We can all notice the emergence of agent free on-line sites and even the two major on-line portals seem to be courting this notion – much to the chagrin of estate agents up and down the country.
Since time immemorial there has been a niche market of commission free non-estate agent entities.
Do you remember Seekers? This was a company founded 25-30 years ago that charged the consumer a fixed fee in the hope that buyers and sellers would do business together for a fraction of the agents cost.
Even though agents fees, that can vary from 1%-3%, amount to a considerable amount of money, frankly, there must be a reason why the ‘Great British consumer’ use agents in 99% of all sales and letting of property.
I agree with this logic since if you use the DIY method of selling or letting you could take a price that is so below what you should get through an agent that the fees you don’t pay could be singularly unaffordable.
As the saying goes doctors don’t usually deliver their own babies and consumers shouldn’t sell or rent their own properties. It may work once or twice but on the whole you could come a ‘cropper’ by a canny purchaser bidding you a price that you simply should reject but, because they defeat your defences, you end up taking.
Although the estate agency industry is not the most fragrant on the planet, on the whole, agents do a good job and are usually so terrified of being beaten by another agent that they err on the side of optimism on advising you on what to take for your property.
We all need an interlocutor and an agent is perfectly posed for this role.
There cannot be anything fairer than if an agent were to receive a fee, that is part of your tax free gain anyway, that you only pay when you have got exactly the right terms from the buyer and you only pay after you receive your monies.
I think agents invariably work for their supper and, by using applied salesmanship, will drag a buyer to a level that you could not even dream about without them and, what’s more, get the deal over the line.
I wish Purple Bricks well but if I were them I wouldn’t give up my day job.