First lot of questions: impressions on the valuation
- How helpful was your Purplebricks valuation?
Standard. We’ve already had 2 high street valuations and one online one so had a rough idea of price which has ranged in +/- £35k difference. PB Agent seemed to be a bit confused as to how to value the property, said they couldn’t find much comparison and did ask if we had other valuations which I thought was a bit of a no-no (but they all have asked that). Initially couldn’t decide if it was worth more than x, discussed about high pricing putting people off viewing. Could try x then dropping back to offers over x, as a second option, seemed to be confident of their strategies.
Discussed viewing options, open days, single viewings. Asked our position etc. Discussed Rightmove cycles and how many people the advertisement would reach in our county. Confident that we would get an offer out of e.g. 15 viewings.
- Was it made clear how Purplebricks works?
Did go into a bit of a PB monologue but did get through important points:
To check out Trust Pilot, look at Facebook reviews. Who would be hosting the viewings, how many sales PB have recently had. Where it was advertised, the process, i.e. pictures, floorplan, agreement, goes live, e-mail alerts to purchasers, feedback.
Performance Report: How many days on market, tracking, every viewer status, feedback, if an offer has been made, 2 weekly marketing review, 1st month market review via group message. Mid month phone call to discuss marking that you can always see status in portal.
Offers made are via website & are 24/7 *(not sure about this, would have liked my agent to have been the point of contact not a call centre, however that should mean that there are no allegiances i.e. playing us off against the local builder or other favoured buyers etc).
They Find out buyers’ position, negotiate with buyers & qualify buyer. Find if the mortgage is approved in principle, evidence of a deposit, Cash: bank statements, is there a chain – contact other agents. Post sales. The department deals with solicitors, us, buyers and chases progress.
They are not a no sale no fee agent. You pay a fee & if house doesn’t sell you can resume at a later date. Payable irrespective if you don’t sell. It’s a lifetime fee, you can click at a later date and your house is back on the market. EPC is extra at £84
They use Advance Conveyancing: 10mts interest free credit on fee if you agree to use their conveyances. Pay the fee when the 10mts is up or when you complete or drop out, whichever is sooner. £2,000 all in including solicitors. Compared with £3600 approx with a high street EA. Not including solicitors.
T&C can be found on the website.
- Were you confident with your Local Property Expert’s knowledge and expertise?
Agent had already talked about their many years Estate Agency experience in initial pre-evaluation phone call. Agent seemed quietly confident, not pushy, good first impressions (not reeking of aftershave/perfumes nor full of attitude or vacuous or using buzz-words).
Did say that it would be different people in the team taking on the property viewings but same as the high street Agent.
Gave them a tour of the house, was positive in all rooms and picked out features of interest. Was the only agent to look in our loft space and suggest taking a picture of this as a selling point, in other valuations the agents didn’t even bother to look.
Said property was in a good location for schools, knew catchment area and had personal experience of town itself. Seems enthusiastic & engaged. Overall happy.
- What most appealed to you about the Purplebricks service?
They are doing the same job as the high street Estate Agent in our case for 1/3 of the cost. Having much experience as buyer/seller with the High Street Agent I personally feel that they don’t do a lot for the money and often alienate the buyer. I feel that the priority is advertising, photographs, getting the advert on to the major internet sites which Purplebricks provide.
In comparison to a high street agent, I am concerned about the next steps and their flexibility in getting viewers through the door and whether click-to-view will be as accessible as a telephone appointment. We previously tried to view via Purplebricks’ website and the agent kept cancelling our appointment because they only wanted to do times we couldn’t and we lost the house. I did bring this up, that particular agent was known to them and we were assured they had left now but I am tentative about the next stage.