You can do pretty much anything on the internet these days, and predictably, selling your home is no different at all. There are a variety of companies to choose from, wherever you live and whatever type of property you have. The question though, is whether it’s any better to do things online, or whether you’d be better off going down to your traditional bricks and mortar estate agent.
Cost is always going to be one of the number one considerations you make when you sell your house. Not only do you want to get the most you can for the property, you also don’t want to be spending a fortune on fees, as this will simply eat into your budget for your next home, or the cash you’re looking to raise. Estate agent fees can spiral quite easily, which is why they’re often a deal breaker when choosing which company to go with.
The simple fact is that a normal, physical estate agent is going to cost you more to market your home. The main reason for this is that they’ll have much higher overheads, because they need to maintain an actual business premises; a place for people to come and talk to the agents and view properties. They may also have a website that costs money to run. With an online-only company however, it’s likely that they’ll be able to keep costs down, which is reflected in the fees that they charge you. This won’t be the case for every single company, and there are often different packages to choose from, but it’s generally a pretty good rule of thumb.
One other major reason that can make online agents cheaper is that it is far easier to compare prices for a product online. This means that companies have it tough to compete for your custom – they know that you’ll have scouted out all of your options, and must make their offering as attractive as possible in order to win it. Only the companies offering the best combination of price and service can be successful on the internet.
So if you’re looking to buy or sell in the near future, then take a look at all of the options that are online. It’s certainly a slightly different process to the one you might be used to, but there are several major benefits. If cost is an issue for you then there are few better options.
I am gonna have to give this a try the next time I am buying or selling real estate. I do feel that real estate is one field that is really ready for a new way of selling and buying. I am actually surprised that there hasn’t been any major improvements in that area.
Great article! I tend to avoid agent as much as possible.