The pictures are bloody awful.

So no, on that alone I wouldn't touch them.

RightWhalesHave2Blowholes · 22/06/2019 17:55

Use a local agent with a good reputation. Get an EPC thrown in.

Speak to the agent about a sliding scale. In the current market most agents will do this.
We had:
1.25% + VAT if sold at £X and above
1% + VAT if sold between £X - £X
1% Including VAT is sold for £X or below

We had a 6 week rolling contract, with 1 week notice.

This was in the SE last year, the markets were slow, and even slower now.

Original poster

LittleMG · 22/06/2019 17:59

Thank you so much for your replies. Currently we have been on the market with an agent charging 1% no contract just a weeks notice to leave if we want to. Only trouble is we have only had 1 viewing in 2 weeks. Is that normal? Maybe we are just impatient? But are our agent doing anything more than Purple Bricks just putting it online? Tbh looking at these replies my husband is having second thoughts too now.

OP posts:

user1487194234 · 22/06/2019 18:00

Would never sell or buy through PB

Horsemenoftheaclopalypse · 22/06/2019 18:01

Oh should add we had a very good/sellable flat so were happy to sell it ourselves.

We took the average time of 3 valuations (all inc PB were in line with our own valuation which we calculated using sold prices on mouseprice and rightmove)
We sold within 6 weeks at £7.5k over our target sale price

Twolittlespeckledfrogs · 22/06/2019 18:02

I’ve tried twice to book a viewing on the same house being sold with purple bricks and both times I tried requesting several different times with each appointment being cancelled and replaced with the same time even after I’ve rejected that time once or twice. So I’ve given up on trying to arrange a viewing. A proper estate agent will go to much more effort to make sure potential viewers can make an appointment easily. There was no attempt to follow up my requests. No phone call or email to try and help sort out a time that would work. I’d even tried both daytime and evening times.

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