to buy, or not to buy
We all realise the massive impact t’internet has had on both our shopping habits in general and on the ‘retail’ high street in particular. Much as I loathe Amazon’s disrespectful and arrogant nature towards its tax liability, I still use it whenever I have to buy another book or CD. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. And when I need something that doesn’t need to be brand new you can bet your bottom dollar that it’s to ebay or Gumtree I go. So, it is with great interest that I notice the ‘next big thing’ on t’internet is setting its sights firmly on the new staple of the high street, the ubiquitous estate agent.
Figures have shown that to secure a £1000 per month flat through your local agent will cost you upwards of £400, whilst the landlord will also have to cough out something in the region of £2500 to ‘find’ that tenant and have the property ‘managed’ for a year. The typical house seller pays around £4000 for each and every sale. Ouch. But things are about to change. 2015 will see the establishing of several internet businesses which intend to shake things up a little. Purplebricks.com has spent £7m to get itself ready and the obviously bright orange easyproperty.com has raised in excess of £10m to fund its assault on the letting market. Emoov, OpenRent and uPad will swiftly follow.
But will the online agents really dislodge the incumbents? Will the clicks outdo the bricks? On a straightforward cost comparison basis, you’d better believe it: selling your pad with Purplebricks will set you back only £798, Emoov £658.50, or to find you a tenant OpenRent will charge you a mere £49 and Stelios will relieve you of £59.99. For tenants, expect a flat fee of twenty quid, with none of the usual admin fees, contract costs or hidden charges. Understandably, the traditional agent is worried and his concern is going to be further compounded when he realises there’s a traitor in his ranks. A traitor in the form of his best two friends, Rightmove and Zoopla.
Up until now, these two bemoths of the internet property shop window have resisted the urge to allow individuals to post their own properties or landlords to advertise their buy-to-lets. And so it will continue for the foreseeable, but crucially, the new kids on the block have gained access to them. Yep, Rightmove and Zoopla, often the first port of call for buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords, are happy for the likes of Purplebricks et al, to come on board. Given this, the writing could well be on the wall for traditional high charging estate agents and the for-sale signs may be in their own windows before too long.
