Tesco is back in the estate agency market with the launch of Spicerhaart’s brand new offering, called iSold.
The new brand, whose slogan is ‘We simply sell homes’, has chosen Bristol for its national launch. Actual launch day has not been announced but is expected this weekend with local newspaper advertising apparently booked.
Meanwhile, the website is already up and running.
It is wooing prospective sellers by suggesting that estate agents do not offer good value. Its message is: “In the last ten years a lot of things got easier, simpler and better value. But estate agents certainly haven’t … until now.”
It adds that it can offer all the expertise of estate agents but “without all the fees”.
The site, which is heavily branded with Tesco, is offering to sell houses for £999 including VAT. A premium package costs £1,119 including VAT, and a premium plus package costs £1,299 including VAT.
It displays a table showing the savings that can be made compared with using estate agents. For example, against a £400,000 house with an agent charging 2% (£9,400), iSold’s £999 fee means: “You save up to £8,401.”
iSold will be listing properties on all the major portals including Rightmove. There is already a draft advert on primelocation.
iSold tells users it has advanced technology packed with features “to get you the best price for your home and make the sales process quicker and smoother. iSold.com uses their own locally-based valuation experts and advanced technology to deliver a fantastic service and help sellers save thousands in estate agency fees.”
Potential sellers can get a free online valuation, presumably prior to a visit by Bristol’s valuation manager Jonathan Mount.
Spicerhaart has registered iSold with the Property Ombudsman. The address given is the same Colchester building occupied by Spicerhaart’s headquarters.
The company, which used Project Indigo as a working title, has also registered three new businesses – Isold.co.uk, Isold.com and Isold Ltd.
Spicerhaart bought the former Tesco Property Market last year but the supermarket giant held on to sole marketing rights.
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Comments
In reply to "Try it for yourself" was that by phone or email?
Still waiting for that call back - 4 days and nothing!? Great service Tesco...bring it on!!
iFOLD, brilliant. love it. next thing we will see is buy one get free from them. Don't panic agents this is all a hyped up marketing review about a stupid idea that will never take off or over the high street agents.
Flanny- The Royal paid me much more than £250K an office! If you sold at that you were a mug and should be stacking at Tesco
Love it a Tesco website in ASDA green. Only spicer haart could make this cock up. You only have to look at tesco's previous atempts in this area to feel there is no need to panic FMCG is not the same as agency and internet marketing is not the same as DM and high street. TESCO may be big but they have chosen the wrong partner, they could have just done this under the main brand and kept the piggy's away from the trough.
Good Luck Tesco - the market requires a shake up - I will certainly list with you - Rumour has others are waiting in the sidelines to do exactly the same.
Flanny, bad analogy, Stella at 50p a pint would fly out.
Flanny- cant see vendors taking you too serious either when you cant spell !!
NEWSFLASH - Agents fight back by selling groceries - www.iturnip.ning.com
Ive just read (sad git) all the comments on this thread. A couple of things stand out: 1. having cheap fees knackers your credibility as a professional and leaves you perceived as low grade and 2. offering customers a choice is good (a USP even).
Yet 99% of agents compete on fees and offer only a single tier, one size fits all, service.
Change is afoot, it will come, big hitters are looking at ways of capitalising on it, to$$ers are on here saying lets try to stop it.You cann't.
Add tangible value to your service and charge for it, customers will pay. The most common thing I hear from agents is "my customers will not pay more, times are hard". Of course they won't pay any more if you claim to be cheap. They won't pay any more for the same offering....it's cheap. Offer something different, better, (tangibly better not just hot air) and let them decide for themselves which they want.
Even Skoda offer a choice, not doing so is restrictive. Tesco have learnt that lesson with their value and finest range.Even though it is Tesco, they still sell huge volumes of their finest range. If they did not have finest on their shelves they would not sell any.
Offering a choice is the way forward (and the beauty is it costs nothing to offer it).
