MOVESELF: A NEW BREED OF ESTATE AGENCY
Estate Agency is currently done two ways; the traditional method of expensive commission fees and a high street presence, and the more modern ‘online’ method of no high street presence and a smaller, fixed fee. However, neither approach has provided an optimal way of selling homes.
Homeowners still resent paying commission since this ‘percentage of the sale price’ is a moving goalpost that is only truly known once an offer has been accepted on a property. And it’s expensive. The situation becomes worse when high street estate agents don’t disclose their commission fees up front and engage in questionable sales tactics, making estate agents one of the least trusted professions in Britain.
Online estate agency disrupted the industry. But whilst lower fees suddenly became more feasible due to a lack of high street presence, the fees remained relatively high (approximately £1000) and payment was often required up front. This presented a risk if the property didn’t sell, homeowners were given time limits to sell their home and even forced to use recommended conveyancers.
Both examples illustrate how neither model is optimal when selling property.
A DIY approach to selling and letting homes eliminates all these fees but has historically been problematic; a cardboard ‘for sale’ cut-out sellotaped to the front door doesn’t quite cut it anymore, and access to popular portals such as Zoopla is impossible unless you’re an estate agent. Combined with this, selling or letting property for the less-savvy homeowner can be a lonely road.
MoveSelf is the first estate agency of its kind; it is a modern, eclectic mix of DIY property listings, traditional estate agency services and online prices.
The mobile-ready online platform enables homeowners and landlords to create professional property listings for FREE by themselves. Professional services such as photography, floor plans and sales progression can be purchased on demand. And once the listing is verified, it is then published to over 30 million monthly visitors within 24 hours. The net result is a completely bespoke estate agency service, maximum control for the homeowner and fair and transparent pricing.