Mumsnet user review Yopa - an online estate agency

[EllieMumsnet]

This activity is now closed

This thread is for the 5 Mumsnetters who tested the Yopa service for 10 weeks to try and sell their home.

Non testers, in order to be entered into a prize draw to win, where one Mumsnetter will win a £150 John Lewis voucher, please share your thoughts on the following - ‘Some online estate agents have local agents covering the whole country and others do not. How important is local knowledge when choosing an estate agent to sell your home?’

If you'd like to find out more about Yopa, please feel free to visit their website

Here’s what Yopa have to say: “At Yopa, we’ve kept the good bits of traditional estate agency and done away with all the bad bits. Like the expensive commission, the 9-5 opening hours, and the old-fashioned way of doing things. In their place is the 21st century way of selling your home. That means your own dedicated local estate agent, with you every step of the way. A professional advert for your home that goes in front of millions of buyers on Rightmove, Zoopla and PrimeLocation. And your own online control centre that lets you track your sale and receive viewing requests and offers directly, 24/7. All this for a low fixed fee including VAT of £839 (£1,399 in some London postcodes). That’s it. A low fixed fee. No small print. We’ve been rated 5-star by thousands of happy home sellers. On average, we find a buyer for them within 30 days - and they get over 98% of their asking price.”

Testers, please answer the following questions:

First impressions

• First lot of questions: impressions on the valuation -
• Did you find your valuation with your local Yopa agent useful?
• How well was the process of Yopa explained to you?
• Did you feel your Yopa agent had lots of local knowledge?
• Are you happy with your agent?

Second lot of questions: putting your home up for sale & advert -

• So far are you pleased with the service?
• Were you happy with the adverts prepared for your home?
• How is the process of selling your house online?

Third lot of questions: finding a buyer -

• How’s the process been so far?
• How much success have you had in selling your house?
• How easy have you found using yopahub (your online dashboard)?

Final batch of questions: overall impressions of the service -

• What did you like most about the process?
• Would you recommend selling with Yopa over a high street agent? -
• Would you use it again if you were selling again?
• What are your overall thoughts on the process?
• Did your property manage to sell?

All testers who complete all feedback will receive a £50 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

Non tester

Local knowledge is crucial, I would only use an estate agent that knew the area

I can't imagine using an estate agent who didn't have any local knowledge. It would be the first thing I'd look for when choosing one.

Non-tester. I've used online estate agents before and been very happy. Local knowledge is something I have plenty of so would not need it in an estate agent.

Non-tester

I would much prefer to use an online agent with local contacts. They would know the area/market and be able to give a far more accurate valuation.

Non tester here ....
It has been a good 13-14 years since I was last in the market for buying/selling a house. I’m about to embark on the process once more and I’m not looking forward to it. So I’ve read the testers’ report with interest.
Anything that can help make the experience less stressful and more straightforward has to be welcomed, and having local knowledge is surely an important ingredient. I’d want an agent who understands the ins and outs of the local area; knows what’s selling and what’s not; understands what is special/attractive/ a draw to prospective buyers, and who can give sensible and simple advice about the best way to market the property given all these factors.
The fixed price, no sale/no fee approach sounds very attractive and I will definitely be exploring Yopa when it comes to selling up.

Non testers :

I thibk local knowledge is very important when choosing an estate agent to sell your home.As you'd want to have the best accurate valuation for your property.

Some online estate agents have local agents covering the whole country and others do not. How important is local knowledge when choosing an estate agent to sell your home?

I am pretty knowledgeable about my area so if I am moving locally I do not need that knowledge but if I were moving to a new area that I didn't know then that knowledge becomes very important.

Non-tester. I think it is very important. We have been trying to sell our home and have found that if the agent doesn’t know the area, they are unable to properly sell he home’s location and benefits of the local area and community. Often, families buying homes are just as sold by this as they are by the actual home.

Non-tester: I think local knowledge is the crux to the sale - If the agent know where the nearest GP is, local shops, Schools, bus stope etc

I also think local knowledge makes a difference when valuing a property.

As with others, it would depend whether the estate agent was doing the viewings or whether we were - having someone to let you know about the nearby features (whether transport, shops, etc) of local life are helpful from a buyer's perspective. If we were happy doing the viewings ourselves, then I wouldn't be quite so fussed about having a local estate agent if there were benefits of having a non-local but more efficient or larger agent.

