Most sellers happy with high street agent – and with the price they achieve

The large majority of people who have sold their home through a traditional estate agent were either satisfied or very satisfied with their experience.

Out of 700 people asked, 82% expressed their satisfaction while just 4% of the survey conducted by haart had used an online agent.

Many thought that a traditional high street estate agent can add 5% to the value of their home.

Based on haart’s own average price of £221,797, this adds up to a premium of just over £11,000.

A total of 88% said they believed that face-to-face meetings with their estate agent was important.

But many – 76% – believed that high street agents charge a lot more than they do.

The typical fee is just 0.5% to 2% of the property sale price, however 76% of people believed the fees were higher than this and 11% incorrectly believed estate agents took a cut of more than 10%.

Paul Smith, CEO of hart, said:  “Our research shows that consumers believe our local expertise will earn them more money when selling and they true velue being able to meet an expert in the local property market on a face-to-face basis – not just once, but at crucial points throughout the process.

“We welcome anything that injects a healthy dose of competition into the sector but for the vast majority, the reassurance of local expertise, regular contact and inside knowledge of potential local buyers ticks all the boxes.

“Estate agents charge a fee for a skilled service which often includes deployment of expert negotiation skills to keep property chains together – and that fee is much lower than most people believe.

“It’s also not a flat rate with a seller only paying if their home is in fact sold.

“This means high street aftents will work really hard and are motivated to achieve the best possible price for their clients.”

A spokesperson for haart clarified that the 700 people surveyed were from a nationwide database of consumers held for research purposes by Instinctif Partners. The firm, which does PR for haart, regularly conducts research and surveys for a number of clients.

However, a spokesman for online agent eMoov this morning poured cold water on the claims made by haart.

He said: “It’s funny to look at the word satisfaction in the Haart survey. The world’s most recognised metric for satisfaction is NPS (Net Promoter Score). We’ve recently ran a number of surveys to look at how eMoov compares to the industry as a whole.

“eMoov prides itself on delivering world class customer service and this is highlighted by our fantastic NPS score of +49. This is based on 293 sellers from our latest customer satisfaction survey ran in October. A quick google from any of your readers will see how truly amazing this recommendation score is.
“We ran the same NPS survey to 1,000 home sellers who had used high street agents via expert research Opinion Matters in September and the average agent score was an embarassing –2. As you can see, there is a massive gulf in levels of satisfaction between an online estate agent and the high street.
“Moving quickly on, with regards to price achieved. 97% of eMoov sellers were happy with the price achieved, this compares to just 92% for the average agent.
“Put simply, eMoov is a much better estate agent. The stats don’t lie! “

 

 

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16 Comments

  1. dave_d

    This is the sort of information we need to shout about!

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  2. Tristramboris

    Was this research carried out by independent researchers asking unbiased questions?

    Or can one assume it was in fact carried out by Haart?

    Really, this is shoddy

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  3. Clarkuk

    11% of people thought that estate agents charged more than 10%

    Who did they survey… children?

    I cant believe that this is a survey of people who have SOLD their houses.

    Can anyone clarify who was surveyed?

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  4. Herb

    Pbricks use rmove for their val, they val low and get low offers. Even if they did it for free sellers lose out!

     

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    1. Ashfordagent

      Not here they don’t, they seem to ridiculously over value!

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  5. Trevor Mealham

    At last – useful industry intel from the Mr Smith camp

    Based on the average Haart price: £221,797, showing the ability to get vendors more is a great pitch to make clients extra, rather than lose as many budget agencies can’t do.

    A friend recently got a certain purple brand round which cae up with a figure similar to one of the main portals AVM. Locally, the budget agent was £20k to £30k under, showing can be very costly.

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    1. Robert May

      Ah but do you know why Trevor?  I have actually worked out the  formula for how far out they are likely to be anywhere in the country. Given a postcode I have deciphered the  random number generator algorithm to show  by how much some hapless  ‘compooter says’ manager/ expert/ guru/ rep  are likely be out on their numbers

      I wish I could explain #portaljugglingplus to you right now, it explains why property sellers  will pay good money to deal with people they can trust.

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  6. VTUK1

    Some interesting research which poses a debatable view of the market. Back in 2014, we conducted a Roundtable debate on the topic “Online vs Traditional Agents”. The highlights to our debate can be viewed here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfOwoNXowSE.

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  7. Fencesitter

    “82% expressed their satisfaction while just 4% of the survey conducted by haart had used an online agent…” Two totally different stats rolled into one to suggest something rather misleading. Does this mean that 82% of all 700 interviewed were satisfied – including the 4% who used online agents? And how come 82% “expressed satisfaction” – while 76% believed that agents charge more than they actually do??? Clearly, these idiots need to be found – and charged accordingly…

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  8. stephenjury

    82% isn’t something to shout about guys.

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    1. PeeBee

      Neither is 99%, Mr Jury.

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      1. Robert May

        A genuine, honest 99% is an achievement Peebee.

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        1. PeeBee

          I agree wholeheartedly – but show me one, Robert.

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  9. scroller

    10% I can only dream.  Just like those internet agents who value themselves in millions but have no realizable assets and have yet to make a profit.

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  10. Clarkuk

    How has this turned into a promote eMoov article – shameless

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    1. PeeBee

      It’s called ‘adding balance’.

      Except the balance is heavily weighted with usual online ********.

      Don’t worry though – it will be TRADITIONAL AGENTS who come out smelling of roses… ;o)

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