Online agent easyProperty has launched into residential sales, saying it will save “home-sellers across the UK thousands of pounds in hefty high street fees”. Its upfront prices range from £475 to £1,500.
In a blog on its site, easyProperty reassures prospective customers by saying that most of the staff that clients would deal with are “ex-high street agents with years of experience at big-name firms. (And don’t worry, we only took the nice ones).”
The blog also says that “it’s little wonder online agents are starting to become pretty popular indeed”, claiming to offer sellers an average saving of £3,269 – and in London £9,584.
The business launched last September with a lettings proposition and more recently added commercial property.
The site, launched by Robert Ellice, makes the point to prospective sellers: “We advertise on all the UK’s leading property websites, to line up prospective buyers fast – not all agents do.”
It reinforces the point elsewhere on its site, saying that high street agents can’t be on Rightmove and Zoopla if they’re also on OnTheMarket. By contrast, says easyProperty, “We advertise your home on both the UK’s biggest portals, where buyers search first”.
easyProperty is offering sellers three packages, all with fees paid upfront and in full.
For £475, sellers host the viewings and handle the sales progression.
For £825, sellers host the viewings but the sales progression is handed by easyProperty.
The top price of £1,500 buys a full service, including premium listings on Rightmove and Zoopla.
easyMove’s lowest price is cheaper than Purplebricks’ flat charge of £798. Purplebricks charges £1,158 in some London postcodes.
Other online agents’ tariffs show an enormous range of pricing, with “split” fees becoming popular, where sellers pay so much upfront and then another fee on sale. For example, sellers could pay £9 per week at House Simple with a £495 fee payable on completion, or £395 if they have sold through House Simple or been listed with it for 12 months.
Tepilo charges from £595 to £955; eMoov charges £594 or £1,194 on a no-sale no-fee basis; and Hatched charges £295 upfront plus £595 on completion, or nothing upfront and £1,495 on completion, or £595 upfront.
eMoov says it is still evaluating its no-sale, no-fee pricing model. Hatched, run by Adam Day, has distanced itself from other online agents, and no longer emphasises a “low cost” marketing message.
The first 200 easyProperty sellers who sign up are being offered “the chance to sell their home without paying any agency fees”.
Yesterday on Rightmove, easyProperty had 408 properties available for rent.
The firm has said it may float on the stock market later this year, to fund international expansion and entry into rooms rentals and property auctions. Last year’s round of fund-raising valued the firm at £66m.
Comments (34)
I can’t believe @easychris got the bullet, he seemed so sure of himself and how great it was going to be and he’s gone back to Foxy Bingo or something……….top lad, will be missed by all on here.
Anyway good old easyproperty spreading their wings to sales where I’m sure they can kick the granny out of private Gumtree listings etc but the interesting thing will be the impact they have on the race to the floor on budget / online only fees, how far off 99 quid on completion is this sector?
Jonnie
Call me naive, but how can a business only started in September last year be valued at £66m?
What exactly do you get for your money if you lend to these people…surely you must have a track record to be worth anywhere near this, and a proven income stream; I’m guessing you will have to sell a lot of property at a couple of hundred quid each to return the investment.
I can see them in the Dragons Den – Hello, my name is Stelios and I am looking for £6,600,000 for a 10% share in my business EasyProperty.
Whilst we have not listed a property yet, we do envisage the c14,000 instructions required to return your investment will be possible. Recent market research showed us that most people would rather not pay upfront so we are hedging our bets a little bit with the 14,000 instructions any time soon, but in fairness they are renting my name off me so I am on a win win whether you invest or not, any questions?
The current profit multiplier for digital data businesses is 40x profit which indicates £1.65m expected profits.
This is no different to the clamouring to buy spices, peppercorns of Tulips in the past, this is a micro version of dot com where investors pour cash into the next greatest scheme because of a high profile investor. This must be good because it’s Stellios but then they don’t make the connection he is hiring out his brand (Digital pimping)
I have just purchased my own property from a high street agent in London that took it off an online agent that had it listed since March. The high st agent was instructed start of July, under offer with me 3 weeks later.
No brainer.
Cut to the bottom line. Lines are being drawn (have been for some time, but some care to look the other way) between on-line and high street agents. We all know which offers what. The issue for the High Street agent is to get into their heads …. stop supporting web portals that are likely put you out of business or suffer if you want to survive and you are happy to pay them to do it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stop doing it TODAY, not tomorrow which could be earlier than you think.
