For anyone looking to sell a home worth £250,000, the average estate agent fees of around 1.5% plus VAT means the seller will have to fork out £4,500 for their service. Obviously, the more expensive the property, particularly in London, then the higher the estate agent’s fees will be.
While many estate agents work hard for their money, there's a growing belief that people can sell their property more effectively and more cheaply if they do it themselves and with many affordable online estate agents offering selling fees of less than £1000, it's obvious why this new route is proving popular.
One important reason for finding and then using the best online estate agent for your needs is to get onto the major property portals. Seeing as 90% of buyers and tenants start their property search online, advertising on these powerful portals is a great way to boost exposure for your property. Online estate agents can give you access to Rightmove, Zoopla and other large property websites for a low cost, fixed fee - saving you thousands in traditional commission.
Another big attraction for using online estate agents is that they work around the clock and not simply in office hours and this is one reason why Purplebricks is now the fastest growing operator. They say that more than 70% of its business is conducted outside of working hours and a helpline enables customers to not only arrange a viewing but also submit offers, negotiate and agree to a sale.
Launched in 2009 eMoov is one of the best known and most established online estate agents. They won the accolade of the UK’s best online estate agent in 2014, 2015 and again in 2016, as rated by reviews on AllAgents.co.uk, the country’s largest estate agency review website.
Then, in September 2016, they were crowned overall Best UK Estate Agent out of 25,800 competitor branches. Again, by real customers.
They also have a higher TrustPilot rating than many of their competitors, with an average rating of 9.6 out of 10 (October 2016).
To date, eMoov have sold properties across the whole of the UK with a total value of over £1.5bn. eMoov have also saved their customers around £30m in fees compared to high street commissions. They remain one of the two biggest companies in the online agency sector and have a significant press following, being regularly quoted as property experts in the Daily Telegraph, The Times, Financial Times, Evening Standard and on the BBC, LBC, Talk Radio, Share Radio etc.
Finally, competitive fees and a great technology platform allow customers 24/7 access to their listings and transactions.
The easy way to sell
No commission, just a low fixed fee combined with agents who have a motivation to sell your property.
Pay an upfront fee of £295 and then a completion fee of £595, only on moving. If you don’t sell your home, you don’t pay the completion fee. It’s that easy. .
Our network of more than 400 local property professionals spans England and Wales, meaning we have agents on your doorstep, ready to help you move
Our 24/7 dashboard gives you control. Buyers book viewings anytime online and you can see and respond to offers on your dashboard, whenever and wherever you are.
Our easy team is ready to help you seven days a week. Just call 0333 005 0555
Free, no obligation valuation from your local property professional - Book your free professional valuation with one of easyPropertys’ local experts today!
Settled allows you to be in the driving seat of your home sale for just £499. Set-up by its ex-Google founders, and unlike many other agents, they believe the best person to be at the heart of home sale is you, rather than a middleman. Easy to use technology is at the heart of Settled, allowing you to manage every aspect of your home sale 24/7 through their app.
They also support you over the phone from listing to completion, have sold over £500m worth of homes and achieved a 9.4 Trust Pilot rating.
This modern approach to selling has ensured over 98% of homes sold achieve asking price, the average time to the first offer is 17 days and due to the personal connection between buyers and sellers, you're home sale is 25% more likely to get to completion.
Sellmyhome was founded in 2013 by Chartered Surveyor, Will Clark, and their dedication to delivering for their customers has led to them being the best rated Online Estate Agent in the UK. They're rated 9.8 out of 10 on TrustPilot and have lots of passionate reviews from their customers.
- They achieve 98% asking price, which is the highest in the industry.
- Their in-house agents are all professionally trained and qualified, and they don’t operate call centres.
- All clients receive a dedicated account manager - there will always be someone there to assist you.
- Their buyer management team screen and vet all potential buyers, so you have nothing to worry about.
Sellmyhome has won multiple national awards for their innovation in business and excellent customer service.
Having launched in the late months of 2016, Doorsteps.co.uk has already become the best-valued estate agents as well as one of the largest in the UK. They are currently and already rated in the top 5 Estate Agents on well-known review platform Trustpilot (9.7 rating in Feb 2018). Offering 2 packages from as little as £99 with no commission on the sale of the property, Doorsteps.co.uk offers full agency services with their own national team of local property experts.
- Properties are listed until they are sold.
- A Property Account Manager comes as a default in both packages.
- They upload homes within 24 hours and operate 24/7.
