Apr 8, 2014
Estate agents – changing structures, changing systems?
The “traditional” image of an estate agency is being well and truly diluted, following a change in customer needs during the last downturn in the economy.
Online estate agents and independent property sales advisors now mean that consumers have more choice when it comes to buying and selling property.
With house prices rising significantly again across most areas of the UK, driven by the London property market, competition among estate agents is as fierce as ever.
The latest estate agency offering targeted towards price-driven consumers is an online service, founded by Poundland boss, Steve Smith.
“Estatesdirect.com” which does not charge commission on a sale, states that property sellers can instead benefit from its menu of fixed costs. For example, for the fixed price of £195, a seller can meet with an estate agent at the property and secure a property valuation.
Although brochures are not produced and viewings are not carried out, sellers are also given support in these vital tasks and if the property sells, then the agency requests an additional £195.
This “no frills” approach of course will not suit everyone but is certain to attract a niche market – particularly if the individuals involved have enough experience to market a property themselves.
This restructuring of the estate agency sector presents its own problems, however. Whereas in the past, all agencies tended to work to a similar system using standard procedures, practices and software, long-used off the shelf software in many cases, no longer fits the bill.
The response to this problem has been in recent years to have specific, bespoke software designed to act as a “bolt on” to existing, standard estate agency software. However, this has shown to cause difficulties in compatibility and reliability.
It was this issue and demand from estate agents in their varied forms and structures, which led to the design of PropertyStream. Created in consultation with some of the country’s leading estate agencies including Knight Frank, PropertyStream is flexible enough to be adapted to individual agencies’ needs and structures.
Why not ask for a demo and find out for yourself how PropertyStream could help with any IT or system problems and enhance your customers’ experience of your agency?