onthemarket.com

[hornetrider]

So it seems Savills, Strutt & Knight Frank etc are trying to kill off competition to their cosy little profitable club of house selling?

http://hoa.org.uk/2014/12/agentsmutualissues/

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/a...

In short, if you're a member of 'Agents Mutual' and using onthemarket then you are not allowed to list on one of either rightmove or zoopla. No 'online agent' listings allowed on onthemarket. Also, they are getting agents to delay properties appearing on other portals before onthemarket.

Lovely.

[crankedup]

Certainly it smells like one for the Competitions Authorities to have a look at. Seems to me that this scheme go's against all the principles of open competition.

[mcflurry]

When looking at houses, the vast majority of English and Welsh buyers look at Rightmove and Zoopla first. Why would a buyer look at a new site, unless it offers something new?

[Croutons]

Their logo is st too, I thought "is the RAF so hard up its now trying to flog discounted off plan tat?"

[DeltaTango]

The main reason behind this is the exponential increases in charges to agents from the two main portals.

[Renovation]

DeltaTango said:

The main reason behind this is the exponential increases in charges to agents from the two main portals.

Is it ?

Or is it that the "High Street" Agents are trying to stop the Online Agents by killing off the two major sites that accept them.

I tried to sell a house myself 15yrs ago and found I couldn't advertise in the local property papers.

The vast majority of Agents are a hurdle rather than a help IMO, their fees are ridiculous for the work they do and offices aren't required in this internet age.

I hope it fails but I suspect it won't.

[Little Lofty]

This kicks off tomorrow I believe. Most of my local agents and the one I regularly use have signed up to this. I'll be putting a house up for sale in the next week or two, its going to be interesting to see how it pans out.

[mcflurry]

DeltaTango said:

The main reason behind this is the exponential increases in charges to agents from the two main portals.

Why does the end user care?
The agent is being paid, and the vendor wants to see their house on Rightmove.

[DeltaTango]

I don't work in a marketplace where online agencies can thrive. The increased price a quality agent achieves far outstrips their fee. If you're selling a house on a street of identical, homes, surrounded by streets of identical homes then I can start to see why they might be used. But the areas in which most people wish to live aren't like that.

Agents work for the seller, not the buyer. The quality of leads from the main portals has been decreasing steadily. Onthemarket is a more user-friendly site than others (take a look if you haven't already), and isn't sullied by ads everywhere.

You have to look at who the major shareholders of zoopla etc are before judging.

[V8RX7]

DeltaTango said:

The increased price a quality agent achieves far outstrips their fee.

If you're selling a house on a street of identical, homes, surrounded by streets of identical homes then I can start to see why they might be used. But the areas in which most people wish to live aren't like that.

Agents work for the seller, not the buyer. The quality of leads from the main portals has been decreasing steadily. Onthemarket is a more user-friendly site than others (take a look if you haven't already), and isn't sullied by ads everywhere.

I've recently sold two homes £375k and £535k (good properties in the Midlands) both found buyers via Rightmove.

The Agents encouraged me to accept the first offer in both cases (which I refused) Agents IMO just want a fee and rarely earn a penny.

They then tell you that their work starts when an offers accepted - IME they don't do anything except add a further layer of incompetence - I talk to the buyers directly - the current one is calling me tonight to sort out their Solicitor's incompetence.

[The Tea Boy]

Well we have only just found out about on the market, because we went onto zoopla to find our house isnt listed on there anymore!

It seems that the agents aren't even telling their clients! I've spoken to alot of people who don't know about the site or that are selling houses and didn't know about the move.

Can't understand why this isn't being marketed and advertised more?

Plus looks like the logos etc were done in a primary school

Matt

[JQ]

Renovation said:

Is it ?

Or is it that the "High Street" Agents are trying to stop the Online Agents by killing off the two major sites that accept them.

I tried to sell a house myself 15yrs ago and found I couldn't advertise in the local property papers.

The vast majority of Agents are a hurdle rather than a help IMO, their fees are ridiculous for the work they do and offices aren't required in this internet age.

I hope it fails but I suspect it won't.

Rightmove and Zoopla aren't internet agents, they were created by the 4 largest high street estate agents for the benefit of high street agents.

[DeltaTango]

V8RX7 said:

DeltaTango said:

The increased price a quality agent achieves far outstrips their fee.

If you're selling a house on a street of identical, homes, surrounded by streets of identical homes then I can start to see why they might be used. But the areas in which most people wish to live aren't like that.

Agents work for the seller, not the buyer. The quality of leads from the main portals has been decreasing steadily. Onthemarket is a more user-friendly site than others (take a look if you haven't already), and isn't sullied by ads everywhere.

I've recently sold two homes £375k and £535k (good properties in the Midlands) both found buyers via Rightmove.

The Agents encouraged me to accept the first offer in both cases (which I refused) Agents IMO just want a fee and rarely earn a penny.

They then tell you that their work starts when an offers accepted - IME they don't do anything except add a further layer of incompetence - I talk to the buyers directly - the current one is calling me tonight to sort out their Solicitor's incompetence.

Can't disagree with you. Those aren't the actions of a good agent worth a decent fee.

It is of course unfair to suggest that all agents are just after a fast buck as those of who take our clients business seriously are more than worth the money, but it's hard to convince those who have only had bad experiences.

[V8RX7]

JQ said:

Rightmove and Zoopla aren't internet agents, they were created by the 4 largest high street estate agents for the benefit of high street agents.

No but both sites allow Internet Only Agents to advertise on them.