Here is a follow-up from guest blogger and Property Expert Ed Mead to his recent blog, “The Future of Estate Agency?”
It’s important stuff so enjoy the read; Ed…..
A few weeks ago I talked about how unless agents had a direct low fee fixed fee offering they were going to be denying themselves access to a chunk of the market in the future. Whatever you think about how to sell your home untold millions spent on TV by low fixed fee agents have opened the public’s eyes to the possibilities.
I’m happy to say that the good folk at Coreco have organised a Podcast, coming soon, to talk about this very subject and I’m pleased they are taking it seriously.
Word reached us this week that one of the largest is preparing to take a radical step. Something not yet practiced in that sector and a rarity in the industry full stop – indeed in any industry. They are allegedly preparing to put prices UP. Good heavens…..but it is something that will have to happen if they’re going to survive – online agents I mean.
Everyone is getting familiar with the gravity defying feats of large online tech companies, i.e. their amazing ability to lose huge sums whilst increasing their share price. Uber and Amazon spring to mind but they have the might of corporate America behind them buying the market. Everyone knows that travelling by Uber is great whilst the price is artificially low – but I say don’t get used to it. Just because it feels good to pay half a black cab fare to get from Sloane Square to Clapham Common, would it feel the same if it was only a few pence cheaper?
Similarly my instinct is that backing online agents is getting tiring. There are so many of them and they will only make sustainable profits if they put their prices up. If they do that they’ll be charging not far off standard high street stores.
So what to do and what do I think…..well have a listen to the podcast and hopefully you’ll be a tiny bit the wiser.