House sellers save thousands in fees using online agents

 
Mira Bar-Hillel19 August 2013

Londoners spend millions of pounds paying estate agents to sell their homes when they can do it online for a fraction of the cost, a survey has revealed.

While complaints about agents to the Property Ombudsman rose by 12 per cent last year, more and more are turning to the internet to save money and, in many cases, aggravation as well.

Research by online service eMoov found that last year Londoners paid almost £23.5 million to high street estate agents in percentage-based fees. In the same year, eMoov sold 520 properties with a combined value of £170 million, saving the sellers about £2 million. It currently has 850 properties on sale.

Online agents such as eMoov charge vendors a one-off fee of £395 to list their property on major sites such as Zoopla and Rightmove, and provide all the services supplied by traditional agents: valuation, energy certificates, floor plans, professional images, viewings and negotiations.

High street agents’ commissions are linked to rapidly rising house prices, and range from one per cent to 2.5 per cent. As a result, the seller of a four-bedroom detached house in Islington can expect to pay an agent £17,275.

Fees on a four-bedroom semi-detached house in Camden will be about £12,500, while even a modest two-bedroom flat in Clapham will cost £4,768 to sell.

Other companies offering online services rather than an agent in an office include hatched.co.uk and homesimple.co.uk. TV property expert Sarah Beeny set up her own website, Tepilo.com, three years ago, to buy and sell without an estate agent, hoping to “revolutionise” the market.

Russell Quirk, eMoov.co.uk founder, said: “We want to charge customers a more realistic fee. It’s time for UK home owners to wake up, realise that the future of the property industry is online and make high street estate agents a thing of the past.”

'I did first viewing on Friday and sold on Saturday'

Melissa Osborne, 34

Mother of one, moved from Feltham to Stanwell Village

Melissa’s priority selling her home was online presence. “When discussing selling the house, I couldn’t believe the estate agents’ fees and started making enquires about putting our home on property websites directly,” she said.

“I found various forums that discussed online estate agents and the savings that people had made. I made a few phone calls acting as a prospective buyer to see what the experience was like, not the sales pitch.

“Our main priority was getting our home on as many property websites as possible as I believe that there is significantly higher number of prospective buyers using these sites than there is foot traffic in the local estate agents.”

Ms Osborne, who went through eMoov, said she saved £3,000 in total.

Claire Gunn, 39

Married with two children, moved from Letchworth to Guilden Morden, Hertfordshire.

Claire sold her house within days of signing up online and said: “My theory was, if it went on Rightmove anyone house hunting would see it — and I was right.

“It went online on Tuesday, I did the first viewing Friday and sold on the Saturday. I couldn’t have asked for a better result. It cost me £345 compared to the £5,500 I was quoted by a high street estate agent (which didn’t even include a ‘for sale’ board).

“It seems ludicrous to pay thousands of pounds to a high street agent when you can pay a few hundred for the same service.”

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