If only agency was about putting a board up ,taking an offer and then exchanging and sending a bill out. Remember Prudential in the late 80s everyone was scared to death ,they lost a fortune because they could not provide a service,then Royal Insurance had a go paid 250k per office and again made a hash of it .Not of course forgetting seekers who charged people upfront and then didnt care if they sold or not ,similar to large business transfer agents who overvalue and get a signing on fee .Tescos will throw a load of money at it and lose a fortune agency is a people business 24/7 ,and if agents do not charge a proper fee the client does not take them seriosly,imagine buying a pint of stella for 50 p reasurringly cheap it does not quite ring true to me.Bring it on
ifold - Brilliant! You are right up there for this year's Oscar, along with the creator of Der Fuhrer in der AHIPP Bunker -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aSxGUneA1Y
I would have loved to read the Paul Smith comment that was blocked, please try again Paul now the cats amongst the pigeons!
In other news, chav supermarket partners with chav estate agent to peddle up front fees to unsuspecting chavs. "i woz just nickin sum fags and stella up tescoes and i put my dads gaff on the market" said Darren, a Spicerhaart client "and the bird in there woz well fit innit - i fink she wanted it". Spicerhaart anticipate strong demand for their new cut service price and are already planning launches in Aldershot, Stoke and Mansfield. They are looking for unqualified valuation managers to head up each local operation. Applicants must have experience with over valuing, topping it, flying a kite and testing the market. Toffs need not apply. Package includes fully expensed Vauxhall Corsa (old shape), vouchers for Top Man and regular training sessions at Yates's in Colchester. Competitive incentives include bonuses for listings at any price and cross selling of inappropriate financial services. Applicants with experience of reading from scripts, call centre work, selling double glazing or debt consolidation loans are encouraged to apply. Please note that interviews will be conducted by fit birds and will involve karoake and pool tournaments. Being largered up is optional but all candidates must be able to handle themselves if it all goes Pete Tong. Closing date - any time before Tescos pulls the plug again will be fine.
Read all the comments here - I urge you to try their service - I have! Its great - I registered my details this morning - just had a call back - very polite but unable to answer even the most basic of questions "what do I get for my money?" - answer "dunno will ask my manager and get back to you". You have to pay upfront £300 plus vat plus HIP (presumably) and the balance on completion. You will be administered by our team in Colchester - better than India I guess! On line maybe the future - but not the immediate future that's for sure. Another Tepilo in the making me thinks!!
Decimate, yes some will suffer, others will survive if they prepare. You now know it is coming, so be prepared. There is no way it will be the only estate agent in the land. Survival of the fittest .... nothing new. And we don't have a tesco's, ha ha.
Although this is great news for the seller, what about the buyer?
With the weight of Tesco on the seller's side, this stacks the odds even more against the buyer. And less than 2% of UK homebuyers have a buyers agent working for them (versus over 70% in the US) which is why we have launched Buyersedgeuk.com to readdress the balance between sellers and buyers.
Like it or not, this will, if rolled out nationally decimate estate agents.
If iSold is an Estate Agent in their own right, how are they getting around the PMA and Money Laundering Regulations. Not something that Tepilo has to worry about.....
this will hit the bread and butter market hard as tesco have very deep pockets and will no doubt get this site in front of the masses once they have all their systems in place. Wow went bust because they had no idea that estate agency is a peoples buisness. SH know this. wealthy vendors on the other hand will value service more highly and are not fee motivated and most likely would be put off by cheap fees. online doesnt have to mean low fees. just release the money saved to invest in other areas e.g website, property films, improved service etc. and you can win instructions based on merit.
Funny you should ask about the "new technology". You know that little grey box that is shortly going to be installed in EVERYONES home to "monitor energy use", being trialled at the moment by the way, well that can obtain all the information required. Lets just get the EPCs out of the way first, then installation can begin. Maybe now you see the link between Government-OFT-Tesco. Want to sell your home, free home monitor intallation included. Think water meter, but with camera and microhone.
I have been saying this for months so I say again to all NFoPP Agents -
"Drop Rightmove and only list on PropertyLive - for free!"
"Finally, customers can choose between a cheap 'high-tech' service or the experienced 'high-touch' service (did you see what I did there?)."
Any agent with a website and a feed to RM and some other portals would seem to have technology to match what's on offer here, PLUS their personal service.....
