People who choose not to sell their homes through a high street estate agent are being recruited for a six-part prime-time TV programme to be presented by Sarah Beeny.
In a move unlikely to be welcomed by high street agents, production company Red House says the series is set to go out on C4 on Sunday evenings in October or November.
Each programme will follow two house sellers. So far, four out of the 12 needed for the series have been cast.
It is not clear whether the sellers will be using online agents, or private for sale by owner websites, or a mixture of the two.
Beeny herself set up Tepilo as a private sales website in 2009, but last autumn it relaunched as an online agent so that it could list on Rightmove.
Tepilo also retained its capacity to act as a “passive agent”, simply allowing sellers and landlords to contact each other through the site if they wished.
Tepilo, effectively both a private sales site and an online agent, charges from £195 to £495 upfront.
Red House makes programmes in the cookery and property fields, and already uses Beeny regularly.
This is the advert that Red House is using to try to tempt sellers to take part in the new documentary series:
“Thinking of selling your home?
“Would you like to potentially save £1000’s in fees? If you are not yet listed with an estate agent, are a keen seller, and would consider listing your property online, we want to hear from you ASAP!
“If you are happy for Sarah Beeny and TV cameras to follow your house sale, get in touch with our casting team today.”
Comments (24)
It's all interesting stuff, and very powerful too. Sarah Beeny has more clout than 1,000 High Street agents, whcih is a real shame. I did 'Property Ladder' with her ten years ago, and all the production team did was suck my dry of info about the property, area and general local market and she appeared on screen quoting me word for word. Me and 2 other agents were then just featured for a few seconds giving the figures. Whether she is any good at selling houses I don't know, but she is very good at influencing the Great British Public. That's just the way it is. I honestly believe High Street agents can get more money for the properties they sell, but it's not just about that – it's about the owner having a face and a base to rely on, which online agents CANNOT do due to the very fact that they are just online. But people don#t get it, until I can sit on thier sofas and tell them. Then they understand!
Is it really such a difficult task for Joanna Blogs to work out the market value of their property? Most vendors do know the value, based upon simlar properties for sale in their street or neighbourhood, and the marketing price shown on any website that then results in a sale being agreed.
Estate agents normally have to match the valuation the vendor already has in their own head, not the other way around. OK, some vendors are unrealistic, and many are those that place their property on the market themselves as a private sale, or via an on-line agent.
But setting a reasonable initial marketing price is not rocket science.
I can't help wondering if they are going to take the first 12 properties which they are offered, warts'n'll (as any normal estate agent would have to do) or are they instead going to select only those properties which suit the point that the program makers wish to make? If they reject even one property on the grounds that it is poorly presented, not visually appealing, difficult to film or, even worse, over-priced, then any intention to prove the virtues of on-line agency over traditional agency will be completely under-mined. Of course, only they will know if they reject any applicants so they will make their point one way or another by manipulating the results just as every other TV documentary does. I don't know how many different TV documentaries I have watched first proving and then disproving climate change, for example, and their arguments always appear highly plausible in the absence of any data which contradicts their particular slant on the subject. Whatever the conclusion of this series, whether it supports on-line sales or criticises them, you can be sure that it will not be representative of the true picture…..
OMG :0 OMG!!! that is so like 'channel 4 ist' I can't believe it. OMG!
I'd still like a hot soapy bath with her……
MMM…now you mention it…..hadn't thought of her like that before.
wilko – she's no good for you.
She can't list with AM so you're banned from entry… 😉
I can't see anything but a perfect outcome for all on this programme…….unless it is Beeneys plan to get some of her opposition online agents highlighted for their lack of quality throughout a transaction to leave the way clear for her to exploit.
I looked at 20 of the strongest "onliners" (numbers on market) and EVERY homepage says "save £1000's" and EVERY one says "like high street agents we advertise on our partner sites Rightmove and Zoopla etc where most enquiries now come from"
When will ALL professional agents realise that by continuing to put their stock on these portals(RM/Zoopla) as they are feeding this new breed and allowing them to take over the industry(to the detriment of the customer, in my view)-this is the Only way they can be sucessful…..And yes some professional agents will keep saying "bring it on" but it is well and truly on already…..
