Are the public getting the agent they really need, or the one agents want them to see, and how will that change in the future?

Letting agents have seen real change. Renters tend to be younger and are better able to use technology, thin margins mean efficiencies are welcome and there’s been more involvement from the Government.

The buying process hasn’t really altered for decades and plenty of those engaging in it are old enough to remember what a phone is and still want to know who they’re dealing with.

But that will change and unless selling agents find a better way to engage with, and monetise, a new generation of buyers, they could face a tough future.

Let’s create an idealised environment where mortgages and conveyancing can be achieved at the touch of a button. Pipe dream, but not far off – the appetite to change the processes are there, as is a Government with a sizeable majority.

Valuing still needs some human intervention but many standardised properties are close to being AVM ready.

Assuming the above, why would anyone be paying for an agent? I’m excluding very high-end and niche properties from this – some will always pay extra for a personal service from a home buying agent.

However, looking into the future, surely the bigger income streams will come from buyers – some, like the corporates, already earn almost a third of their group income from mortgages, insurance etc – but I’m talking here about other services that buyers want but don’t (yet) seem to be offered.

Up till now agents have, bluntly, controlled interaction with properties that come to the market and are paid by sellers. Buyers have had little choice but toe the line.

What’s changing, as it has in the world of lettings, is that various proptech solutions are starting to shake out into viable offerings that enhance the buyer experience, but are being left on the shelf by agents who simply haven’t yet seen the need to change.

There’s one glaring proof of how, if you have a business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing budget, buyers’ heads can be turned.

Purplebricks has gone from zero to one of the biggest agents by listings in the UK in five years.

By spending £3m-£4m per month on TV advertising they’ve offered buyers something different. Oddly, their core areas are where sellers aren’t really saving money anyway, which makes you wonder why.

I can only offer a possibly incendiary suggestion, which is that people in their core areas (we’re talking  the likes of Leeds, Manchester, Wigan and the midlands) use Purplebricks because they think it means they barely have to interact with an agent at all and can pretty much do everything online if they want.

Even the best proptech outfits don’t have B2C budgets to persuade the buying public to demand their service from agents. Business to business (B2B) budgets are why many of you will have got bored over the last two or three years, with a procession of ideas and meetings.

With so many simple proptech offerings to attract and retain buyers, I’ll just mention two where agents can up their game – upfront dataroom providers from the auction industry Pipreport and home set-up service Just Move In.

The former generates revenue and the latter enhances an agent’s reputation to be one that buyers will love. Surely these are just the kind of things agents of the future will have to offer if they want to retain and earn from the best buyers.

* Ed Mead is co-founder of outsourced viewings service Viewber