Home Sellers Have More Options to Their Advantage
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We all know that these days, there is a lot of properties for sale being heavily marketed online. Several of these properties are marketed on property sites by real estate agents, but there are numerous websites that allow people who wants to sell their property be advertised on it without having a middle-man.On top of that there is a new breed of estate agent; online agents, who charge an one-off fee to advertise property, and then allow sellers to tag on additional services like viewings, and negotiations.
This will tremendously benefit sellers since they now have different choices and good value for money as well as increasing chances for them to get an excellent price for their property.
The Office for Fair Trading has just conducted an extensive study into home-selling in the UK, and 32% of those surveyed said that they thought the fees they paid to their estate agent represented slightly or very poor value for money. To this the OFT advised sellers to negotiate lower fees, and shop around for the best price.
The central conclusion to the OFT study was that the market needs to be opened up more to make it easier for new business models. A suggestion that was pointed out was that those websites who simply introduce the potential buyers to private sellers must not be burdened with unnecessary rules.
OFT Chief Executive John Fingleton said:
'In the present economic climate it is more important than ever that people get a good deal when buying or selling a home.
'Encouraging new business models, online estate agents and private seller platforms could put useful competitive pressure on traditional models and lead to better value for buyers and sellers. The Government can help this process by updating legislation and making sure regulation only applies where it is essential to protect consumers.
'We also encourage home sellers to negotiate hard on commission fees and consider using alternatives to traditional estate agents.'
The OFT study discovered that private sales portals like The Little House Companywere unable to advertise on the UK's largest portal Rightmove, and many other portals which banned private sales websites out of loyalty to estate agents, which made up their core market.
A very good idea for the future of private sales but the OFT did not suggest is forming UK organizations for the industry. The National Association of Estate Agents which unites estate agents of the industry and can be utilized to put pressure to portals such as Rightmove.
The best thing is that there are now alternatives. Property sellers can now choose not to use real estate agents and do the research of their property value and sell their homes for a vey good price. Buyers get increased choices, viewable all in one place (online) and the ability to deal with the sellers themselves, negotiating for a fair price with no ulterior motives. Choices available are good for consumers in any industry and this does not exclude property selling.
Let's hope the OFT ensures its findings are acted upon, and that selling UK property has even more choices, and is therefore even more different in another five years.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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