The problem is Wilko the programme will not be a level playingfield showing how professional estate agency will outperform online passive intermediaries every time.
This already a biased advertorial for system that does not work way from the additional attention that will have to be applied to these 12 sales to make the programme.
Agreed.
I'm pretty sure it will be;
Pay an online agent by card/paypal online.
Person comes round to do photos.
Put on Rightmove / Zoopla
Lots of enquiries….as it is a good market.
Exchange & Complete having saved £1000's
It will skip over the bit about how they arrive at the valuation figure and asking price, It will disregard how the property could be marketed and it will probably not bother with the minor details of whether the agreed sales actually complete.
It will no doubt ignore that in saving £1000's that the vendor actually missed out on £xxxxx by failing to do the job properly with experienced local professionals.
Personally I think they will struggle to contrive the whole 12 instructions and completions in the time they have available to them. There is so much amateur about this I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of our online poster chums making an appearance.
Wouldn’t it be great to see a game show dares program with all of the online firms competing to be the cheapest (yet the best)? How entertainingly "Life of Brian" could that be?
We are the "cheapest and best" online agency,
Nah yer not, we are!
who are you then?
We are the "best and cheapest" online Agency!
never erd of yers!
Leave it out will yers? "Best Online Agency"are the cheapest………………………………
Wake up and smell the future….have you not thought of the impact a PRIME TIME TV programme will have on the same old same old Estate Agents vendor base, whether you like it or not, this is the future and if you can't move with the times and plan ahead you will lose out to the competition. The movers and shakers of the future are online and IT savvy, they will not tolerate poor performing EAs to do a job they think they can do better. I'm an old dinosaur in this ever changing techo world but even I can see that same old same old is not what people will want in 5 years time.
Stop belittling and being defensive to online EA's, think of the future and change now, that's how you will maintain your vendor base and attract the business talents of the future.
I think that you are bang on.
We have to evolve to survive and anyone arrogant enough to think that our business can escape the march of technology simply doesn't deserve to. As I have said on EYE on more than one occasion of late in regards to this topic, we have to offer all the innovations available coupled with market leading service. That will be the differentiator between on line and high street EA in my view.
What happens when there is no difference between the online model and the high street model…..except online will be £1000s cheaper?
You'll have to explain that one to me. Its a bit too late in the day for me to explain the differences. As I say, the underlying factor of choice will be based on the ability to deliver a service, not a product.
I'm essentially in agreement with you but if you look at emoov…Russel q's proposition, assuming he is telling the truth , he offers exactly the same service without the offices in the high street. It is all very well saying we will evolve etc but as long as we provide the fuel (properties) to keep punters looking at RM and Zoopla we are providing a platform for online agents to operate at a fraction of the cost…..They have already worked out the evolution All us trad agents do is say "bring it on" "they can't offer the same service" "customers won't be fooled" but at the moment, as an industry, we've done naff all to evolve our models to a position where they will be able to compete with online now or in the near future.
“Would you like to potentially save £1000′s in fees?"
Think we already know this will be pro online agents!
Why did she not use Tepilo in the programme? Oh yes I know why – they havent been instrumental in a sale for so long…..and no one looks at the site…..and shes a scruffy mare…..and she s developer isn't she…..
Already the programme has no credibility and will be unrepresentivive; in appealing to potential vendors likely to put ego before wit it will be all too easy to show the programme to be the fraud it already is.
So obviously an attempt to reach an audience that is unconvinced of the service provided by Passive Intermediaries, the program will have to use skills, processes and experience that in an unstaged for TV sale would simply be absent. I can't see Sarah Beeny allowing herself to be filmed getting a price guide off Zoopla so one has to wonder exactly how they are going to establish an asking price without duping a few local agents into providing valuations.
Ive always had such a good response in the past, messaging the owners and offering to help them actually sell their homes. I hope they all continue to have this option on their sites.
I lke it! – similar to the zoopla "tempt me"
Hope the selection includes real people, not property investors!
Although I am sure I will enjoy the programme as I like Sarah Beeney generally, I wonder how many references each week to Tepilo she manages to make. It is really irritating that in her column in the Sun on Sunday, so often there is a reference to 'you could use an online agent such as Tepilo' such blatant free advertising for her site.
Totally agree!