Home Owners > Estate Agents

Why traditional estate agents will be extinct in 5 years

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The Prophet:
The traditional route of using a local estate agent to "sell" your home in return for a huge chunk of your wealth is coming to an end.
Let's face it, estate agents have never "sold" homes anyway, they just bring together buyers and sellers acting as a middleman in return for a fee in much the same way as any other agency, such as recruitment and travel agencies.
Forget all the claims of being market experts, at the end of the day, most people have normally decided before they even go through the front door, hence the importance placed on kerb appeal.
Price is also another main consideration for buyers.  If the property is overpriced, more than the current market value, it will not sell however "good" or "expert" the agent claims to be, unless he is lucky enough to find an idiot to buy it!

The estate agents will claim to promote the positives and overcome any negative perceptions a buyer may have during a viewing.  But if your home is near a railway, "being close to transport links" won't compensate the noise and vibration!

So what are the alternatives?
Selling your home without using an estate agent.
There are now currently 50 online estate agencies accounting for around 5% of UK house sales and the number of people using them are growing.  You can get everything that estate agents will provide, but at a fraction of the cost! We're talking hundreds, not thousands here. 

There are about to be even more online agents as big business investors enter this market. 
Stelios Haji-Ioannou founder of easyJet, plans to launch easyProperty this summer and has got the founder of Rightmove on his board or directors. 
Another new player launching is May is Purplebricks.com  offering flat fee selling online with local agents preparing floor plans and property details. 
Even Poundland founder Steve Smith is getting in on the act with Estates Direct offering a similar service with a basic fee of just £195. 
The UK's largest online agency is eMoov, backed by TV Dragon James Caan. 
Founder Russell Quirk says  "selling a home online is set to explode and will become the new norm"

Local estate agencies are dying a slow death as more and more people wake up to the fact that they no longer need to spend thousands to sell their home, but unfortunately the other property parasite is still alive and kicking, taking around 3% of your wealth through Stamp Duty Land Tax when you buy another home.

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