When we've bought in the past it's either been in the local area so we are very familiar already (in which case a local estate agent wouldn't have made much difference) or we've spent time looking into the local area (in the past, transport links and local amenities; now more kid-focused items such as schools) so the estate agent would have been a double check rather than a primary source.

As long as you have a good awareness of local knowledge and can tell an out of area agent what they need to know about the area then a national representative would be fine. I wouldn't be opposed to using an online service to sell my house as long as I agreed with the valuation given.

non tester - I would think local knowledge is essential and I would be a bit put out if my estate agent didn't have relevant local knowledge!

Non tester

Definitely would want my estate agent to have local knowledge. I would expect this, even for an online agent.

"Some online estate agents have local agents covering the whole country and others do not. How important is local knowledge when choosing an estate agent to sell your home?".

For me local knowledge is more important, I think not just from a seller's point of getting the right money for your house, but for the buyer who can hopefully find what is important to them reflected in what properties they are directed to. Sadly I think estate agents in the past have been a little greedy and now they are paying the price , I look at them like a dating agency matching the buyer up with a seller and arranging blind dates...or viewings.

I think that local knowledge would improve chances of a sale by being able to point out appropriate benefits of the area to prospective buyers, and also by being able to answer any questions meaning they aren't waiting for a reply and looking elsewhere in the meantime

I know that I would find it useful to speak to someone who knows the area if I was moving away from where we are currently, being able to ask about schools and transport etc

Non tester - local knowledge is invaluable. When you are selling your house you are opening up a huge part of your life to scrutiny, and want to make sure the person selling it is the best that there is. Having knowledge of the area is often the deciding factor in buying a house, and a knowledgeable estate agent is worth their weight in gold, as google will only tell you so much!

Non tester, local knowledge is very important, I’d not be interested in an agency that didn’t know the specifics of my area and just based the price on other properties in the area.

Non tester

• ‘Some online estate agents have local agents covering the whole country and others do not. How important is local knowledge when choosing an estate agent to sell your home?’

If you want a quick sale then I would go for the on line estate agent as it has a large target audience, so would hopefully sell quicker, will be cheaper and there is plenty of information on-line on comparative house prices the area and you can to to the Local Authority website for information on planning applications and schools.

None tester:-
Some online estate agents have local agents covering the whole country and others do not. How important is local knowledge when choosing an estate agent to sell your home?

I think it is very important to know the local area what is a good area and to know what you have got locally e.g. local shop, local school. They would also know what price properties sell for in certain areas of your town and can sell your property better as they will actually know the area and be more likely to answer buyers questions being local.

‘Some online estate agents have local agents covering the whole country and others do not. How important is local knowledge when choosing an estate agent to sell your home?’ Non tester Very important particularly in terms of knowing about schools, planned developments which could impact on property prices, getting into catchment schools etc..

Local knowledge is invaluable. Not necessarily in terms of prices (which most homeowners have a reasonable feel for) but in terms of having knowledge of people wanting to buy. We sold our house 4 years ago and our estate agent not only got us onto the market in 3 days from scratch (we hadn't realised we wanted to move until we saw somewhere we wanted to buy, and had to move very quickly to be considered a "serious buyer" for our new home). In addition, our estate had a pool of people wanting to buy a home like ours, so he very quickly arranged viewings. It is difficult to know how this service could be replicated in an online arrangement.

Non tester

It's vitally important than all estate agents have local knowledge.

They need to know about issues such as subsidence, flooding, crime rates, school catchment areas, whether new developments or roads are in the planning stage, or a possibility in the future. All these issues can affect property prices considerably.

Each area has its own issues, both good and bad, and without local knowledge, it's too easy to be misled.

Non tester

Local knowledge would be essential for me. It would really put me off if there was no local knowledge as I'd worry I wouldn't get an accurate valuation.

Non-tester. Local knowledge is vital to help sell a property. Potential buyers need to know:

• where are the nearest transport links?
• which schools are in the catchment area?
• what services are available nearby?
• are there any changes or developments planned nearby?

Sellers need to be reassured the agent:

• will give a realistic valuation.
• knows the local market trends.
• will push to get them the best price.
• will work to your timescale.

Non tester

I think that a local agent is incredibly important in both marketing and pricing of a house so would not consider using an agent who did not have a go level of local knowledge.