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estate Agents

Estate agents must adapt or die

By Linton Chiswick | 00:01:00 | 21 May 2008

Brightsale’s Andy Etches tells me that listings on his website have risen 25% a month since February and that viewing levels are higher than in August 2007.

He believes that vendors who would have used Brightsale alongside a traditional agent last year are happier to use the website alone, and even more people are considering adding Brightsale’s services to their high street representation. With low overheads built into the business plan, the company’s well positioned to deal with the current downturn.

Spicerhaart’s Paul Smith clearly read Brightsale’s comments about branch closures as mischief making, but high street estate agents under pressure might take a close look at the online model. The technology’s not only proven, it’s a damn site easier and cheaper to find than the marketing and negotiation skills they already possess.

Etches calls the model ‘estate agency 2.0’ and predicts that in years to come it’s the way all estate agents will work.

After all (see the Spicerhaart-Tesco Property Market buyout), stranger things have happened.

Linton Chiswick is the proprietor of the Rat and Mouse, (http://theratandmouse.co.uk),Britain’s leading blog about residential property.

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“The early signs are that some agents have been walking away from the industry, others have been told to hang up their car keys and go”

Comments (5)

Barny Perraton - why do they have to adapt?

08:59 | 21 May 2008

Surely they can simply all die?

After years of earning money for doing at best not much and more usually nothing at all, suddenly their amateurish, unregulated, unprofessional and greedy business model is unwinding.

Will the world miss a few geezers in polyester suits, bad shoes and fake Rolexes giving a bad name to Minis?

Not one bit.

Phil Castle - Barry

17:04 | 21 May 2008

Say what you think!

Chard Estate Agents - Online Pressures

13:46 | 14 Jul 2008

From our point-of-view estate agents must embrace the online world and have it as a central element of their marketing strategy.

Relying on any one form of marketing to deliver clients is a dangerous game.

If Linton's figures are correct, 90% of property searches begin online, then you don't need any more incentive to build online in.

But then you need to understand that "online" is a very big place. You've got aggregators, ppc, seo, social media, there's a lot to understand.

Neville Swales

19:45 | 16 Nov 2008

(I have to start this comment by declaring an interest - I am Director of Crucial Solution Ltd - the company behind the site MyHomeForYours.co.uk. The website is completely independent from Estate Agents/Developers and welcomes listings from private individuals, Agents and developers alike - even if they insist on sporting fake Rolexes!)

As our new site approaches its full national launch, I have been heartened by the number of forward-thinking Agents who are prepared to explore new avenues in their quest for revenue and survival. These are the Agents who I believe will be the ones who "come out of this recession in a lot better shape".

Sadly, there remains a hard-core of Agents not prepared to embrace the opportunities presenting themselves in the current changing market. Agents are a much-maligned group and have suffered bad press in the past. It saddens me to see new websites (PartExMyHome.com PropertyLive.co.uk etc) reinforcing the "old" paradigm of "closing ranks" and limiting access to Agents only. This can do no good for their public image in the future as increasing numbers of sophisticated buyers turn to the web in their search for that "ideal home".

My honest opinion is that Agents are, in gereral, a vital and very hardworking group of individuals and my hope is that they will begin to put these historic "protectionist" business models behind them and fully embrace the opportunities now presenting themselves. If they want to justify their hard-earned commissions, they need to show us they are prepared to "put themselves about" more and not deny their clients the opportunities of selling their homes using all the resources available to them - simply because of a paranoia around commissions.

Thank you Linton for an intelligent article.

Ben Brain - In response to Neville Swales

16:37 | 11 Feb 2009

In response to your comment about PartExMyHome.com, I would like to state the following:

There are two major reasons as to why we do not allow private sellers to register on the site.

1) We are in support of keeping agents alive and providing them with genuine and speicifc leads. Encouraging private sellers onto home swap sites means that agents have no idea of who is contacting their vendors and agents can be competely cut out of the picture. A concurrent theme throughout PartExMyHome.com is that the agent stays in control of the whole process. The vendors are never contacted, only the agent.

2) Properties can only be registered by agents which means that all the information displayed on the site has been added by a professional who is very experienced in what they are doing. Therefore, any users of the site can be sure that they are being provided with accurate information from people that are already on the market and do want to home swap.

By allowing private sellers onto Home Swap websites, you are encouraging the general public to bypass agents as a whole. If they can register privately and sell their home, why would they choose to instruct an estate agent? I suggest that you think carefully about the concepts behind your own site before you criticise your competition.

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