Online agent HouseSimple has expressed concern about its peers raising prices, and has cut its fees this year.
It has cut its ‘no sale no fee’ offer from £1,690 to £1,190 amid others such as eMoov and Purplebricks raising theirs.
Vendors have to pay £195 upfront which is refunded if there is no sale, but if the property sells they must pay an extra £995.
The agent, which claims to be able to save vendors on average £5,594 based on its fees compared with a high street average of 1.64% plus VAT, also charges £595 to pay upfront or £695 to delay payment until the property is sold or for six months after listing.
Its fees are further reduced if its mortgage and conveyancing services are used.
Alex Gosling, chief executive of HouseSimple, told EYE: “We are concerned about the price rises throughout the sector disadvantaging the consumer.
“HouseSimple will therefore not be increasing their fees further for the foreseeable future; we have in fact just reduced our no sale, no fee offering by £500 from £1,690 to £1,190.
“We are proud to be the only online estate agent offering a free, no risk trial for our very low cost £595 fixed fee option or alternatively a no sale no fee offering at £1,190.
“We even offer reductions to these fees if customers wish to use our conveyancing and mortgage broking services, which reduce our fees to £495 fixed fee or no sale no fee to £1,090.”
Where did the 1.64% plus VAT come from? It hasn’t been that for at least 20 years.
In a business that is wholly reliant on trust and honesty every single sentence in every single bit of PR has to be honest and believable. When anything is even remotely outside it has to be qualified as fact otherwise it is dismissed as a lie.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I believe most of them site a 2011 Which report for their figures. This, IMO is the first thing those spineless jobworths at the ASA need to look at.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The sector is in turmoil, no one can make any money and so they’re all increasing fees further and further (except Housesimple obviously, who are clearly leaning into Sir Donstone’s deep pockets no doubt), how long can they all keep going for, one of them is going to collapse at some point surely, the whole thing is crazy..
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I phoned House Simple for progress on chain on Thursday, was promised a phone call back, no call came, phoned Friday promised they would chase and call back, no call came, ditto Saturday, ditto Monday , what’s the bets on today!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
“1.64% those were the days my friend I wished they’d never end” just be honest your not hiking your feed because you’re not converting enough business. Carry on with what your doing because we charge buyers using online agents because they don’t do the correct job and we have to do double when your involved.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I hate to be the one to say this but “you’re” and “your” are two different words with different meanings.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
“You’re” / you are not converting enough business.
“your” would have been wrong in my option but feel free to correct.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The national average fee is 1.3% according to the UKs largest conveyancer. We charge more than our competitors but we believe we achieve more in terms of results for them too.
In a market where volumes are falling off a cliff, either fees need to increase or market share does (or both). To achieve this requires a positive offering that delivers real as well as perceived value for money to customers. That requires skills, knowledge and training or, further huge investment in marketing such as required by fixed-fee, volume-based businesses model agents.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
That’s funny, I am sure it was £895 before the Christmas break, then raised to £1495 last week for a whole week and now cut back to £995. So really it’s £100 increase?
http://web.archive.org/web/20160813032508/https://www.housesimple.com/sell/trial
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Charles Dunstone backed the wrong horse here. House Simple are the worst business in the space and with lower fees out of necessity. Others are increasing fees as their offering gets better and better, whereas House Simple have to trawl the depths given their poor customer service. Dunstone would be wise to understand the difference between cost and value.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
It really is about time we had a new national survey of high street agent current fees, so that all this misleading propaganda put out by the online listers can be corrected once and for all!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I am sure this data is available from either a number of conveyancing firms or already in the public domain.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
No wonder House Simple are scrambling to show they are the cheapest in the online sector, they have to be. Their reviews are disgraceful and their copycat style is embarrassing.
Regardless of which side of the online/offline fence you sit on, these guys give estate agency as a whole a bad name.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
SOOO…
Looking at the figures, one thing leaps off the page at me.
The differential between PUF and NSNF is a staggering 120% – PLUS vendors still have to pay some monies up front which they will then have to sing for if no sale is achieved.
By my reckoning, HouseSimple therefore consider they have LESS THAN a 50% chance of ‘selling’ a property – why else would they load the wonga so steeply on their No Sale proposition?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
It’s probably worth considering the lack of houses coming on to the market that agents could charge a tenner right now and still vendors wouldn’t put their house up for sale.
However when they do some will want to “do it themselves” and they would have been the same ones that put newspaper adverts in the local rag 25 years ago now use simple simon or purple stain on line.
The rest look to find a good, reputable professional agent.
Nowt has changed but the newspaper advert
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
As a small independent working 7 days a week to keep my staff in their jobs and my modest business afloat this is what I do to keep the call centre agents at bay in my area.
If us small independents all adopt these ‘disrupter’ strategies we can stop the call centres getting market share, or ever being profitable. That way we can keep our businesses and our staff in their jobs.
When a call centre lists in my area I immediately write to the vendor and offer a High Street presence, local knowledge and personal service for the same fee. I remind them that they have 14 days to come out of their contract with the call centre. Whilst this might not make you any money its about keeping your market share. I have taken instructions from the call centres using this strategy.
If strategy one doesn’t work I have set up accounts with the main call centre agents and I book viewings at their listed property. I ask friends and family to do the same. These bookings are of course ‘no shows’. I sometimes book second viewings as well. After 3 of 4 ‘no show’ viewings I write to the vendor again to offer my reliable services, where all viewers are contacted and screened.
In parallel with action one and two I use my dummy email accounts to book Valuations with the call centre agents at random addresses to waste the ‘local’ account managers time and make them unavailable for anything else.
Another strategy is to contact the vendor when you see the call centre reduce the sale price. I highlight the loss of value and the fact that a local agent knows the real value of their property and what people will pay for it.
Whilst these actions do take up time these companies are trying to destroy our businesses and our livelihoods – ‘disrupting’ them from getting market share is worth it in the long term. The more of us that implement these strategies the better. Protect your business – Act today.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
If you offer the Client a great deal why push them to use the inhouse mortgage broker and conveyancer.
The point about online was to promote the opportunity to get a clear costing for services without being forced down a particular route.
The consumer should be provided the key tools to make an informed decision on who to use for their mortgage, conceyancing, survey and removals. Choice is key.
Any company that recommends key professionals without choice is not independent. The Client will not get the best deal
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register