I was privy to a recent market research campaign by EasyPeasyProperty and the findings they received local to me was 90% that group would:
1. Not pay upfront to sell a house and prefer no sale no fee.
2. Worry if the fee was too cheap, that you get what you pay for and thought anything between 0.75% and 1.00% is acceptable assuming the company charging it warranted it. Well no sale no fee looks after that!
3. Prefer to use a local trusted brand.
4. Would always call at least 2 or 3 local High Street Agents out anyway to hear what they have to say, whether they intend to use them or not. (apparently this answer was based on getting the actual market conditions and value information correct)
5. (potentially the best one) Not want their property sale to be associated to an EasyJet type branding.
This is genuine feedback from a lady who called me out to do a valuation and then 3 weeks later confessed her reason for having us out, was that EasyPeasyProperty had requested the people attending the research have valuations carried out. (for obvious reasons) and being paid decent money for this research meant she was happy to waste half a day on 3 valuations.
Point 4 for me was the vital one, and I think will always be the case and this is why Online Only Agents will take another 10 years to double their market share as savvy High Street Agents will always be one step ahead of the game.
Anyway a few too many techy trolls on here who I assume used to be a part of the HPC nut brigade and have found a new angle to cast a line out on. Easy Market = Why Use and Agent – Bad Market = Blame the Estate Agent – Personally, for the pitiful market share the Online Only Agents have, I would question how **** the IT industry is! ;-x
This is a pretty good find Ric.(and a story in the making Ros imo)
I wonder why they commissioned feedback based on comparisons made with the full service agents rather than those that had actually used them?
I fully expect they think the entire UK hates Estate Agency and they thought 9 out of 10 people would think Easy Jet well know, cheap why not! Yet cheap is not everyone’s cup of tea!
(My find) Is a genuine one, I am always a touch suspicious of some stories for and against on forums! I have the email which from memory I may have posted an part of it on here a month or so ago, when the lady first emailed me to “come clean”. I took that as a compliment to how we dealt with her just on a valuation for her to even feel the need to come clean.
What annoys me on here, is the fact some trolls think High St Agents ignore Online Only Agents, when in fact the best High St Agents are fully aware of them but simply have a plan to compete and more so have such strong brands and great staff their local presence would only be knocked off number 1 spot by their own eBrand or perhaps the eBrand of the local number 2 agent.
Whenever we look at our Budget eBrand we just chuckle and think we would rather give 2% of the local market to one of the existing Budgets and continue to promote the differences we can offer as a High Street Agent.
Its good there is choice though as without it, I would have a few For Sale signs causing me more harm than good! 1 person selling in our area with a certain Online Only Agent has been trying for………4 years (18 months with the latest Online Only) and this time scale in itself with the For Sale board is selling against the concept of Online Only, so many people comment on it, and not a case of any airtime is good airtime! For Sale Signs can be as much harm as they can good. (as we all know)
A key to the future of the High Street is also “How you treat buyers” as they are your future vendors and I think this is where you can secure a fair bit of your future business to some extent as buyers remember (whether they purchased through you or not) what effort you put in to assist them find/and or buy a property and this can be the difference between “I did it all myself when buying, so why have an agent” to “Without them I would have had more issues and I want their support when selling”
Wonder why they didn’t publish their results?
In a market with very high levels of demand and low levels of supply a model like EasyProperty works. I have a 1 bed flat in SW London that I rent out. Agents in the area are constantly sending out mailers telling me they have ‘buyers waiting’ for properties like mine. So, if, as my local agents are telling me, there is high demand, why would I not reach those buyers via a low cost service that lists on RM or Z? Is it going to work everywhere nationally? maybe not, but do sellers change traditional agents if they are not working? Of course. Decrying online agents in general whilst championing a mythical level of service that few agents actually offer is madness. You are moving deck chairs on the titanic so you can pretend the iceberg isn’t there. The internet will continue to change how we research and transact in all areas of our life. Data availability will require experts – and yes, that includes Estate Agents – to redefine what exactly their expertise is based upon: access to information or genuinely useful knowledge and experience. Big difference.
Beautifully put.
Interestedobserver…..Have you looked at the easy website? Have you seen the property descriptions? Have a good look and tell me if you Honestly, Honestly, feel that it would be the best place for you to look for a professional tenant, at the top rent for your flat, which is in one of the best locations in London?
You make some points that seem to be the usual points made about online agents/high street agents, but is letting your your flat purely cost driven……you really aren’t interested in any local expertise or professional photography/virtual tour to really get you the best tenant at the best rent and are happy taking a pic with your I phone and uploading it to Easyproperty for less than a tenner ?
