The Best Online Estate Agents Listed & Reviewed (2024)

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Best Online Estate Agents

“Online estate agents”… welcome to the efficiently cheap way of selling homes in the digital age.

The average UK high street estate agent charges £4200, while the average online estate agent charges a fixed rate of approx. £500 all in. That’s precisely why online estate agents have become insanely popular with home-sellers across the nation.

Simply, when the numbers are crunched, it’s easy to understand why many have chosen to skip around their local high street estate agent in favour of an online solution. But the savings isn’t the only reason many have jumped on board…

  • Significantly cheaper than local high street estate agents, save £1000’s in agency fees.
  • Pay one-off fixed fee
  • Viewings arranged and managed online to suit your schedule
  • Flexible options to take as much or as little control of the sale of your house as you want
  • Advertise on the biggest UK property portals, including Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket etc.
  • Available without Sole Agency contract

Find out everything you need to know about Online Estate Agents, including how much you can save and the best options available

Compare the Best Online Estate Agents

The service providers listed below are all hand-picked. If you’re interested and sinfully bored enough to scrutinise my methodology, you can find out how I derived my short list in the Which Online Estate Agent is the best? section.

Please note, the prices shown have exclusive discount codes applied where available. Use the search filters to select which services you require from your online agent. The total prices will automatically adjust and order the agents based on the most competitive price for the overall package (i.e. including the add-on products you selected).

Search Filters

Require any of the following?

  • Rightmove listing

    Rightmove listingAdvertise property on Rightmove (The UK's largest property portal)

    X

  • Zoopla listing

    Zoopla listingAdvertise property on Zoopla (The UK's second largest property portal)

    X

  • EPC

    EPCAn Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is needed when a property sold in the UK. They are valid for 10 years, so if you already have a valid one you do not to order another.

    X

  • Photograghs

    PhotograghsThe agent will arrange for a photographer to visit your property to take pictures, which can be used with your adverts. Good quality photos are important in making your property look attractive and can increase enquiries.

    X

  • Floorplan

    FloorplanThe agent will arrange for a professionally produced floorplan showing the layout and room sizes of your property. Many buyers find floorplans useful when viewing property details online.

    X

  • Negotiation

    NegotiationThe agent will help to negotiate with potential buyers on your behalf. If you are confident in negotiating then you may not need this service.

    X

  • For sale sign

    For sale signThe agent will arrange for a 'For Sale' sign to be placed outside your property to attract passer-buyers.

    X

  • In-person valuation

    In-person valuationThe agent will arrange for a local expert to visit your property to conduct a proper valuation. Please note, some agents offer "free, no obligation valuations"

    X

  • Hosted viewings

    Hosted viewingsA local agent will take viewings and show potential buyers around your property. Please note, some agents limit how many viewings they will take, so please read the T&C's carefully.

    X

  • No sale, no fee

    No sale, no feeIf the agent doesn't sell your home, you don't pay their fee. (T&C's may apply, so please read carefully).

    X

Online Estate Agents
Estate AgentRatingDurationIncludes / NotesPrice
Rating
3.7
TrustPilot Reviews
Duration
6 months
Includes / Notes

Free package
  • Key features
  • Zoopla listing
  • Negotiation
  • For sale sign
  • In-person valuation
  • No sale, no fee
  • 13 weeks Sole Agency contract
  • App - manage viewings, offers & communication with buyers

*YES, Purplebricks now offer a 100% free house-selling service, no strings attached.

