With so many estate agents out there competing for your business
, it's hard to know which one to choose and which ones to avoid. There are now not only high street estate agents, but also a growing trend in online estate agents and property portals.
The benefits of online estate agents are that they allow a 'for sale by owner' service which allows property owners to take more control over the sale of their home. Some also offer a commission free estate agent service which means you won't pay the estate agent any extra fees if your property sells. So you may ask yourself how these property portals make money. Usually you will pay a one-off fee to list your property on the website and it will remain on there for as long as you want or until it sells.
Commission free estate agents are obviously a big draw to property buyers and sellers as they can avoid the usually high fees incurred by using the regular high street estate agent. Especially since the property market slump a few years ago and particularly with the current economic uncertainty, people are looking for more cost effective ways of selling and buying property.
This has also been a contributing factor to many estate agents finding themselves out of business and having to wind up. As a result of this, there has been an influx of online commission free estate agents and property portals that have spotted a gap in the market.
Commission free estate agents could be the way forward for the UK property market and could be helping to regain trust in UK estate agents. Not only are these types of property portals likely to be cheaper, but they can also provide a professional estate agent service if you wish. While you may be attracted to selling your property on a property portal because it allows you to take more control over the sale, you may also opt to use the property agents to act on your behalf and to advertise and sell the property for you.
That's the beauty of these commission free property portals, you actually have more choice about how you want to sell your property. This will inevitably attract buyers too, as they want to avoid excessive fees and property portals can make the process much simpler. Not to mention the thousands of properties available to view through the use of online property portals.