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Original poster

Purple Bricks

57 replies

staycaysandvacays · 15/12/2023 20:33

Has anyone use PB when selling? If so, how was your experience?

Considering using them as listing with them would be c. £2k (up front) rather than about £5k at the point we sell with a local estate agent.

OP posts:
lizzy8230 · 15/12/2023 20:37

Haven't used them personally but I know someone who did and it didn't work out well. All responsibility for viewings was handed over to them as vendor; once purple bricks had the money in the bag they just weren't interested in marketing the house. If you end up going with another agent you lose the money paid to purple bricks as it's not dependent on a sale. Quite frankly I can't see how it works effectively, the agent has no incentive to as they have money whether it sells or not and they certainly don't have an incentive to get the best price.
I can only see it working for properties which are going to be easy to sell- in which case why bother with an agent at all?

TheLongpigs · 15/12/2023 20:39

I think most decent local estate agents could get you £3m more for your house than you could get with PB, so the estate agent fees would pay for themselves.

Doggymummar · 15/12/2023 20:39

They are doing it free from boxing day I read in the property news I think. Google it and see, it might just be in certain areas

Kitkat1523 · 15/12/2023 20:42

I used them back in 2016…..we paid around 700 …..we had to do all our own viewings…..but we sold quickly…..but very saleable ( if that’s a word?🤔) house

Original poster
staycaysandvacays · 15/12/2023 20:56

Doggymummar · 15/12/2023 20:40

Thanks for this! Looks good

OP posts:
Original poster
staycaysandvacays · 15/12/2023 20:57

Kitkat1523 · 15/12/2023 20:42

I used them back in 2016…..we paid around 700 …..we had to do all our own viewings…..but we sold quickly…..but very saleable ( if that’s a word?🤔) house

Happy to do our own viewings! Ours is also extremely sellable so may be a good option for us

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GreatGateauxsby · 15/12/2023 21:09

If you have a very "normal" property and some confidence it's great.

I had a 2 bed in zone 3... very standard stock.

I got 3 valuations before listing and knew the ideal £££ number before I wanted.

I saved about £5k and honestly it was a doddle. You get your spiel down to a fine art within2 or 3 viewings.

I sold within 6 weeks and had 3 buyers make the same weirdly specific offer (think £456,650). I refused to go to best and final / bidding and picked the most solid buyer as the offers were higher than what I wanted.
As I'd met them it was easy - the buyer I picked was THE perfect buyer. No fuss no nonsense, just a timely, clean sale.

Original poster
staycaysandvacays · 15/12/2023 21:40

@GreatGateauxsby that sounds great, thank you!

Our house is a new build (3/4 years old) and is in a sought after area close to an excellent school and great nursery. Great train links and a lovely family area. I think I'm going to go for it!

Was this a long time ago?

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Beachbodyready · 15/12/2023 21:51

I bought through PB. It was such terrible service that I offered £15k less than I planned. I’d thought there would be competition for the property but getting a viewing was such hard work that I realised other people were probably dropping out of the process. If there was competition I was prepared to go up to £25k above the figure I first had in mind so using PB cost the owners somewhere between £15k and £40k. As I seller I’d avoid like the plague.

LindaDawn · 15/12/2023 21:51

staycaysandvacays · 15/12/2023 20:33

Has anyone use PB when selling? If so, how was your experience?

Considering using them as listing with them would be c. £2k (up front) rather than about £5k at the point we sell with a local estate agent.

From a buyer’s perspective I would not want to view a house being sold by purple bricks unless there was no onward chain. In today’s difficult market you need an estate agent to chase up and keep a chain together. So many property chains are breaking through. I would think that the seller are after every penny etc which would concern me. Purple Bricks has been struggling as of late which woukd also be a concern. A traditional estate agent could possibly get you more money if there are a few interested parties.

ibelieveinmirrorballs · 15/12/2023 22:01

I feel the same way as @LindaDawn - I probably wouldn’t view a house listed with PB as I’d tend to think the transaction would be fraught, that low grade conveyancers would also be used, the house might have also had shortcuts whilst being maintained, and personally I can’t stand viewings with the owner!

mondaytosunday · 15/12/2023 22:01

Tried to buy through them, and I've viewed properties though them and I wouldn't touch them!

SarahLHs · 15/12/2023 22:07

My husband is an estate agent. His view is that when the market was strong then it was worth giving Purple Bricks a go because houses were pretty much selling themselves. In the current market it would be much harder to sell using them as they don't make any real effort to sell the house as they've already been paid.

Tulipvase · 15/12/2023 22:12

We bought our last house through PB but in the beginning I’d discounted viewing it for that reason. It was ok in the end but I wouldn’t want to do it again. It was only as we had a really good agent selling our house that helped keep the chain together. The guy at the top of the chain also used their in-house solicitor and that was nearly a disaster.

bilbodog · 15/12/2023 22:16

NO for all the reasons stated above. A local agent will have a list of buyers looking before your property hits rightmove and will be able to help push the sale along through any problems which purple bricks wont do.

also most people viewing houses prefer the vendors being out when they go round.

lizzy8230 · 15/12/2023 22:17

@staycaysandvacays if you're happy to do everything yourself and your house is extremely sellable, why bother with an agent at all? I don't think PB are going to give you anything over and above what you'd do by the sound of it

MrsBlondie · 15/12/2023 22:20

As a buyer I'd not bother with a house selling with PB. We tried to buy a house via them last year and it was a nightmare.
I can't imagine them being very good at pushing the same ir keeping chain together either.

Rocknrolla21 · 15/12/2023 22:21

Purple bricks are fucking useless. And thats me as a seller. As I buyer I wouldn’t even consider anything they had listed

Redlarge · 15/12/2023 22:24

They are beyond shit. Avoid like the plague

Userxyd · 15/12/2023 22:34

Tried buying through them- so dealing direct with seller. Awful experience! Estate agents are quite helpful in filtering time wasters, showing people round, sussing out offers, keeping both sides going etc etc

momsybear · 15/12/2023 22:39

It depends on their rep. However check your contract. If you don't sell in a certain timeframe (in 2020) you're forced to use their lawyers who are awful

Puravida23 · 15/12/2023 22:40

Selling through them now , absolute nightmare to deal with. If they offered their services for free I wouldn’t use them . They have literally contributed nothing to the sale , undervalued the property (we over rode them and got 30k more than they wanted us to put the house on the market for) Couldn’t organise the right photos for ad, mucked up viewings . We ended up getting the buyer ourselves from one of 3 letters posted through our letterbox from people wanting to view the property but not managed to thanks to purple bricks incompetence. Since then we have been driving the sale and cannot wait for the end if only so we never have to deal with them again. Do,yourself a favour and go with someone else

Original poster
staycaysandvacays · 15/12/2023 22:55

Okay these horror stories are worrying me. I also called my mum and she tried to use them last year and said they were absolutely awful.

What are the normal %s people pay for local agents?

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KievLoverTwo · 15/12/2023 23:27

No. Tried to buy a house through them. Dealing with the vendors directly was dreadful. They used their conveyancer who was shocking. Don’t even look at houses they advertise now (nor Strike, I think one just bought the other).

Most EAs charge around 1%. A good one will hold a sale together and make sure it’s progressing. Ask them about how they do that when they visit you - ‘sales progression.’