Readers have been casting doubt as to whether online agent eMoov really does achieve 99% of asking price.
However, eMoov has completely refuted their challenges.
The company claims: “We’re achieving 99% of asking price per sale compared to 95% by the typical UK estate agent.”
One sent us a link to Zoopla – the screengrab below was taken last week – which showed some quite heavy reductions.
The reader said: “It makes it questionable, surely, that they are achieving 99% of asking price – unless it’s another piece of their famous spin, and what they really mean is that they are achieving 99% of the last advertised price rather than the original listed price.”
Another reader, PeeBee, posted his own doubts on this site.
He said that as at 9pm last Friday, he found a total of £440,000 had been slashed off the original asking prices of 20 properties listed with eMoov, working out at an average of £21,000 or 6.75%.
A spokesperson for eMoov told EYE: “Our ‘99% asking price achieved’ is based on total sales and also the same reference as Hometrack which provides a percent for sales against asking price. Worth noting they had average agents at 96% when they last ran this research.
“Like all challenges we face from your dedicated readers, they focus on one or two properties.
“The 99% is for 2,150 property sales! Last month we sold many many, many properties (average remained at 99%), with 18% sold over the asking price and one as high as 122%.”
The screengrab was taken on Friday.
Comments (24)
Its all ‘smoke and mirrors’
% of asking price based on the price it was last advertised on the day of the sale!
Right well not manipulated then? Why would it not then be 100% – how come they have only managed 99%?
It could play right into the High Street Agents (HSA) hands this really.
All you need are a couple of similar properties and you have a marketing dream potentially as a HSA.
Property 1. OTM with eMoov at £100,000 under offer for £99,000
Property 2. OTM with HSA at £115,000 under offer for £99,000
The public at this point see only the asking prices and “Under Offer” boast. Vendors thinking of selling at this point are also more tuned to the higher asking price on the old Mine is bigger and better basis.
I would be dropping a letter or two with the….
Headline – “99% of which asking price is best?” (not saying I got it, just asking the question)
Sub heading – “If you ask more, you stand a better chance of getting more” (true I reckon)
Basis of letter – “Anyone can sell a house cheap! Getting the best price is the skill”
Maybe a RM+ example of “We don’t need to reduce your price to sell your home”
Either way, I am sure we could all find 1 or 2150 examples of how to sell against this one at a local level.
Have you got your example right for property 2?
You mean £99,000? if so yes.
I know it would be much better with Higher Agreed selling prices, but my point is…… as the public DO NOT SEE the “Under Offer Price” all they see is…..
Property 1. OTM with eMoov £100,000 under offer.
Property 2. OTM with HSA £115,000 under offer.
So 99% of which is best, my point being….. boasting 99% of lower asking prices may well have an advantage to an agent who is clever at playing on words.
My letter as above would be “99% of which is best? If You ask more you can get more! and anyone can sell cheap”
Same end goal, they claim 99% to get a call, I suggest which 99% would you want to get me in the door.
Lost me on this one! – But is almost 7 after a stressful day, sure it makes sense just not to me here and now 🙂
lol – switch off! enjoy your evening 🙂
Ooooh, look – I’ve got my habitual ‘Disliker’ back.
So pleased – I was worried they’d been and gorn and done themselves a mischief.
But no – they’re still here – showing themselves to be the complete prat we all know and love…
Interesting – the post count (17 before this post) doesn’t tally with the actual number by 1.
Wonder who said something they shouldn’t…? ;o)
I smell something, must have trod on something unpleasant cos it stinks.
Over on Twitter (apologies PIE). Mr Quirk has said the figures in the claim are based on “the asking price at time of sale”.
Can we expect the clarification to now appear on their website?
I very much doubt it, M Barnard.
Thank you, by the way, for your post on the other story last week – http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/an-industry-first-russell-quirk-is-silenced/ – which has clearly inspired this new article.
I would suggest that #portaljuggling and #pricejuggling are simply statistical manipulation aimed at – and for the sole purpose of fooling – the public.
