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Anyone used Purple bricks to buy or sell?

31 replies

SouthCoastShell · 14/07/2020 20:16

Hi we are thinking of selling our home and PurpleBricks seems a economical option. Anyone had experience, good or bad?

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SouthCoastShell · 16/07/2020 13:11

Thank you everyone for your honesty we have decided to go with a local independent agency and signed the contract last night!

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Pipandmum · 15/07/2020 22:42

I buy and sell houses for a living. I dislike Purple Bricks and it would put me off considering any property they had. When viewing houses through them the agents know absolutely nothing. They literally just unlock the door. When you want to make an offer you are directed to do it online - but it's confusing and relies on the seller responding. I believe a good agent is worth the money: they call people they have registered; they show people around and have information about the property and its benefits (or potential); they know about the market and comparable properties; they negotiate and see the process through to completion. I always use a local agent when selling, not a faceless online entity.

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FreddoFrogAddict · 15/07/2020 22:29

We used them to sell 2 years ago and had a very positive experience. We've sold with high street agents 5 times over 30 years and have had awful experiences with some. I think it very much depends on the individual agent you get with Purple Bricks. Ours was fantastic and a great source of advice and support. Saved us a fortune. We used their recommended conveyancers - premier property lawyers - which incidentally was the same firm the vendors of the property we were buying were using, as recommended by the upmarket high street estate agent they used to sell.

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Elouera · 15/07/2020 22:12
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Elouera · 15/07/2020 22:10

The exact question seems to be asked weekly lately. I'll try linking some of the others. Do you have the time to show people around? Friend tried selling with them. Price agreed, but something went wrong and the buyer pulled out. Friend still had to pay PB fees and they wouldnt re-list unless he paid them all again!!!

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Hardbackwriter · 15/07/2020 22:03

I got valued 25k over local estate agents, put it on the market at the higher price and got full asking price on day two with my first viewing.

You must see that that is about your house/area and not the agent? I think if you have a house that is going to sell itself then why not save the money, but for most houses that's not the case.

And of course I can download an app, but I wouldn't bother unless the house seemed really special - so, again, fine for something really desirable but for most houses most viewers aren't going to be in love with it from the pictures alone so anything that puts them off is a potential problem.

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Holyrivolli · 15/07/2020 22:02

Viewed a house with them. Awful system, terrible clunky service and the whole experience felt cheap.

I’d never use them to sell and would automatically reduce my offer for a house via them as it’s such a bargain basement serviCr that I’d assume the property was low quality too.

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squee123 · 15/07/2020 22:00

we've bought and sold a lot over the last decade. After several bad experiences we don't even bother viewing houses on with them.

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TheGriffle · 15/07/2020 21:52

I’ve heard bad things about Purple Bricks. We’re currently putting our house on the market and are using House Simple and they’ve been fantastic so far.

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snowone · 15/07/2020 21:51

We tried to sell a house with them once. Bloody awful experience, wouldn't do it again. I'm a big believer in using a local estate agent with local contacts, many of whom already have a mailing / waiting list!

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Sundance5 · 15/07/2020 21:46

@FizzAfterSix I definitely don't work for purple bricks!

I prefer to do most things online. I have had great experience using open rent for a house I let too. If someone isn't able to download an app, I doubt they are able to cope with the complexities of buying and selling a house.

I got valued 25k over local estate agents, put it on the market at the higher price and got full asking price on day two with my first viewing.

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BigRedBoat · 15/07/2020 21:30

We bought through them and it put me off using them! The online offers system was much more complicated than just phoning and their solicitors were really slow.

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FizzAfterSix · 15/07/2020 21:07

@Sundance5 you’re kidding me.
You have to download an app to even book an appointment and you think this is a good thing?

Most people would rather pick up the phone and speak to a decent local agent who knows something about the house.

The trouble is that you pay online agents upfront so after that they have less incentive to sell your house than a high street agent who is only paid when you complete.

I wonder if threads like this are patrolled by people working for Purple Bricks 😊

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juneisbustingout · 15/07/2020 09:18

I sold a few weeks ago with Doorsteps. The photos were excellent and I sold to the second viewers within a month.
Fortunately the buyers were lovely and the whole ( lengthy covid) experience pretty painless.
However from the day I accepted an offer to this I've had not one word from Doorsteps. Fortunately the buyers and I chased conveyancers when necessary and managed the whole process without EA input.
So I think it's the luck of the draw. It can work very well if you have considerate buyers / sellers. I saved around £6000 as it cost £250 with Doorsteos

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pinklillie · 15/07/2020 09:16

Oh also you can choose to do the viewings yourself or use them to do it. We used them. It felt less awkward for me and we could get our crazy hounds out of the house!

