Buyers' agency movement gathers strength

A small 2 bed bungalow on my street, is presently priced at £240k. It was sold for £78k in 2000!!!! [Even if you halved the present price, it would still be MASSIVELY overpriced] NO FTB's WILL GO NEAR PROPERTY UNTIL THEY RETURN TO 2000 PRICES.

• 11 March 2009 18:09 PM

If this is a goer - then why franchise? why 15k? sounds like "snake oil" selling to me - plus "access to the ‘private portfolio'" - oh please - do me a favour - and you see that after forking out the 15k - good luck u will need it..

• 11 March 2009 11:11 AM

Jane, so everyone who has their property on Rightmove is desperate to sell?

• 11 March 2009 09:17 AM

I think you might find that buyers do actually like this idea. There is such scepticism that Estate Agents don't support your sale properly that as a buyer you need all the help you can get. I for one think that a lot of people would be interested to have their property in a private portfolio and not have the pressure of a full on sale. I don't think it would necessarily devalue your property - rather the opposite - if you were desperate to sell you would market on right move asap.

• 10 March 2009 23:22 PM

"Buyers’ agents also have access to the ‘private portfolio’, which consists of properties not on the books of agents but which owners might be prepared to sell" These would be sellers who don't want to acheive the best price for their property by utilizing the highly productive services of an agent through proactive marketing, but if someone came along and offered them 10% less than market value, they would bite your arm off. That must be a really big "secret" list.

• 10 March 2009 09:54 AM

And another thing...Bearing in mind practically all properties for sale are on Rightmove etc and the internet accounts for about 90% of property searches , the homebuyers agency must go on the likes of rightmove everyday to find these secret bargains and offer them to their clients, apart from arthritis impacted technophobes who cant use the internet, where is the marketplace for this service? and why the baloney about each agent covering only 15% of the market when this is superceded by a catch-all search on the internet, are we still living in the 20th century?

• 10 March 2009 09:29 AM

This is not a new idea. The homesearch county network do effectivelt the same thing and have plodded along for the last 15 years or so. The only people who hire them are the filthy rich who can't be bothered to research properties for themselves. Its a narrow marketplace in the UK, difficult to see how that will change.

• 10 March 2009 09:20 AM

USA, Canada, Australia, need I say more - each of these major countries has agents representing buyers and sellers.... why will it not work?

• 09 March 2009 18:19 PM

id be very interested to see what the 4 current takers say in 12 months time or even in 6 monts if this has been money well spent or not.

• 09 March 2009 18:11 PM

Richard, as Amway found out to their tremendous advantage, there really is one born every minute. So good luck with your project.

• 09 March 2009 17:04 PM

As I say - check out the detail - it's not just about negotiating. And by the way, we charge a fraction of the cost of many relocation agents. I suggest you healthy skeptics turn this around, as you will find that a Homebuyers Agent will actually help you, as a regular estate agent, make money from some of the 94% of your applicants to whom I suspect you would otherwise fail to sell. Richard (PS Nothing to do with the Amway response earlier, but I understand that Amway is one of the biggest direct selling successes in history!)

• 09 March 2009 13:43 PM

Jim - Amway still exist and my neighbour stiches my wife up with crap everyweek. House is pretty clean!

• 09 March 2009 13:26 PM

Richard, many years ago I was offered £100k a year income, by joining a group called Amway. Not sure if they are still around. All i had to do, they told me, was sell a box of soap powder to my neighbour, for fifteen quid a throw. On that occasion, I didn't believe it either.

• 09 March 2009 13:14 PM

So, let me get this right. I am looking for a house and am prepared to pay somebody £4,000 (say)to make an acceptable cheeky offer £20K below asking price on my behalf - is this only going to be useful to people who cannot think for themselves?

• 09 March 2009 13:08 PM

Crikey, what a lot of criticism and negativity!! Most people that post on this site have been banging on for months about the lack of positive comment in the market. So what if there's a new idea that people are willing to try, let 'em try it and the very best of luck to all of 'em including Richard Rawlings, I hope it's a runaway success! (For everyone's sake....)

• 09 March 2009 12:30 PM

Just a business venture, period. Not a chance of staying the course as it's dependent on the buyer paying another middleman! Nothing new being offered just extra cost.

• 09 March 2009 11:49 AM

Interesting that it works everywhere else in the world, where it is unthinkable that you would buy without being represented by a professional. Bear in mind, this is not the mass market required in regular agency. It is designed specifically for people who have nothing to sell, or are under pressure to exchange on their own sale. You only need to work with about three buyers a month (which are surprisingly easy to source using our method) and your "stark-raving bonkers fifteen grand" makes you £70-£100k a year - with minimal overheads! And, I'll personally help the right people achieve this. Just put the cynicism to one side and investigate. There is more to this than meets the eye! Richard Rawlings, Director, Homebuyers' Agency.

• 09 March 2009 11:40 AM

I can't see the public employing an agent to buy for them and an agent to sell for them. It'll never work!

• 09 March 2009 11:11 AM

I always thought that his RAT ideas were ideas that everyone had already thought of and dismissed. Well here is another!!

• 09 March 2009 10:50 AM

Thanks for the comments chaps, but before you judge, just look a little more closely wearing a business hat! There is a huge opportunity here that has not been considered. Let me know if you would like more details or a free CD. And regarding the HIP on properties not yet formally on the market - of course they will need a HIP - who said they would not? Richard, Director - Homebuyers Agency

• 09 March 2009 10:49 AM

In a falling market with buyers negotitating 10% on average of the price there is money a commission. In a rising market where buyers often have to outbid each other to secure a buyer, where's the incentive?

• 09 March 2009 10:44 AM

will buyers use this service - as a buyer i'd be worried that i might loose the house if they cant negotiate a good enough reduction to warrant the sale and their fee....

• 09 March 2009 10:27 AM

Well, that's a lot of redundancy payments down the pan.

• 09 March 2009 10:27 AM

"Buyers’ agents also have access to the ‘private portfolio’, which consists of properties not on the books of agents but which owners might be prepared to sell." That will be interesting when Trading Standards decides to look at whether or not there is a Home Information Pack.

• 09 March 2009 10:22 AM

Exactly! 15k for that when you can....You know what I mean. So there still seem to be mugs out there, even in this climate.

• 09 March 2009 10:15 AM

Fifteen Grand! Are you people stark raving bonkers?

• 09 March 2009 10:04 AM