Online agent Housesimple has strongly defended its position after a Local Property Expert told of sharply dropping commission rates and made a number of other claims to EYE.
Housesimple says that it has ‘adjusted’ commission rates after going free to vendors, but argue that increased volumes have boosted earning opportunities.
The LPE said that on joining, the rate was £175 per listing plus £50 on completion – but that the payment first dropped by £50, and is now £100 on listing, with nothing on completion.
Housesimple has relaunched to offer a free service to vendors in postcodes in the north and midlands and no longer has any paid-for service in this region or elsewhere. It says it will roll out the free sales model across the country, and that it will be monetised by other services, for example mortgages sold to buyers.
The LPE, who has asked not to be named but whom we have verified and who has also worked for other high profile online agents Purplebricks and Yopa, told us: “At the start of the Yorkshire launch, we were recruited on the premise that we would be paid £175 per listing plus £50 on completion, making it a fairly good deal compared with other online agents.
“They didn’t tell us about the free offer until we joined and/or had started training.
“So our commission during the free period dropped to £125.”
He says this was communicated to recruits two days before they began training.
The LPE said this seemed fair enough, as the new recruits believed it was a temporary offer, due to finish on April 2.
But, the LPE went on: “A couple of days before the deadline they called us in for a meeting and said they were going to carry on with the offer indefinitely to grow as quickly as possible – but their main focus is on ‘capturing data’ to use in the future for other purposes.
“They then reduced our commission to £100 per listing and no commission on completion.
“A cut of 60% in real terms in one swoop.”
The LPE said: “Most of us have put up with it because the volume has been quite good, but then the usual heavy targets were put in place – even though we’re self-employed, but treated worse than when I worked for the corporates. They have no respect for what we do and basically said we were just a ‘cost’.”
The agent also told us that some LPEs have left, but that Housesimple has taken on eight people “who have never spent a day working as an estate agent”. He said they earn £20,000 but have to list 50 a month in order to get a bonus.
The agent also said that customers may not realise that the Local Property Expert could be two hours away from them: “The diary system lets a vendor book any day and time, but just goes to whoever is free.
“On interviews we were told we would have a specific area that we could build up but that never happened.”
We put the claims to Housesimple.
CEO Sam Mitchell told us: “We have made the transition from ‘No Sale No Fee at £995’ to ‘Free’ and naturally have adjusted commission schemes accordingly.
“Given the dramatically improved valuation pace and conversion our Local Property Experts have seen increased earning opportunities.
“We are also moving to a more, but not exclusively, employed rather than self-employed model to allow greater control over availability and training.
“Our employed model commission scheme focuses more on qualitative feedback scores rather than purely on listing targets.”
“Capturing Data”….Even after the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal, these companies still seem to pride themselves on data use as being the way forward. When a vendor instructs an estate agent they are expecting you to make money by selling their home, not by flogging their private information to death.
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Putting their staff and clients first ehh?
A complete sham !!!
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The real bucket shop end of business. Completely unsustainable model that can attract only those unemployable elsewhere. Paid on listing only with nothing on completion says it all. Garbage.
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Why would any person who has experience in the industry value themselves so poorly that they would accept that pay level. Move on and find a firm who values you and therefore pays fairly would be my humble advice.
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Please stop….it’s just too painful 🙁
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So you need to list 1 per working day to live and they currently have 4 in our area when it is FREE to sell…
Best wishes.
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LPE has moved from PurpleBricks to Yopa and now House Simple
This says it all!!!
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I was just about to post the same, also stint at corporates.
Wonder why they feel the need to move round so much?
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I suspect that the pay at Aldi’s supermarkets is better than that!
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Houseshameful
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The LPE is spot on. I worked for Housesimple and feel I’ve been lied to since day one. £175 + £50, £125 + £50,£100 then £18000 plus £3000 car allowance (lowest for any valuer job in the industry ) Highest targets to achieve other income. Sam Mitchell is bending the truth. Since the employed staff have started not one of them has hit or likely to hit listings target. Not one of them has experience in Estate Agency and to hit 50 listings per month covering a massive area is totally unrealistic. Good luck to all the wedding singers and car sales staff they are getting onboard ( 5 days training to be an Expert ) what will be a sinking ship at the bottom of the ocean with Emoov
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