Selling London flat - should I use purple bricks or estate agent?

[Unexpectedlysinglemum]

I have had my London flat for over a decade and sadly it hasn’t increased in value (hopefully not decreased too much though!) I’ve had two recent estate agent valuations who’ve said that this would be capped at 500,000 as this is a cliff edge and stamp duty increased for first time buyers dramatically after this- as there are lots of similar flats around I need to be competitive (a shame as it was valued at 525-550 a few years ago!) but they were both very confident that buyers would be willing to go up to 500,000.

i want to move to be closer to family, also in London so no savings to be made there, and I’ll have to pay 20-30k stamp duty on my next home…. So I’m wondering whether I should go with a high street estate agent with potentially around 12k commission (they have quoted 1.5% + VAT and 2% + VAT) or whether I should go with purple bricks which is around £2000 + 599 if I want to get their agents to do viewings.

im wondering

has anyone sold with purple bricks (bonus points if a London flat!) and how was it?

Would purple bricks put you off buying a flat?

how would you feel about the owner doing the viewings, any pros or cons?

thanks so much!

Yep the owner can reply online
or
the owner can ask PB to do this
Which is what we have done

Sounds like your owner didn't engage ?

My sister used Purple Bricks. She was not complimentary, but as she was going through a very acrimonious divorce at the time, this may have coloured her view. This is what I heard from her - read through all the documents you are signing as there’s a clause that says unless you pay up front you are then tied in to use their legal team (she didn’t, then found out to her cost).
Also, as you are arranging and confirming all viewer appointments, you need to have at least a little bit of computer know how.
Saying all that, if you take your time and are diligent it could be different for you.

I sold a flat with Purple Bricks. Not directly in London, but in an outer London borough. I found them to be really good and my flat sold quickly and everything went smoothly. I paid a little bit extra for them to do the viewings. I also used their conveyancer again, no issues. This was about 9 years ago, though.

Yeah… but they didn’t! At least not very quickly, then they had limited availability for viewings (presumably because they had jobs). I’m sure it can work well but in my experience it was much less efficient than being able to call an estate agent and speak to them immediately in most cases.

I had my previous house for sale with Purplebricks. They were a nightmare to deal with. We did get buyer and Purplebricks were of no help whatsoever with getting the process started. The sale fell through and we changed agents.
I would actually avoid a property that was marketed through them now

Talk to more than one agent.

I’d agree with others that it’s not just about getting an offer but all the shenanigans which come after. Real life EA better in my experience. I have met owners or been shown around by them in the past and it’s an uncomfortable experience. I’d avoid it in future 100%.