Price

Free

*Free

Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation
Rating
4.0
TrustPilot Reviews
Duration
1 month
Includes / Notes

Basic package
  • Key features
  • Zoopla listing
  • OnTheMarket listing
Price

Discount available

£34 Inc VAT
(Normal price: £49)

Visit Website£15 Discount Code: PIP1
Rating
4.9
Google Reviews
Duration
3 months
Includes / Notes

Saver package
  • Key features
  • Zoopla listing
  • Pay on listing (not sign up)
Price£79 Inc VAT Visit Website
Rating
4.8
TrustPilot Reviews
Duration
30 days
Includes / Notes

IATA Taster Sales package
  • Key features
  • Rightmove listing
  • Zoopla listing
Price

Discount available

£179.1 Inc VAT
(Normal price: £199.99)

Visit Website10% Discount Code: propinv21
Rating
4.5
TrustPilot Reviews
Duration
12 months*
Includes / Notes

Sell Your Property package
  • Key features
  • Rightmove listing
  • Zoopla listing
  • OnTheMarket listing

*Rightmove listing is included for the first month, but after that there is an optional renewable listing for £50pcm. So if you end up advertising for 12 months on Rightmove, that's an additional £550 (£245 + £550 = £795).

Price£245 Inc VAT Visit Website
Rating
4.5
TrustPilot Reviews
Duration
12 months
Includes / Notes

Core package
  • Key features
  • Rightmove listing
  • Zoopla listing
  • Photograghs
  • Floorplan
  • Negotiation
  • For sale sign
  • In-person valuation
  • 16 weeks Sole Agency contract

*Selling fee of £1,499 in a few specific London postcodes.

Price*£999 Inc VAT Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation

Please note, I try my best to keep the information of each service up-to-date, but you should read the T&C's from their website for the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Other Popular Services

Need extremely competitive quotes for other popular services to help you sell your property for peanuts? Cool, I’ve got you covered…

Table of contents

What is an Online Estate Agent?

Online agents have the same aims and objectives as the traditional high street estate agents we’re all familiar with (and largely loath), which is to sell your home faster than a bag of chips for the most amount of money. Nothing new there.

The major difference is that online agents don’t have physical branches/offices on the high street, which means you can’t casually stroll into their local branch. Instead, online agents have a website where their services are sold and managed, and a centralised office(s) where the operations are managed, including the telephone support (i.e. the substitute for face-to-face support) for all their customers (the vendors).

Not only does this model mean online agents overheads are drastically reduced, which ultimately means they can offer a much cheaper solution to home-sellers compared to traditional high street agents, but it also allows them to target the entire home-selling market in the UK (including England, Wales & Scotland), unlike your local high street agent, who are generally confined to their local area.

Similar to traditional high street agents, online estate agents market properties across the biggest UK property portals, which includes Rightmove, Zoopla and PrimeLocations (to be honest, they’re only one’s worth a damn, in my opinion) to generate enquiries from prospective buyers, which then get forwarded onto the seller.

In terms of service, online agents can pretty much match high street agents these days. For example, online agents can offer ‘hosted viewings’, ‘professional photography’ services, EPCs etc. The only difference is, high street agents tend to provide all those features as standard, whereas online agents allow you to ‘add-on’ the services you wish to pay extra for. You can use the filters in the table above, to see how much those extras cost and impact the overall price.

How do Online Estate Agents work?

From a functional point of view, here’s a neat video produced by Quicklister, that demonstrates how to use their service to upload your property details, get it shared across the biggest property portals (e.g. Rightmove & Zoopla) and manage enquiries, viewings via a dashboard interface.

By and large, it’s how most online estate agents function so it provides a good overview of what to expect.

What is a Hybrid Estate Agent (and how they differ from an Online Agent)?

You may have heard of the term “hybrid” agent before, and there’s even a probable chance that you’ve been under the impression that I’ve been talking about them all this time, because you, like many, assumed it was a synonym for an “online agent”.

While hybrid agents are very similar to “online” agents, they’re not quite the same kettle of donuts, so it’s best I explain the difference in case there’s any confusion.

Here’s the short story: a hybrid agent operates exactly the same as an online agent, in the sense that they sell their services online through their website. But unlike an online agent, they include a real-life “local agent” to assist you with selling your home, from start to completion. The local agent will be your primary point of contact throughout.

Because hybrid agents provide a local agent, they tend to pitch themselves as being a like-for-like, cost-effective alternative to a high street agent but without the overheads of a physical office (the agent will typically do their admin work out of their home office), which is why they’re able to pass on the savings to their customers.

