The balance of power has been gently shifting in the world of estate agency over the past ten years, and it looks like we're getting closer to a much-needed tipping point. Estate agents have always been charging a fortune to introduce buyers and vendors, and a lot of that fortune has always been earmarked. The agency, for example, needed to insert the biggest and best property advertisements in local and national press. It needed its ear to the ground to enable it to step in with a well-timed - and profitable - introduction before the competition. And it needed to show off its success with the biggest and most impressive office in the High Street. And that, in times gone by, was quite justifiable, considering the amount of local knowledge and specialist skills required to bring seller and buyer together.
But things have changed in the property industry with the arrival of the internet. It's no longer the closed shop it used to be. Traditionalists have had their feathers ruffled by the arrival of online estate agents with their low fees and the utter audacity to modernize a business model that has seen little in the way of change in many, many years. And unfortunately for those traditionalists, internet estate agents are becoming more and more successful. Increasing numbers of sellers are now fed up with the commissions they've had to pay up to now and are seriously looking for an alternative. Many High Street agencies now admit to using the internet to sell properties through sites like Rightmove. This leaves sellers wondering what point there is in having so many plush offices whose running costs get passed on to clients in the form of exorbitant commissions.
As home sellers become more and more aware of the concept of online estate agency, the traditional town centre agent is starting to feel the proverbial pinch ... and that pinch can only get progressively harder. It could even be the tipping point where offline estate agency crumbles and gives way to its online successor. What's making that pinch even more painful for many of the more conventional property agents is the recent announcement from one of the UK's leading online estate agents - eMoov.co.uk - that has dealt a devastating blow to an already disintegrating old-school industry.
eMoov say that if they cannot sell your home, a High Street agent is unlikely to either, given the huge representation that eMoov has on so many major property portals. So confident are they that this is the case that they even say that in the unlikely event that you do sell with a High Street estate agent after listing with eMoov, they will refund your marketing fee and pay you 50.00 for your trouble. Truly putting their money where their mouth is.
And this could be that tipping point, proving that you no longer need to shell out thousands of pounds in fees to High Street agencies, not when eMoov will do just as good a job of selling your home - but for a typical cost of just 349.00. And about time, too.
But things have changed in the property industry with the arrival of the internet. It's no longer the closed shop it used to be. Traditionalists have had their feathers ruffled by the arrival of online estate agents with their low fees and the utter audacity to modernize a business model that has seen little in the way of change in many, many years. And unfortunately for those traditionalists, internet estate agents are becoming more and more successful. Increasing numbers of sellers are now fed up with the commissions they've had to pay up to now and are seriously looking for an alternative. Many High Street agencies now admit to using the internet to sell properties through sites like Rightmove. This leaves sellers wondering what point there is in having so many plush offices whose running costs get passed on to clients in the form of exorbitant commissions.
As home sellers become more and more aware of the concept of online estate agency, the traditional town centre agent is starting to feel the proverbial pinch ... and that pinch can only get progressively harder. It could even be the tipping point where offline estate agency crumbles and gives way to its online successor. What's making that pinch even more painful for many of the more conventional property agents is the recent announcement from one of the UK's leading online estate agents - eMoov.co.uk - that has dealt a devastating blow to an already disintegrating old-school industry.
eMoov say that if they cannot sell your home, a High Street agent is unlikely to either, given the huge representation that eMoov has on so many major property portals. So confident are they that this is the case that they even say that in the unlikely event that you do sell with a High Street estate agent after listing with eMoov, they will refund your marketing fee and pay you 50.00 for your trouble. Truly putting their money where their mouth is.
And this could be that tipping point, proving that you no longer need to shell out thousands of pounds in fees to High Street agencies, not when eMoov will do just as good a job of selling your home - but for a typical cost of just 349.00. And about time, too.
About the Author:
eMoov makes it easier for you to sell your house on the web. You can sell your home quickly and with the benefit of cheap estate agents fees. All properties are added to UK's top 25 property websites including Rightmove and Prime Location, to reach 170 million buyers every month. Plus as Internet estate agents, their low cost service reaches millions of people 24/7.
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