When This is Money (part of the Daily Mail) published a piece from online agent Adam Day, Ed Mead was much less than amused.
In fact, the boss of London agent Douglas & Gordon both demanded and got the right of reply.
Day, of Hatched, had claimed in the article headed “Eight secrets estate agents don’t want you to know”, that among other things, estate agents don’t so much want to sell property as list it.
He also claimed that “professional viewers” are deployed, and agents aren’t bothered about getting the seller the best price.
Day, naturally, claimed that people can sell their home “far cheaper” by using an online agent.
Mead’s response now appears on the This is Money site, giving “eight reasons why you SHOULD pay the professionals to sell your home”.
Among them? “An online agent can take their fee upfront, often as much as £799 or more, meaning it’s gone whether the property is sold or not.
“Saving around £1,000 on a fee sounds good, but if a good agent gets you £10,000 more, who has proved worth their fee?”
And:
“The internet brings a lot of things: personal service is not one of them.”
Adam is of course correct, and, Ed is of course correct. Just neither of them in all cases.
What is interesting is public opinion. Reading the responses to each of their articles, Adam gets support, Ed gets the opposite.
In the PR battle agents have an uphill struggle.
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I'm not sure that Adam is correct, most of what he says is nonsense. I can't remember the last time I took on a property not to sell or let it….what bile
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Adam, we all know agents who race to win instructions, bang them on, then get back to racing for more instructions… "the more I list, the more will sell themselves" attitude.
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Adam just loves writing PR releases for seo.
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There is a place for everyone, but the reality is that a good estate agent will always get their client the absolute best price. As for not interested in sales…. No idea why anyone would consider this to be true. Taking them on costs a fortune these days, if we don't sell them we can't stay open.
I have 2 dedicated sales people in my oiffcie and 1 dedicated instruction gainer. Between them they make a minimum 150 calls, sometime 200 plus, to buyers almost every day along with carrying out the viewings, recieving clients in the office, answering incoming calls, dropping off property details and leaflets. I would suggest that is how most agents earn thier money these days.
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Personal service is the way forward, without a shadow of a doubt.
By definition, 50% of potential customers will be more thrifty than the other 50% so a "cheap deal" will appeal to them and will probably be one of the major deciding factors.
This is good news for us proper agents, because the online agents become a great filter – we just need to make sure that we don't run around like idiots giving good advice and prices to people who are just going to use the online crew!
I was (a few years ago) very worried by online agents, but now think they are a great opportunity to get rid of the wrong type of property owner.
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I was (a few years ago) very worried by online agents, but now think they are a great opportunity to get rid of the wrong type of property owner.
That is a great comment AC!
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