Online estate agents are known to be a good alternative to high street agents because they are cheaper yet they offer similar services that include property valuation and marketing as well as making plans for viewings by potential buyers. Interestingly, online estate agents account for other a paltry 5% of the property sales.
Even then, there are numerous other significant differences in the way these two entities work. They include the following:
- Fees – Online estate agents charge a much lower fees compared to the high street agents. Even then, most of them require you to pay them up front regardless of whether they will sell your property or not. Their fee is often set as opposed to being a percentage of the selling price hence there is less incentive for negotiating the best price for your home.
- Communication – While someone will come to take photographs of the property as well as create floor plans, most of the communication will be via phone and email. In some cases, you may be assigned an account manager that you might never meet in person.
- Viewings – The majority of online estate agents will leave you to conduct the viewings unlike high street agents that do it for you.
- Marketing – High street agents will actively take up the role of marketing your property until it sells or the contract ends. While this is true for some online agents, always check to see that the package you have opted for clearly defines it. The majority will offer 12 months as standard even though others offer six months.
- Valuations – although online estate agents may visit your property to do a valuation of your property, they may not be familiar with the area/local market. Keeping in mind that you do not have to use the valuation that is provided by the online agent, you can get high street agents to give you a valuation and compare with the one given by the online agency.
- Vetting buyers – Online estate agents often go for the details of potential buyers that include their names as well as financial details. While is it a good move, it may not necessarily affirm much about the buyer.
Overall, online estate agents play the same role as the high street estate agents even through the latter are more hands on. Even then, both agents are capable of selling your property successfully.