Another local agent has launched an online offering.
MoveSmart has been launched by Kent agent WH Breading on the firm’s website.
It charges vendors from £750 plus VAT. It is not a bought-in package but the agent’s own idea.
Unusually, it simply invites would-be vendors to register their details.
The branch team picks up the inquiry, gets in touch and discusses a suitable package.
It emphasises that each package will be different, but does say that while there is “zero per cent commission, there’s 100% customer service”.
For example, if an online vendor cannot make themselves available for all viewings, then that element can be added in. If negotiations become tricky, then the seller can ask for the agent to take over.
Director Duncan MacKinnon said: “We realise that our customers are looking for new and innovative ways of selling their property and we want to respond to that.
“Although similar ideas have been explored, no one offers the same local, independent, human service that we can through using MoveSmart.”
https://www.facebook.com/whbreading/videos/1968733686748887/
Comments (20)
Cheers, professional photos. The first sucker punch most mug punters walk into. Yes, photos are the roast beef of the roast beef dinner. Hugely important and hugely influential. A killer “money shot ” can cause hundreds of percents of extra clicks. But calling them professional and them actually being professional.. that is where the mickey starts to be taken.
Realy, does this house lean to the right ? https://www.housesimple.com/property/view/62619 is this even realistic ?? https://www.yopa.co.uk/properties/details/22644 professional my hat.
I’ll not mention the (super duper )photos on this one… lets move on to floor plans. https://www.emoov.co.uk/property/lvy-xoxa/ You expect me to drive to view it when I have little idea of size and layout ? really ? I can see the floor plan but I cann’t read it. Is that acceptable ? thick end of £2mill. Here is another https://my.tepilo.com/property-for-sale/10541/planetree-rd-object-object-wa15
Social marketing ? sure themselves https://www.facebook.com/yopaproperty/photos/a.725022417596099.1073741828.698497496915258/1251763671588635/?type=3&theater
They are clearly not professional – and it is up to the user to complain to their agent.
Equally, if I could be bothered, I could find 100s if not 1000s of local agents with property photos taken on their phone.
Again, YOPA are not a company who are using social media very effectively.
And you’ve not come up with any superior ways of marketing…
‘Yes Mr and Mrs Vendor we can offer you a cheaper service, where you book your own viewings, carry them out yourself and negotiate any offers. It will cost you a little less than half what you would normally pay us, but it will be chargeable up front whether you sell or not.
As we are charging you on this basis we have to declare that based on the national average for this type of system, you stand a little over 50% chance of actually selling, and we estimate the ‘do it yourself route’ with your own negotiating will typically lead to a final sale price of £5,000 to £10,000 less.
However, if it is what you really want we can go ahead on that basis’
You really are quite simple.
PIE itself has run articles that show the average online agent sells with the same frequency as the average local high street agent.
A vendor goes to an estate agent to sell their property.
Whether or not you charge up front or at the end, your job is to sell the property. Online agents are performing as well as local agents in that regard so leave that alone or it just embarasses your position.
There is also no proof that online agents command lower final sale prices. Not one single piece of evidence. Here’s a hint as to why: you can’t sell the same home twice.
Wake up!
People used to actually like travel agents, they were exciting, they opened doors (there’s a joke here somewhere) and they were the start of a holiday (a happy time). They have essentially disappeared from the high street.
Estate agents on the other hand are not liked. Are not respected and are generally viewed with the kind of disdain directed at policitians. But yes, of course, you are so qualified, so brilliant that there’s no chance your industry will be like all the rest.
Except, last time I was shown around a home, the kid was about 12 years old and didn’t even know what the extra stamp duty % was on the purchase of a second property.
Quite simple huh…well at least its better than being obnoxious towards other people all the time.
Your points;
Online agents are performing as well as local agents in that regard so leave that alone or it just embarasses your positio – The difference is you don’t have to pay on NSNF if you are one of the ones who doesn’t sell, so this is, I am afraid to point out to you, totally relevant.
There is also no proof that online agents command lower final sale prices. Not one single piece of evidence. Here’s a hint as to why: you can’t sell the same home twice. – but there are other things you can do to show ‘balance of evidence’ type proof. This is being developed and on its way, don’t worry. I suggest you sell your shares before it becomes widely known and available.
Estate agents on the other hand are not liked – since you come on here most of the time just to have a go at estate agents, and make wide sweeping statements about everyone in a certain vocation, do you actually like anyone? There are good agents as well as bad, and if you knew me and spoke to the people I deal with you would understand that some people do like us. It is actually why I love working at what I do…because I enjoy meeting lots of people, and doing the very best I can for my customers. Maybe I am the exception, but I doubt it.
the kid was about 12 years – Doubt it, thats illegal. Also its offensive to young people trying to learn the job. If he or she had said ‘thats a good question, that I am not sure enough about to answer. Can I check and get back to you as soon a I can’…..would you be so derogatory towards them?
