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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

New agency charges buyers not sellers, through reservation fees

A property developer has set up an estate agency that charges no commission to sellers but instead levies a non-refundable reservation fee on buyers, on top of the purchase cost of the property

Rezee works like this.

A prospective buyer can use the Rezee website to get an automated valuation of their property. 

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“Within an hour, we can market your property to our exclusive network of vetted buyers looking for properties in your area. We’ll also list your home on leading property platforms like Rightmove and Zoopla” says the new agency.

It continues: “We charge the buyer a non refundable reservation fee to buy your home. This is on top of the agreed sales price to ensure their commitment to the sale … Once the offer is agreed then we set out realistic timeframes that work for all types of buyers. This can be anything from seven days for cash buyers and investors through to 60 days for first-time mortgage buyers.”

The Rezee website is sharply critical of existing agency models saying: “We believe the industry has needed a shake up for quite some time. With over 20-plus years of combined director experience in the property industry, we’ve seen first-hand both the positive and negatives of the current selling systems. We’ve taken the best bits and got rid of the bad bits to create a completely new way of selling your home — Rezee.”

It says the aim is to avoid the “ever increasing number of sales falling through” giving vendors “peace of mind” and allowing them to focus on their next move.

The model, operating in the East Yorkshire area, has been created by George Beercock and business partner Fran Bradley.

Beercock tells Business Live that: “Selling a house can be an extremely stressful experience and when you take into account that one third of house sales fall through, sometimes just days before completion, then it is clear that the traditional model is in need of a revamp.

“In the aftermath of the recent lockdown and with people facing financial constraints, we know that now more than ever sellers are looking for genuine commitment and certainty that the sale will proceed without costly delays and the even costlier implications of a sale collapsing.

“The industry has been in need of a shake up for many years and the current post-lockdown climate has accelerated the need for this new approach. We genuinely believe that this model could completely revolutionise the way that people in the region buy and sell houses. 

“Placing the onus on the buyer to provide a genuine commitment to the sale, significantly reduces the risk to the seller. Whilst working to a fixed timeframe reduces any uncertainty on completion dates for all parties and ensures that the process doesn’t drag.”

You can see the Rezee website here.

  • Stephen Hayter

    Exactly who is your client - the seller or the buyer? It can’t be both.

  • Simon Shinerock

    I originated the buyer pays the fee model in 2008 and have used and refined it ever since, just sayin

    Graham Davidson

    I can verify this. It was so good that I copied it 😜

     
    Mark Walmsley

    Ain’t no idea a new idea

     
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    We do it too sell for free it works sometimes you just need to make your vendor know you really are working for the buyer not them, just providing them a way to sell for free.

  • Bryan Mansell

    Good luck to all these differing models trying to find new ways of differentiating

  • Richard Rawlings

    Buyer representation is the biggest untapped opportunity in British estate agency. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye and it is at its best when properly integrated within regular estate agency. Happy to have a chat about this if you need a hand. Have a great day.

  • Richard Rawlings

    And there is NEVER a conflict of interest!

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    This is not a NEW agency as stated in the headline.

  • Graham Davidson

    In my experience, just as many cancellations are caused by vendors withdrawing as buyers so shouldn’t you actually take a fee from both! Where is the seller commitment in this model?

  • Richard Copus

    I agree there is not usually (but not never) a conflict of interest, Richard but the seller needs to know that the agent's primary duty of care is to the buyer and not him, because it is the buyer who is paying him.

    Also, the buyer has just as many financial commitments as does the seller so he will be paying less for the property than he would otherwise do. Under the new TPOS Code of Conduct agents are meant to make this clear to sellers when buyers are paying reservation fees and buyer's premiums, but the evidence is that most are not.

    The test has to be what we would do as buyers, and I for one would make damn sure that I paid a lot less for a property than I would otherwise do if I had 2 sets of fees amounting to tens of thousands of pounds or if the house was competing with others where no buyer's premium was payable.

    Anything to shake up the current conventional system has to be welcome, but these ideas are open to misuse and there will be increasing complaints about the agents using them, particularly from vendors who feel they have been misinformed and short changed.

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    See a conflict of interest plus why would a buyer pay a fee when no guarantee that the finance will be available /property will value up. Solution to fall throughs is to speed up process with search packs prepared etc

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    Just curious as to how accurate the online valuation tool is and who is liable if the property is sold say £50,000 under its real open market value...?

  • Mark Walmsley

    How complicated does everyone want to make it. I want to buy a house. You want to sell a house. How much do you want To pay for that house and how much do you want to sell it? Deal or no deal and on we go....sorry😂

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