Estate Agents - to cut fees, or increase them?

[googler]

Originally Posted by edstoner

as it is growing considerably

Is it? There's lots of start-up sites with catchy names, but is there any proof that they're actually succeeding in selling, or that their business is growing?

[Rob]

Ive seen a lot of agents starting up do £700+vat for any property and there still doing really well and a lot of the hope charge your normal 1.5-1.75% are shuting branchs. But on £700 how long can they last?

[Becky]

I have to agree with googler!!! I work in the estate agency industry selling both property and mortgages.

On the estate industry side as I am self employed, I have been forced to raise the fee I charge due to the market. Other popular agents are following us.
I never loose a listing due to fee ever!!!! The only reason I would loose a listing is from a fellow agent over valuing!!! Something I would never do! They normaly end up coming back to me in the end.

So I would say! To keep the your business alive!!! Raising the prices is the answer! As long as your service and selling price matches what you charge! Whats the problem!!!?????!!!!

[henry_london]

Forget about increasing rates in this environment! In my opinion there are far too many estate agents around in the UK.

I say half of them need to close down so the service increases. It makes no sense to have 8 different estate agencies on the same high street, especially if most of them have no clue what they are doing!

A bit of a shake-out will do the whole sector a lot of good, let the strongest survive.

[johnherbst]

In the current market any business just needs to stay alive - increase if you can, but if you're not selling it will force you to decrease and possibly go out of business...

[googler]

You've changed your tune. Previously you suggested that the online EAs were providing a better service than high-street EAs, now you suggest that they're merely cheaper. You get what you pay for, you don't get what you don't pay for. The online selling is just one part of the big picture.

The high street EA doesn't "take £3,864 from a customer for simply bringing a customer to the party", they charge the customer for their services, and for a successful sale. Typically, this charge is only payable if the house sells, so it's a no-sale, no-fee scenario.

The online EAs may charge lower, but their fees appear to be payable upfront in most, if not all cases. What if the house doesn't sell? Does the client get their money back, or do they just write it off to experience?

If, as you say, "It's only just begun", then by implication, we aren't there yet. If, as you suggest, online selling is the future (which I doubt), then what about the present?

Are you running one of these self-sale websites? If so, let us know which one, so we can have a look and see how successful it looks right now.

[drhouse]

Originally Posted by Homeseller

Your reply is all posturing and spin. Nope. Story is still the same. The service is still the same. And, nope again, online EAs do not charge upfront in all cases - mostly not in fact which is pretty good considering the incredibly low margins. Very friendly to the seller.

If you think that any EA offers any service beyond introducing a buyer to a seller then you are deluding yourself. EA services? That's a laugh. And it's also my point. They are not worth what is being charged.

No sir. I am not running an EA internet or otherwise. Now, perhaps you could tell us if you are so we can have a look at your business? I would stake the house that you won't tell us.

You may not be involved with an online agency but you certainly seem to know a lot about them.

I have been in the EA business for many years and seen good and bad - just as in any other profession. What I have done is adapted and kept up with new developments - particularly in online innovations and use them to add value to what I provide. As I have said before people can make their own mind up and have the ability to choose what route they go down.

The question I ask myself is "If I was no longer in the business and wanted to sell my house what route would I choose" I have to say I wouldn't use someone I hadn't met and couldn't speak to when I wanted to, someone who didn't know my circumstances and someone who didn't have an office where I could go in and see for myself what was happening.

[googler]

"If you think that any EA offers any service beyond introducing a buyer to a seller then you are deluding yourself."

Yes, but the METHOD and PROCESS of HOW the buyer is found requires the EA tp provide a service - and placing the property on a website is just one part of this. It's not the whole deal.

Start at the beginning; the EA has to know where to price the house for it to sell. Research, networking, knowledge of what others are selling, how much recent sales were. The online price websites are typically a couple of months out of date, so you need local, recent knowledge.

Once the property is with the agent, it has to be promoted, and online promotion is just one aspect of this. It won't find it's way onto the high street by magic, it won't find its way into the press by thought transference, and how many of these online sellers are likely to have an active list of local people searching for local properties?

A website can't think for itself, in the way that a real EA person can - "Well, I spoke to Mr X last week, he said he was looking for features A, B and C, in a certain price range - this new one's got A and B but not C - maybe I'll give him a try and see if he's changed his mind" How would a website do this?

