Dreamspot Blog

We read with interest a couple of recent articles about Estate Agents and in particularly this spectacular offer to sell your home for free.

Too good to be true, well here is a brief summary of the article in The Evening Standard.

"A chain of London estate agents is offering to waive its fee on any property sold before the end of the year.

The move, which could cost it up to £10,000 on each transaction, comes as sales have collapsed due to the credit crunch and financial crisis.

Normal high street agents charge between 1.5 and 3 per cent commission

From the beginning of this month all estate agents have to belong to an approved ombudsman scheme, but the regulator has no powers over the fees which agents charge"

Some of the comments from other Estate Agents in competition with this chain, were "what happens if not sold before the end of the year" and "to look out for small print"

We have looked into this further and it appears that the offer is to pay upfront a marketing fee in the region of £999 and this is non refundable and does not depend on a sale being made.

At Dreamspot.co.uk we are always amazed how Estate Agents believe that transparency is not necessary and that the public will not notice the small print.

Another example of this lack of transparency has happened in Buckinghamshire recently with an estate agent offering to sell homes for a fixed fee of £999 plus VAT - subject to Terms and Conditions. On further investigation it appears the one and only condition is to market it at the price they advise!

Can there be a genuine, no small print offer to to sell your home for a fixed fee of £999 with no surprises - Yes!

The Dreamspot way of selling your home is that we do not have these Terms and Conditions, transparency is very important to us and we are happy to offer a fixed fee of £999 inc VAT only payable when a house is sold and at the price agreed between Dreamspot and the seller!

The other issue was regarding another Estate Agent who stated on a forum that they really don’t like "for sale signs", which in all honesty I find strange especially for a traditional estate agent.

Here at Dreamspot, we are focused on developing our Internet marketing strategies but we also really value some of the traditional marketing methods, especially the For Sale Signs. We have designed our boards with a distinctive theme in mind and will always look at new ways to make these even more effective. 30% of buyer enquiries do come via these!

Lastly let me quote from a trade publication article written by an estate agent, which confirms our view of high street branches:-

"Of course, many estate agency branch offices are only there to show the flag. They were never going to be major profit centres but were useful for image purposes and staff training. Frankly, in the new paradigm, do you really need them?"