Online agencies could be costing consumers tens of thousands of pounds!
Research carried out by ELAA-UK (The Estate and Letting Agents Association of UK) shows that consumers who use the services of online only agencies may be losing out on thousands of pounds.
The research shows that, on average, properties sold via online only agencies achieved prices of around 5% less than those sold via ‘high street’ or ‘traditional’ agents. The report also shows that not only do sellers using traditional agents obtain more for their property but also have more viewings, more offers and more secure buyers. Kimberley Taylor of ELAA-UK says that ‘One of the main reasons for this is that local agents are just that, local. They have an existing relationship with both buyers and sellers and will usually already know a number of people that would be interested in a particular property before it is even marketed on the internet. This knowledge and the relationship between prospective buyers and a local agent mean greater efficiency and helps to get better results for the seller.’
The report is one of many conducted by ELAA-UK as a part of its #AppreciateEstateAgents campaign which it is using to highlight the true value and importance of estate and letting agents throughout the UK.
ELAA-UK which also recently published a report informing people that estate agents fees in the UK are amongst the lowest in the world says that they are leading the way in consumer awareness of the real value of estate and letting agents and are actively demonstrating that using a traditional style agent could actually make you money (you can read the article regarding sales fees at http://bit.ly/2xUZhYs).
The report is well detailed and uses various visual aids such as charts, graphs and images to clearly demonstrate the results. It provides statistics on the number of viewings generated by advertising a property only on online portals compared to those marketed by traditional agents and the results are probably surprising for consumers, particularly those that would normally be inclined to use an online only agent.
‘The report clearly demonstrates that a property being sold via a good estate agent can generate up to double the viewings and offers than a property that is simply listed only on online portals such as rightmove, zoopla, etc. and whilst these portals are a very important part of selling or letting a property it is also very important for consumers to understand that traditional estate agents can obtain a lot more interest in a property resulting in more views and ultimately higher offers.’ Says Kimberley Taylor of ELAA-UK.
The report has also highlighted the upfront costs associated with selling a property as online only agencies usually charge their fees upfront and these are usually non-refundable meaning no real guarantees that the agents will try their hardest to get the best deal for the buyer and explains how traditional fees can incentivise agents to produce better results, ultimately meaning more money for the seller.
The report also clearly illustrates what a small increase of just 5% in the final selling price means for sellers. It provides a number of examples of how much extra money a seller would obtain showing that on a £250,000 sale that would mean an extra £12,500 for the seller and on a property selling for £500,000 it would mean an extra £25,000 and £50,000 on a property selling for £1m. Kimberley states that ‘These amounts are clearly more than the saving in fees between online only agents and traditional agent and we believe consumers should be aware of all these facts before deciding which agent to instruct.’
The report has also detailed some of the additional charges that some online only agencies charge and has shown how little the difference in fees really is between online only agencies and local agents.
The report is available to view by all ELAA-UK members via the member zone at their website www.elaa-uk.org
Estate and Letting agents can find out more about how to become approved by The Estate & Letting Agents Association UK at www.ELAA-UK.org
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