OK, the iSold site promises the 'latest technology' for your £999 ... but frustratingly lacks detail on what this might be? Their website? No, that's just a website. Their links to portals, and automatic uploads to same? No, they're going to fling everything onto Rightmove, FindaProperty, the usual suspects. What am I missing? What's the new technology that they're promoting?
Thanks for input Gary but after 30 years in Agency in Uk and USA I have dealt for and against the big boys and have yet to see them monopolise a property market. Naive I ain't.
A desperate and predictable play from a business that values quality about as dearly as Gordon Brown values honesty. At BEST, SH will absorb some of the grubby, "value" end of the market - think that badly extended 8 bed semi that smells of urine or the underpinned 2 bedroom terrace with all character ripped out and a burgundy corner bath. This will be a haven for unrealistic vendors, assorted loons, timewasters, multiagency disasters, slum landlords and overpriced tat. If a decent vendor wants their home marketed by a gum chewing Vicky Pollard clone alongside the worst listings in their area, iFail is certainly the way ahead. Bottomfeeders by definition clean up everything we don't want. This will increase the margins of decent agents. Or fold within a year. Frankly, either is fine with me.
Its all about value and not cost. When did you buy the cheapest option? Why do you drive a BMW not a Lada,even Tesco know this with a finest range and a value range. Will properties under £150,000 have blue and white striped boards and over £250,000 silver finest boards.
After 30+ years traditional residential based mixed general practice, I have thoroughly enjoyed the last couple of years profitable estate agency, delivering a very hands on personal service - with no formal office hours - and no showroom. Various business models are evolving - something for everyone maybe.
Those who have faith in their service have nothing to fear. The headless chickens on here know that they are about to be finally found out and are heading for the pot - at long last!
Cheap agents have always been around, as has poor service. There has never been good market segmentation/ a clear choice - (in plain English) for customers. Finally, customers can choose between a cheap 'high-tech' service or the experienced 'high-touch' service (did you see what I did there?). There are still flourishing butchers, deli's, greengrocers etc on most high streets and they offer a better quality product at a competitive price. Cowboys - you've had it easy for too long. Adapt, improve, overcome...or die! Simples.
opps
Online is the future - comparing a high street butcher to an estate agent is ludicrous. The agent that sells the most houses in my area is the local agent because they price houses correctly, are in regular contact with their applicants and know the local area well including school catchments etc. This is an aspect of the business that, in my opnion, will never be able to be anywhere near matched an online agent whose office is based 200 miles away. Online is not the future, it is simply a part of it.
Agent17. Please don't assume you can teach Tesco the rules of economics.Let's assume that Tesco learn by mistakes and will have looked very closely at how they feel it is best for them to get back into the property market. Lets not forget Tesco have a massive database and a way of selling products to millions of people every day.As we all know they can use their stores to sell property and market to the millions that pass through their doors everyday,but to them this is more about customers for life not just a one hit wonder.Tesco are using SH to launch themselves into this market,they will have a gameplan to buy out SH and rebrand to Tesco property in due course.Tesco is a tried,tested and an incredibly successful, trusted brand name.
This has probably been the most read item ever on EAT and that is the interest just from a few agents.Think how much interest the public will give to this. As I said don't be naive!
The current market conditions where property is in short supply and sales are few but not too difficult to tie up, may suit a Tesco type set up. The market will change soon and when listings increase to usual levels you need more staff to cope and provide proper service. Your costs increase dramatically and at £999 you go out of business. I remember learning that simple process in Economics at school. Big thanks to Lucien for more bullets to shoot his firm with, fabulous. Just about sums up the thought and the experience of those involved with this Tesco debacle. There is a way for the 'Big' stores to 'take' the market but fortunately they still fail to spot it and unlike Lucien I won't be sharing it. Good luck.
Like it or loathe it this concept is generating a huge amount of comment today.
If you work on the basis that the issue is not going to go away, and Tesco's may well make a go of it, is it not as much to do with being able to adapt your existing model to be able to accommodate vendors who may want to pay less for a reduced service?
