By Russell Quirk, founder and chief executive of eMoov
I was intrigued by the comments made on this website yesterday – by traditional agents in their ever louder quest to protect themselves against the better value proposition that we offer to people wanting to sell a home.
The arguments are somewhat reminiscent of famous historical predictions such as these…
“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.”
— The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor Co, 1903
“The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.”
– Charlie Chaplin, actor, 1916
Since I founded eMoov.co.uk in 2010 I have seen an interesting transition in the attitude of the high street agent. First, the new online sector was entirely ignored. Then, laughed at.
More latterly, the traditionalists have fought against us in ever more vociferous terms, just like the incumbents of other industries that have been disrupted by technological efficiency over the years.
To me this is satisfying as it shows that we are being taken seriously.
What we hear from the dyed in the wool estate agency establishment are appeals to the consumer (and each other) that go something like this…
- “Online estate agents are not proper agents”
- “They don’t have the local knowledge that an agent needs to perform well”
- “Only a high street agent can achieve the best price”
- “Customer service is better from high street agents”
So let’s deal with these in turn. Because they are exactly that, knee-jerk inaccuracies that seek only to protect the mainstream estate agency industry and, above all, their unjustifiable fee structure which is predicated around the cost of overheads, not service quality.
Online estate agents vary in approach. Just like traditional agents vary from each other.
But the entire ethos of online estate agents like eMoov and most others is that they provide the same media, viewing scheduling, advice, offer negotiation and sales progression that bricks and mortar agents do. To try to contend otherwise is either ignorance or an attempt to deceive the public.
Is local knowledge really a defensibility? Don’t buyers already know where they want to buy and have researched areas online and noted the various statistics that are important to them?
In my 17 years in the business I have never managed to persuade a buyer to move to a particular town because I have said it’s ‘great’ or because I happen to be able to recount where all of the coffee shops and local play areas are.
The most recent critique of the internet agent is that ‘surely’ they cannot achieve the best price: a contention that is more from a position of hope than fact.
Unfortunately for our mainstream colleagues, we do achieve prices that are as good. Better even. Hometrack recently published research that the average agent is achieving 96% of asking price (March 2014). Our week to week stats show that we are currently achieving 99% of asking price, 103% in London.
And so this is yet another argument that simply does not bear out for the high street antagonists.
Finally, customer service. Come on. Are the public really expected to believe that the service being conveyed by the UK’s 13,000 estate agencies is at a John Lewis level?
A glimpse at any third party review site that you care to choose shows that, review for review, online agents have a far, far higher rating than high street firms. Annoying, but true.
I do understand the aggression being displayed towards online estate agents. I really do. But we’re not going away. And suggesting, as one commentator has, that “…they should be reported to Trading Standards…” is a bit pitiful really.
Sellers are fast waking up to the alternative that we offer in providing a demonstrably similar offering to traditional agents at a far keener fee to what is now an Expedia/ Ocado/ iTunes/ GoCompare consumer. It’s progress.
Play fair rather than trying to hold back a tide that is one of absolute inevitability. Inevitable whether the incumbents like it or not and regardless of them complaining to the portals, Advertising Standards, Trading Standards, the Ombudsman, the NAEA etc etc.
For there is absolutely nothing to complain about except, perhaps, that they themselves did not see this coming and adapt as I did four years ago.
I almost choked on my coffee to see you comparing yourself with iTunes and Ocado. The only thing you have in common with them is that you are selling a product. In your case that product is the opportunity to place their property on search portals as a glorified private advertisement. You offer nothing more than that which is what makes your advertisements so misleading.
I can understand why you've managed to get some backing and some money as there are a number of investors looking for the next online boom area, but simply because you shout you have a good alternative to estate agents loudly doesn't mean you have.
Ultimately as I believe you've alluded to the customers will decide. The tide is turning quickly against online solicitors and it will do with your offering.
There are some areas of business that require more customer interaction than they do production line and conveyancing and estate agency fall into that category. The market is helping you peddle your wares right now but that will change, it always does.
Personally if I were you I would be looking more at your real competition which is the other online only property shops. I believe there will only be room for a couple of business representing the private seller market and so far you are not winning that battle. Purple Bricks are burying you.
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Russell – as a large private landlord you have my support. I own a small agency and have attempted to remain 'ahead of the curve' and as such now operate mainly online.
It amazes me reading the comments posted by archaic estate agents who refuse to embrace change. The resistance they employ will no doubt greatly affect their prospects within a rapidly changing market.
I look forward to EasyProperty.com – another Online Estate Agency launching imminently. Increased competition is a good thing and no doubt E-Moov will benefit greatly from having entered the market from the outset.
Wishing you all the best and looking forward to the day that those within the industry help each other out rather then try and hold each other back!!! There is enough business for all of us.