Once some interest is shown, the property has to be seen in the flesh by prospective buyers, and there's a benefit in leaving this process to the agent. When there's a choice between the owner, who hasn't shown anyone his/her house with a view to selling it in the last 5 - 10 years, say - and an agent who is actively viewing properties on a day to day basis, I know which I'd choose. Some owner won't want to do their own viewings.

You haven't addressed my point where you see online selling as the future, and I rebut "If it's the future, then we're not there yet"

In my area, the portals function as merely an addition to the EAs own web presence; the dominant websites are the EAs own ones. These EAs also function as high street EAs, which gives the customer the best of both worlds. I don't see any reason to move away from this, and merely give the customer only one selected part of the overall package. The 'sell your own home' websites don't appear to making a dent in this at all.

People want to deal with people. They want someone local to them to deal with. Look at the backlash the financial services and other companies have had from moving call-centre operations to Mumbai and all parts East. Look at the companies who've responded to this by actively promoting that their call-centre staff are 'all in the UK'. I'm sure you'll suggest that the location of the website's operations doesn't matter, but seriously - if you set up a property-selling website, and the helpline was based in the Far East, how long do you think that would last?

Same principle applies to someone selling their home in Aberdeen or Inverness - why would they want to deal with someone in Plymouth or Swansea? What would anyone in England or Wales know about the local market up North?

OK, if you're not running one of these sites yourself - which do you think are the good 'sell your own home' sites?

[drhouse]

Originally Posted by googler

"If you think that any EA offers any service beyond introducing a buyer to a seller then you are deluding yourself."

Yes, but the METHOD and PROCESS of HOW the buyer is found requires the EA tp provide a service - and placing the property on a website is just one part of this. It's not the whole deal.

Start at the beginning; the EA has to know where to price the house for it to sell. Research, networking, knowledge of what others are selling, how much recent sales were. The online price websites are typically a couple of months out of date, so you need local, recent knowledge.

Once the property is with the agent, it has to be promoted, and online promotion is just one aspect of this. It won't find it's way onto the high street by magic, it won't find its way into the press by thought transference, and how many of these online sellers are likely to have an active list of local people searching for local properties?

A website can't think for itself, in the way that a real EA person can - "Well, I spoke to Mr X last week, he said he was looking for features A, B and C, in a certain price range - this new one's got A and B but not C - maybe I'll give him a try and see if he's changed his mind" How would a website do this?

Once some interest is shown, the property has to be seen in the flesh by prospective buyers, and there's a benefit in leaving this process to the agent. When there's a choice between the owner, who hasn't shown anyone his/her house with a view to selling it in the last 5 - 10 years, say - and an agent who is actively viewing properties on a day to day basis, I know which I'd choose. Some owner won't want to do their own viewings.

You haven't addressed my point where you see online selling as the future, and I rebut "If it's the future, then we're not there yet"

In my area, the portals function as merely an addition to the EAs own web presence; the dominant websites are the EAs own ones. These EAs also function as high street EAs, which gives the customer the best of both worlds. I don't see any reason to move away from this, and merely give the customer only one selected part of the overall package. The 'sell your own home' websites don't appear to making a dent in this at all.

People want to deal with people. They want someone local to them to deal with. Look at the backlash the financial services and other companies have had from moving call-centre operations to Mumbai and all parts East. Look at the companies who've responded to this by actively promoting that their call-centre staff are 'all in the UK'. I'm sure you'll suggest that the location of the website's operations doesn't matter, but seriously - if you set up a property-selling website, and the helpline was based in the Far East, how long do you think that would last?

Same principle applies to someone selling their home in Aberdeen or Inverness - why would they want to deal with someone in Plymouth or Swansea? What would anyone in England or Wales know about the local market up North?

OK, if you're not running one of these sites yourself - which do you think are the good 'sell your own home' sites?

That's exactly what I wanted to say but you have said it better !

[googler]

Someone posted in another thread under the name 4gettheagent.co.uk - obviously a 'sell your own' website. He/she posted in 2007, there's some discussion about his/her SEO on another forum that I found, but if you try to browse the site now, it's gone. Didn't last any more than two years, by the look.

There's an article 'Are Estate Agents Doomed' - at this page, there's a contributor or two who have launched 'sell your own' websites - most of the postings in the thread were in 2007, but see the comments about movingkeptsimple - launched in July 2008, and had ceased trading by Oct 2008.

Just two examples, but I'm sure there's many more out there.

As I said; point me at any that you feel are successful, so's we can all have a looksee.