I look forward to countersuggestion from anyone to open the debate.
Thank you PeeBee. Similarly though I think your post, and further analysis, formed a large part of this story.
The website states:
“Our recent performance shows that we typically achieve sold prices of 99% of the asking price compared with the average agent at just 95% (Source: Hometrack).”
“Typical price achieved – 99% of asking price (Jan to July 2015)”
In fact, 18.5% of their current available register has been reduced at least once since instruction – and 95.5% of those have been reduced by more than 1% of the Original Asking Price (credit: Zoopla)
The beauty of statistics, according to Mark Twain and/or Disraeli, is apparently they are not the same as lies or d@mn lies…
Whilst I totally respect these two eminent gentlemen and their respective contributions to the world we live in, I beg to differ.
PeeBee – it must be appreciated though that ‘99% of the last advertised asking price not the original first advertised/listing price’ is not as snappy or eye catching as ‘99% of asking price’!
I concur – nor for that matter would the strapline
We will market your property at ‘Asking Price A’, that currently almost one in five need to reduce at least once in order to achieve a sale at a figure ‘Z’ which will then be somewhere approaching 99% of the then ‘Asking Price B’ (or C, D, E, etc…)
be considered snappy or eye-catching either.
Just factual.
“…18% sold over the asking price and one as high as 122%.”
Perhaps Mr Quirk would be so good as to provide more detailed information as to the quoted example – ie
Property Address
Date of instruction and initial Asking Price
Date of Sale Agreed and Agreed Sale Price
Reasoning for 22% discrepancy between Asking Price and Agreed Sale Price
otherwise the information is as useless as it is intended to be.
Sorry – I should have directed that post at the “spokesperson for eMoov” and not Mr Quirk.
No doubt he has bigger fish to fry than this anonymous troll… ;o)
I paid 95% of the asking price for mine last month, unfortunately no other agent had this one on the market although I know that is exactly how emoov got the price right, was because three local agents that I know all valued it.
The ASA should also check ‘YOPA’ out the savings they are basing their fee on are from a survey conducted by Which back in 2011!
I think fee erosion has set in since then. I know some agents back then charging close to 2% and are now at 1%
More i see of the online model the more it seems it is based on liars.
Maybe that is where High Street agents are going wrong, maybe we should manipulate figures to show we are better than we truly are.
99% of the published asking price when the property goes under offer or
99% of the original asking price when the property first came on the market?
The stat is of course meaningless, but it is a great way to grab the attention of the general public.
That’s what I was thinking anonymous. It’s clearly asking price at time of sale and they are also using the stats when a price goes over asking price to further pull it up. The key here is the complete dis regard for being truthful on the website.
Emoov should at least make abundantly clear that they achieve 99% of the final (not original) asking prices. Having said that they don’t appear to be doing anything “technically” wrong, just morally in my view……..But as I’ve said many times, as more and more customers don’t achieve 99% of their initial asking price, so the complaints and bad reviews will start to stack up.
SURLEY the ASA must look at this. For a potential seller see a statement 99% of asking prices achieved it would be a potential inducement to use that firm. But if they are massively over valuing to secure the listing in the first place its a con, if the screen dumps displayed are anything to go by. Smoke and mirrors. If they were to state the % they achieve of “original asking price”,it would be looking pretty sick.
A quick search of the eMoov stock on Zoopla, sorted by most reduced, shows that the first 200 properties that come up in the stock list (including under offer & sold) have had reductions that cover a range from 28% to 2.1%.
That’s roughly 25% of the stock listed – not really ‘one or two properties’ as claimed by eMoov in their quote above.
Yeah right….all such percentage of asking price stats are highly dubious, always have been and always will be. Given the reductions seen on portals they’re clearly fibbing, but then all agents who use this absurd stat are yanking the public’s chains.
Wonder how Emoov arrive at their valuations for market – assume they get local agents (or the owners do) to do it and then blithely use their figures.