KingstonSeagull
New member
I think you'd struggle to sell it to be honest...
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OT - Selling houses and choosing estate agents. Has anyone used Purple Bricks?
- Thread starter Billy the Fish
- Start date
I think you'd struggle to sell it to be honest...
Well it's not a case of being too good to be true, but the catch is that they don't always put the effort in to get your house sold. You'll be on rightmove, so people will see your place and you can sell it. But how much effort the agent puts into getting good offers and then keeping the deal going is more down to luck. I've experience with using them for a rental property in London, and they didn't get the viewings.
Key thing to do is to figure out what's best for you personally, as has been mentioned by others already.
#1 is don't rule out the high street until you've negotiated with them - many are aware of the realities of the changing landscape and know that they need to compete with the new internet-only options that have emerged. If you push them, you should be able to get either a reduced fee from what they advertise, and/or some additional support for free that they advertise as being charged for. If they know you're potentially willing to go to Purple Bricks (or similar), then they should be willing to play ball negotiating.
One thing to be wary of is the post-sale stuff. When we bought a couple years back, the seller chose to use the lawyer provided by the high-street agency. They were next to useless and nearly caused the sale to fall through. Sat on documents for over a month before sending them on to us, and that delay gave the buyers of the place we were selling time to start having second thoughts and sending over new questions. Post-sale agreement support is just as important as getting the initial offer, especially if there's a complex chain. Based on our experience, at least one of the major Brighton-area high street agencies is relying (or was 2 years back) on a pretty poor solicitors firm for the post-offer-agreed side of things.
#1 is don't rule out the high street until you've negotiated with them - many are aware of the realities of the changing landscape and know that they need to compete with the new internet-only options that have emerged. If you push them, you should be able to get either a reduced fee from what they advertise, and/or some additional support for free that they advertise as being charged for. If they know you're potentially willing to go to Purple Bricks (or similar), then they should be willing to play ball negotiating.
One thing to be wary of is the post-sale stuff. When we bought a couple years back, the seller chose to use the lawyer provided by the high-street agency. They were next to useless and nearly caused the sale to fall through. Sat on documents for over a month before sending them on to us, and that delay gave the buyers of the place we were selling time to start having second thoughts and sending over new questions. Post-sale agreement support is just as important as getting the initial offer, especially if there's a complex chain. Based on our experience, at least one of the major Brighton-area high street agencies is relying (or was 2 years back) on a pretty poor solicitors firm for the post-offer-agreed side of things.
mejonaNO12 aka riskit
Well-known member
Really sorry to chip in with a bad review of Purple Bricks but I suppose you want all angles!!
We looked to sell ours over a year ago. After a LOT of research on my part, I went for Purple Bricks.
Easy to sign up and my "local expert" came round and made all the right noises. Was delighted with the photos he took of the property and away we went. Online that day.
We agreed to pay the additional fee for the "local expert" to conduct viewings. We were more than comfortable doing it but both worked full time and had busy weekends so thought it was a no brainer to let them do it and not build our whole life around being in for viewings.
A few weeks passed and we had seen a build up (on our online portal) of viewings which had been conducted. No offers yet but we were happy we had interest.
Then, we started seeing proposed viewings being cancelled. Over and over again these viewings were falling through. I asked my Local Expert why these were being cancelled.
"We NEVER cancel a viewing" He told me. "Only the viewer cancels them".
Ok, I thought. Fair enough. Maybe it's just bad luck
Anyway, this goes ON and ON. I'd lost my rag and started contacting those who had viewing's cancelled directly (when they book In they leave contact details). Over half came back to me and said they were not the ones who cancelled it but Purple Bricks were because they couldn't fit them in.
Turns out the Local expert was completely overbooked with the size of his portfolio and we were the ones being ditched. I was fuming. I conducted a viewing with one couple who said they still wanted to see it. They offered for the property there and then. How many of these opportunities did we miss out on with Purple Bricks?
The local estate agents knew it was sellable and were offering us their services for under 1%.
In the end, due to timings we pulled the plug and are happy where we are, but I was fuming. We haven't paid the fee for viewings.
So, in summary, the website was great, easy and generated interest. Our local expert was a dick.
We looked to sell ours over a year ago. After a LOT of research on my part, I went for Purple Bricks.
Easy to sign up and my "local expert" came round and made all the right noises. Was delighted with the photos he took of the property and away we went. Online that day.
We agreed to pay the additional fee for the "local expert" to conduct viewings. We were more than comfortable doing it but both worked full time and had busy weekends so thought it was a no brainer to let them do it and not build our whole life around being in for viewings.
A few weeks passed and we had seen a build up (on our online portal) of viewings which had been conducted. No offers yet but we were happy we had interest.
Then, we started seeing proposed viewings being cancelled. Over and over again these viewings were falling through. I asked my Local Expert why these were being cancelled.
"We NEVER cancel a viewing" He told me. "Only the viewer cancels them".
Ok, I thought. Fair enough. Maybe it's just bad luck
Anyway, this goes ON and ON. I'd lost my rag and started contacting those who had viewing's cancelled directly (when they book In they leave contact details). Over half came back to me and said they were not the ones who cancelled it but Purple Bricks were because they couldn't fit them in.
Turns out the Local expert was completely overbooked with the size of his portfolio and we were the ones being ditched. I was fuming. I conducted a viewing with one couple who said they still wanted to see it. They offered for the property there and then. How many of these opportunities did we miss out on with Purple Bricks?
The local estate agents knew it was sellable and were offering us their services for under 1%.
In the end, due to timings we pulled the plug and are happy where we are, but I was fuming. We haven't paid the fee for viewings.
So, in summary, the website was great, easy and generated interest. Our local expert was a dick.
Billy the Fish
Technocrat
- Thread starter
- #25
Thanks for that review @Mejona, that's exactly the sort of thing I want to know. 
DarrenFreemansPerm
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Dad renovated a house in Bevendean and sold it through Purple Bricks, really easy process and sold the house with a month I believe. He can't speak highly enough about them. I've recently sold my flat and considered using PB as my Dad was so enamoured with them, I spoke the my mortgage advisor and she told me to steer well clear 
In the end I advertised with a local agent and the flat sold for the advertised price within 48 hours of going live.
In the end I advertised with a local agent and the flat sold for the advertised price within 48 hours of going live.
Yes, they're TERRIBLE, steer clear.
Ridiculous overvaluation. I had to convince him to lower the price.
Despite saying he was doing his best to promote my flat, he did pretty much f*** all.
Viewings booked and then cancelled.
One particularly bad review from one of the people who did view the flat (I paid extra to get them to do the viewings). I gave the PB estate agent all this information about the building, parking, how much things cost etc. yet he failed to note them down and couldn't answer any of the viewer's questions.
I also made the mistake of signing up to the online solicitor they recommended. I had to use them when I eventually sold through a proper estate agents. I have never had to deal with so much INCOMPETENCE.