Will Estate Agents Online Mean The Death Of The High Street Estate Agent?

Before the internet it was relatively impossible to sell a property without the help of an estate agent, there was simply no way to reach a large enough audience in order to get the right price for your home. However times have changed and thanks to the internet more and more people are property searching independently online rather than visiting the traditional high street estate agent – with 90% of searches for property occurring online through sites such as Rightmove, Find a Property and Zoopla.

Are online property searches overtaking high street estate agents?

Certainly the rise in online searches for property is replacing the traditional method of passively looking for property by visiting an estate agent, but it is worth noting that this doesn’t mean these two words are completely separate, in fact estate agents are heavily involved in these property search websites and often houses cannot be listed on them unless done through an estate agent. This means that although the medium may be changing, the players aren’t necessarily.

How are online estate agents different from traditional high street estate agents?

Technically there are only a handful of estate agents that specialize solely online. As with a traditional high street estate agent they will market the property by taking photos, writing the description and producing a floor plan which is crucial to the online listing on the various property website. In this sense an online agent is very similar to a high-street agent. However unlike a high street agent an estate agent online will not arrange or conduct viewings of the property, details are simply passed on to the property vendor. It could be argued that in fact even high street estate agents are doing fewer viewings due to staffing issues – meaning that in fact the services offered by both are very similar.

Is an online estate agent better value for money?

Due to the nature of their work online estate agents can offer better deals in terms of fees. On average it costs around £350 to advertise a house online until it sells, but if you used a high street estate agent for the same role they would charge a percentage of the property value, which could easily stretch in thousands of pounds. In many ways this means that estate agents online present better value for money than traditional methods.

The final question is then whether or not the rise of estate agents on the internet is a threat to high street agents. Despite the initial growth in the use of the internet many prospective sellers and buyers still prefer the security of face to face interaction and there are benefits of local knowledge and a personal touch that are lost over the internet. That said, while online estate agents may not be for everyone they represent an extremely cost effective way of advertising and selling your property.