Estate Agents – How Much Do You Think it’s Worth?
It’s the ultimate question most consumers will ask themselves when making any purchase. Is it worth it?
No matter the product; from clothes, holidays to estate agents – whatever you choose to spend money on, the price will have a huge variation, depending on what you buy, and where you buy it from.
Does paying more guarantee you a better service?
To a degree, yes. It is usual to have a pricing structure on things, so typically the more you pay, the more available options and services you have open to you. But some things money cannot buy, like manners, kindness and a helpful attitude.
Estate agents are prime example of price of price variations. Some companies on your local high street have branches across the UK. When it comes to sales they usually charge a percentage rather than a fixed rate. This should cover their help, advice and guidance for everything you need to sell, from listing your home, to handing over the keys.
Online companies, such as purple bricks, are much cheaper by comparison, charging a fixed rate rather than a percentage. They don’t have shops up and down the country, so have no overheads for several locations with lots of staff members in each.
Which is Better?
It depends on who you ask.
Some people will say you can’t beat the personal touch of being able to speak face to face, and having an actual shop to pop into.
Some people think it’s pointless paying lots of extra money for a service that you can get for less. They say it is totally unnecessary to pay more, and you are getting essentially the same service as above but at a fraction of the price.
It completely depends on your choice. A good agent, regardless of their location, should be able to listen to what you want, and clearly tell you how they can work to help you achieve that. If you don’t fancy showing people round yourself, you can even have people come to your house to show potential buyers round, even if your estate agent in based online.
What Are the Online Options?
There are more and more popping up all the time, but three well known ones are Purple Bricks, Yopa and emoov. They deal with everything, just like local agents, from the valuation to completion. This includes floorplans and pictures, listing on sites such as Rightmove and Zoopla, arranging (and if need be conducting) viewings.
Depending on your budget, and personal preference, there are pros and cons to using either a local or virtual agency. The biggest difference has to be the price. Online is so much cheaper, but you have to pay your set fee, regardless of whether the house sells or not. On the high street, estate agents usually run by a no sale, no fee approach. So, it is definitely worth taking that into consideration.
