Is ‘Online’ The Way Forward For Selling & Letting Property?

There has been a lot of speculation recently regarding the future for High Street Estate Agents and Lettings Agents. 

There have been reports that Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has set his sights on shaking up the rental property market, with the launch of a new company, EasyProperty. The belief is that he will then move onto online estate agency. The Greek-Cypriot billionaire, who founded the airline Easyjet in 1995, is in the launch stages of the new venture, which will certainly cause some disruption to the UK rental property market when it is fully launchd. However will it really be able to provide anything like the service that the High Street agents are able to offer, or the valuable local knowledge? 

Everybody likes to grumble about letting agents but online providers are not able to offer many of the services that the High Street agent is able to provide. Right from the valuation stage where the agent will be armed with valuable local knowledge and therefore be able to achieve the best possible price for the property. The local agent will very often have a number of potential viewers lined up too.  Accompanied viewings where the agent really gets to know the prospective buyer or tenant, and will be able to match them to any new property that is listed are also a valuable service that will not be offered online.

Using an estate agent also puts any negotiations on a more professional footing and can help to secure a higher price, which could more than justify their fees.  They will also carry out checks on potential buyers/rental applicants, to make sure they are in a position to complete.  Finally, when things go wrong in a chain, it is the knowledge and experience of the local agent that will look to find a way to solve any problems which invariably occur.  After all, research confirms that moving home is one of the most stressful situations after divorce and death. I am not sure that an online agent will be able to do much to reduce the stress during the period leading up to completion when most vendors prefer to be guided through the process.  Often the survey will result in some areas of concern and it is up to the estate agent to advise on whether the issues raised are serious or not.

So is it a case of you get what you pay for?

I think so, and if you are confident that you can deal with the many aspects of selling/renting that may occur then you will certainly be able to save on fees. But, do you really save in long run?