If you decide as a business that you want to offer a more menu based proposition, where vendors pay for the service they receive, then surely provided your staff and systems can cope with this model, it can just be another string to your bow?
Gary, yes you are right - I am an online agent. I won't answer your question with BullSh*t, but you don't get many agents that offer adverts on all the major portals, unlimited photos, floorplans, virtual tours, an online log in area where vendors can see who has viewed, what the feedback was and how many hits they have on their individual property as standard on all of their properties. (I would say most agents advertise on 1 portal, do half a dozen photos and a floorplan if you're lucky - and they try to justify that with a fee of £4,000!). And for those who want to argue about getting the best price, bla bla bla, we just agreed a sale on a house in Bristol that was on with a high street agent, who's best offer was £11,000 less than we tied it up at.
SRB is right, Tesco got their fingers burnt last time it won't happen again thats why their using SH. I wonder why Lucian is so intent on upseting so many of his SH group estate agencies that have worked so hard to pay for this deal?
People buy people, youre right they do. But it doesnt need to be face to face. The high street model will ultimately change to centralised offices. Tesco are a superpower, they are hugely sucessful in so many arenas, insurance, phones etc etc. EA will surely become the same...
I was right 'Online is the future' is an internet agent.Don't like your comment will get paid whether I sell the house or not! Are your vendors really getting a good service? Don't bother answering that as we all know your answer.
My point is not that OLITF is right in all he says, it is the fact that times are changing and if we don't change with them and we don't believe the internet will change our industry beyond all recognition within the next 5 years we are very naive.
Sensible Agent: I do like Maths yes, because by knowing my maths, that's what makes me money. I lower my costs, I offer a great service and I charge 'low' fees. But I get paid for the work I do, whether I sell the house or not. But I still sell 60% of my stock...Look at that again - I get paid on 100% of instructions up front...and then 60% of those instructions pay again on completion...! So, yes, I like Maths. Our profit margins and percentage of profit are greater than when I was on the high street...where is your argument??
This will not work. I briefly worked for Wow Property for 6 weeks to test out this type of business and even though the fee was £999 inc VAT whether sole or multi it was very difficult to get decent instructions. Why? because Vendors require personal contact not a call centre of which you always speak to someone different. Also Wow employed alot of part-timers like house wives and as a result it was like a hobby. Look where they are now! in administration.
A high street agent (generally) will get you more money to cover their fee, plenty of buyers through the door etc.
People value quality of service. Would you trust Tesco to sell your £1m house or your £500k house? I am sure it will work for the lower end of the market but agents have nothing to fear. I am sure all of the good stock will still be on the books of good agents.
on line is the future (olitf)loves maths but clearly doesn't understand that people buy people in property..tesco should stick to selling veg etc - it will all end in tears and egg on olitf's face!
I guess 'online is the future' is an online agent or maybe someone from Tesco marketing dep't,if not he/she is very perceptive of the market.Funny/sad thing is when the internet first became a potential tool for Estate Agents way back in the 90s no one thought it would really take off,then Rightmove launched in 2000 and nobody thought that would really take off,now more and more agents are moving to an online virtual presence(Tesco and SH first real contender) and nobody seems to think that will really take off.When will we all wake up to the fact that times change and with technology progressing faster all the time the need for High Street is no longer an absolute.This is all about education,people want info quicker and smarter these days and the next generation will want it quicker still.Phones are now becoming the replacement of PCs, as Apple are only too aware of.
The main reason you needed a high street office was to let the buyer into your filing cabinet they can now do that on Rightmove etc.Vendors can easily see who is selling what and for how much and easily get 2 or 3 free val's before instructing the cheapest agent.
Please wake up and keep an open mind before you vanish like dinosaurs,adapt to your surroundings and the modern tools available to you. I am an agent in the sleepy South West,still working from an office at the moment!,but I have joined with many of my competitors a site that I and they all own a share of,that means it is our own portal and we keep the value of the content we supply to it without paying extortionate amounts of money.Visit our/my website www.radarhomes.co.uk and see what we can do when we start uniting our strength,because if RM continue to grow in strength as they are and now Tesco get involved in property,unite we must.
