Fight...fight...fight...

It's a social media tear up between the online agents and their high street based counterparts, but who is gonna win?

Based on some of the exchanges I’ve seen here on linked-in I wouldn’t half mind watching a boxing contest between online and high street agents, as from what I’ve read the gloves are certainly off, so it’ll likely end up more of a UFC bout - and they get pretty nasty at times!

But seriously, ‘we’ve sold this after it was marketed by an online agent’, or ‘we sold this after the high street failed’ are whimsical examples to suggest one is better than the other. We need some stats guys.

But which option is more suited to you?

Here are a few of my own personal thoughts…

Try an online agent if you want to have the smallest fee possible and you genuinely believe that property has a specific value regardless of who sells it.

Keep to a high street agent if you understand that a great sales person can massively influence what a buyer might pay for a property. 

Do try an online agent if the above and you have the time to carry out viewings (at short notice) and have a very personable character. 

Keep it with the high street if you aren’t at home much and when you are you have several kids to attend to.

Try and online agent if good with the above and you can keep impartial and negotiate hard with buyers, keeping any empathy out of the process.

Keep it on the high street if you are the kind of person who doesn’t like to upset people and are likely to sell your property for less than you should be selling it for because you really like the buyer.

Try an online agent if good with all the above and you are happy to value your property yourself – as its unlikely an online agency is an ‘expert’ on prices in your town and most will rely on indices and software to help value a property. 

Use the high street if you have no clue how to value your property – as without an ‘expert’ on prices you may sell your property for less than you could get.

Try an online agent if good with everything above and you know exactly how you need to present your property and what minor improvements you could make to maximise its value.

Use a high street agent if you don’t have a clue as to what buyers in your area want to see in a property.

Try an online agent if good with everything previously and you are quite comfortable in being a little more involved and pro-active in the post sale process (I’ve had limited experience in the offices of fast growing online agent and they were clearly inexperienced in the post sale process, and I wondered how effective they’d be – though I can’t say all online agents are all like this). 

Keep it on the high street if you want someone working their ass off to make sure their commission doesn’t go missing right at the last hurdle (from experience I have worked for days on a single sale to make sure it happened). I’m not totally convinced that a person who has already been paid will be as willing (or desperate) to put in as much time as it takes to make sure your sale completes. 

Personally I’d suggest trying both at the same time. If you sign a contract with an online agent you pay their fee whether you sell or not. The high street charge you commission upon a sale only. 

Why not pitch them against each other? You really can’t lose this way…and I'm sure the experience will be riveting!