An online agency business is expanding after successfully making its mark in high-end homes.
house. currently has four partners and five employees in territories across Sussex, Surrey and west London.
It is now in discussions with three potential new partners, wants to hear from other experienced agents interested in joining, and is set to expand into new areas, including in London.
house. was launched in March 2016 by David Carter, formerly of Savills and Hamptons, and Andrew Giller, whose CV includes Savills and Knight Frank.
Carter says: “We decided that people just weren’t going into high street offices any more. We also felt that the world is full of people who only want contact when they see a property they like.
“They just don’t want to be receiving constant emails and phone calls about things that don’t interest them, and therefore we need to make houses stand out online.”
The business has no high street branches, but does work out of serviced offices in each of the four territories it currently covers.
All four of the current partners – and it will be a requirement for new ones – have longevity in estate agency, and each works locally in a patch that they know extremely well.
Carter says that the key is to recruit only ‘like minded’ agents, with experience and passion. The business is not a franchise, he emphasises, although there are centralised functions, including infrastructure and marketing.
Each new partner’s business costs are covered for the first year, while there is a ‘pot’ for staff costs – Carter employs three in his Surrey Hills patch.
The target market is houses costing £600,000 to £30m – very far removed from Purplebricks and eMoov, and a seemingly unlikely niche for an online agent.
However, house. is certainly no ordinary online agent. Partners and staff work tirelessly to win their business.
Carter points out: “There is no doubt online is the way to go. Purplebricks has been successful in their target market, but we believe our clients want a higher level of service, a modern marketing approach, to making properties stand out, together with targeted social media campaigns, all handled by extremely experienced agents from start to finish.
“The corporate companies carry such large overheads that they need volume, which may leave them less time to concentrate on clients and selling houses.”
house. customers can choose whether to list their homes openly, or off-market. They can also choose how they will pay – although the options do not include an upfront commission fee.
Based on no sale, no fee, the firm offers a choice of fee structures which are as follows: fixed fee payable on success, an incentivised fee designed round an achieved sale price, or a commission rate, excluding special market charges.
The marketing charges may be professional photography, or films that can be made especially for each property. They are totally professional productions and use actors.
One client who had previously tried to sell their house said feedback for their property had been that it was “spooky and too rambling”.
The film created for that client features a homely, friendly house playing host to children at a birthday party whose games, inside and out, actually show the viewer around much of the property.
Unlike other online agents – and quite a few high street firms – house. does all its own viewings. Carter and his colleagues are strong believers in getting to know viewers and their requirements.
Homes are largely promoted via the property portals, extensive social media, some local newspapers, and through a presence at big local events such as the Cranleigh Show in Surrey.
The properties are listed on Rightmove, PrimeLocation and Zoopla, although not OnTheMarket, and, although house. produces its own magazine, it does not advertise in Country Life, unless there is a joint instruction.
So, how do the likes of Knight Frank and Savills view this highly unusual online firm? “They see us as a benefit, not a threat, if we are jointly instructed,” says Carter. “That is because of our very active social media marketing.”
The branding of the business was carefully thought about and the company name of house. was chosen because it lends itself to so many variations, both now and in the future: for example, house.sales, house.lettings, house.London, and so on.
It also helps to show what properties they are dealing with, country house, town house, period house, modern house, or dream house.
Comments are closed.