Purplebricks - Do they intentionally undervalue?

mr_goo

Has anyone ever used this online estate agent for selling?
We had their local rep around to value our place a couple of weeks back as we are thinking of moving from our bungalow. He valued the place at what I thought seemed quite low. Stating that if it was put on any higher then nobody would look at it. I thought this rather curious as a similar property just up the road had sold for £40k more, and was in an awful state of repair and had smaller plot. I mentioned this, and was met with a mumbled explanation that ' run down properties fetch more because they are a project sale'. WTF.
Got in a local estate agent specialising in bungalows, who told me that our place would sell quickly as it is in demand and would easily fetch £75k more than the valuation given by Purplebricks.
So I guess a word of caution to those out there thinking of selling with Purplebricks. They clearly promote their service very well on the telly and radio. And they go big on the quick hit and turnover rate when discussing their service. But is it any wonder they sell quickly? I'm sure I'd get plenty of people queuing at the door if I put my place up for sale at a grossly undervalued price.

rjsterry

Sounds a bit like webuyanycar: it prioritises making a quick sale over getting the best price.

veronese68

But when your house is worth a few million that £40k could be less than the estate agents fees. ;-)
A house over the road was up for sale with Purple Bricks, not sure what the valuation was like. They seemed to have a fair number of people look at it but the sale fell through twice I believe. I doubt that can be blamed on them though, don't know the full story. I think the final sale went through a conventional estate agent.

mr_goo

Veronese68 wrote:

But when your house is worth a few million that £40k could be less than the estate agents fees. ;-)
A house over the road was up for sale with Purple Bricks, not sure what the valuation was like. They seemed to have a fair number of people look at it but the sale fell through twice I believe. I doubt that can be blamed on them though, don't know the full story. I think the final sale went through a conventional estate agent.

Rest assured my house isn't worth a few million.
As previous poster has stated. It seems to be all about quick selling so that their statistics look great.

Matthewfalle

Its quick selling so that you can get rid of your house as well.

Some people just want to get shot and can't be bothered/aren't in the position to wait around.

As an aside what's purplebricks' commission as opposed to the one that sold up the road - if its a lot lower than by the time you take the commission of the difference then it may come down to a couple of grand.

I wouldn't be bitter as your posts are sounding, its just business. Don't worry yourself about other people's decisions and don't slag off a firm that you aren't even dealing with.

veronese68

Mr Goo wrote:

Rest assured my house isn't worth a few million.

Heavy sarcasm, hence the wink.

rjsterry

Veronese68 wrote:

But when your house is worth a few million that £40k could be less than the estate agents fees. ;-)
A house over the road was up for sale with Purple Bricks, not sure what the valuation was like. They seemed to have a fair number of people look at it but the sale fell through twice I believe. I doubt that can be blamed on them though, don't know the full story. I think the final sale went through a conventional estate agent.

In other words, you get what you pay for.

veronese68

rjsterry wrote:

In other words, you get what you pay for.

Don't know the exact details, but it certainly looks that way.

meanredspider

The moral of the story is that it might be worth looking at houses for sale by Purplebricks.

That said, in Cambridge these days, the asking price just seems to be the opening price of a bidding war...

Ben6899

How does Purplebricks' valuation compare to the valuation which your mortgage repayments are based on?

rolf_f

rjsterry wrote:

Sounds a bit like webuyanycar: it prioritises making a quick sale over getting the best price.

Are you saying that the 50 quid they valued my 1985 low mileage Saab 900 Turbo 8 is an undervaluation? And I was just going to accept that offer! I owe you one.

veronese68

Rolf F wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Sounds a bit like webuyanycar: it prioritises making a quick sale over getting the best price.

Are you saying that the 50 quid they valued my 1985 low mileage Saab 900 Turbo 8 is an undervaluation? And I was just going to accept that offer! I owe you one.

I'll give you £510

rolf_f

Veronese68 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Sounds a bit like webuyanycar: it prioritises making a quick sale over getting the best price.

