Purplebricks completes on chain where it was agent for all three homes

| Rosalind Renshaw

Purplebricks this morning announced it is expanding in America, into Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix, Arizona.,

It has already launched in California and New York.

Both Las Vegas and Phoenix are fast-growing cities with buoyant real estate markets with circa 61,000 and 143,000 annual property transactions respectively (to February 2018). Average property prices are around $290,000 in both cities.

Effective from next Tuesday, Las Vegas and Phoenix residents can list their homes with Purplebricks for a flat fee of $3,600 and, upon closing, pay the buyer’s agent commission, which is standard in US  transactions. A local home owner selling a $261,000 home would save $4,230 using Purplebricks, compared to paying the standard real estate brokerage commission of 5% to 6%.

To oversee its operations in Las Vegas and Phoenix, Purplebricks has named local real estate agent Marcus Fleming as regional director, bringing a decade of experience in the local real estate market. He will report to Eric Eckardt, US CEO of Purplebricks.

Meanwhile, in the UK Purplebricks – often under fire for perceived poor sales progression – has released details after completing on a chain of three properties that were all on the market with it.

A three-bedroom semi in George Wood Avenue, Oldbury, was the first property in the chain, with the owner putting it up for sale with Purplebricks for £170,000. She accepted an offer of £167,500.

A Purplebricks sale board on a four-bedroom detached house in Moorfield Drive, Halesowen, some five miles away, caught her eye. She viewed that property, which had an asking price of offers over £250,000, and set in motion the second stage of the chain when her bid of £255,000 was accepted.

The couple who owned Moorfield Drive were looking to downsize and continued the purple theme when they saw a two-bed flat in Worcester Road, Hagley, also being sold through Purplebricks.

Local Property Expert Kash Dhaliwal, who looks after the Stourbridge area in Birmingham West, said: “It’s the first time we’ve been the only agent involved in a three-house chain from start to finish, but it’s not a surprise because more and more customers want our services.

“They like the way we operate. It’s not just the money they save by not paying hefty rates of commission, it’s the control they have over the sale, the convenience of our technology and the way they can interact 24/7.

“Handling a chain of three is not easy and can be stressful. Everything has to be in line for all the sales to proceed. I’ve done two houses before but not three.

“You are wary something will go wrong but with the support we have from head office it has gone smoothly and we have been able to complete and exchange contracts quickly.”

Dhaliwal, who has over 22 years experience in the industry both as a mortgage adviser and estate agent, has lived and worked in the area since 2003. He became a Purplebricks LPE, running his own business, in June 2015.

The story comes as the Land Registry announces plans for “Digital Street” – an initiative to speed up buying and selling. National figures show that a third of sales break down before completion because a chain falls apart.

  • This story was updated just after 9am this morning
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40 Comments

  1. Emmersons46
    June 15, 2018 at 07:25

    In relation to Digital Street, until there is proper research undertaken as to why sales do not proceed it would be foolish to put any faith in any innovation which purports to address the issues. However the gradual and consultative approach of the research process which is Digital Street augers well for the future. Government IT projects have a habit of offering the earth and delivering dirt.

    AI/IT is not the magic wand some believe it to be but a very useful tool when it is designed to address and overcome known issues by automating proven solutions to the issues.

    However I note that LLCs are to be placed in a central internet location which will speed up obtaining responses to searches because the delay there was waiting for the local authority to respond. There will be in future, as the program is rolled out, immediate access to the relevant information.

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    1. P-Daddy
      June 15, 2018 at 15:04

      I love the responses to this thread…meanwhile the actual lead to the article was the fact they are expanding in the land of chancers and gamblers…Las Vegas 🙂 How apt! This building of 4 corners of an empire all over the world is where I see their greatest risk…over expansion and all the issues that go with that. This maybe the straw that breaks their back ultimately, or is it that the backers and board want their exit sooner rather than later and are pumping themselves up!

      Oh yes…congratulations an a chain of 3…it had to happen somewhere with £10bn of sales! It means they are waking up to all their weaknesses dear PIE people

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      1. PeeBee
        June 15, 2018 at 16:05

        GREAT post, P-D!

        Here’s something that no-one’s yet committed to screen.  Remember that article a week or so ago that some wassock on MSE or somewhere was claiming that an Agent wouldn’t let him offer on any of their listings if he used the ducky & dom-boy duo’s #Fanboy_Fave outfit of NSPR portal listing facilitators?

        Maybe – just maybe – it was in Mr Dhaliwal’s patch that this alleged occurrence occurred.

        Maybe, then – that being the possible case, the only way these three sales were able to be agreed was for each of the poor vendors to have to sell/buy from the same place – or they’d be left on the shelf with all the “Mine’s the best house in the town so I’ll sell it in the pub tonight” chancers.

        #Who_Knows…

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  2. Property Poke In The Eye
    June 15, 2018 at 07:28

    Interesting.

