A new national online agent is to launch which will charge £99 on a ‘no-sale, no-fee’ basis. It says it is aiming to be the cheapest estate agent in the country.
BetterMove says it will invoice the fee only when a sale is agreed. Although the site lists optional extras which can be bought, a spokesperson for BetterMove insisted to us that the package will include photos, floor plans, EPCs, sales boards and advertising on the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla.
It also promises to get sellers an offer within eight weeks. It says it can be sure of doing so because of its “massive database of buyers all poised and primed to purchase property like yours”.
According to its website, it has around 15 regional agents and is operating a franchise model, with a choice of a basic franchise at just under £3,000 or a ‘premium’ franchise at just under £7,000.
Lindsey Howarth, who is behind the Leeds-based venture, said: “BetterMove is exactly what the market has been waiting for – a professional property service at an affordable price.
“No one wants to pay to market their property, particularly when there is no guarantee of a sale. With BetterMove you know that you have nothing to pay unless your house is sold, and even then it’s only £99.
“We expect that this will change the way that many estate agents manage the sale of properties for home owners. There is no doubt that some agents charge far too much money to promote the houses that they have for sale, so we are hoping that BetterMove will be the first company to change that.”
The website was visible when EAT wrote this story. However, the BetterMove site is currently no longer accessible
Comments
Huh. first thing I thought when I read this article? they charge on sale agreed and promise an offer. Nowhere does it state that the offer had to be acceptable, qualified or even from an actual purchaser! plus, all they need is a crooked investor to offer on a property and then pull out once the invoice is paid!
Should I be worried that's how my mind works?
Ashford Agent - agreed - but in this instance if the story is to believed, many may end up paying bot all for this "service".
Mores to the point, it is what it could potentially COST them (big difference) that is the worry.
I feel sorry for their potential vendors! You get what you pay for!!!
"There is no doubt that some agents charge far too much money to promote the houses that they have for sale..."
Class line from the elusive Lindsey Howarth.
Thanks for highlighting your utter ignorance of the (mine)field you are entering, wearing hobnail boots and riding a pogostick.
“We expect that this will change the way that many estate agents manage the sale of properties for home owners." Not THIS one, it won't. I like the idea of being able to pay my bills and not going bankrupt, leaving my vendors up sh!t creek, thank you...
Pee Bee quiet right of course, it was dig at the Hatched PR plug!
Who are these people who think they can reinvent the wheel.
A real service costs money...when will you idiot tech companies realise this.
Spend you money developing something for charity if you like working for nothing all the time
'20%'
Do you seriously believe that a company charging ninety nine quid for a property sale will EVER hit the VAT threshold?? ;o)
WHERE HAVE THE LINKS GONE THEN ?????
Come on guys...........whats the reality here ? These people are doing the equivalent of what new traditional agents do when opening up in a new area............O% commission deals !!
Once they have their quota of new listings at the £99 base model watch the fees increase rapidly........hell it works on the 0% commision model........why not here. Its simply a marketing ploy to get the highest number of properties on in the shortest possible time....otherwise they have a website with nothing on...then it'll be £199......£299........£399 ...you get the picture.
Sometimes you just need to "look behind the curtain"..!!
Is that plus VAT?
Hats off to Hatched and eMoov for their comments on the viability of this Agency model.
Budget Agents denouncing a budget Agent - difficult to do - but they did it right.
A huge faux pas by both the company and EAT - proven by the company removing their site due to errors highlighted below, and EAT their own article as a result. Poorly planned and thought out all round. Like their business model I suspect.
An article designed purely as click bait.
Time is precious - c'mon EAT, stop wasting it!
The figures make no sense, like queuing 4 days for an iPhone or Industry Observer it's just bizarre but when the other online guys say its garbage too, I have wonder whats going on. Colour me David Icke but I'm guessing its by design, a loss leader to target and reverse engineer vendors to the online business model, it's genius! Don't take my word for it, I see dead people, but if it generates this much interest here think about what it'll do in the wild. I've just raised my fees to counter because it's a battle for the minds of the vendor and if I have to mess with it then so be it. I cant afford to waste another minute reading Trevor Mealham INEA and I cant think that far ahead anyway and neither should you!
The impending death of this company is only going to be matched by EAT if the only articles hitting my inbox are of this nature. Getting sick of it.
Photos, EPC's and floor plans included? They cost me £140 to be done professionally.
Budget property marketeers who show the Rightmove and Zoopla logo on their sites:
MAKEURMOVE Let from £0, marketing from £49 - they show 320 listings (that agents don't have)
CHECK4HOUSES Sell from £499
over 80 listings also show primelocation logo
MYONLINEESTATEAGENT sell from £325
They claim they offer all the services of a Hg St agent but don't charge a comm. Sorry. Im guessing they can't advertise in a main prominent HgSt window.
Many such as MyOnlineestateAgent also claim mass savings: http://www.myonlineestateagent.com/about-us/
which i question. As agents locally working together can ofetn bring more offers to the table and many offers from many agents can achieve a better price.
Id like to see potential false claims of budget agents saying they have saved clients fees, when in fact they might have cost the client a better stc price.