Are you saying that the 50 quid they valued my 1985 low mileage Saab 900 Turbo 8 is an undervaluation? And I was just going to accept that offer! I owe you one.

I'll give you £510

It gives me a warm feeling experiencing the lovely, warm generosity of BR members. On other forums folk might try to rip you off.

surrey_commuter

Without full details it seems a bit rash to condemn Purple Bricks.
Is the price for the ramshackle hut up the road asking or sold price?
Is the valuation to keep it in an online search bracket?
Most agents over-value to win the business - are they guilty of being realistic?
Is it a policy to generate interest from multiple parties to maximise achieved price?

webboo

I was informed by my on line estate agent that Purple Bricks want an up front fee and once they've got that off you. They don't really give a [email protected] after that. He also reckoned that they were over extended financially hence their desperate and f**king annoying advertising.

haydenm

Having not sold a house before, would it not be easier to get it on rightmove for a cheap as possible and do a private sale? I'm guessing there is a lot more to it than posting the buyers solicitor a copy of the titles though...

mr_goo

Surrey Commuter wrote:

Without full details it seems a bit rash to condemn Purple Bricks.
Is the price for the ramshackle hut up the road asking or sold price?
Is the valuation to keep it in an online search bracket?
Most agents over-value to win the business - are they guilty of being realistic?
Is it a policy to generate interest from multiple parties to maximise achieved price?

It sold for 40k more than my valuation.
They obviously make a big thing on the adverts about the selling fees and the online stuff. But to undervalue by 75k is pretty stiff. All estate agents are connected to Rightmost and others of that ilk. But let's not forget there are still a large element of buyers that actually look in the estate agent windows.

mr_goo

Can I just be clear. I'm not condemning Purplebricks. I'm actually genuinely interested to know if their modus operandi is to list property under the market value as they are fixed fee and online only. Essentially a property selling sausage factory.

surrey_commuter

HaydenM wrote:

Having not sold a house before, would it not be easier to get it on rightmove for a cheap as possible and do a private sale? I'm guessing there is a lot more to it than posting the buyers solicitor a copy of the titles though...

Rightmove don't allow private sales.

surrey_commuter

Mr Goo wrote:

Surrey Commuter wrote:

Without full details it seems a bit rash to condemn Purple Bricks.
Is the price for the ramshackle hut up the road asking or sold price?
Is the valuation to keep it in an online search bracket?
Most agents over-value to win the business - are they guilty of being realistic?
Is it a policy to generate interest from multiple parties to maximise achieved price?

It sold for 40k more than my valuation.
They obviously make a big thing on the adverts about the selling fees and the online stuff. But to undervalue by 75k is pretty stiff. All estate agents are connected to Rightmost and others of that ilk. But let's not forget there are still a large element of buyers that actually look in the estate agent windows.

Could you be the victim of a Brexit housing slump?

rjsterry

Rolf F wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Sounds a bit like webuyanycar: it prioritises making a quick sale over getting the best price.

Are you saying that the 50 quid they valued my 1985 low mileage Saab 900 Turbo 8 is an undervaluation? And I was just going to accept that offer! I owe you one.

I'll give you £510

It gives me a warm feeling experiencing the lovely, warm generosity of BR members. On other forums folk might try to rip you off.

Arf. Webuyanycar make a point of saying they may not get you the best price, but it will be done and dusted rather than sat outside your house with a yellowing for sale sign in the window. From limited experience they weren't far off the trade in value. I can see that PB serve a similar 'need it done sharpish/not desperate for every last penny' market.

plowmar

Don't forget that the value of the house is the one it sells for. Purplebricks may 'undervalue' a property to get three or four people interested and then basically auction it. Whereas the shop based agent may overvalue to enable a price reduction to make the buyer happy with his purchase and it may be almost the same in each case.
It depends I think on what the local market is like slow = low start price, vibrant = high start price.

bernithebiker

Why is property in the UK so expensive?
Is it;
a) weather
b) the quality construction
c) the low crime
d) the belief that it can only go up
e) all of the above?!