Would you view/buy a house listed with QuickLister or Emoov?

[Autumnleaveswillfall]

I'm preparing to put my house up for sale. I've had some quotes from local estate agents and I can't believe the prices.

If I put my property on with QuickLister or Emoov instead, which are much cheaper, I would do all viewings myself (I'm not in work at the moment so have plenty of time), take photos myself, write the description myself etc. I am happy to speak to potential buyers and tell them about my house. I would be prompt at responding to any queries.

Would you be ok with this?

I think most people start by looking at Rightmove. I don’t know anything about the two sites you mentioned.

No. I would not.

i would assume everything about the property was cheap and you’d cut corners.
I also want to feel confident in who would be handling any transaction and wouldn’t get that here.

No, I wouldn’t. I haven’t heard of them.

No, I only use Rightmove to look at houses for sale and I much prefer EA viewings, certainly for the first viewing.

if these agents list on right move etc then yes. Most people look on these sites or drive round areas then book a viewing

If your house will appear on RM, I would. Estate agents cost so much. I come from a country where most people refuse to spend extra on estate agents, I don’t see much point to them, reqlly, they can never answer specific questions.

No I avoid these diy estate agents like the plague. The photos are always crap (lighting and angles) and I want to be able to phone and speak to a real person who has seen the inside of the house (not the owner). Owners who show people around their house tend to be way too attached to it meaning you get everything from them telling you “he’s friendly” about their massive dog instead of putting it somewhere during the viewing, to them spending hours describing how they installed the hall coving in great detail, to them thinking the way to sell a house is to do the sort of hard sell attributed to double glazing salesmen circa 1994. It’s just too unpredictably awful to contemplate.

Sorry, I wasn't clear - the house would appear on Rightmove and Zoopla. Quicklister and Emoov are basically 'hands off' estate agents that get your property on Rightmove etc, but you do everything else yourself.

What do you pay for then?

Literally to have the house advertised on rightmove etc. There's no other way to get a house listed on rightmove, i believe. I think these estate agents also offer advice and you can pay for extras of course like photos or a for sale board etc.

I’d massively avoid unless it looked like someone who had their head screwed on and I really wanted the house. I looked at an emoov one today, ploughed through the photos, which were awful. There were some AI ones at the end which they had clearly not looked at as half the toilet was missing, and in the kitchen a rug was draped in the sink. Persevered through the description only to find it was mid-renovation and not open to viewings until October.

I'd avoid viewing unless the house was absolutely unique/perfect. If it was just one of many similar houses with nothing special about it I'd scroll straight on to the next.

I've had a bad experience with Purple Bricks in the past and I think all these online agencies operate using a similar model.

Better to do your research to find a really good EA, one who has secured lots of sales in your area. Good EAs use good photographers (you can check the quality of photos of other properties on their books), provide floor plans, accompanied viewings if you want them and after sale service to get the property through the hard journey from offer to completion.

It's a false economy to try to sell your house on the cheap in my opinion. There's a lot more to it than just take a few photos of dubious quality, do a few viewings and smooth sailing to completion.

I’d be fine with someone doing their EA work themselves but people look on RightMove.

My parents were in a chain in 2014-2015 that ended with an agent like this called PinkMove (not sure if they still exist) and it was ok because apparently the seller, who was retired, was quite dynamic and he used a proper high street solicitor too.

As a buyer or another chain member it’s a risk though.

Who does the affordability checks etc?

Much as I dislike traditional EA's (they are on the same level of untrustworthy & honesty as car dealers & double glazing sales) they SHOULD be working behind the scenes acting as a single point of contact between you, buyer, solicitor etc.

No not unless I was desparate or the house of my dreams or great price. You are selling your most valuable asset and it would put me off if you were trying to do so on the cheap,

Sorry for the drip feed, but it is first time buyer, 2 bed terrace house that's chain free. Does that make any difference?

It's fine so long as you can take some decent photos. I think if the right house comes up on Rightmove people go and look at it whichever agent its on with. Personally the only agents I'm less inclined to bother with are those who habitually overprice things.

No, I viewed a couple of houses that were listed with Purplebricks where the owner did the viewing and I’d never do it again. It’s far too awkward to do a proper viewing with the owner there. I think you will get fewer offers and presumably there is no one vetting whether your viewers/offers are actually proceedable so you’re also more likely to get time wasters.

I have done in the past. It was fine. This time I am using an estate agent because my type of house is very hard to sell at the moment and I want to catch potential buyers who go into their offices.

Oh, do you mean similar to Purple Bricks? So still on Rightmove but have crappy online support? No, I wouldn't touch them and have scrolled past other similar agencies.

The agent isn't just there to take photos and list the house. They help progress, communicate up and down the chain etc. find a good, local independent one

But rhe house is chain free on my side, plus is a first time buyer house so I imagine the buyers will be chain free too. I dont honestly think there would be much for the estate agent to do thay I couldn't do myself!

No, I wouldn't. Find a local estate agent. Ours stopped the chain collapsing last time we moved. And they check finances are in order too.