- An average offer time of 31 days and an average 99% of asking price achieved.
Having sold over a quarter of a billion worth of property already, sellers have saved over £2million in fees in 12 months. With award winning, first class customer service coming as a standard and their fees at only a snippet compared to their competitors, Doorsteps.co.uk are becoming the people’s choice of estate agents.
Started in 2012, Esale is one of the more established online estate agents.
They claim to offer the best possible service for the lowest possible price at £595 INC VAT. Esale is one of the few online estate agents to offer a no-sale-no-fee package, costing just £1,195 INC VAT.
Ask Esale to sell your property and you get complete peace of mind. If you are not happy with the service, they will give you your money back. No quibble, no fuss, just a full refund*
A unique money back guarantee
Consistently featured as best rated online estate agent in the country
A multi-award winning estate agency service
£595 includes everything from professional photos and floor plans to sales progression through to completion.
You can visit the Esale website to get a personalised property valuation by email.
Or give them a call free on 0800 025 3451 to discuss the sale of your property.
*Terms and conditions apply, see website for full details
YOPA started in April 2014 and launched nationwide in January 2016 with a national TV advertising campaign. YOPA sell your home for a fixed fee of £839, and unlike many other online agents, assign you a dedicated local expert agent to guide you through the sales process. Your local expert agent will provide a professional, face-to-face valuation, take professional photographs, create a detailed floor plan, and offer help with sales progression to ensure you achieve the best price.
You will be able to manage buyer enquiries, viewing requests and offers around the clock on your dedicated online dashboard. YOPA also offer different payment options, so you can either pay the entire fee up-front, or defer your payment for 10 months at no extra cost - which may be beneficial for people with a tight cash flow.
Key Stats - The Average YOPA Customer...
- Saves over £3,000
- Finds a buyer in under 30 days
- Gets over 98% of their asking price
- Rates YOPA 9.5 out of 10 on Trust Pilot
TheHouseShop.com have partnered with YOPA to offer Free Professional Valuations to all our users. Book your free valuation from an experienced local property expert today!
Griffin Residential was established in 2000 as a High Street agent and went online in 2015. Having looked at different online offerings, they decided to enter the market place with one of the most cost-effective home selling packages.
Griffin Residential provides excellent value access to the major property portals, with a basic DIY listing from just £225. Depending on the client's requirements, various add-ons are available, from a For Sale board, to a full estate agency service (not including viewings). They also offer a variety of payment models and packages, including a no-sale-no-fee option.
When you sign up with Griffin Residential, your property is listed on Rightmove, Zoopla, Prime Location and over 200 other property sites for maximum exposure - reaching millions of buyers in as little as 30 minutes.
Sellers never miss an enquiry using the unique messaging system on their website and all enquiries are backed up by text and email notifications to make sure you never miss an enquiry - no matter where you are!
House Simple has been voted 'Online estate agent of the year' and offers a fixed fee service of £495 or a no sale, no fee service of £995. The firm says that unlike other online estate agents, clients will only pay when they sell. In addition to the leading property portals, House Simple also advertises on more than 500 property websites around the UK.
Purplebricks advertises extensively on TV and is one of the best known online estate agents with a network of local property experts to help value and market the property effectively. Fees start at £798 or in Greater London it's £1,158. Purplebricks claim they are the world's first 24/7 online estate agent.
The number of online estate agents has grown hugely over the past 5 years and there are now a broad selection of online-only or hybrid estate agents to choose from. Different online agents offer different levels of service and you should think carefully about how much of the work you want to do yourself, and how much you want your agent to take care of for you. Cheap online estate agents tend to offer a more DIY service where the seller or landlord does the vast majority of the work. Higher-end online agents tend to use the "hybrid" model where they combine elements of the traditional High Street agent service with elements of an online-only service. Hybrid agents like Purplebricks are usually more expensive, but they will offer Local Property Experts/Gurus who will come and value the property, take photographs, write a description and help guide the seller through the sales process from start to finish.
There's no doubt that the trend for using online estate agents will continue and the chief executive of the Home Owners' Alliance, Paula Higgins, said: “Online estate agents will become more popular and are becoming mainstream. Using an online estate agent is not a DIY service, since you do not have to take photographs, value your home or even write sales information as this is done for you.”
She says that High Street estate agents should be more transparent about their charges and help instil trust in the process. With rising property prices, traditional estate agents fees will continue to grow too - making the online agent offering even more attractive to cost-conscious homeowners.