Your local agent will initially visit your property to conduct a free, no obligation in-person valuation, and then if you’re happy to, you can instruct them to sell your property (at which point you’ll pay for the service, unless you have opted for a “pay on completion” package).

If you’re willing to pay extra for the service, your local agent can also conduct the viewings.

How do you find a hybrid agent? Climb back up the page to the list of agents, and flick on the “in person valuation” and/or “hosted viewings” filters and check the results. Bingo!

If using a Hybrid agent has piqued your interest, and now you want to know more, here’s the long story: my complete guide to hybrid estate agents.

Why use an Online Estate Agent?

I’ve already touched on the benefits of using an online estate agent in the intro, the primary being all about the money, specifically the hefty savings!

The successful emergence of the online estate agency model has acted as a disruptor throughout the sector because it offers a more affordable and customer focused option to homeowners.

There’s always conflicting percentages being thrown around when it comes to high street agent fees, but let’s say they charge a commission fee of 1.5% including VAT.

On a £250k property, that equates to a £3750 fee! Now, even when we compare that to one of the more expensive online estate agent charges, which charge a fixed fee of around £900, that’s a £2850 saving.

It suddenly becomes clear why online agents have taken off and proven to be an extremely popular option!

There are of course other advantages of using an online agent, and there is a rather subjective and interesting one, which has proven to be a genuine selling point for many home-sellers, and that is the fact that you don’t have to deal with an estate agent. At least, not in the traditional sense.

Simply, some people don’t want to work with the stereotypical estate agent, either because of their generally poor reputation of being lying and thieving bastards (don’t shoot the messenger!), or because they’ve been personally scorned in the past by one. An online agent solves this particular problem by giving the control and power to the vendor directly.

So, should you use an online agent? I honestly can’t answer that for you, but if you’re still uncertain after you’ve read this entire blog post (yes, I know, it’s long… but worth it!), I recommend jumping over to my ‘Should I use an online estate agent?‘ blog post, where I’ve thrown the question under the microscope – it may provide you with the answer you’re searching for.

Which Online Estate Agent is the best? Decisions, decisions!

The online estate agency model isn’t really new anymore, the likes of Purplebricks and Yopa, among many others, have been operating for donkey’s of years, which is why you’ve probably ‘eard of them. If you were only aware of those two heavyweights before eyeballing my hand-picked list – and not the others – then consider yourself enlightened. The reality is (and evidently), there are plenty of other good options to choose from, many of which are shifting similar products for the fraction of the cost.

The reason the big boys’ are leading the market [in terms of brand awareness] isn’t necessarily because they offer a better service than their rivals, but rather, they have gigantic marketing budgets that allow them to feature on every tube station and passing double-decker buses in town. My point is, objectively speaking, it’s probably not wise to base your decision just on brand recognition, because it’s not a strong enough metric to answer the question.

So, which is the best? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I know that’s not helpful, but they were all chosen to feature on my list for objectively good reasons, so I wouldn’t be mad ya’ for choosing any of them.

But wait!

Thankfully I’m not a total schmuck. So while I can’t tell you which is the best, what I can tell you that I would most likely use Purplebricks.co.uk if I needed to sell a house today (which I don’t, fyi), simply because their current free house-selling service is outstanding. Truly, it’s astonishing. I have no idea how long they will be able to keep that offer up for.

However, my recommendation to you is to first decide whether or not you would benefit from an online-only or hybrid agent, and then base your decision on price (not too strictly, though) and your own due diligence. To state the obvious, DO NOT rely on the reviews/testimonials on the agent’s websites – they’re obviously curated and tainted with manipulation, to say the very least. Almost EVERY online agent has a profile on TrustPilot, so you should definitely go trawling through them, and then make up your own mind.

Why are my hand-picked online estate agents the best?

Good question, and that’s the type of question you *should* be asking if you’re not a total complete and utter wally.

