A new concept in estate agency

Join the estate agency revolution at the grass roots

Offering a revolutionary new concept in estate agency, Open House agents are able to deliver a fully personalised estate agency service at a fraction of the cost of most high street estate agencies.

The way that people are searching for property is changing, with over 80% of successful home buyers using the internet to search for property. Combine this with those who spotted their next home through local area advertising or by a ‘for sale’ board in front of the property; then this figure rises to a lot closer to 100%. This means that the traditional estate agency model needs to change, but not at the cost of a quality personal service.

This changing model has also been identified by industry experts, such as the property media, the OFT, and estate agents themselves! Similar personal agent models are also operating successfully in the USA, Australia and other countries around the world.

As an Open House Personal Agent you will be able to combine the best of what a traditional agent offers with the latest cutting edge technology of an online agent.

In addition to advertising properties on a large network of property portals (such as Rightmove, Zoopla and Globrix); getting a business to appear on page 1 of Google, Bing and Yahoo is also becoming increasingly important. Open House has invested thousands into search engine optimisation and already has top 4 positions on key search terms like ‘Online Estate Agents’, which is searched for approximately 4,000 times every month, generating hundreds of enquiries for our agents.

What the experts say

Don't just take our word for it - see what the industry experts, government bodies and national media are saying about the changing face of the estate agency industry

“In the present economic climate it is more important than ever that people get a good deal when buying or selling a home.” “Encouraging new business models, online estate agents and private seller platforms could put useful competitive pressure on traditional models and lead to better value for buyers and sellers.” “We also encourage home sellers to negotiate hard on commission fees and consider using alternatives to traditional estate agents.”

John Fingleton, Office of Fair Trading Chief Executive

‘The internet alone is no substitute for personal service which is why some new forward thinking agents are recruiting a nationwide network of local independent agents who can provide clients with personal service and local knowledge. However why does that service need to be supplied from an expensive high street premise when it can just as easily be provided from home or a secondary office? This is not internet selling; this is the future – local online estate agency.’

Estate Agent Today – 14th April 2010

‘More than a quarter of sellers (27 per cent) who used a traditional estate agent have considered using an alternative selling method, and experience from the US suggests that alternative brokerage models have the potential to put competitive pressure on traditional ways of buying and selling a home.’

Office of Fair Trading Report – 18th February 2010

Research from Hotproperty.co.uk said that only 38% of estate agents think their high street businesses will still be necessary in a decade’s time. This declines further in the longer term, with only 28% of agents saying they thought they would still be necessary in 20 years time. 50% of estate agents believe their future presence will be online.

 ‘… the fact that most people start their search for a property now on the internet, you'd think it would be easy to cut out the middleman (i.e. estate agents) and sell up yourself. Except it's not. Firstly there's no point putting your property up for sale if no one sees it, so you need to be on the big listing websites (e.g. Rightmove) and they won't just let you put your own property on there. Secondly, being British, most of us aren't really fans of negotiating and we don't trust ourselves to get the best price for our own home. We’d rather, quite rightly, leave it to a professional who does this day in and day out. And that means that there's a definite space in the market for a service that hits the middle ground between High Street estate agents and doing it yourself.’

Thisismoney.co.uk - Financial Website of the Year

"Information is not knowledge and both in the UK and in America we are finding evidence that house buyers and sellers are recognising the difference. While the internet is increasingly seen as an excellent marketing tool for widening potential audiences for homes, customers still want the interpretative skills, expert local advice and the negotiating expertise that only professional estate agents can provide on what are likely to be the largest transactions of their lives.”

NAEA chief executive, Hugh Dunsmore-Hardy

Take your first steps towards starting your own business and arrange your interview online or call 08444 100 333

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