Estate Agents - who needs them?
I’ve just put my house on the market and this has made me question what it is that Estate Agents actually do.
The estate agent has started to advertise my house in in the local newspapers and on several websites including rightmove.co.uk. Their others tasks include organising viewings and obviously valuating my house.
So what is the estate agent doing that I couldn’t? Well the only thing I can think of is the advertising in the local papers. I could do it, but it would cost me a quite a bit to keep advertising on a regular bases. However my house is a first time buyers house and I am pretty confident that most first time buyers will use the web to find a list of houses in their area, so are the local papers really that effective? I suspect not.
Do I think I could sell my house without an estate agent? I would say at this moment in time no, simply because a site like rightmove.co.uk only allows estate agents to put properties on there. (I maybe wrong on this, but I can’t seem to find any information anywhere on the site about selling privately). So it seems that the estate agencies are holding some kind of monopoly on the housing market, and as such I am forced into paying the 1% agency fee once my house is sold.
I’ve spoken to my brother about this predicament. Although his Dubai investment project works in pretty much the same basis i.e. he is working as an estate agent for Damac Properties, he does agree with me that most people could sell their own properties given the right tools.
So I’m thinking why doesn’t someone set up a website and charge people a small fee for placing their property for sale online? (Certainly not the 1% I’m going to have to pay!) I’m guessing the main problem is that rightmove.co.uk is a very powerful brand and would become very difficult to compete with. Difficult and but not impossible.
The site would be pretty simple to set up, a seller simply would need the ability to upload several images of their house and to add details of each room within their house. Obviously this would require some creative writing, but I think most people know good estate agency speak, so should be able to manage it. A nice idea would be able to allow buyers to leave feedback on the house or ask questions online (all moderated by the sellers of course), this may help other potential buyers get more information on the house. There would be no need for an estate agent to get involved. In fact the only professionals that would be need in this process would be the buyer’s and seller’s solicitors.
So there we have it. Estate Agents - who needs them?
Same in Australia, two sites called realestate.com.au and another called domain.com.au sprung up early on. One built by the real estate industry and the other by a media organisation I believe. With their timing, heavy advertising and consistent presence over a number of years they are the only two that people know about. Sites that let you sell your own property are only niche unfortunately and so are in the catch 22 of not being able to give enough exposure.
BASTARDS, one wishes we could turn back the clock and beat them to the punch with some clever SEO and marketing!!
Comment by Paul Wood — December 7, 2007 @ 10:30 am