    Agents who work in that area can you check and see what prices would have been achieved if it wasn’t a for sale by owner and if it has ACTUALLY completed.

    It would be interesting to know.

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  3. Ouch18
    June 15, 2018 at 07:28

    Seriously? They are actually boasting about completing a chain of 3?

     

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    1. MortgageStu19
      June 15, 2018 at 07:56

      I see they didn’t say exactly how long it took the chain to complete, other than ‘quickly’. I’m opening the sweepstake at 5 months min!

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      1. Ouch18
        June 15, 2018 at 10:16

        I dread to think of what hell the vendors and purchasers of that chain went through.

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    2. revilo
      June 15, 2018 at 08:48

      Well he’s a chain with 2 in it before so we should all be reassured!!!!!

      PMSL…. That actually made me laugh out loud..

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  4. RealAgent
    June 15, 2018 at 07:30

    My congralutions to the conveyancers then because lets face it PB would have done f*** all to have got that deal through.

     

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  5. LD1602
    June 15, 2018 at 07:35

    Shows how desperate things are for them if doing the basics of the job deserves a press release.

    Imagine if an airline issued this about successfully landing a plane without killing anyone?

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    1. Property Poke In The Eye
      June 15, 2018 at 14:34

      Lol

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  6. henrymarr80
    June 15, 2018 at 07:39

    I’m guessing purplebricks made an even bigger loss on this transaction by paying for you to publish this article? 3 sales? Really? Come on property eye we need a better read with our morning tea. Can we crowdfund for you to send a reporter undercover to work at Countrywide to uncover the shambles? We’d love that?

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    1. Freepost143
      June 15, 2018 at 15:08

      Sounds like a disgruntled ex Countrywide employee who is very bitter.

       

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      1. Ouch18
        June 16, 2018 at 17:42

        Let’s face it most current and former countrywiyde employees are disgruntled.

        worse company I’ve ever worked for

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  7. smile please
    June 15, 2018 at 07:42

    Sorry is this really news?

    We regularly have 3 / 4 properties from our offices in chains and we are a local independent.

    Given PB are nationally and if you believe them list thousands of properties. Makes this really worrying for them.

    To feel they need to broadcast what most agents do on a daily basis is just weird.

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  8. GPL
    June 15, 2018 at 07:44

    Ah Yes, Purplebricks, saving money is their big selling point for homesellers?!

    FAIL No 1 – I very recently sold a property for £15,000 more than the Purplebricks LPE had suggessted it was worth. The same LPE told the vendor in his “purplepitch” that High St Estate Agency was dead? I beg to differ Mr LPE. Client could have LOST £15,000!!! if they had instructed Purplebricks.

    FAIL No 2 – I have just listed a former Purplebricks client’s property for sale. A catalogue of failings and of course that up-front £1000 only cost was of course nonsense! £1800!!! nearly £2000!!!!!! of the clients money burned by Purplebricks!

    So, Purplebricks remains not much more than an upfront Property Lister, a very, VERY, EXPENSIVE Property Lister. I except that there will be some occasions where good/experienced LPE’s amongst them deliver however they are no doubt in the minority.

     

     

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  9. Moveaside01
    June 15, 2018 at 07:47

    ‘A chain of 3 is never easy’…..

    Well by my reckoning it’s only 2 away from the easiest chain of all?

    These people are deluded!

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  10. jeremy1960
    June 15, 2018 at 07:50

    Isn’t that what estate agents do? 30 years ago my office at the time regularly completed on chains which were exclusive; nothing new here, move on!

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  11. J1
    June 15, 2018 at 07:52

    Miracles do happen then

    Any completion they have is down to the drive of the solicitor acting for the other party and no doubt the clients

    I spoke with an agent last week who spent two weeks trying to get an update from their progress centre and the girl he spoke with said she didn’t know the difference between exchange and completion!!!!!!!!!

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    1. propertykevin
      June 15, 2018 at 12:18

      I once called them to check a chain as one of their vendors offered through us and the person I was speaking to didn’t even know what a chain was, let alone have any information on it!

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  12. Shaun77
    June 15, 2018 at 07:58

    22 years experience and he’s never had a chain of 3 before now. What has he been doing?

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  13. Only saying...but
    June 15, 2018 at 08:08

    …”You are wary something will go wrong but” who gives a ****? Not me I’ve been paid on all 3 already!!! Get in there!

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  14. 70GJ
    June 15, 2018 at 08:12

    Now the landlords have been scared off all those easy single purchase deals will dry up. Back to the long chain purchases now folks.

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  15. South of the City EA
    June 15, 2018 at 08:54

    Emoov would have done 6! Lol

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    1. Ouch18
      June 15, 2018 at 10:12

      They honestly wouldn’t

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  16. ArthurHouse02
    June 15, 2018 at 09:02

    George Wood Avenue, Oldbury, Added on 18th January Offers in Excess of £170,000 – STC at 167,500

    Moorfield Drive, Halesowen, Added 2nd October 2017, removed 4th May 2018 – STC at £255,000. It is a 4 bedroom detached house, which is interesting as a 4 bed semi-detached seemed to have sold for around £280,000. They paid less fee, but did they lose thousands by not being priced correctly, perhaps evidenced by an over the asking price sale.