Has anyone tried the site - register yourself/your home...it will tell you why you don't have to worry...I give it 12/18 months tops LMAO (Bristol Agent)
Who matters in the end is the vendor. What the vendor doesn't want is his property to be one out of a thousand in a super branch. Unserviceable by staff (let alone small staff numbers) which is why it will fail. He wants his property sold and has more chance being one in a hundred. This is why independent agents who are NOT for example on RM, sell more properties if they are pro-active. If these dot.com business were so good, how come they have so many unsold properties, yes they sell some but it is the staff who actually makes the differance. Reactive web sites do sell properties but no where near as good as the man on the dog and bone.
Ah Ginger General. You are the embodiment of all the stereotypes the world has of estate agents. Instead of trying to keep up with best practice, you'll just see if you can scam them out of the market and give yourself a few extra months of incompetent breathing space. I suggest you go and find the location of your nearest job centre because you my friend, are not going to make it. Eventually your scams will stop working, and all that will be left is an under performing, poorly managed business with no reason for being.
How to kill isold in months.
A handful of people can kill any online website. By simply reporting every PMA on the target companies listings to Trading Standards. Its near impossible to protect yourself against it. You don't have to be buying or selling a house to make a complaint regarding PMA.
Spread the word, they
won't be able to move for fear of making another PMA and investigated.
Misleading Photo = Complaint
Wrong Measurement = Complaint
Walking distance to school = complaint
Good size rear garden = compaint.......
The list goes on and on and on.
Agents often forget, peope percive quality through price. Most peoples brains do this. If a BMW were the price of a Hyundai, would you still think it were as good? No, you would think, they have got to have cut some corners there.
This might be brilliant, but until they charge more people will percieve it as the cheap option and that they are not being offered something.
This is now the second national chain trying a new model in Bristol. Your Move have been trying the non office approach here since their local franchise offices went into administration a few years ago. They currently offer 9 properties for sale with 1 under offer (see Rightmove). Haarts are now down to 2 offices in the area, but advertise lots of numbers in the local paper in areas they used to have an office. I was told they are 'virtual' offices. I suppose you could reasonably suggest that their business model in Bristol has not been ultimately successful and they are creatively looking at other ways of drumming up business. Caveat emptor!
Looks like Tesco has joined Kraft on the banned list in my house. At this rate I'll be back to the local High Street. Now there's a thought!
Why have Spicerhaart Group got involved with Tesco in the first place? EASY they are not doing that well themselves, and need to change their strategy for the future.
If the iSold is successful in Bristol, all these Spicerharrt super Banches, will change over from Spicerharrt brand to the iSold brand. As for the smaller branches, thanks for your loyal support staff, but we don’t need you anymore!
Paul Smith will (****) in his own back yard, you have been warned Spicerhaart Group staff
Loving you all
Smithy without a heart
I see Sidney at 11.16 resorted to a quotation. There is also the one that roughly says "If a man invents a better mousetrap, thought he lives in the middle of a wood, the public will beat a path to his door".
Let us hope in the end it's Independents' mousetraps
and our doors! Big T
Agent Orange, in answer to your question (even though I said I can't be bothered...). Take Bristol...Andrews have 12 offices & Besley Hill have 13 offices - why? Because that was the best way to service clients back in the good old days (14 years ago, when I started in agency). Times have changed and you don't need multiple offices to service your client - servicing your client is ultimately providing them with a buyer and offering them the correct advice at the right times - all you need for this is to advertise properties on Rightmove, Primelocation, etc and have an experienced team of estate agents running the show and offering that advice. Agents are stuck in these 'good old days', but they need to change and move with the times. This is the way it works and this is what SH & Tesco are doing; You close these 12 offices in Bristol and you open a 'super branch' covering the whole of Bristol. Your costs are (much) lower, you are still able to service your clients (you are on all the portals, ads in the paper, available to give advice), but because your costs are lower, you pass these savings on to the client. They will still sell 60% of their listings, but their costs will be about an 8th of what they were with 12 branches (if the fee they earn is about a quarter of an average fee and their costs are an eighth - if you do the maths on that, there profit margin will actually be bigger than having 12 offices on the high street!)...You don't need 5 employees per branch (12 branches = 60 employes). If you have a 'super branch' I think you would need about 12 staff. This is the same 'concept' that has put corner shops, butchers, etc out of business and it is going to be no different for estate agents - it is not rocket science and it will be the customers who ultimately decide who wins and from where I am sitting, it will be the online/super branch/low cost (whatever you want to call it) model that will win
I don't disagree Wooden Top. It would be a shame to see good agents go out of business as a result of the bad form from the industry for so long.
