Data-Driven Estate Agent Comparison.

The property industry is a British obsession. Major newspapers rarely go a week without a story promoting our combined lust for bricks and mortar.

But in the middle of all this reporting of price rises and extreme property transactions are estate agents.

One of the biggest threats to traditional estate agents is that anyone can become one. In London alone, there are approximately 5,500 estate agency branches, with on average 100 agents listing in every postcode.

Vendors simply have too many agents to choose from. And with little differentiation between the players, the estate agency business has become commoditised (hence the rise in online agents). Traditional estate agents are often left competing solely on fees or by over-valuing properties. Neither of these helps either the agent or the vendor.

So how can good agents stand out and prove their worth?

Use objective data to rank agents by their past performance. Collect, clean up and analyse property sales data from various sources to create a transparent measure of agent performance. Vendor’s provide a few basic details, and then use this information to shortlist the top 6 local agents for them. Provide them with various insights – including each agent’s average sell time, portal usage, % of asking price achieved, price drops and more. These agents are invited to submit quotes, and the vendor can then arrange a valuation visit with those they’re interested in. This is an exciting development for top agents, as their fee is contextualised and justified by their performance.

 

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

How to secure a rented home if you used to pay rent up front

One change that has come into effect under the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) is that landlords may no longer accept more than one month’s rent in advance of a tenancy beginning. Previously, there was no limit to how much rent tenants could pay up front to secure a property, which was particularly helpful in certain…
Read More
Kerb appeal
Breaking News

Whoever Leads Britain Next Must Focus on Growth, Housing and Opportunity

Neil Louth – Group Executive Director, LRG and CEO, Acorn Group From my perspective, the question is less about who occupies Number 10 and more about what they do once they get there. Whether it is Sir Keir Starmer continuing in office, Andy Burnham emerging as a future challenger, or someone else entirely, the next…
Read More
Breaking News

Biggest Shake-up of Home Buying in Decades

Families and first-time buyers set to save time, money, and stress under major changes to the homebuying process – supporting the next generation and those locked out by a slow and unfair system New sales packs to ensure buyers have the information they need upfront, earlier binding agreements, and digital tools will halve the number…
Read More
Breaking News

More than half of home movers try D.AI.Y

but 38% say it gave them bad advice   The latest research from Yopa has found that 57% of home movers have engaged in D.AI.Y, to help maintain, repair and improve their homes, although more than a third have been given advice that later turned out to be incorrect. Yopa surveyed recent homebuyers to understand…
Read More
Breaking News

Home buying journey is about to become unrecognisable

Claire Van der Zant, CEO of Novus Strategy, comments on the Government’s homebuying reform “The industry has been very vocal in its demands for mandation and this is the most impactful example yet of government intervention that will drive the change everyone has been asking for. What it will mean is the complete reorganisation of…
Read More
bank of england interest rate
Breaking News

Bank of England holds interest rates at 3.75%

The Bank of England has announced its decision to hold the base rate at 3.75%. This decision comes as a result of wider economic uncertainty and inflation (CPI) increasing to 3.3% in March and remaining above the Bank’s 2.0% target. Here are some thoughts from within the property industry.   Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert…
Read More