By the way why don’t you enlighten us about what you do for a living , so we can all make widesweeping statements about your vocation? Go on….. be brave
I ran my own company (not in property), sold out and now invest in young startups in various industries where technology can have a transformative effect. Mostly for fun and to work with people who like to solve problems.
Not exactly sure what I “do” for a living but mostly I give people my advice. A lot of the time, people take it.
I don’t have to show you the survey results that give you an indication of how the general public perceives estate agents, I am sure you have seen enough of them.
I’ve stated before I am not a believer in Purple Bricks’s share price and nor do I have shares. I think with a few tweaks it would actually be far more dangerous to local agents than it currently is. As somebody who started up and exited I admire their strategy from start to finish and that is where I stand with them.
The agent obviously wasn’t actually 12, but he was incredibly young and had no clue about what he was talking about. I am all for training young staff and creating jobs (the exact reason I loved setting up my own company) but sending somebody out to meet 1 on 1 with a customer who is clearly unprepared and not ready is both terrible management and showing a scant regard for your customer (either me as the buyer or the vendor who you work for).
And I like most people. In fact nearly everyone. What I stated was:
“Estate agents on the other hand are not liked. Are not respected and are generally viewed with the kind of disdain directed at policitians. ”
That is not my opinion, that is referring to the surveys that turn up every year with estate agents as pantomime villains. I am just trying to explain that the general publc has no loyalty to the high street estate agent in the same way that they did for travel agents. From our first introduction to the housing market, your one day customers are being charged for things like admin fees, contract renewal fees, additional tenant fees etc…
Here’s a scenario for you:
1. A 21 year old fresh out of University has a new job, they are excited and now they want to get a flat. They find a mate and a flat they can afford. They are then asked to pay £450 admin fee plus £200 contract setup fee, etc etc by their local agent prior to moving in (on top of the holding deposit, deposit, month up front rent) – all whilst they don’t enjoy any improvements to their credit ratings.
2. They save enough and finally are buying a home only for the agent to deliver the bad news that they have been gazumped. I agree it isn’t “technically” the agent’s fault but they are still the bad guy here.
3. She finally buys a home, getting little assistance from the agent throughout the process even though she is a first time buyer. COnstantly worried she will be gazumped, trying to understand what her lawyer is telling her. Knowing that the agent works for the vendor so unsure whether to trust them. Still it all goes through and there’s a bottle of champagne and a hand written card in the house from the agent. Nice touch.
4. She now owns a home and five years later is ready to sell….
Given her previous experiences with local agents – the uncertainty, the fees, etc and when the rest of her life is organised via her phone with no fees and no friction, do you think she will
a)come back to one of the local agents charging x% or;
b)try another version of this service that is more in line with her expectations and allows her to manage the process using her existing communication channels
I’ve said before on here, markets are controlled by demand now not by supply. If customers want to book viewings 24/7, want to make offers 24/7, get financially qualified 24/7 then somebody will provide this and somebody will hoover up that demand and make money. If they want to pay £1,000 up front in the knowledge that they may not sell then that is their choice.
Just thought Observer.
You obviously fall into the camp of
“Estate agents on the other hand are not liked. Are not respected and are generally viewed with the kind of disdain directed at policitians. ”
If the online only option does take off, who gets the blame then?
And if you have not sold you should be careful regarding the likes of PB – Where an estate agent truley makes their money is the part between sale agreed and exchange. I tell you PB is shocking at this.
Add that to 1 in 2 people who use PB lose there £1000 as it does not sell ……. Hardly improving the rep of agents!
I have sold in the past, with a local agent and was incredibly let down throughout.
I have also used a local letting agent, again terribly let down throughout.
Both times big chains because they promised later opening hours and later viewing times – it was an investment property.
I’m not sure blame is the right word here, excuses and finger pointing rarely lead to progress.
The responsibility falls with the vendor when using an online agent. The vendor makes the decision to do a portion of the work themselves – although some online agents do the whole lot.
Again, PB is not for me, I don’t like that they outsource customer service in an industry that is still a people’s industry and an industry where you need to have trust in your agent. Please don’t confuse this as an endorsement for the high street model either!
Observer
But this story wasn’t about PB! It was about a high street agent competing with himself with an online proposition.
But lets be clear about this. I have said time and again PB’s true cost per sale is over £2,000 which is more than our average fee…and we do everything, accompanied viewings, negotiating the very best sale price, looking after and being totally fair to buyers, and following everything through to completion of the sale. I know that I give a better service than PB for a true cost that is less….because we have an incredibly efficient system.
So who has the better model?
We use many systems and processes that I believe are more advanced than what the ‘so-called disupters have’….why do I believe that….because they give people what they really want…unparallelled service, contact and continuity.
I also like to solve problems, I come from a scientific background in the health service and also worked in comms in the forces. I am entrepeneurial and want to build the equivalent of 5 start ups based on doing the best job for the vendor and protecting buyers. So why don’t you invest in our start-ups?
They stand a much greater chance of being successful for investors because they are designed from the ground up to give the best end result for our clients. They have not been designed to make the most money in the shortest time possible, so I can leg it with all the dosh from share sales, leaving investors to ponder what they actually bought into in the first place.