    Worcester Road, Stourbridge, Added 31st August 2017, removed 4th May 2018 – was listed for sale at £199,950. An open day was conducted 2 months after going on the market.

    Congrats to PB for getting a chain through on their own without a high street helping them out. On the subject of transparency though, if all were genuinely part of the same chain, why were all 3 not removed from Rightmove at the same time?

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    1. Property Poke In The Eye
      June 15, 2018 at 14:39

      More investigation is required.  As I don’t have much faith in their press releases.

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  17. Property Paddy
    June 15, 2018 at 09:08

    I remember in the early and mid 80’s of some chains stretching 20 to 25 long. Always stressful as anyone of them could just break the chain.

    I remember having to speak to agents 2 or 3 sales up and down relying on them to do the same, looking for weaknesses and potential hazards.

    So PB 3 chain sale huh!

    must be feeling really proud of yourself

    You go girl !

     

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  18. s71
    June 15, 2018 at 09:45

    Purple Brick and the model they are using

    In the earlier days they used to overvalue a property and it resulted in the property sitting on the market.

    Now they have realized if they are called for a valuation they have a 75-85% chance of winning the valuation as the vendor is only thinking of saving on the commission, thus they are now undervaluing properties resulting in  them selling quickly.

    If all local agents were to prepare a data of properties sold by PB/online agents and then compare what would the local agent would achieve for the same property?

     

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    1. AgencyInsider
      June 15, 2018 at 10:24

      What evidence do you have for the allegation of systemic undervaluing?

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      1. AgencyInsider
        June 15, 2018 at 13:24

        I’ll take that as ‘none’ then.

        I don’t like the PB model, and I loathe their misleading advertising. But you have to fight them on a factual basis, not wild conjecture without any basis in fact.

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  19. PeeBee
    June 15, 2018 at 10:32

    “Meanwhile, in the UK Purplebricks – often under fire for perceived poor sales progression – has released details after completing on a chain of three properties that were all on the market with it.”

    AFTER COMPLETING??  So… how come is the first one mentioned – “George Wood Avenue, Oldbury” – still showing on Rightmove as a ‘live’ listing (SSTC)??

    http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52499253.html

    Surely it should have been archived by now?

    #Funny_That…

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    1. propertykevin
      June 15, 2018 at 12:20

      Those photos look like they were taken on a potato!

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      1. smile please
        June 15, 2018 at 16:24

        Look like pictures that have been lifted from an old listing and ‘enhanced’ – We have a pathetic agent round our way does it on a regular basis.

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  20. cyberduck46
    June 15, 2018 at 10:34

    Probably little more than a response to Emoov’s article the other day saying they have a better after sales service. It will probably be some time before Emoov have 3 properties in a chain.

     

    Little surprise the example case came from the West Midlands. Whenever I used to check regions separately the West Midlands always had the highest percentage of new listings.

     

    The last time i looked was 5th July 2017 and in a 3 day period PB listed 180 properties which was 6.1% of the total listed.

     

    I’ve just done a quick check for the last 3 days and PB listed 212 properties which is 8.5% of the total listed.

     

    Not really statistically sound as such as small data set but West Midlands Agents must be feeling the heat more than others. I remember Southampton was another area that always had a higher market share than most regions. The question is whether the West Midlands is a good indicator of the future or whether it has a higher market share because people consider it a local agent?

     

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    1. PeeBee
      June 15, 2018 at 11:59

      Please specify your search parameters and data source, ducky.

      ‘cos mine tells a VERY different tale.

      You show me yours…

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      1. PeeBee
        June 17, 2018 at 10:37

        Not like you to ignore awkward questions, ducky.
        Oh, actually – it’s exactly like you…

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    2. PeeBee
      June 17, 2018 at 10:35

      “It will probably be some time before Emoov have 3 properties in a chain.”

      Or maybe they have had six dozen already – and even the column-inches addict that is The Quirkster simply don’t think that such a common occurrence is worth the scorn that such a pathetic claim would bring him from Agents who perform what PB seemingly consider such an amazing feat as regular as clockwork.

      Last month we tied up two ‘chains’ where we were the only Agent involved.  I didn’t send out press releases.

      I thought the first-time buyers would be over the moon to see their names in print – but maybe the families of the deceased who’s houses they bought wouldn’t be too chuffed…

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  21. davehedgehog
    June 15, 2018 at 12:18

    My postcodes (Rightmove) for the year – 35 Instructions 1.4% – 14 sales 1.5%, not sure how many completions.

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  22. Andrew Overman
    June 15, 2018 at 17:18

    How is this even news? I’ve lost count of the three / four / five property chains I’ve negotiated in the last 25 years!

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