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A new service has launched this week, providing a platform where high street agents can promote themselves – and their fees.
They will also be able to describe their services, memberships of trade bodies, and which portals they use to list properties.
Merseyside-based Agentlocator.co.uk said it is inviting only traditional agents to “join us on our exciting new venture”.
The platform allows sellers and landlords to search for agents in their area by entering their postcode, town or city.
Founder Kevin Ward said: “The strategy is that online agents are already providing a transparent approach towards their fees and services.
“We believe vendors and landlords who enjoy dealing with a traditional / high street estate agent should have the option to instantly compare fees and expertise for free. They can currently do this with online agents. Agent Locator provides this solution.
“Agent Locator is currently inviting all estate agents nationwide to join us.”
Ward said there are no sign-up fees, no charges and no commissions payable on any leads generated.
It is not clear how the site will monetise itself, but Ward said: “Agent Locator is completely free. We currently have no plans to change our business model.
“Estate agents will be able to generate a company branded profile and add fees / services on the website at any time.
“We have already had over 350 estate agents join our website since the soft launch on Monday and we will be shortly running a series of media campaigns to promote Agent Locator and our members.”
#RaceToTheBottom
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So another train is built…. it will let you on for free whilst hoping to roll out of the station and build up enough speed, making you believe it is impossible to get off, whilst people fight to get on….. and then….. at some point down the line when the train has become unstoppable they understandably and not surprisingly change their business model “gratis becomes a grand”…. or perhaps another “Train company” buys em who have a completely different business model idea anyway.
Good luck to ya.
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When will people realise it’s about value, not cost. More often than not, selecting the cheapest agent is the most expensive way to sell your property.
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Total nonsense, Im cheaper than foxtons and countrywide and get a lot better price for my customer.
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Then it begs the question, why are you not charging 3% plus VAT on sales?
To be fair, nearly every agent in the UK is cheaper than Foxtons.
I can’t think of any agent in the UK who charges more than 3% plus VAT.
I can only think of one who offers a tenant find only service and charges more than Foxtons’ fee.
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I’m referring to low fee/cheap agents who typically need to cut corners because they’re not making any money. This in turn can impact on their results.
At the other end of the spectrum you have high fee/expensive agents such as Foxtons who are selling a lifestyle choice as much as a service. If somebody wants to pay a premium for that, good luck to them.
Most good agents sit somewhere in the middle. Very seldom in life is good service cheap and cheap service good
If you are providing a good service, you’re fully entitled to charge for it.
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It’s so heart warming when a company forms simply to provide a free service to the poor estate agents community.
We cannot thank them enough and will flock to their website knowing that the last thing on their minds is to line their pockets now, or in the future.
I’m not being naive … am I?
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What we need is something everyone can believe in that will be working for the good of the industry ‘independent entrepreneur agents’. Anything that encourages playing fees off against one another is just another nail in the coffin…..creating public perception that the online listers claims of us ‘charging too much’ might be true…..when the fact is a reasonable fee will always get them the ‘best walk away result’.
If you’re reading this story please make sure you read the top story of the day #Florence Day!
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Biggest concern is their lack of transparency. No problem with a free launch but every business has the objective to one day make money! Having contacted them directly they would not disclose any intent or outline of future income and simply continued to iterate their FOC offering. Any new start up msut be transparent with their cleints (paying or not) on their long term objectives. With the value of data on an ever-increasing spiral there will be lots of debates to come as to who owns what data, how it should be handled & used and who can leverage it for value. Never knock a worthy start up but always question something that sounds too good to be true.
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A lot of tech is offered free.
Free logo maker: https://logomakr.com/
Free Infographics maker: https://about.canva.com/
Free live chat for your website: https://www.tawk.to/
Some use your data and some up-sell you services. Some are just totally free and are waiting to grow big enough so someone buys them out.
However, I doubt this company will be offering us free leads, forever 🙁
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