Agatha Christie was perhaps the most successful mystery writer of all time, but she had the advantage of knowing who had done what (and to whom) long before her books appeared in print. And I love a mystery, too ... but I think both Agatha and I would spend a long time scratching our heads in puzzlement about the results of a survey carried out by fabricproperty. They asked whether or not people thought the process of buying property had changed over the past five years. Had it improved? Had it got worse? Do people still drive round neighbourhoods checking out 'for sale' signs? Do they still receive property details in the post? And if so - what is their motive? A little help needed here, please, Agatha.
It's taken the past five years for the vast majority of househunters to scrap their searching in local and national property supplements, and switch to online searches instead. Five years ago 49.2% of respondents started their search on computers, which meant that a very small majority preferred to sit down with the property pages and, presumably, a nice cup of tea. Five years later, that's all changed: 96.7% sit down at their computers - with or without said nice cup of tea - when they start their property search. Why those 3.3% still default to newspapers, I have no idea. It's a mystery.
There's room for so much more information online, for anything from council tax rates, to availability and accessibility of public transport. There's also space for unlimited numbers of full-colour images which could include interior shots, exterior shots, views beyond, floorplans, area maps not to mention captions and other informative text. And there's that all-important 'click here to contact agent now' link, which just isn't possible on paper.
And there seems to be very little point waiting for property particulars to drop though the letterbox these days, because by the time those details have gone through the postal system someone's found the property online or via SMS - and put their offer in. So mailing out those details are just a waste of paper, postage and time. Five years ago 47.5% couldn't wait for the postman to arrive. But - for some unknown reason - 9.8% of interviewees still rate this method today.
And what about those 'for sale' boards? Five years ago, 14.8% of respondents admitted to driving round areas looking for a 'for sale' board, but that number has now dropped to 6.6% doing that today. In short, 93.4% of respondents thought technology has made looking for new homes easier. But why the other 6.6% don't think that way, we will never know.
Not surprisingly, since fabricproperty's questionnaire was about the buying side of things, there was no need for any questions regarding the cost of selling your home. However, if there had been, we'd most likely have seen a similar kind of response, in that yes, technology has made a definite improvement there: after all, how else could you save a small fortune when it comes to selling your property? High street estate agencies provide the same kind of services as an online agency like, say, eMoov. But there the similarity ends.
Offline agencies charge - on average - a sum approaching 4,000 for providing those services, while eMoov doesn't have high-priced overheads like snazzy offices up and down the land, so their typical selling fees are a much more affordable 349.00. But there will always be those 6.6% who are going to prefer the old-fashioned, traditional, more expensive way. And we'll never know why. Should we care?
It's taken the past five years for the vast majority of househunters to scrap their searching in local and national property supplements, and switch to online searches instead. Five years ago 49.2% of respondents started their search on computers, which meant that a very small majority preferred to sit down with the property pages and, presumably, a nice cup of tea. Five years later, that's all changed: 96.7% sit down at their computers - with or without said nice cup of tea - when they start their property search. Why those 3.3% still default to newspapers, I have no idea. It's a mystery.
There's room for so much more information online, for anything from council tax rates, to availability and accessibility of public transport. There's also space for unlimited numbers of full-colour images which could include interior shots, exterior shots, views beyond, floorplans, area maps not to mention captions and other informative text. And there's that all-important 'click here to contact agent now' link, which just isn't possible on paper.
And there seems to be very little point waiting for property particulars to drop though the letterbox these days, because by the time those details have gone through the postal system someone's found the property online or via SMS - and put their offer in. So mailing out those details are just a waste of paper, postage and time. Five years ago 47.5% couldn't wait for the postman to arrive. But - for some unknown reason - 9.8% of interviewees still rate this method today.
And what about those 'for sale' boards? Five years ago, 14.8% of respondents admitted to driving round areas looking for a 'for sale' board, but that number has now dropped to 6.6% doing that today. In short, 93.4% of respondents thought technology has made looking for new homes easier. But why the other 6.6% don't think that way, we will never know.
Not surprisingly, since fabricproperty's questionnaire was about the buying side of things, there was no need for any questions regarding the cost of selling your home. However, if there had been, we'd most likely have seen a similar kind of response, in that yes, technology has made a definite improvement there: after all, how else could you save a small fortune when it comes to selling your property? High street estate agencies provide the same kind of services as an online agency like, say, eMoov. But there the similarity ends.
Offline agencies charge - on average - a sum approaching 4,000 for providing those services, while eMoov doesn't have high-priced overheads like snazzy offices up and down the land, so their typical selling fees are a much more affordable 349.00. But there will always be those 6.6% who are going to prefer the old-fashioned, traditional, more expensive way. And we'll never know why. Should we care?
About the Author:
Home buyers don't usually traipse into estate agency offices anymore. 90% of them search for estates on the internet. eMoov include the whole of the UK but save money by not having hundreds of premises which you usually end up paying for in high estate agents fees. eMoov are online estate agents. They are a step up from private house sales and ten times cheaper than the High Street. Why pay more?
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