Purple Bricks Feedback

[MWill32269]

One year has now elapsed since Purple Bricks started selling our property in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
We accepted their initial advice about proposing a selling price, based on their research of comparable sold properties in the local area. We were then left to our own devices to enter all the details on their web site, subsequently twice reducing the price, and are now paying them their over £1K commission with nothing whatsoever to show for it.
In one year we have only received one viewing with no real interest or feedback. The only other appointment made in one year was cancelled by the prospective purchaser!
Glad we didn’t pay extra for the privilege of a Purple Bricks Agent showing prospective purchasers around.
Purple Bricks media adverts do not reflect the reality. On their own, adverts clearly don’t sell houses.
The Estate Agent on the High Street is still king in our opinion.

Being left to your own devices is kind of the point, isn't it? I.e. PB are cheap because they don't do much and you use their online platform to do things yourselves. I do think paying an EA whether they sell your house or not is not something I would do.

Unfortunately, the lack of viewings is likely to be due to prive. Are you now selling with a traditional EA?

Price not prive!

try house simple
they are no sale no fee and if they do sale its 995 inc vat

We went with Purplebricks and our house sold within 3 weeks and had regular viewings in that time. Our thought process was that potential buyers see a property on rightmove and there is little to be done by the agent. The agent wrote the advert and we had final approval of it.
I can't comment on how their after sales team are as we haven't completes yet.

Have they given their opinion as to why you haven't had many viewings?

Did you have the property values by several local agents?

There are things to be said for some online agents, but I had 2 value my house, and they were both silly overvalued numbers.

I thought the point of PB is that you don't pay commission? Isn't that what the ads about commisery are about?

A fee might be a better description.

Essentially you pay them a flat fee upfront (can be deferred if you use their in house solicitors), as opposed to a traditional estate agent where you typically pay them a % of the sale price, but only if the sale goes through. Known as 'no sale, no fee.'

As you have discovered PB do little more than place an AD online. If priced correctly & you get a decent local property comedian expert then this can sometimes work. In our experience they promised the earth but failed to deliver. We priced very much to sell (because we were in a chain) & had lots of viewings & 3 or 4 offers. Unfortunately the offers were at the level of the "we buy your house in 7 days" companies & our EA was unwilling to negotiate them up to an acceptable level. We cut our losses after 5 months when we lost the house we were buying. Went on with a proper EA in May. Finally got an offer we could accept in August & exchanged contracts & due to complete early December. Your main problem is price. I suggest you remove your house from PB. This is easy to do on their web shite site. Start afresh with a realistic price & a proper EA in the spring!