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"… no doubt E-Moov will benefit greatly from having entered the market from the outset."
Strange comment. WHY??
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PeeBee – because generally those who start first finish first.
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UKLandlord
You mean like "It's the early bird that gets the worm…"?
What about the second part to that old adage – "…but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese!"
And… using your own analogy of "…generally those who start first finish first" – MY money therefore would have to be on the TRADITIONAL Estate Agency model which 'started' DECADES before Mr Quirk et al decided to move online in order to save the cost of a shop window or two.
ALL in the name of 'progress', of course…
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HO Ho Ho
Get a life. I really do wonder why Ros keeps giving this ***** space in this otherwise excellent publication.
Roll on Agents Mutual.
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??
Online Agents aren't 'going away' just because of AM.
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Strange then that you ran a mile from the one, not agent offering, to let you demonstrate why Traditional agents ought to take your seriously. What's the matter not secretive and hidden enough? If you have confidence in Emoov online show em using the opportunity set up for you by Robert May.
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Is this a forum for the industry or the general public? – Seems like a free advert emoove to again pitch themselves to the public.
I see no relevance to this story as a member of the industry. As a member of the public I have again been "pitched" to.
As I said yesterday advert worked. All publicity is good publicity.
The fact is online agent ARE here to stay (unfortunately) as an industry we should be fighting back not complaining.
Articles like this do more harm then good as again all it does is fuel the fire and increases brand awareness.
The sad truth is we all either need to adapt our business model or educate the public on a national scale why a high street agent is a better choice.
We all know the benefits but if you said to a member of the public do you want to pay £3000 or £500 to sell your house you will at least invite the online agent round / have a phone call. If the online agent is a good sales person they have a shot of business!
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He's only on here because no-one reads EAT these days. Let's hope the Advertisers follow like he has.
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It is for both those within the industry and the general public. Was that a serious question? The article in itself is justified by the reactions it provokes. It creates a topic for debate and of course most comments will be written by angry 'traditional' agents as they are now very much aware the future is here. The market percentage is not 2% – it is currently just under 10%. A significant growth when you consider the size of the market and the length of time online estate agents have been around.
Estate agents are similar to travel agents – unnecessary with modern technology. 10 years from now you will no longer be commenting as you will no longer be operating 'within the industry'. Savills, Chestertons and the like will continue to operate as they are global and will adopt change. The rest of you are doomed.
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UKLandlord.
It is a serious question as if Ros and the team are aiming the site at professionals we do not need to see the article as we all know the well rehearsed lines from an online agent.
If aimed at the public as well then as I said before a nice piece of free advertising for emoove.
2% or 10% market share who knows!? dangerous stats just being thrown around by all parties with nothing to back them up. I am not foolish enough to throw a stat in!
Estate agents like travel agents? – This is where you do show your ignorance and have little understanding of the industry.
travel agents offered a service to book a holiday. Anybody can do that online!
A traditional estate agent worth their 1.5% is a sales person. They call applicants and get them to view a property. They encourage multiple offers to achieve the best price for the vendor. This is why they are worth the extra.
An online agent will rely on a pretty picture and "Hope" somebody likes it views it and buys it. They will not push a property for viewings as they have no interest in selling it or achieving the best price as they already have the upfront fee from the vendor!
In this market any house can sell, its about getting the right price!
You are also forgetting the 70 plus age group who are not as I.T. literate as you and I. This age group have massive spending power and will pay more for the right property as this is important to them. An online agent does not have the access to these buyers where as a high street agent does.
Doomed no, do we need to educate the public (including some uklandlords) yes!
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I struggle with the ITunes or Ocado reference as they are premium services not cheaper alternatives to their high street counterparts. What it seems that you are offering is a cheaper but comparable service to that of the high street. So more in tune with food banks and Pirate Bay the torrent site.
Also if we are looking for innovative ideas that took on how about Betamax and HD DVD's who were inevitably outdone by a far superior product that were VCR and BluRay. Look at mini disks, It was a progression of what CD's offered but was still not the resolution consumers wanted so had a relatively short lifespan.
I do not think the majority of agents are against online alternatives to agency. There are a proportion of consumers who do not suite the standard EA model, that seems to be around 2% of consumers at the moment. I think agents do take offence at your attempt at marketing to the detriment of estate agents. In all my years in agency I haven't won an instruction by berating the competition or on price, simply because my service sells. Ethical marketing will always build you a more loyal and trusting client base, selling yourself as the lesser of 2 evils will always belittle what you offer.
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Only one question from me Russell: WHY have you written this piece?
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I can answer that.
Publicity!!!!!
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Sorry another point (getting bored of my own voice on this thread now)
Russell I have one question for you.