The last time I checked there’s about 20 – 30 online agents to choose from, and that number seems to stay pretty consistent as struggling agents surrender to foreclosure as new budding entrepreneurs enter the market, trying to get a piece of the action.

Unfortunately, the online agency space is very similar to the nasty realities of our high streets – there’s no shortage of snake oil. Apparently there’s no escaping it when you’re trying to flog a home, not even behind a computer screen.

The good news is, however, that there are significantly less online estate agents than high street, so it’s easier to sort them into “you suck” and “Oh, you look pretty” piles. So that’s precisely what I have done for you below (hoping to make your life a little easier) by using the following metrics:

  • Will list your property on Rightmove & Zoopla – this is a must! Rightmove & Zoopla are by far the biggest property portals in the UK, and the reality is, both online and high street agents should be listing their stock on both in order to maximise interest from potential buyers.

    Now, you might be wondering, if that’s the case, then why do some agents not list their stock on those portals? It’s because Rightmove and Zoopla fees ain’t cheap – they charge estate agents a hefty amount to use their services! Alas, some estate agents don’t have the funds, which is why some of them only have the resources to list on one of them. However, from a seller’s perspective, you defo want to use an estate agency service that will see your property listed on both portals.

  • Professional and functional website – I was mortified to discover the amount of butt ugly and unusable websites as I did! The industry seems to be suffering from a condition that impacts their judgement for design and basic usability, which is alarming considering the entire model is online based. Using this filter alone quickly sliced the list in half.
  • Highly rated across impartial review/rating platforms (e.g. Feefo, TrustPilot, Reviews.co.uk. The usual suspects). Moreover, I’ve personally received pretty good feedback.
  • Members of redress schemes – For example, Property Ombudsman and Trading Standards. Even though this is a legal requirement for all estate agents, some bad actors in the space operate without signing up. ALARM BELLS!
  • Registered company on Companies House
  • Reputation – as in, they didn’t open their doors last week and start trading. From my experience, newer online agents are a shambolic mess, because they tend to be riddled with teething problems, from technical to operational.
  • Have yet to piss me off – Yup, this is real, and make of it what you will.

    My list has evolved over the years – I have removed and added agents for various reasons. What you should note is that if I feel like any of the agents have crossed a line I won’t hesitate in removing them. I’ve done it before for the following reasons:

    • They applied sleazy and unethical tactics to upsell add-on products (e.g. mortgages, conveyancing etc).
    • They weren’t forthcoming with their fees
    • They don’t respond to my enquiries (I often reach out to the agents when I notice a change in their terms of service and therefore require clarification or more information)
    • They drastically increased their prices to an obscene level for no apparent reason

Just to clarify, I’m not saying my formula or list is picture perfect. I’m sure there are decent agents out there that slipped through the net. So if there’s a particular agent you’re investigating (or representing) that isn’t on my list, it doesn’t necessarily mean I think they suck donkey balls (although, it quite possibly could mean exactly that). it’s also worth bearing in mind that I hate long lists of anything, because I don’t find them helpful with decision making, which is why I’ve kept my list short as a nut.

The Extras – what you will also need (e.g. Conveyancing Solicitor, Professional Photography & EPC’s)!

Energy Performance Certificate

First things first, an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) is legally required to market your property for sale. It’s not optional.

EPC’s are valid for 10 years and reusable, so you don’t need to buy a new one if you already have one (unless you have made significant energy improvements to the property since the energy assessment was conducted), nor do you have to buy one from the agent you’re selling with.

Most agents will give you the option to order one as an ‘add on’ product during checkout, but you’ll usually find that they have whacked on a significant mark-up.

At the time of writing this blog post, the cost of an EPC from the top 3 Online Estate Agents are as follows:

  • Yopa: £99
  • Purplebricks: £119
  • Quicklister: £119

But you can also get an EPC from a 3rd party supplier for approx £59 (which is 50’ish % cheaper). So obviously that’s a no-brainer for me:

Energy Performance Certificates are a legal requirement when letting a property to a tenant or selling a property in England, Scotland or Wales. More details on the legislation available here.

