Saturday, Jun 30, 2007
Tesco making property websites twitchy
Firstrung: Tesco's plans to sell properties through its stores could be facing some difficulties
It's reported that Tesco has been seeking help from existing estate agents' internet sites to use their listings to help drive traffic to the stores homes for sale - prompting the agents to refuse...Warren Bright, chief executive of Propertyfinder, said: "We were approached some months ago but we have chosen not to participate, as their proposition is not in the interests of the estate agent, who is our customer.
Posted by converted lurker @ 11:32 PM (54 views) Add Comment
11 Comments
- If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
- If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
1. deepak said...
Will really be good for the buyers. Not only in terms of the 1-3% fee that you don't have to pay.
Nobody will say that there are other buyers waiting? Hence you can bargain to a reasonable price.
Along with extensive HIPS, why would you need an estate agent. I think what has become of the Holiday booking shops, this might be the next thing.
2. sirgoogle said...
Completely agree. Once the VI of the estate agents is removed (deliberate overpricing and price fixing - to maximise their commission, talking up the market and pretending that there is a supply problem and "lots of interested parties") then we might see a true market.
3. Scott said...
I wonder how many points you will get on your club card if you buy 1 loaf of bread, 2 bags of oranges and a north London 2 bedroom flat!
4. japanese uncle said...
Tesco may well see huge business opportunity in this particular segment for the next two-three years during which time desperate sellers will be rushing to sell their house while they can. Besides their retail income is suffering some setback, making Tesco a desperate player. I received two books of vouchers recently offering more than 10% discount on 20 or 30 pounds purchase. Further local Tesco is now offering Toblerone chocorate (400g) at 1.64 and many other items at half prices. Where is inflation? When virtually the only engine of the UK economy, soaring house price proves something utterly fictitious, growth, unemployment, consumption, all of them are simply doomed, leaving little affordability for consumers. When consumers cannot afford, things won't sell, forcing retailers to cut prices. Deflation is the only answer. After all "When the money is gone, it's gone".
5. Drewster said...
Asda launched an estate agency service in April 2006. According to their website (http://www.homes-at-supermarkets.co.uk/) the first phase is confined to north-east England, with other areas being launched throughout 2007. They charge just 1% commission compared to 1.5 - 3% for most other estate agents. Their website seems pretty poor and hard-to-use compared with the likes of RightMove, PropertyFinder, etc. Does anybody know whether it has had much impact on the north-east property market?
6. converted lurker said...
Japenese uncle you are a wise poster
7. p. doff said...
I know estate agents are frequently accused on this website of being one of the causes of HPI, but I do not entirely agree. Agents usually respond to demand to assess marketing price, but they are now up against sellers who have swallowed the media hype and have an extremely over-inflated view of their property's worth.The problem arises because the agents are all competing against each other for business and they know that human nature being what it is, vendors will usually instruct the agent who agrees to market at the inflated price.
I agree that there are some shoddy practices out there and sellers should be aware that some national firms will offer a fixed commission based on the initial marketing price. I heard of a case locally where the agent put the property on the market at £200K (which was about £40K higher than the 2 other agents market appraisals) and within 7 days phoned the vendor advising him to accept an offer of £150K as being the best he was likely to get. The fee remains based on the £200K, of course.
With regard to Tesco, I think if people market their property at their own opinion of value, there are going to be even more crazy asking prices out there!!
8. converted lurker said...
p.doff I reckon it's the ineffeciencies of estate agents and their business models that will be exposed in the current climate and over the next decade or so. You'd struggle to find a weaker business model anyhere in commerce that has had a strangle hold for so long IMHO. I reckon Tesco'll pull the concept if Terry Leahy is as well connected politically as many believe, we don't even do evolution that well in this country, let alone commercial revolution..
9. confused76 said...
I agree with P Doff but only in a "seller" market, where the price is made by the EA "market maker".
If the market becomes balanced, or switches to "buyer", people selling houses will not want to leave the 2 or 3 % on the table for nothing. In addition, Tesco is such a giant powerhouse that really can revolutionize the ea market. EA's will die by the same trick that made them rich in the past decade... jungle-style deregulation
IF Leahy smells there is money to be made, he'll just made it happen has he's done it with credit cards, mortgages, insurance, atm's, and all the rest (dont you think he had to fight political battles with powerful lobbies there?)
Then I wonder, with the land bank that Tesco has, if they could bring to the market the shortest of all commodities, the actual houses...
10. paul said...
I should hope that JU is a wise poster! His country experienced deflation from which it is only just recovering.
11. Jonb said...
does anyone know of a blog re car Insurance nightmares? Hear my story!