Would you not be better off considering asking a professional agent to try and achieve a higher rent (to cover their commission) from one of his/her recommended tenants than try and let it for less than a tenner through Easyproperty?
Thanks for the reply WIlko – I didn’t explain my point clearly, I let the flat but the mailers I get from agents are telling me they have buyers if I want to sell. My point is about the ease of accessing buyers through online agents in high demand markets. Your point re image quality etc is well made – AirBnB proving that point.
Just to be clear you have used an online agent to let the property or manage it?
Can you tell me how a COAR agent can have buyers waiting? COAR agents rely on retrospective marketing, they have no applicants as such, they rely on enquiries coming from the internet and sell to those enquiries rather than a database of applicants.
I’m not sure why you’ve included the Titanic/iceberg analogy/random cliché.
Agents aren’t actually decrying online agents but are reacting to the vexatious, troll stories and claims put out but Agents to attract an awareness that they simply lack.This story contains a classic “an average saving of £3,269”; given the Land registry average price of £180,000 and a Stephen Hayter commission average of 1.3% how is it possible to save more than the actual commission charged? It isn’t but because it is an internet blog Easyproperty can make a false claim and get away with it.
There is a bit of traditional agency that you can neither see, nor understand that doesn’t make it mythical and to say so is a bit like putting ‘Here be Dragons’ on a map.
‘Just to be clear you have used an online agent to let the property or manage it?’
– Neither. My point was I have mailers from High St Agents in the area telling me they have buyers waiting should I be thinking about selling. If, as a recent report stated, the average agent has 60 properties to sell and an average of 360 looking to buy it seems logical to assume demand is high and supply is low.
‘Can you tell me how a COAR agent can have buyers waiting? COAR agents rely on retrospective marketing, they have no applicants as such, they rely on enquiries coming from the internet and sell to those enquiries rather than a database of applicants’.
– I didn’t say they did, so can’t help with that one. Sorry. The High St agents claimed they had ‘buyers waiting’
I’m not sure why you’ve included the Titanic/iceberg analogy/random cliché.
– That’s OK, my comments don’t require grading. 😉
Agents aren’t actually decrying online agents but are reacting to the vexatious, troll stories and claims put out but Agents to attract an awareness that they simply lack.
– Disputing falsehoods is one thing and I accept your point. Ignoring the reality of changing consumer research and buying habits is indeed sailing straight into an iceberg whilst telling yourself it isn’t real and everything will be fine.
There is a bit of traditional agency that you can neither see, nor understand that doesn’t make it mythical and to say so is a bit like putting ‘Here be Dragons’ on a map.
– What is it about traditional agency that I neither see nor understand?. If I can’t see it or understand it, and you can’t explain it then it’s unlikely the rest of Joe Public – of which I’m a member! – will see it, value it and ultimately pay for it.
Thus opening the doors to other models.
My posts are definitely not anti-agent, pro-portal or whatever other nonsense gets bandied about. They are pro-progress, service and innovation. I have repeated often that I believe many agents do a hard job very well. I also believe some give the industry the reputation it has.
My personal view is the logical future step for most agents is a hybrid model with a variety of customer focused packages (online and traditional) supported by the best of both (ease and transparency of the internet, the personal touch of traditional) – thinking how the customer wants to buy services, not how you want to sell them is a conversation that’s taking place everywhere. Why should Estate Agency be different?
it seems logical to assume demand is high and supply is low. That assumption is correct and actually is reason why you ought not to use a passive intermediary who does not have an applicant database, it is not possible to use an algorithm to calculate property values; compound valuation systems simply mislead the agents who are reliant on them and vendors who think they are meaningful and correct.
The changing consumer research bit I would challenge; passive intermediary agency has been around for over 15 years it has been stable at 2% market share for about 8 years despite the past 24 months of claims of disruption this, emerging that. Knowing first hand about the plans to autotradify/ whitbread Agency since 2008 and uniquely understanding the flaws in the thinking there is no sailing into an iceberg.
You are a digital person, even if I explained how agency works , in detail you would still not get it. I had such a conversation yesterday where the priorities of agency went clean over the head of someone who wanted to focus on the consumer rather than the paying customer.
The progress, service and innovation of which you speak has to fit with Agents; Agents are the ones paying the bill, there is very little point developing tech for the consumer if it cuts income and opportunity from Agents.
You might not have intended for your posts to be anti- agent but using dismissive and disrespectful tone and language as you were certainly gave that impression; “Luddites” and “Naysayers” is nonsense but it was you who was saying it!
The customer wants the best price for their property achieved in a time scale that suits or advantages them, it is an agent’s job to do that it is a service suppliers job to help them.