SupplierRatingNotes / IncludesPrice
Rating

4.7

TrustPilot Reviews
Notes / Includes

  • Book online
  • Nationwide coverage
  • Approved accredited assessors
  • Track your order online

*Their website says prices start from £34, but the cheapest quote I could get is £59.

Price
£59*Inc VAT
Order Online

Please note, I try my best to keep the information of each service up-to-date, but you should read the T&C's from their website for the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Conveyancing

You’ll need a conveyancer to manage all the legal paperwork.

Using a reputable and reliable conveyancing service is definitely key to a smooth transaction, so choosing the right conveyancing company is crucial when selling (or buying) property.

I’ve heard horror stories of deals collapsing because of awful legal representation, and obviously that’s something everyone should try to avoid.

Most online agents will try to aggressively up-sell their “competitively priced” *yawn* conveyancing services, because it’s a huge part of their income stream.

However, unfortunately, I have heard too many negative reviews about the quality in conveyancing services “recommended” by online agents, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

From what I’ve observed, online agents outsource the conveyancing work to battery farm like third-party companies, where the sole purpose is to push as many deals over the line as possible, without much care for attention to detail. This chaos ultimately results in careless mistakes, delays and a lack of communication.

I would personally never use a conveyancing service recommended by any online agent, but rather, gather my own quotes directly from reputable conveyancers.

Finding a reputable conveyancer:

  • Instant Quotes: fill in this form to receive 4 instant quotes from expert SRA or CLC regulated conveyancing solicitors or Licensed Conveyancers. Average savings: £365.
  • Local Conveyancing Services: there’s a lot to be said about using a local high street Conveyancing Service. While they’re generally more expensive, many buyers and sellers prefer a local service because they like having the face-to-face service.
  • Recommendations: If you spend a mere couple of seconds researching ‘conveyancing services’ you’ll quickly realise that there are many, many, many complaints about shambolic service (and consequently delayed transactions). Using a conveyancing service seems to be a real hit or miss experience. So it’s always worth asking friends and relatives for recommendations.

One final point: you defo get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing, so I highly recommend focusing on quality over price.

Here’s a guide on conveyancing, if you’re interested in learning more.

Professional Photography

Not a legal requirement by any means, but certainly a necessity in my opinion. Professional photography will have a positive impact on the amount of enquiries generated, so it’s a wise investment.

Some of the more pricy packages will include a Professional Photography service as part of the deal, while the others will give you the option to buy it as an ‘add on’ product during checkout.

Of course, you also have the option to source an independent supplier (which, similarly to sourcing EPCs, may work out a heck of a lot cheaper):

SupplierNotes / IncludesPrice
Notes / Includes

Property Photography + floor plans

  • Includes photography + floor plans
  • Helps grab online attention
  • You own the photographs
Price
£108Inc VAT
More Info

Please note, I try my best to keep the information of each service up-to-date, but you should read the T&C's from their website for the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Online Estate Agents & Hidden Fees – are there any?

Generally, no. From my experience, I haven’t met a single online agent that has their T&C’s riddled with hidden fees, and that’s the general backbone of an online agent- that you pay a “fixed-fee”, no more. Just another reason why online agents are awesome.

Unlike the traditional high street agent, most online agents charge a fixed fee and that’s all you’ll ever pay. The only time they may charge more is if you buy add-on items, like Energy Performance Certificates (a legal requirement before selling a home), professional photos, or if you decide to extend the service duration etc, but it’s still a fixed-fee.

However, I still advise that you ALWAYS read the T&C’s carefully, so you know exactly what you’ll be paying and what you’ll get in return (it’s usually very transparent with online agents).

Is there anything I need to be wary of when using Online Estate Agent services?

Absolutely.

