The online world is trying to kill off the estate agent again, ... poor unloved creatures they are.Ever since the early days of the internet ( about 6 years then ) there has been attempts at launching sites that will market residential property at a low commission rate or even with zero .
These have largely all failed, and we are still left with the 'Mr 1 percents' cluttering up our high streets. Estate agents are very much alive and kicking, in fact we have seen an increase in their numbers since the internet launched it predictions of their demise.
Most of the online attempts so far have simply shouted a lot, spent a lot on advertising, and then curled up and died.
Landlords even had their own low cost online property sales site for tenanted property, 'Landlord Trader', who made a valiant effort, but is now dead. RIP
So the estate agents have won then?
Well maybe not, the online community is either a resilient one, or a very stupid one. (the juries out on that)
They have launched their next barrage of attack, and this time it's 'fronted' by a celebrity.
The queen of property development and a 'Beenie Baby' walking factory has launched a new property marketing site that purports to help sellers "maintain 100% control and pay 0% commission when you sell!"
Well good luck to Sarah Beeny and her new venture, Tepilo, which is looking to crack those highly resilient cockroaches, the Estate Agent's.
I will keep a look out for some others that I've noticed recently, but have now forgotten what they were called.
Ah - the wonders of the internet.
There are a number of services in the US that are trying to achieve the same goal. Rid the selling and marketing property process of the 4-5-6, even 7% agents! The best models I've seen are those that offer the same services but a la carte. So, if your wife can stage the home with her friend, and your son can whip up a website (and pertinent web 2-0 stuff with backlinkds) and your brother-in-law can handle the legal side of things the only thing you need help with is perhaps the negotiation itself?
ReplyDeleteBut there'll always be the wise folks who know that they can't do it all themselves without leaving huge gobs of money on the table - and they'll keep the top realtors/estate agents around for another generation. At least!!