High street estate agents accused of losing interest in property after two weeks

| Rosalind Renshaw

An online agent has accused high street firms of losing interest in a property if does not receive offers within two weeks.

The claim is certain to be totally refuted by hard-working high street agents.

HouseSimple has made the claim after polling over 2,000 vendors who sold a property in the past 12 months to ask what they thought of the service they received from the estate agent who sold their property.

Half felt the estate agent’s commitment to sell their property dropped off considerably after the initial couple of weeks of marketing, and by the second week they felt they were already having to chase the estate agent for updates.

Despite that, half rated their agent at least 8 out of 10 for service.

And while online agents make much of not having to have high street premises, the poll shows that over three-quarters of vendors visit branches.

Sellers were also asked about the price their agent put their property on the market.

It is not uncommon for high street estate agents to promise an unrealistic sale price to get sellers signed up, only for the agent to quickly recommend a price drop once the property is marketed.

Just over half (51%) of the sellers polled revealed that their estate agent suggested they drop the asking price soon after marketing their property.

More than a fifth (21%) of those polled also claimed that at least half the people who came round to see their property were time wasters with no intention of ever making an offer.

That figure rose considerably in London and Wales with four out of ten sellers convinced that 50% or more were time wasters.

More than a quarter of sellers polled (27%) said that their estate agent only secured one offer for their property.

However, 49% rated their agent highly for service, giving the firm at least 8 out of 10.

Just over four in ten (42%) said they did not think the agent was worth their fee, and 28% said they did not think the agent tried hard enough to sell their property.

When sellers were asked if they had ever visited their agent’s branch, more than three-quarters said they had, with 23% saying they had not.

HouseSimple offers two packages, one of £9 a week plus a success fee of £495, and the other £395, which sellers can pay on completion of sale or at the end of 12 months.

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17 Comments

  1. GPL
    November 25, 2015 at 07:12

    Housewho? …..of course….. need to try and boost your brand….. reach for poll or press release or both.

    What about…… House Simple….. recommended by Meerkats!

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    1. PeeBee
      November 25, 2015 at 08:59

      Meerkats have more sense, GPL! ;o)

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      1. GPL
        November 25, 2015 at 10:39

        …… and in a recent poll of 2000 Meerkats 1999 thought GPL was a Legend in his own Lunchtime….the one that didn’t was the one I drove over by accident!….. but it might have put a thumbs up if asked! ….. in which case 100%!

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      2. GPL
        November 25, 2015 at 12:48

        …..willing buyer……at right price for seller

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  2. phoenix
    November 25, 2015 at 07:12

    I’d be interested to see the results (if data actually exists) of a poll of clients who used on line agents only…

    Our experience is that, once instructed, clients are reluctant to leave such agents as their money is already spent (in most cases around £1,000). There seems to be an acceptance that we could sell it for them but they want to try and get their moneys worth. In many, but not all, cases, this results in them instructing us after a number of unsuccessful weeks with the on-lone agent. They experienced poor service, no contact following instruction and little in the way of working with them to achieve the goal. Those that do sell with them find the sale progression aspect equally disappointing. The survey then that would be interesting would be one that asks would they use an on-line agent again…

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  3. Robert May
    November 25, 2015 at 07:57

    What is this,  Janet and John reckon – book 9,  Estate Agency?

    Sorry to be irked by this but here is a key stage 1  homework that says almost nothing at all. It’s almost as if  someone has asked to be briefed about a new industry sector investment and someone who knows as much about the industry as the investor has blown a few quid on some market research in order to blag together a report which can double up as some much needed exposure PR marketing stuff

    Sorry to break this to you  Housesimple  but you just blew a few more quid of the investment and are no further forward, there is nothing in here to help your understanding of the industry and nothing to help you win market share.

    Suggest you  poach Stephen Jury, he really is quite good at this stuff.  He might not make House simple profitable but at least Housesimple will have nabbed one of their direct sector competitors best assets.

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    1. Tristramboris
      November 25, 2015 at 08:02

      Please refrain from compliments, we don’t want peace to break out here and Stephen Jury’s head is big enough

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      1. Robert May
        November 25, 2015 at 08:18

        Although it’s a compliment (one Stephen deserves) it is a strategic one; Emoov would quite literally be very little indeed without Stephen, he is the the one bit of that firm that I can respect and recommend others to understand and respect.

         

         

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  4. smile please
    November 25, 2015 at 07:59

    Unlike online agents that have zero interest selling a property as the take an upfront fee.

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  5. Disillusioned
    November 25, 2015 at 08:11

    They are just playing around with figures, use the same 2000 people and you get –

    Half rated the agents at 8/10

    79% of  the viewers were serious and not time wasters

    73% of HS Agents secured more than one offer

    72% said they had worked hard for their fee

    58% worth their fee

    In any industry there is good and bad, so all in all I would think these figures represent the High Street Agent quite well.

    Oh and I forgot the biggy…………77% visited their Agents branch!

     

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    1. JJGeorge
      November 25, 2015 at 13:32

      Such a good point! Just an advertising campaign in my eyes.

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  6. StatementOfFact
    November 25, 2015 at 09:36

    They asked 2000 people who all sold in the last 12 months … how do you lose interest yet still achieve a sale then?

    As opposed to an online agent who loses interest even before instruction given they are paid up front.
    Yawn.

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  7. David Cantell
    November 25, 2015 at 09:37

    Let’s all come up with % numbers to promote our brands zzzzzzzzzz !

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  8. houseofpain
    November 25, 2015 at 10:03

    Well….it must be a least two weeks longer than the onliners

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  9. Trevor Mealham
    November 25, 2015 at 12:06

    Willing seller + Willing buyer able to get funds = stc. Simple

    Budget fee = budget compromised service

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    1. GPL
      November 25, 2015 at 12:50

       

      …..willing buyer….. at right price for seller

      Report
  10. Craig Bees
    November 26, 2015 at 10:30

    We ‘lost’ an instruction 10 weeks ago to an online and I use the term lightly ‘Agent’

    We have spoken to the owner every 2 weeks since for a catch up and not once during that 10 weeks have they made contact and guess what, no viewings either.

    All the hype and PR surrounding these fakes is designed to drive homeowners to make their up-front payment, if it then sells, happy days, they’ve made a few more quid.

    No local marketing, no local knowledge and no contact, it’s quite clear it’s about the initial fee and nothing else. Oh and overvaluing by over £100,000 to get the instruction.

    Purpleexcrement if you ask me. Keep up the **** service you on-liners, there may be a delay but it comes back to us High Street agents eventually.

    Report
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