Wow Property, the estate agents that promised to revolutionise the way houses are sold and bought, has gone into administration.
Wow offered a fixed fee of £999, irrespective of the value of the property. It launched in August 2008 with what it said was a workforce of 200 agents all over the country. It planned up to 600 by the end of 2009.
Based in Guildford, Surrey, it promised locally-based agents, armed with the local knowledge and experience to undertake valuations and viewings. Each customer was also to be provided with a qualified account hander, proactively managing every aspect of selling the property.
At launch, it declared: “No other nationwide estate agents provides a fully comprehensive marketing service at a fixed fee of £999.”
Gareth Robinson, CEO, said at the time: “Currently over 90% of houses are bought and sold through high street estate agents, but that’s about to change. The current market downturn has accelerated consumer need for a value for money solution. We have developed our business around this exact demand, allowing us to provide a high quality and personal service with the lowest fixed fee on the market.
“UK vendors are dissatisfied with the quality of service they receive and are demanding more from their agents. Wow Property has developed its business to provide exactly what these vendors want: a proactive, value for money, full service estate agent that will sell their property for the best price in the fastest time.”
However, it seems the downturn has now claimed Wow.
Telephone callers were yesterday told that the company had entered administration and had needed volume of business to survive.
Although the Wow Property website can still be found, the properties listed appear to be shared equity offerings. Searches for the website itself persistently divert to a website for the Shared Ownership Company.
Comments
Ha Ha!
Try my new site, I pay you £100 and i do everything.... worldwide, I will also pay you 1% if you sell your property. Unbeatable. AGENTS WANTED
Head in Sand- great post that made all others gloating look stupid and they did not spot it! What if a good brand trys that in a good market where we know most agents don't actually sell they take orders...the time will come.
You can hardly call Jane Earl a large nationwide online estate agent!! What about Housenetwork or Hatched?? They offer a huge amount of service, coverage and presentation for very small fees, have been around for 6 and 4 years respectively and haven't gone out of business. The main reason Wow went is that they didn't charge anything up front and started in a time when houses weren't selling. If they had charged up front, then they probably would still be here - that's why Housenetwork & Hatched are still here! It really was as simple as that...
Just to add to my other comment, got this from a nationwide site, are they really classed as estate agents?? They seem to do nothing themselves!
What you do:
You decide on the asking price. There are loads of places to help you with this - the property websites like rightmove for current listings, websites like www.nethouseprices.com that will show you sold prices in your area. We can help with a price comparison guide (available on request) and you can, of course, seek the opinion of local property professionals.
You show people your home.
You bank the huge savings and you do the smiling!
You decide on how to provide the property details i.e. images and room measurements. You can provide them or we can take images and measurements when we visit (by providing images yourself you can ensure external pictures are in sunny conditions - greatly enhancing property marketing details - we cannot guarantee weather for our visit).
I want to know when the BIG portal sites are going to stop taking on these virtal agents who will cover the whole of the UK, take photos, value, Vtour and probably make the beds for £0 and then charge 0.5% commission if they sell the property.
Do those big sites really need the members that badly. Imagine visiting Rightmove only to see 50 or so virtual agents properties because all the agents have fled ship, maybe to WOWMove or someting. WAKE UP you portals!
I actually attended a group interview for WOW, presentation/commissions etc seemed slick, offices not particularly so, on a main road, ex shop next to a petrol station so alarm bells rand! Didnt see how they would get top staff to work commission only... i couldnt and ive been in the industry for over 7 years! Cheaper fees can work but not Cheap and cheerful - you get what you pay for!
Yipee they have failed, so my out of date no sale no fee expensive business model will carry on and I can keep me head in the sand and not change and work for 9 hours! That’s why the public love me. No one is going to buy on that tinternet thing, rightmove they are rubbish.
It looked cheap. maybe that was the reason it collapsed. I lost a vendor to Wow on fees. She came back to me when they took their pictures with an Argos camera and didnt ring her for 3 months. I've nothing against single mums but the idea of basing a business model around single mums based at home is flawed. What happens when the phone rings whilst she is changing little Lewis' nappy. Estate Agency requires discipline and at least 9 hours a day ,sheer hard work and experience to be a success.
"No other nationwide estate agents provides a fully comprehensive marketing service at a fixed fee of £999.”- now they know why.
cheap fees might work in a society that isnt driven by greed and fear, unfortunately vendors are human and humans are greedy - if one agent suggests a value £50K higher than another, but his fees are £5K higher, the vendor will normally instruct that agent then come down £50K after 3months of no interest. Who's fault is it?
The whole concept was flawed and just a lot of chest beating by people who didn't know the industry. Cheap fees never, ever seem to work. We even tried promoting a different and cheaper brand to our established brand a few years ago and we still lost shed loads of money in 18 months.
As always with anything there is always a reason why something is cheap hard work and good service nevers comes at a bargain price.
Wow was always going fail its concept was good the managemnt were not estate agents but city people plyaing with investors money it employed part time mums between job agents and anyone who would work for commission only so only attracted low quality staff
WOW.....nothing new then!
Surprise surprise - the age old relationship between cheap fees and estate agency fails again. When will people realise that to survive in this business you need to charge a sensible fee to generate new business and keep it going, not a cheap fee. Short termism I'm afraid.