Online agents are fighting back despite being excluded from new portal On The Market.
Tepilo, founded by TV property expert Sarah Beeny, forecasts a strong growth for the online estate agent industry in 2015. Beeny says is great news for UK home-sellers looking to benefit from this convenient and low-cost option.
Tepilo's valuations over the two-week Christmas period increased by 1,100% from the previous year and registrations increased by 1,750%.
The site claims that the cost savings, simplicity and convenience of browsing and selling your property online means many homeowners are converting from high street agents to selling their own.
Beeny says: The amount of online estate agents is growing and it is predicted that by 2020 70% of homeowners will be selling online. This is partly because a high street agent selling a £500,000 home generally costs the homeowner around £8,406. With online estate agents like Tepilo.com it costs £594 (including VAT) and it's hard to see what you get for the extra £7,812.
This represents the shifts in society and need to move with the times. We are now much more likely to property surf online on Christmas Day than watch the Queen's Speech (in 2013 Rightmove had 14million page views when the Queen's Speech had 7.8million). We also spend an average of 17 hours a month on property sites and in 2013 Rightmove was the 6th most visited site in the UK, above the BBC.
Comments
You are listing incorrect information on your site.
Suggest you check your figures.
I agree with the Tepilo predictions, and after speaking with a number of traditional agents it's clear that they're increasingly concerned about the rise of online agents.
I also founded http://trustedagents.org.uk to make it easier for people to compare online agents after using one myself and feeling a little overwhelmed with options. Hope you guys find it useful
Guest@(peebee)...please feel free to email me info@redhomes.co.uk
@Richard. Sounds interesting. I'd like to know more please.
Guest@ (Hybrid)
I have been trading for 10 years as a Hybrid, its the best of both worlds, we charge 0.75 + Vat, paper advertising every week etc.....sold over 800 properties in 10 years!
My only surprise is that High Street Estate Agents managers aren't buying my franchise, they could work for themselves at home and earn double their salary!!!!
I struggle to fathom how this argument continues. BOTH have their advantages and drawbacks. Why are we not talking about 'hybrid' agencies I established my company a matter of months ago and we are thriving in our locality. We have a central office rather than high street premises and transfer that hefty saving to our customers. Our fee is fixed for all properties at less than 1000 and we provide a comprehensive sales service with accompanied viewings 7 days a week including evenings and operate on a no sale, no fee basis. We provide the local expertise a traditional agent would, whilst minimalizing the cost to our clients much like the online agents. Perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why there aren't more agents similar to ourselves
Oh, joy! - I simply can't wait...
Oooooooo. that's not nice brother P - use your real name. Its 2 easy hiding behind sudos and annoying for others
The online agents keep banging on about offering something new and an alternative to the Traditional Estate Agent, but the business model they generally share has been around for a long time now and is nothing new and is fundamentally flawed as a main stream alternative. The only way they will be able to maintain any momentum and serious market penetration is with a massive ongoing spend on national tv and radio advertising. While they may be able to fund this in the short term by attracting investment from wealthy speculative investors, once those drop the proposition like a purple brick (sorry hot brick) the fee levels and volumes will make the advertising spend unsustainable and therefore the expected growth rate and market share unobtainable.
Just wait for the new online estate agency portal that is coming as well. A few of the larger online agents have met to discuss already AND there is no restriction !!!!!!!!
Thank you both, the hive mind comes up trumps again :)
Found it!
http://www.douglasandgordon.com/blog/why-we-wont-all-be-selling-privately-in-the-near-future/
I can't find the sodding article now, but I recall reading a quote from Sarah Beeny back in 2010 which predicted that by 2015, 50% of all home sales in the UK will be conducted online without a traditional agent.
Need I say more . . .
Typing unaided is only ONE of the basic criteria you have to satisfy for release into the community.
It's an achievement you should be proud of nevertheless. Maybe you should now practice on the others...
All us agents leaving the duo to a unknown website are doing the online agents like the lovely Sarah a favour for 5 years. Never mind, we love her really.
"...some self-publicising press release by a sales person bigging themselves up."
SALES PERSON Sorry, Mr Walker - where did THAT one surface from
She's got some front - I'll grant that (fnar, fnar... happy Double Entendre Day, everyone!) - but I doubt she could "sell" ice lollies in Hll.
"The UK's Trusted National Online Estate Agent"
Okay - 'trusted' by WHO I guess that would currently be a mahoosive 349 out of OVER ONE MILLION UK homesellers. 'Trusted' to do WHAT, exactly Ahhh... I see it clearly now - trusted to offer their customers currently slightly less than 13.5% chance of selling their home.
"T****o takes a modern approach to selling your home."
Well... if the above is what 'a modern approach' amounts to, I'll stick to doing things THE OLD way, thank you very much... ;o)
Well - you're an [b]even bigger [/b]prat than I had you down as...
Well, whether you like it or not, she is famous and her TV show would reach a wide-ranging audience, so I think creating her own online agency is newsworthy. I agree that she is making some outlandish statements here, but it's surely EAT's job to report the news from all areas of estate agency, even ones you or I might not agree with. There is as many stories about traditional agents as there is online ones.
I'm not quite sure what you're after. Only news on traditional agents, with no mention of anything to do with online or portals, would that do
I saw an ad for Tepilo on the Tube the other day. Beeny is certainly putting some investment into it. Obviously having a famous TV presenter as a figurehead helps hugely from a PR point of view, but she's making a rod for her own back if it all goes a bit Pete Tong, as it were.
Is it just me, or is the name really naff I still don't know what it really means.
@RedRooster I agree this is a load of old cobblers, but why would an online agent want 'free publicity' in front of an audience of estate and letting agents I don't see the benefit to them...
Nor do I. 10 years of these predictions and counting...
"I" don't predict online agents will have strong growth in 2015. You can quote me as a headline if you like!
It seems that most of the On Line Agents websites are run by ex Estate Agents so I would guess that we are going to see a lot more hypocritical comments coming out in the next few weeks, all this is is a means of attempting to talk up their businesses and forgetting what their ethics and morals are, proving that all they are worried about is making money. Glad I gave up Estate Agency and that I do not have to deal with such people.
Remember on her show "Property Ladder" she used to recommend people get three valuations from "LOCAL experts" So hypocritical - I think this website ought to be renamed www.ONLINEestateegnttodaySUPPORTINGZOOPLA.co.uk
So, if I issue a press release stating that I forecast a strong growth for traditional high street agents, and report that we have also had an increase of 1,100% from the previous year for valuations and similar for registrations, will EAT run the story to give me some free publicity Thought not.
Maybe I have the wrong kind of chest...
As usual I have come to this "news" (!) section to find some self-publicising press release by a sales person bigging themselves up. Where is the news
Sarah, as much as I believe your views are good for the Property Market, your comments are somewhat hypocritical coming from an ex Estate Agent, who I am sure did not think twice about taking a Clients 8,406.00 when selling their 500,000 property!!!!! so please Sarah just be careful what you say.
"Online agents are fighting back DESPITE being excluded from new portal On The Market."
Is this OTM is the biggest Godsend they could have wished for Maybe now they really do have an issue to point at
I'd let that Sarah Beeny sell my house any day.