What is the instruction to sales ratio? – And by that I mean vendors that sell with you not the ones you are instructed by, get fed up you have not sold it and gone with another agent or gone multi and the other agent sold it.
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Just a point,
The majority of comments on the other thread where about misleading statements and an advert that incorrectly compares RQ's model to ours.
To call us ''high street antagonists'' really is a case of pot, kettle and black.
Russell your entire business model is based on slagging of the competition. You should learn how to promote YOURSELF rather than knocking others. Difficult, I know when the facts are that you do less, not more.
Give it a go, you might surprise yourself.
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"Russell your entire business model is based on slagging of the competition"……The whole online business plan is built on it and cannot change, to be fair to Russell, purple bricks are even worse on this front.
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Funny!
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Sums it up perfectly!
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A couple of nuggets from the new emoov website……
"Industry statistics show that you are 18% more likely to sell your home using eMoov.co.uk compared to the typical agent. (Source: RICS – March 2014)"
"Our partners include Rightmove, Zoopla, primelocation"
"Our business model depends on selling a higher proportion of our inventory. This means that customers recommend us and Rightmove/Zoopla charge us less!"
Personally I think all this recent publicity is just to coincide with the launch of their new website. Good PR for Emoov.
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Russell, why oh why do you base your whole raison d'etre around having a go at your opposition? I thought, and still think your model has potential so why not concentrate on that instead of feeling the need to bad mouth your opposition continually?.
You have spent your entire agency career on fearing opposition and spending all your time on trying to get an edge over them.
It didn't work for you before when you tried to clean up by offering to pay the difference of any property that went down in price that you sold in Grays.
What you promised then turned out to be completely innacurate, to the great cost of many buyers that bought into your incorrect "predictions"
I have read interviews that you have given and you keep saying you have learned from your mistakes. If you had, you wouldn't be accusing agents of being aggressive towards you and spending most of your time saying that other agents are a waste of money. You would be concentrating on saying how good YOUR company is instead of saying that your competitors are a waste of money.
I have never once heard, for example, Miles Shipside say that Zoopla is a waste of money.
Successful, experienced senior management, concentrate on their own companys' success rather than consistently bad mouthing other companies.
It's time you re focus your energies on YOUR company before the same thing happens to you again, you allow yourself to get caught up with only negative publicity which eventually becomes really shouty and begins to stick to eeemmooov…… and you know what usually happens after that,…..you've been through it before.
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"We’re here to stay – so take us seriously, says Russell Quirk of eMoov"
But that is your problem Mr Quirk apart from a few people on these forums the general public don’t know about you, your company, your service or your industry sector. At the very best you are just a cut price agent with a reputation for being —cheap. Not good, not fast, not better , just cheap!
The fact you are having to shout about your existence to your competitors and plead for your competitors to take you seriously is actually one of the saddest things I have ever read. The kid at the back of a class room nearly wetting himself with excitement because he wants to be heard and thinks he finally understands the question. Please Miss, Miss, Miss, I know this one, Miss!– E Miss, It’s E, the answer is E, the capital of England is E. Yay, Slam Dunk Russell, who luvs yer baby?
The problem with your business model?-the sort of people who you will attract don't own the houses they live in. Those that do will always have a deep fat fryer and a Soda stream. "Ummmm I can offer you, Lager, Cherry Cola or tea, if you don't mind white creamy bits—-Aldi are bogoffing Stilla as a world cup promo and the fridge is full. The first can is a bit rough but by # 6 yer can't tell it snot the expensive stuff. Hah! a bit like Emoov and Estate Agency I supose!"
Sorry Russell I am not taking you seriously am I?
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"But the entire ethos of online estate agents like eMoov… is that they provide the same media… that bricks and mortar agents do."
SO – you are stating that emoov advertise properties in your SHOP WINDOW? And in THE LOCAL PRESS? That real people can actually walk into your office and actually converse with ANOTHER real person, face to face?
THAT would be providing "the same media".
"To try to contend otherwise is either ignorance or an attempt to deceive the public."
Or both, perhaps?
Oh, Mr Quirk – cripples and sunk by your own words.
You're really not the right person to fight your own corner. You suck at it.
Mind you – neither are the shower you let loose on EYE last week…
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No response from Mr Quirk, then.
Wonder where the support is from his bestie, 'UKLandlord'?
Maybe Mr Quirk can't manage multiple forum identities… 😉
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PeeBee – I challenge you to grow up.
I am free to support whomever I chose, to clarify I do not know Mr Quirk.
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I tried growing up once – didn't suit my style – but thanks for the suggestion anyway.
I'll file it appropriately.
In the meantime, you enjoy your freedom and the basic right afforded to you in this wonderful land we reside in (assuming that you are in fact residing in this wonderful land and that you're not some foreign-based subversive anarchist type…) to support what- and who(m)- ever you want. 😉
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