YOPA changed the meaning of its initials from Your Online Property Agent in the summer when it altered its business model.
It has dropped the ‘online’ and says the initials now simply stand for Your Property Agent.
A spokesperson for the site told EYE: “They changed it in August when they changed their model to include local property managers.”
An interview with one of the four founders – two of whom are sons of the super-rich Telegraph owners – in EYE at the weekend discusses the firm’s hybrid model, and is scathing about online-only models.
YOPA is now rolling out nationally across England and Wales after trials in two areas, charging vendors a flat fee.
Daniel Attia said consumer response had been overwhelmingly positive.
He said: “Vendors who have used YOPA tell us they like the combination of experienced local property managers who know their territories and the powerful technology that supports their activity.
“There are plenty of high street agents and online agents but YOPA is genuinely revolutionising the way people buy and sell homes by giving consumers a complete service fit for the 21st century.”
In the Telegraph last June a piece was published under the headline ‘Is this the end of the road for high-street estate agents’, with a sub-head claiming ‘The internet has revolutionised the way we buy and sell property with disastrous consequences for traditional agents’.
The article asserted that “everyone loves to hate estate agents” (it meant the high street variety) and included the wording: “The new arrival is YOPA (Your Online Property Agent).”
The article also said that there were three cost options, at £425, £525, and £725.
However, prices appear to have gone up.
A spokesperson told Eye that the cost is now £1,140 in London, and elsewhere £780.
The piece on EYE, by Marc Shoffman, is here
If everybody does, in fact, hate estate agents (and they don’t), then it must surely include online by association.
YOPA seem to have picked up some disillusioned PurpleBricks agents! Wonder what caused them to move?
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So what does the O stand for now? YPA
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Perhaps it stands for oooh!
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So we are no longer just online, we now have a local presence. Oh and because our guys need somewhere to work from we are taking a local base. We’ve found that change deals centrally is a little awkward without some local involvement so we are basing some move managers in that office as well.
Gosh we look a little like a high street estate agent now don’t we…..only we are losing money because our low fees don’t pay the wages or the bills!
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Ah, the Arrogance of Youth. How nice to see that it is still alive and well and living in cloud cuckoo land.
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Yet even more reasons why residential agents should be considering the “profit centre” called commercial. Do any of your existing/past clients have shops, industrial buildings or any premises from which business is transacted? If you do know, are you making the most of it and if you don’t know…….why not?
David Broschomb
National Chair ICBA
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I have a question that I would like to post openly here on EYE, to someone from this YOPA outfit.
Manchester Evening News recently (the online version was published last Tuesday) ran an article entitled YOPA proves a hit in Greater Manchester.
The piece states, among other things
One of the company’s Local Property Managers… sold three properties in three days before Christmas. They had been marketing all three for less than two weeks and two of them had previously been on the market with traditional high street agents.
Now this is the bit I need some help with. Quite a lot of help, actually. I HAVE managed to find three properties on their register that a) could have been sold within three days of each other; b) are within one Light Year of “Greater Manchester” (apparently that is acceptable to ASA to be deemed ‘Local’ in Call-Centre Estate Agency terminology…); I even found ONE of them that had c) been previously on the market with another ‘High Street’ agent
HOWEVER… in order for these properties to fit the “less than two weeks” bit of the above, they would have all needed to have been Sale Agreed on or before 28 NOVEMBER.
Surely – even by ‘The Call-Centre Agents’ Bible of Alternative Truths’ – describing THAT as “before Christmas” is stretching the bounds of billshuttery to absolutely new boundaries, is it not?
Oh – by the way – I have other questions. Plenty, in fact.
But let’s get the less embarrassing ones out of the way first, yeah?
In duelling terms, rather a case of ‘easing you in gently’ than slicing your ‘nads off with the first thrust of the sabre.
En garde!
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Estate Agency Disruption
January 2008 – January 2016
Rest in Peace.
National online only, call centre, COAR call them what you will it does not work. The young Barclays can attempt #local Hybrid and take every advantage of the almost constant plugging they receive from the Telegraph and entourage of Tweeters but they just became a sub-small tradition franchise style agent. A couple of the really really local negotiator/manager/expert reps might do OK but becoming the “Google of property” they were proclaiming on Saturday when they forgot what YOPA stands for? I really can’t see it.
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An opportunity not to be missed, both firms have wasted years being proper shouty in the Telegraph about the demise of traditional Agency and here is a massive and embarrassing climb down; both firms are doing exactly what they said doesn’t work.; traditional, local, estate agency (albeit with added ‘much cheapness’)
“You can stick lipstick on a swine, call her darling if you like, there’s no changing the fact you’re dating the pig you were mocking when you were out with your mates”
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This was a reply to the Chris wood /Jonnie dialogue that has been deleted.
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You mean I’ve missed something??
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Chris Wood told the truth as most of the world sees it, Jonnie agreed, both posts got deleted.
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Clearly, but it certainly elevated my sarcasm up two places!
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Free country etc, but I get censored, I’m assuming it’s my naming an individual? (Nick, can you confirm where I strayed from your rules) so here is my post again with a small but hopefully sufficient edit. be good if @Chri Woods was reposted too.
@Chri Wood has sort of said it quite well and certainly in a more considered and mature manner than I could manage, lots of opportunity for some good old fashioned mickey taking as these lads make a right fist of blowing their old mans cash on what already looks set to be a debacle and makes many on liners business plans look positively robust.
Jonnie
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