They’re still “estate agents” after all :)

An online agent is a cool option to save a significant amount of money when selling your home, but just like any type of agent, it isn’t an infallible option without its bear traps, so I don’t want you to think otherwise. But if you do, allow me to humanise the concept…

While the following points may not apply to all online agents, they are real things you should be wary of before choosing your agent! Needless to say, doing your due diligence is a bloody must so you’re not caught-out. To clarify, I’m not saying the following to discourage anyone from using an online agent, far from it actually. I’m simply saying there are areas of caution that shouldn’t be ignored when using any service, and here are those of an online estate agent…

  • You are NOT going to get the local high street agent experience
    This should be a no-brainer, but unfortunately evidence suggests it not.

    I don’t really believe this point should be housed in this section, but I’m going to add it in just to make it even clearer.

    Do a little sniffling around, and you’ll note that there are more positive reviews than negatives regarding online estate agents (just like with anything, to be fair), but it’s hard not to be concerned by the scathing ones. But honestly, I think a vast majority of them come from people that expected a premium one-to-one service, or an experience that closer simulates that of a traditional high street agent. that’s not going to happen, which is why it’s important to understand why online agents are significantly cheaper and the pros and cons of their service before using one, that way expectations are likely to be realistic.

  • The “No sale, no fee” option
    It’s tempting! So tempting.

    However, buyers beware!

    There are a couple of catches with the ‘no sale, no fee‘ packages. Firstly, you have to pay considerably more than if you were going to purchase the exact same package upfront, which is bat-shit crazy to me! From what I’ve seen, most online agents almost double their fee. In many cases, depending on the value of your house, it’s cheaper to use a high street agent!

    The second catch is that most of the “no sale, no fee” packages lock you into a “sole agency contract” for a set period of time (usually a couple of months). That means while you use their “no sale, no fee” services, you can’t use any other agent until the sole agency period expires. To be fair, I understand why they do that for these particular packages.

  • The “Pay later” option
    NOT to be confused with the “No sale, no fee” policy!

    Many of the agents will offer a “Pay Later” option, which typically means you can pay X months later, and it usually has flashing signs saying “no interest” It differs from the “no sale, no fee” policy, because with the “Pay later” option, you have to pay eventually, whether you get a sale or not.

    I’ve seen some other nasty tactics tied into the “Pay Later” package. For example, some agents force you to use their Conveyancing partner if you want to use the “Pay Later” option.

    The “Pay Later” option usually comes with some uncomfortable conditions which aren’t as transparent as they should be. Yes, of course, paying later is a desirable option, so if you want to go down this route just make sure you find out exactly what the conditions are (if there are any, that is), because the deal may not be as mouth-watering as it seems.

  • Conveyancing
    As already discussed above, be wary of conveyancing services offered by agents. It’s generally a convenient option, rather than a good deal. I recommend shopping around for your own quotes (via the methods already listed here).
  • Limited marketing duration / No refunds!
    The majority of online agents will only market your property for a maximum amount of time (I’ve specified how long each agent will advertise your property for in the agent table above), so if you don’t manage to flog your property by then you typically won’t get a refund. If you wish to continue using the same online agent, you’ll typically have to pay for another round of marketing.

    Bear in mind, most high street agents take a percentage of the sale, while online agents take a fixed-fee upfront (unless you go for the “Pay later” option).

    However, that said, and in defence of the agents, if you haven’t sold your property within 12 months (which is the usual limit, which seems reasonable to me), then there’s probably something fundamentally wrong with what you’re trying to sell.

Do Online Estate Agents provide consumer protection? Are they safe to use?

While I don’t think there’s anywhere near enough protection for buyers and sellers when they’re dealing with either any type of estate agent – online and high street – it still may be comforting to know that Online estate agents are governed by the same regulations that cover high street estate agents.

ALL estate agents, whether they’re online or high street based, are legally obligated to register with one of the following government-approved redress schemes:

You should not use an estate agent that is not registered with at least one of the schemes listed. Most agents will clearly display on their website which scheme(s) they are registered with, however, it’s always best to verify membership by checking the scheme’s directory list (which I have linked to).