I see the industry moving to a half-way model. Nobody can deny there is significant fat in the agency model. High street branches, glossy magazines, free sparkling water, branded cars etc. None of this ads to the vendor experience and won't sell a property. It only succeeds in furthering the agents own brand to attract more vendors. With the internet, agency branding is insignificant to both vendors and prospective buyers. It just adds cost which I for one don't want to pay for. SH/Tesco may not have it right yet, but they will in 18 months/2 years.
Blimey this has hit a nerve for alot of people. Well done SpicerHarrt you have probably now made yourselves the most unpopular people in Estate Agency. Alick must be mortified?
'He who fears competition fears himself'
As a property Invester I can vouch that 5% of Agents I come into contact with have nothing to fear, the remainder...........well go for a new vocation of cease being lazy!
Big Leg, sorry you miss what Spicerharrt are actually doing. They are trying to kill the independent agent off. They work on a pure business model, numbers game = Profit. It will fail, estate agency is a people business, IT won't change that. So many big players have tried in the past and all said the same why they failed. People do want choice, but when they don't provide the results, you've hanged yourself in this industry. What they are offering is a reactive business, not pro-active which is the gold rule.
Lucian,
How will this affect your high street brand as based on your comments you seem to imply that there is no longer a need for them?
am i bovered tho
I think that on the whole it will be the type of vendors that you don't really want, who will switch to Tesco sales. I expect they will get the kind of service that is often delivered by bucket shop online conveyancers, but will then balance the poor service against the low fee and may just tolerate it. It might cause cheaper homes to go to Tesco, dearer homes to go to agents, so we could end up earning the same amount from a lower turn over of stock .... no bad thing. Who cares really, choice is a good thing.
Oops now you have a post from a Director of Spicerhaart saying there is no need for High St offices !! The writings on the wall if you work for SH.
Oh and on the local knowledge that seems to be so important. Why was it that two multi-branch london agencies. KFH & Green & Co have a 20% variation in value over a 3 day period? It may be true that the online valuation system will be a bit hit and miss, but so are agents. Offer a better service and vendors won't run off to Tesco.
Seems to me every time we hear about a new online business model agents rush to espouse the irreplaceable value of the 'human touch'. If you really believed this to be true, you wouldn't be threatening to pull off rightmove etc thereby unfairly protecting your market from competition.
I don't love SH, but I do respect that they are seeing the market changing and want to be at the forefront. My guess is that in 18 months, you'll all be wishing you had the balls to do the same. They're offering the very basic customer service... choice!
This is going to struggle in the areas where local knowledge is paramount. How can they be exact with their valuations, when in my part of London two properties with the same sqf on the same street can vary by up to £100k. They will need to employ a lot of people covering specefic postcodes for this to work and it's at this point that the numbers don't stack up, unless the £999 is a short term introductory plan with the fees then being raised once the brand is established.
I'm all for introducing something that add's value to the industry and to the consumer, however in it's current fomat it won't work and the service offered will only show further why agents fees are justified!
iSold is a great new full service estate agency business run by real estate agents which will re-define the industry.
Local service combined with the latest technology to provide an outstanding service to consumers.
There will always be a place for the conventional high street agency but the industry needs to move with the times or simply be overtaken. The recent Estate Agent Today survey tells us that more that 30% agents agree with iSold that there is no no longer any need for High Street offices.
Currently, iSold is doing pre-launch marketing in the Bristol area and the full service will be unveiled in the next few weeks.
Lucian Pollington
Director Spicerhaart Group
Kevin, I disagree. When you want to SELL your house you go to a highstreet agent, when you want to BUY a house you look online.
