Mumsnet user review Yopa - an online estate agency

[EllieMumsnet]

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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

I would initially get valuations from local agents because they have a wealth of knowledge such as properties that didn’t sell and why - don’t see how an online agent could ever have same level of knowledge.

Then, If I wasn’t in a rush to sell, I think I’d be tempted to list with an online agent first. However, I’ve moved several times and I must say my (local) agents were invaluable in last move and it would have fallen apart at the last minute had they not kicked ass lower down the chain! They have also provided an after service with advice on valuations following potential home improvements. Can’t imagine an online agent doing this for free....

I just wouldn't use an estate agent who didn't have local knowledge. Sometimes it's literally two streets that makes the difference between a 'good' area or a 'great' area, if you've no local knowledge that could mean an inaccurate valuation.

Non tester here.

Of course local knowledge is extremely valuable but, tbh, I've found it in extremely short supply with agents I've used - both local and national - And certainly way down their priority list compared with getting the place sold asap.

So although it's a nice bonus, I wouldn't base my choice on it and would always rely on doing my own research.

Non tester: I think its vital for estate agents to know the local area. When me and my partner moved into a new area, we asked the estate agents about which areas were the 'nice' areas and which to avoid. We also queried them on the local primary schools. We did our own research too but having people who knew the area was more personal. We followed the estate agents advice on the area to move into and for our choice in school too. Their advice helped us so much! The bigger onlinr companies are great for those who already know the area but not for people choosing to relocate and need personal advice.

Non tester.

Whilst I think local knowledge is very valuable, I find most people's starting point for looking for a property is Right Move. The time of going to the estate agent window is passing by now. So for the initial 'getting the viewer to the house' bit, it's not that important. However, for the sales part and viewing it is key as anyone new moving to the area won't know about schools, shops, good areas, playgrounds...So this is where local knowledge is key.

Non tester

I think it would be advantageous if the estate agent was familiar with the area I was interested in buying or selling in, but I wouldn't expect it. So much information is readily available online, I don't think it's really as important now as it used to be.

Local knowledge is important but most important to me is actually getting people interested and being interested yourself in the selling of my home. We gave up after a bad experience of no viewings and zero interest in helping us from an estate agents

I’m a non- tester and I wouldn’t consider an agent without a local representative who had some local knowledge. I would want advice about pricing realistically and I don’t think I would be confident taking this from a head/central office.

I wouldn’t trust a valuation from an agent who didn’t have excellent local knowledge. I also wouldn’t want them doing viewings without local knowledge either

Non tester. Local knowledge is absolutely vital. That said, some local agents in our recent experience still want to price ridiculously high, even when you make it clear that you need a quick sale and not languish on the market for the best part of a year, like other houses in your neighborhood.

Non-tester here. Local knowledge is essential for me when choosing an estate agent. That said, the agents in our village both have a bad name so I have to look to neighbouring villages or on line models as I'm in the process of getting ready to market my parents' property. I will look into Yopa more as an option.

I think it is already something people have a problem with the smarminess or lies you see some estate agents give out.having been there for probably an hour before hand to think of their "script" to sell.
you no when someone knows or cares about an area.and it automatically puts you at ease and want to no more.feel more comfortable with a place too.

Non tester
Local knowledge is important for both seller and buyer.
As a seller my property is competing with other properties out there for sale, therefore key that the estate agent can represent my property in the best possible light and that includes having local knowledge.

Non tester - absolutely, I think local knowledge is vital - they know the intricacies of the area, where good schools are, where good doctors surgeries are, transport links etc - all these things really count when placing a value on a property. They also have lists of people ready to proceed with buying a home and that's what you want - good people, keen to buy.

Non tester. Local knowledge is definitely essential. I would expect this from a good estate agent.

Non-tester here, responding to:

‘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?’

In my area particularly, this is a big deal. We are semi rural and all very naice, but with several high impact and contentious housing developments either in the works, in progress or being mooted.

So anyone seeking a currently beautiful rural view may find themselves moving next to a literal building site very quickly. Local knowledge will be on top of that.

Just a road or two away from me were some lovely houses with views across farm fields for years. A development got proposed there and several of them were quick enough off the mark they were able to sell up. The remainder are now lumped with houses they can't sell and pasture they can no longer see (the new houses get the remainder of the field view!)

The other thing we have a lot of is large detached plots being sold and split up into apartment blocks or multiple houses. The biggest issue with these is the impact on local infrastructure. Again, buying next door that? No thanks.

Non tester here. We're putting our house in the market very soon. I have done research into online agents and when possible had a little look on social media at agents names to see if they are local (nothing else) it's definitely making me lean towards online as I've seen they really are local and a lot of them have been employed by the high street agents in the past.

I am just about to put my flat on the market so have been dealing with a lot of agents both on and off line and have been stunned at how little the non-local valuers know about this area, and thus the value of property in this area. You could actually hear one agent's jaw drop when I told him the rental income for a property after he'd tried to tell me the property was worth over £100k less (over a third) than the local agents. Additionally, I can't see how a non-local agent could arrange open house viewings, have a pool of potential buyers to contact or even understand what buyers in that area are looking for

Non tester - I feel that local knowledge of estate agents is invaluable when trying to sell a house.

I think local knowledge is really important. Last time we moved house it was all about getting in a good school catchment. Two estate agents came round to value our old house - one had just moved to the area and was completely clueless, and while he had done his research he had no idea about local services or schools. The other lived locally, could talk knowledgeably about different areas and particularly school catchments. We went with the second guy to see our house and ended up buying through them as well in an area we hadn't thought of considering.

Non-tester:

Local knowledge is really important. We had an initial chat with an agent from another online agency when trying to sell our last flat and he was very clearly basing his valuation on a few minutes googling. He covered a huge area and we really didn’t feel he had much of a clue. I love the concept of an online agency but I’d like to feel they actually knew what they were talking about.

Non-tester. Local knowledge is vital! How can they effectively sell without it?!

Non tester.

When selling I would definitely want local knowledge from an estate agent so the selling price is accurate and is not done for a quick sale and their commission.

Non tester: Local knowledge is very important when selecting an estate agent. I would select one that didn't know the market I was selling in.

Non-tester - That is a question i've not thought about before.

in theory for selling it wouldn't bother be if there were no local reps but when buying i would find it imporant and as they are two sides of the same coin, i suppose it does ultimately matter to be because I would want anyone buying my home to feel confident they had access to that local knowledge.