A new website that describes itself as an estate agency says it wants to “empower people to sell their own home” and will list their properties on Rightmove for free.
The service - called Free - was set up early in 2020 and its website now appears to be live.
In an article in TechCrunch magazine the website’s creator - Rayhan Rafiq-Omar, a PropTech entrepreneur - says the website will not make money through property listings but by encouraging prospective buyers or the house sellers themselves to purchase mortgage products.
Rafiq-Omar, who previously set up the finance tech company Unmortgage, tells the magazine: “Even thinking of selling your home is painful; there’s just so much friction. And the thought of spending all that money is debilitating.”
He says his website removes “the BS and the fees” and allows vendors to list their property within five minutes via their mobile.
The website is targeting vendors drawn to online agencies - which typically charge hundreds or thousands of pounds - rather than traditional full service agencies.
“We aren’t competing with high street agents — they exist to hold people’s hands, which many people feel they need to sell their home. [But] for those who know their home, its value and the local area better than any ‘local property expert,’ Free gives them a new choice to be in control. Purplebricks is the main/only competition” he tells TechCrunch.
You can see the website here.
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Another reason not to support Rightmove
Awful website.
Sorry chaps I'm selling my properties.
If I can list for FREE with Free on RM then I will do so.
I know any prospective purchaser will use RM............So I will be able to have my listing seen by everyone.
There of course is a debate to be had that EA are more capable of achieving a higher sale price than a vendor doing his own sale process.
It remains to be seen if EA are guaranteed to achieve a higher price than private vendors.
Such an increased price would have to be significantly more than the sales commission EA earn
Personally I remain unconvinced an EA would be able to achieve a higher price than I could achieve once I have discounted any sales commission off the final sale price.
But I will certainly be prepared to listen to what an EA would say about their assessment of an achievable sale price.
But with the amount of market information available to the public effectively for free I'm unsure as to the supposed superiority of EA in being able to achieve a higher price than a vendor doing it himself.
I suppose EA would just wish to be consulted by a vendor to give the EA a chance to market before the vendor went off and did it himself.
I DON'T believe that would be unreasonable for EA to ask to be given a chance to market rather than being immediately bypassed by private free listings on RM with Free
From the outside looking in -
I know the value of my own house.
I am perfectly capable of showing a prospective purchaser around and communicating.
I know what price I will or will not accept.
Having bought and sold many times I know the process so have no issues chasing a sale through.
My house is worth around 900k.
At 1.5% plus VAT - £16,200.
I would have no issue in using it.
Here is the issue and where Rightmove go against their own rules. They say they only allow Estate Agents to advertise BUT surely if all you are doing is letting sellers get visibility on RightMove you are NOT AN ESTATE AGENT?
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