"The new brand, whose slogan is ‘We simply sell homes’, has chosen Bristol for its national launch." Sorry - when did Bristol become a nation?
Possibly there is no better time for the independent estate agent to leave RightMove. You have the power, not the corporates. Continuing to feed the animal that is likely to make you extinct is loony?
Jon Mayes: What you do not seem to realise, Sir, is that some Agents would ASPIRE to a fee of £1k per property. And, for their £1k, not only would they get out of bed at any time of the night or day, they would jump through hoops and perform a superb job on behalf of the Vendor. Their turnover will never make them millionaires - but they do it mostly without complaint. Perhaps you - and others who think that fees come in multiples of ten thousands should try it one day...
Oh no, not this old chestnut. They have tried this before as did Woolworth and Asda and it never worked then when the market was bouncing let alone try it on this dire market. When will they learn that this is a 'people' business and not internet shopping - what next - bogof!
This seems to be a smack in the face to all their current offices and employees that work their socks off to achieve what the company needs. What they are saying is that they don't need their brands of estate agents....... where does that leave ALL employees.......OUT ON THEIR BACKSIDES LOOKING FOR NEW JOBS!!!!!!!!!!
Will Tesco put Isold/Spicer
mini-branches in store? This gives them face to face contact with millions of people a week. No rent to the person who is in store, free parking in a convenient location. Theh have got to go NSNF to get people to list. Enquiries will go back to person in store, (which they will track). If they keep costs low and break even for a year on sales, they will still have back end products to sell. So they could be a threat.
The thing agents have is getting a higher price for an owner by having a list of ready buyers i.e. bidding pushes up prices so make the most of your list in marketing to sellers. Show them a visual. Secondly selling a house fast means you save someone two months of their lives - it's worth the money. But you really have to demonstrate it. And also, what about having a USP that kills Tesco argument on price? "Sell Your Home In Ten Weeks Or Less With Us Or It's Free". By the way I registered i-sold.net. Let me know if you want it pointing to your website ;-) Can't wait for the Tesco police...I mean marketing people he he to knock on my virtual door.
PS, Are there any agents set up in Sainsbury's/Asdas around the country?
Agent in Bristol, live in Bristol. isold just valued my house online 200k below market value. Might be time for them to visit me formally!!
All "proper" agents should exit from Rightmove now as a protest. The web is killing the footfall in your office and reducing the opportunity to talk to prospective clients.
We might be cynical of Tesco/Spicerhaart but be wary - we said that Japanese motor bikes and mobile phones would never catch on!!!
Hmmm This will hurt some agents in the short term. Tesco have a good branding and agents a poor standing (although mostly unfair). The penny pinching vendor may find after time that this dot.com is just another failure if it fails to deliver and it will, it has a fundamental flaw which I suspect is why Tesco pulled out last time. Without the Spicerharrt involvment this venture may not have got off the ground. Happy days for agents near Spicerharrt, you can now tell their vendors that they are openly saying agents are naff. Oh dear they've gone and shot themselves in the foot and it's payback time for many?
Ladies and gentlemen - for those who give a shizzle, please note that the 'PeeBee' who is posting offending matter on this website has no association with myself. I have been posting here for over a year using this name and this name only - and I have no plans to change because someone thinks they are clever. Methinks one of my earlier posts has p!$$ed someone enough to present themselves in this way (entirely possible - some folk simply don't like the truth...). Such is life - but remember, you are not hurting me with your juvenile rantings; just others that they are targeted at... and your actions could land you in court!
I'm currentley a Spicer employee and having just heard the news and read the comments i have to say that i'm puzzeled by this development! Am i going to be out of a job in the near future?? and this does feel like a smack in the face in regards to the clear vote of no confidence the key people have in their branches and EMPLOYEES!!!!!
Posted earlier; "None of you get it do you??? Do you know what...I can't even be bothered"
WHAT don't we get?
...and yet again, the comparison figures are weighted with an above-average house value, and an above-average percentage.....
I think it's a great idea, when I sell my 300K home what am I going to pay, a high street agent 6K at 2% or less than £1000 to a company that is going to sell it online, lets face it, who starts searching for property but marching up and down the high street these days anyway! Everyone goes online!
