Online estate agencies have taken the UK by storm. More and more home owners are taking advantage of the services and packages now available to those not interested in traditional estate agents’ approach.”
Most of online agencies like Purple Bricks will certainly give you value for your money by evaluating your house and place a board outside when instructed. Additionally, they will register your home on popular property portals and enable you to manage your sale via an online hub. And when people’s interest is piqued, the agency will help you with viewings, sales negotiation and legal work. Most online agencies will also offer additional packages that you can purchase such as accompanied viewings and energy performance certificates for the new owners.
While these offerings are great for some, for others they just increase the stress of an already difficult period. The idea of having to manage the sale amongst everything else is many customers’ worst nightmare. And they aren’t alone in being sceptical about online estate agencies; established traditional estate agents have also expressed their dismay at the online process insisting that it is far from professional and potentially shouldn’t operate at all.
With a big increase in fixed rate agents, should estate-agency franchisees be worried about the online model?” Well, it depends on who you ask.
For instance, if you look at research carried out by GetAgent.co.uk, the estate-agent-comparison website, they found that on average, the four leading brands only sold 53.5% of properties on their books. On the other hand, the HomeOwners’ Alliance, the organisation supporting British homeowners, says estate agents on the high street sell more than 84% of homes nationwide. This has been accredited to those online sellers that haven’t found a buyer, then instructing a traditional agent to finally sell their home. In other words, there is definitely still a place for the traditional agent in the UK.
However, that doesn’t mean that online agencies can’t prove useful for franchises. At its core, online agency is a fixed rate service in which agents need to check off certain tasks to get the property on the market. Put simply, you book and complete the valuation, create the advert and list vendors home. This simpler and faster process surely makes online estate agency an exciting prospect to those looking to join the property industry or indeed for property professionals looking to start their own business.
Current online estate agencies have local property experts conduct valuations on the company’s behalf. These experts are self-employed estate agents, earning money when they complete a valuation, secure a listing or perform any number of ancillary tasks at an extra fee. Given that being an online-estate agent can prove a great avenue for self-employment, it makes sense for franchises to take advantage of the new technology. 