Such a darn pity that ‘EasyChris’ has jumped ship (or pushed off the plank…) – I was looking forward to a ‘discussion’ or two with him over this.
Never mind – this time I’m sure his gamble will pay up – he’s back in his comfort zone spreading cyber-joy to cyber-punters… just like we traditional High Street Agents are here in our branches, offering FULL SERVICE ESTATE AGENCY to the 97%+ of the market who require it!
Is Easy Chris not at Easy HQ any more?
Oh no, no, no, wilko – where have you been, bonny lad?! ;o)
Peeled out of the orange uniform in June to try his hand at online pokering again.
And yes – it’s cr@ppy pun day today! ;o)
Wow….can’t see that working out……If he adopts the same game plan that he did with Easy then he’s likely to think he’s “in” with a pair of 2’s in poker!
His bluff were a little ridiculous was it 50,000 or 60,000 expression of interest to let through them before launch?
I mean just saying it out loud makes me laugh!
Comedy gold! comment of the week!
Isn’t it interesting what a innocent comment on a forum can lead to?
I had a little rummage to see what Chris Welch is up to, where he has been where he has gone etc and came across some very interesting connections and comments. I even found the metaphorical source of the nile.
Sounds like the attitude British Airways and the like had when they entered the commercial flight market.
This is a player with near bottomless pockets – the Abramovich of the virtual agent world. I’d take Stelios a tad more seriously than that.
Apart from Stelios has only sold / leased them the brand name.
Just like Abramovich only goes to games…?
The brand is his baby, I don’t expect to see it fail with him behind it. And this is a brand the public know and trust already. You can’t underestimate the importance of that.
Difference is Abramovich bank rolls Chelsea. Stelios does not bankroll Easyproperty.
Yes a recognsied brand but a number of recognised brands, prudential, black horse, tesco have tried agency and failed.
This is fair – I’m not sure such an established ‘budget’ brand has entered this particular market place though.
I’d be amazed if the don’t do very, very well.
Digital….”Sounds like the attitude British Airways and the like had when they entered the commercial flight market”
Quite, but remember British Airways profits still eclipse all the budget lines !
Digital….You stated that “stelios has bottomless pockets” but smile then pointed out that he has only leased the branding and not actually funded the company.
Have you seen how badly the lettings has gone for them?…..Have you checked how far off their investor targets they are? Have you worked out how much they are making (Free trial or £9.99 to advertise) with just over 400 lettings Nationwide? Have you looked at their poor presentations/descriptions/photographs?
Yet you still go on to say that you’d…..
“be amazed if they don’t do very, very well ”
Please Digital……..tell us exactly what you base this prediction on, because it seems to me that by just jumping in your Ford Bandwagon and joining in the onlinies rhetoric , without thinking things through, you have embarrassed yourself again.
Digital – I think you over-estimate the value of the brand. Last time I checked there were around 13 different businesses trading under the “easy” brand. I’d only ever heard of three of them.
Small correction, Black Horse haven’t failed, but no-one really wants to talk about that.
“The firm has said it may float on the stock market later this year, to fund international expansion and entry into rooms rentals and property auctions. Last year’s round of fund-raising valued the firm at £66m.”
As I look at the bottom of the Portal Property Lister’s Pan of Shame….. here we go again…… another Floater bobbin about in the pan!
EasyMoney for EasyProperty…… No interest in a Sale because we’ve been paid upfront!
Put yourself on the line Mr Ellice!…… stop hiding behind upfront fees!….. let’s see No Sale, No Fee and let’s see your company’s performance per property sale.
As it stands EasyProperty is another Fruit Machine Property Portal where you sink your money in the slot upfront and gamble whether you sell or not?! Of very little comparison to a real High Street Estate Agent as the client has paid for a service upfront whether they get it or not?!
EasyJoiner….. £200 please Madam, upfront!…. sorry…. I didn’t finish your job or do it well…. however, I’m paid and I’m happy!
I took yet another Online Property Lister’s failed sale on last week where I have to salvage the property from the mess they have made and their client is almost £1500 out of pocket!….. another shameful moneymaking Online Property Lister. The client was gutted at effectively being conned out of her hard earned money and learned her lesson the hard way!
Forgive me if I laugh at the thought of trusting an Upfront Arthur Daley with my money and their Waffle of Big Savings over High Street Estate Agents.
Ellice, EasyProperty and their fellow VirtualPortalMagicFairies are Portal Spives pretending to be like for like with Real Estate Agents….. what next?…. EasySurgery!?