@ observor. I get your disdain for estate agents… to a certain extent I share it. But only for the poor quality ones. The good ones, I respect, because they provide a valuable service and they earn their fee.
You say “A vendor goes to an estate agent to sell their property.” True, but not the full story. You omit a huge caveat. Sale price.
You do not need to be the brain of Britain to understand that gaining a potential £5k+ on your sale price is better than saving £2k on fees. So, who is more likely to achieve the higher price ? an experienced local agent (yes, a top one, not a duffer) investing his own cash on a planned marketing campaign, who stands to run a loss unless he sells, who already knows buyers searching locally, who is experienced in keeping the ball in the air once an offer has been accepted. Who is also online and will push your sale in more places with superior marketing material. Or, a newbie 70 miles away who needs you to pay up front for his marketing, but is a bit cheaper ? In other words someone who does less, and invests zip or someone who does more. Or, someone who has a vested interest or someone who gains either way ?
More potential of a gain plus zero risk.
What is this superior marketing material and in these different ways? Last time I checked, most of the online guys (not PB) have professional photos, keep buyer lists, market socially etc etc.
There are literally a handful of agents who actually use technology well to market properties.
Print advertising is just a waste of money.
And I don’t agree that agents and vendors have their interests aligned.
As a vendor, my motivation to sell can be anywhere from “I need to sell now” through to “I have all the time in the world and I will get my price”.
For an agent, the motivation is I “need to sell”. That’s it. If you are no sale no fee, you don’t get paid unless you sell. If you’re looking at a £5k commission, are you going to push a deal as far as it can possibly go and risk that commission for just £100 more.
That £100 for a company (so £10 for a neg?) could be £1,500 for the vendor!
I have repeatedly stated on here that there are good agents, there are great agents. Unfortunately the good and the great will get dragged down with the rest. If you are one of the good and the great, don’t lower your prices, raise them. But (and you can tell this is a big but as I’ve used a conjunction to start a sentence), you have to be able to prove the value that you provide and then sell it.
If you can’t do that then why on earth would I trust you to sell my most valuable asset when you can’t even sell your own (time)?
You know what …the truth is if you are a good agent then you know how to read the local and national market and sentiment, and design or adapt the best strategy to sell the property accordingly. In our neck of the woods at the moment if you want the best sale price you need to generate as many viewings as possible in a reasonably short amount of time, because the best offer will come in the first three weeks. Accordingly we did 150 viewings on one property recently, inside two weeks. The worst thing you can do in our present market is back track on your asking price. In other times it might be different….you have to know the right strategy at the right time.. to maximise the sale price!
If it was my home and you had 150 viewings in two weeks I would be furious.
Unless we had agreed to market the property under its percevied value to generate a bidding war and a quick sale.
We had a call last week from somebody offering us a “Hybrid Alternative” want best part of 2k
Basically it was a domain name and a template website.
A lot of silly people out there will will have their pants pulled down a number of ways with this ‘Fad’
Wait till their existing vendors see they can have it for considerably less. Nothing like rubbing your existing vendors nose in it. Another death of a thousand cuts. Stupid.
Why is it such a big deal when an agent sets up a separate online business? And why set it up at all?? We have had an online offering as part of our own package for over a year now and we embrace it as part of our sales pitch. It has been a fantastic extra revenue for us over the past year as we would have surely lost these vendors to the onliners. It has its place and I believe that if agents don’t change and start offering this to counter those vendors that want an online service (which is still a minority of our valuations right now) then they won’t be doing business in the future.
I don’t see the point in setting up a totally different business to deal with online only service? the main selling point to local people who want an online service is that you still deal with and talk to the true local business in your own town but you still get the online service you want….only much much better. Setting up a totally different business with a new name just puts you in the pot of all online only agents.
What agents need to do is embrace the future and find other revenue streams to get their earnings back up. A lot of our industry is stuck in the past !
Probably £1,000 to £2,000 plus per sale lost trying to compete with online listers whose offerings are subsidised by investors money.
Why not keep your fees right for the service provided and use some of the money to join IN collective intelligent marketing? Promote your service/true worth and gain more business!
If you are good, not poor or average, at marketing, selling and negotiating both yourself and your vendors’ property, then you will never have to fall back on chopping your fee in order to win business. If you have been in business for donkey’s years and only have a handful of instructions to show for it, then maybe you do. But, your new dilemma is that you now need 3 times more instructions to stay the same, and, you already know that winning business is your weak point. D O H !
Plus VAT?
Trading Standards Guidance on Property Sales says fees/comms should be inclusive of VAT, not plus VAT.
Always worry about negotiation skills (or lack of), of agents charging low fees. Worrying.
Sounds far from new and innovative. More like desperation or un-imaginative.
Relying on just portals really reduces exposure to more buyers.
WHICH report last year showed main portals only achieve 43% of solds.
Sounds like an expensive £750 PLUS VAT