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pinklillie · 15/07/2020 09:15

We've just used them to sell our house. They have been brilliant so far. There is an option to pay after completion or at 10 months whichever comes first. We went with their solicitor as it just seemed to tie in a lot easier.

We had a chat with our estate agent Monday evening, he came back Wednesday day time to get photos in the best light. Thursday evening he sent us the details to check our advert. We approved it Friday morning and it went live straight away. Within the hour we had 7 viewers booked in and they arranged two open houses. Not technically "open" but they got the viewers in the next day over a three hour period. We took the dogs for a long walk and had an offer within the first hour! We didn't have to keep accepting viewings all week and could disinfect the house fully after.

Initially we were going to go with a standard estate agent but with so many things being done online this seemed a good option. You have access to a live app and you can also put your diary availability in to it too.

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Hardbackwriter · 15/07/2020 09:04

As a buyer we found anything listed with them off-putting - I don't like the idea of the vendor being the main point of contact (and hated viewings where the owner shows you around - though you do sometimes end up with those even if it's being marketed by an estate agent anyway!) and, probably very unfairly, it made me feel that the vendor would be very tight with money and the sort to take all the lightbulbs with them.

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Rodent01 · 15/07/2020 08:59

Used them to sell and did sell before covid kicked in and it all fell through.

Buyers all commentated that it was great to do evening and all weekend viewings and I felt we knew the house and the area much better than a random estate agent so could sell it better by being able to actually answer the questions rather than fudging them like an EA, and give viewers as long as they liked rather than rushing them through.

Buyers could also contact Us direct to ask questions and amend the viewing time etc.

So a positive here!!!!

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caringcarer · 15/07/2020 08:51

I bought a house through PB. I was first to see property and viewed with vendor. Good internet pictures. I offered full asking price and house was taken off market immediately. I spoke to someone once then given local PB person who was good. I wanted a quick purchase and vendor wanted a quick sale so we completed in 5 weeks. Everything went without any hitches. In my experience it is how motivated vendor and seller are as to how quickly sale is completed.

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SouthCoastShell · 15/07/2020 08:05

Thank you everyone for your honest replies. Lots to think about now

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onlywomennotmen · 15/07/2020 07:09

Just bought through them. Very easy... but then we developed a good relationship with the lovely vendor and didn't have to deal with PB at all just our solicitors - we literally had a stock mail every two weeks asking how it was going but I don't really have faith that they could have helped if we got into difficulties. We were lucky but I am not really a fan as I can see how wrong it could go! I also think lots of people won't want to deal direct and would prefer an intermediary so you may well get less viewings etc.

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cookiesaurus · 15/07/2020 00:21

I wouldn't view a house which was listed with them as I feel that people use them to penny pinch.

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Loopylou17 · 15/07/2020 00:16

We just bought through them although really they did very little as we viewed the house with the vendor and everything after that was done through direct contact with the vendor and their solicitor (which was a local one so I assume not the PB one). It worked well for us as the vendor was very helpful and we got on well. Better than other online estate agents we viewed houses with.

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HalloumiSalad · 15/07/2020 00:14

Haven't used Purple Bricks, but to give you something else to consider...
I have bought and sold a handful of houses in different areas and always choose an independent agent who is a member of National Association of Estate Agents. A lot of brand named agents are franchises with highly variable standards of practice, whereas independent agents who opt to be members of the association abide by a code of practice and in my experience I have always received a higher than expected level of service from their members...
www.naea.co.uk/find-agent/
Another avenue for you to consider perhaps.

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Sundance5 · 15/07/2020 00:03

I have just started using them and so far so good.

Estate agent took lovely photos and video and had it on the market really quickly.

You don't need to use the solicitors they recommend unless you don't pay the £999 fee upfront. They delay the payment in exchange for you suing their solicitors.

Booking viewings through the app is really straightforward.

I have been trying to get viewings through traditional estate agents and they are really bad at calling back and if they do they are giving you all the BS about every man and his dog doing a viewing and planning to offer asking price.

I prefer an app to that any day.

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