Everyone is tagging their product with an 'i' prefix....
iSick of it.
I've got iPhobia.
Who will be conducting viewings and progressing the sale, will this be done by the vendors directly or by isold?And how will they be rolling this out across the country, will they have centres based in major citys and towns or franchising it out? Is this a completely seperate entity from the spicer brand as if not then how can they possibly justify taking an instruction for £999 through isold and losing the same instruction through the spicer brand at £8K, it really does not make any financial sense tome unless there long term plan is to close down the spicer part of the business!!
This will be a threat to some EA's but not all. However I am surprised that rightmove and others have jumped into bed with them after the last Tesco fiasco. If more EA's go to the wall, will the revenue from Tesco be enough to replace RM lost fees? Does anyoe know what RM are charging them to list? Would be interesting to hear what existing Spicer agents think.
Good luck to Tesco I say, may their new initiative prosper as their tunnel did in my fair town, where only a fortuitous five minutes avoided 300 deaths under thousands of tons of their concrete and fill.
Agents' advertising of their own stock on RM will bring visitors to Tesco's listings. Never was there a better time to drop RM and only list on PropertyLive - even the mighty OFT can't be pressurised to let them into the NAEA - can they?
Have a good day - Big T
(or maybe just for today
- Big Brother!).
If the fee's they quote are upfront then agents have nothing to worry about, I very much doubt anybody would pay over a £1000 just to get the house on a website, and I doubt the majority of the UK will either.
Like I said earlier, maybe killing the business is their plan.
PeeBee, you gonna get your IP address banned.
It’s dangerous to rubbish the Tesco’s machine, they've pretty much managed to wipe out high street butchers, electrical outlets & toy stores, this time they may be on to something...it's a shame the OFT seem to have been bought by Tesco's & Spicer, and what does this say about Spicerhaart who seem to be content to rubbish estate agents in this statement but at the same time have their own agency network, and rely on agents across the country to sell their corporate stock...
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Is this what it felt like to be a butcher, grocer, newsagents in the 80's when tesco killed our towns.
Well done spicer, i jope you have created a monster that kills your own business you muppets.
If I were tescos I would have launched under the tescos banner in association with SH not the other way round. The major selling point to Joe Bloggs is the tescos name. Whats not clear is whether the fees are upfront or NSNF ? IF they are upfront this is too much, people wont pay a grand out on a possibility they may sell. If its NSNF then god they need to shift some units to make some money, not well thought out atall. lastly I put a Bristol postcode into their valuation request and it tells me they havent launched yet. You would think with the coverage they are going to get from today it would already be taking leads ??
None of you get it do you??? Do you know what...I can't even be bothered
Come on guy's...there's nothing to worry about here. We have seen this a thousand times before. Looks good on paper, will instruct a few properties then disappear like all the others in the past. Humans still thrive on Human contact...who the hell can the public shout at when things go wrong??
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Ha Ha Ha Every Little Helps... If I got a 1k fee for selling a house then i wouldn't get out of bed. VERY TRUE. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR ! ! !
This is like the dotcom bubble all over again. I give them 18 months max. The only time you should be worried about a competitor is when they charge more than you. Tesco's management are well respected, but this is a massive error on their part. They should stick to what they know, flogging me donuts and tasty sandwiches.
If they are prepared to take such a low fee, the business model must be attempt the recoup through insurance sales. Or is this the prelude to SHgroup pulling the rest of their branches off the high street. Around here (North London) they have already closed (and sold) two of their local three branches. Start preparing those CVs...
rightmove gets slagged for listing anything close toa private sale, this is potentially a massive threat to all, Tescos are not rubbish like Spicer Haart, don't gloat, I agree they have attacked themselves but this could be a bigger play.
Astonishing that Spicerhaart says that estate agency has been poor until now - seems odd to rubbish your own businesses and staff.
you get what you pay for when it comes to personal service
It just shows how confident spicerhaart are in their own branches!! If the public still falls for gimmicks such as "advanced technology" then god help us all!!! Bring on the internet agent vs high street agent argument!