Additionally, why are main portals allowing budgets on board when the bulk of subscribers to portals are traditional models who have to pitch against budget fees.
If you google budget fees, cheap agents fees your find theres many ouit there. Or simply to save googling just have a look at main portals. Their logos will be found mingled in with proper agents for Joe Public to see and call.
EAT only publish this rubbish to get conversation going, the last 7 days stories were YAAWWNNN !
Just go with the flow and have a laff.
It seems they have taken their site down already! I guess the feedback from this forum has been noted and they are quickly changing their price list! School boy error!
EAT this is not news, in fact I don't even know why I am commenting on it...
The link given asks me for a password - what's that all about!
How can you make a guarantee that they will get you an offer. It is simply impossible to make such a claim.
Traditional agents have seen other traditionals reduce fees over the years and create commission wars. Always there has to be a lowest price which isnt healthy.
Now budget models and I won't call them agents will be upset at the ridiculous £99 stack em high model so the budget boys at £199 - 299 etc now have others cutting them up. Their only pitch is we can get you on RM and Z
By the way why are RM and Z letting them on?? Simply it just allows private sellers to market in the places that too many agents hold on too high a pedestal.
Whats next sell for £50 or £25. What then will Bettermove do £15. Crazy game.
Equally by adding other ancilliary services Better move had better hope vendors have correct details, as providing extra services they are responsible forcorrect information on details, else fines stand at £5k
So its amazing. the two biggest sub agents are rightmove and zoopla and they are taking no doubt £100's-£1000 pcm each from a budget agent who'll charge just £99.
So if BetterMove were paying say £2000 pcm to advertise next to real agents adverts. Theyve got to secure 21 listings a month simply to pay the two biggest sub agents in the UK (RM & Z)
Have i been asleep for 7 months - is it 1st April ?!
Why do you continue to publicise negative stories that work against the industry you write on behalf of ?
This is not a new idea either, its another bandwagon jumper who has discovered the internet, well done.
Doomed to fail as all the others will.
The stupidity of the people setting these companies up is only exceeded by the fools who believe the false economy of marketing privately works in the long run. For 90% of people it doesn't.
I'm all for low cost, but this is just not a viable business model i'm afraid. Especially at No Sale, No Fee. If they were charging £99 per month to market a home, that might work. I'm guessing the buyers they have are the same buyers that we all have access too...
We (and I am sure I speak for other online agents) work on incredibly tight margins, and we are a lot more expensive than these guys. They might take a few off us, but then that's the nature of business/competition and someone new coming into the market. There have been many online agents who have come and gone, and there will be many more in the future, including these guys.
It's tempting to try to trump the already low cost online estate agency model with something more compelling and even more 'attractive' to consumers.
But the business model must be viable too. And with Rightmove and Zoopla now charging online agents by way of their geographical pricing model, it means that online agents are effectively paying a cost per property per month of around £15. Consider this along with staff and premises overheads etc and the rate of properties 'unsold' and this '£99 on completion' model simply won't work. It is nowhere near viable.
Ha, word for word the same testimonial as emoov and a stock internet image. Not to mention they haven't even launched yet.
There Pricing page clearly states 'Sell your home for only £99' with a big list of ticks showing everything included yet their Why Us page shows the following:
Optional extras for a fair price including:
Accurate floor plans
Virtual tours – just £71.25 + VAT
Eye-catching ‘For Sale’ boards - £33.75 + VAT
EPCs - £44.25 + VAT
Sponsored listings -
Conveyancing -
Even this article implies you get everything for £99 which is just lazy journalism.
Oh great another cruddy little cheapy estate agent that wont last more than 5 minutes.
Come on EAT is this really news?
If this was a website with the purpose of showing people how not to use photoshop they'd be on to a winner.
Great business model, rights lets see how to overcome that one?
Mr & Mrs vendor, they're rewarded for putting poor sales together as they need several sales to abort and they then are making £99 x abortive sales!
What a joke!
Go on Hatched beat that, makes you very very expensive! After the same sellers..................
Very strange, when you read their web site it all falls apart...the £99 fee does not include the EPC or sale board as these are listed as optional extras (http://bettermove.currentlybrewing.co.uk/how-it-works/) yet their pricing page lists a whole list of items which appear to be included, including solicitors fees and a guaranteed offer within 10 weeks. WOW we might as well shut up shop now. This sounds crazy...my advice, don't release a press release and web link before getting the pricing and facts in order.
Here we go again another agent that the property market has been "waiting for"! The people/person behind this cannot be an estate agent or indeed own a calculator, the numbers do not add up - £99 on a no sale, no fee basis??
I love the strapline as well - "the cheapest agent in the country"....class!
Just pissed myself laughing...really!
What a great business idea, honestly its a joke right??
So they take on some overpriced properties until sold, pay the people to do the brochure, so say -£100, then in a year they sell the property and get their £99 fee, meanwhile they have paid about £150 to the portals to list the property.
So, every property they lose on, what an idea!!!
They must be good if they have a testimonial from a customer even before they have started trading.