In the event of dissatisfactory service and/or dispute with your agent, you have the option to escalate your complaint to a redress scheme if you can’t resolve the matter internally. They will then assess your case and take the appropriate steps.

Most high street agents source their leads from online

90% of home-buyers research properties online, specifically from websites like Rightmove and Zoopla, and that’s exactly where most high street agents source their enquiries from. Long gone are those days when Estate Agents had to pull in the punters by the hair off the street and rely on newspaper adverts (although I’m told they still work in some areas, but the market is shrinking by the nano-second).

Essentially, both types of agents generate the majority of their enquiries from the same sources, so if you’re under the impression that high street estate agents have access to an exclusive and magical list of buyers, you’re mistaken.

How the selling process works with Online Estate Agent

Selling a house through an online estate agent may sound like a lot of effort and a difficult for someone that doesn’t fully understand how the process of selling a house works. If you’re one of those people, I genuinely think you would be surprised by how easy it can be.

Credit where credit is due, most online agents have made their service easy to digest. Moreover, almost all of the online agents I have looked at provide phone/email support to assist with any enquiries to help through the entire selling process, and their support hours are generally far longer than you would normally get from a regular estate agent.

In all honesty, the process isn’t much different than when using a traditional high street agent. In my opinion, the only extra burden and leg-work required when using an online agent is that the vendor is required to take the viewings. However, hybrid agents, like YOPA, do offer a add-on ‘viewing service’, which is conducted by a local expert (i.e. YOPA currently charges £300 for the viewing add-on).

In general the process of using an online agent to sell a house goes like this:

  1. Sign up to an online agent and start advertising your house
  2. Manage the enquiries and schedule viewings
  3. Find a conveyancing solicitor that you can instruct once you find a buyer (many online agents will upsell conveyancing services, but I recommend sourcing your own, as mentioned in The Extras section). They will manage all the paperwork for you, so the property deed is transferred to the new owner properly.
  4. But as said, online agents are generally helpful when it comes to getting their customers over the finish line.

    But I’m not a good salesman and I’ve never sold a house before!

    It’s difficult to “convince” someone to buy a property, despite how good at sales you may be. The reality is, if someone falls in love with a property during the viewing they will most likely put in an offer.

    There’s not much ‘selling’ required with a house, because it is what it is, it’s not like you’re trying to convince someone they need mobile insurance. The pool of people that can be convinced to part with £200k on a house they really don’t like is limited. And generally, people don’t buy homes on a whim or when in doubt.

    So if you’re concerned that you need to be ‘sales’ savvy, or have a certain slick charm, I personally wouldn’t be, especially in the current climate, where demand for properties is massively out-striping supply.

    However, if you’re not convinced, remember you always have the option to use an Online Agent that offers a Hosted Viewings service as an add-on option.

    My conclusion to picking the right Online Estate Agent for you

    Most of the Online Estate Agents I’ve looked at operate in similar ways, making it easy and compelling for the general public to use.

    The differences between a high street agent and an online estate agent should be glaringly obvious at this point- there’s clearly more leg-work required when selling a house privately, and that’s something you may want to consider if you’re asking yourself: Should I use an online estate agent to sell my house?

    However, the extra legwork (i.e. schedule and take viewings) is very manageable in my opinion, so I truly believe online estate agents are a no-brainer for anyone that’s looking for an option to sell their home with minimal agency fees. In other words, an option buttload cheaper than traditional high street agents!

    Happy and cost-effective selling, folks.

25 Join the Conversation...

1 out of 5 rating2 out of 5 rating3 out of 5 rating4 out of 5 rating1 out of 5 rating7 people have rated their experience with Which Online Estate Agents.4.3 out of 5 Stars.Leave your Comment / Review
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NP. 29th February, 2012 @ 11:01 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating 3 out of 5 rating 4 out of 5 rating 1 out of 5 rating

Ive used an online estate agent - twice. One property had v few leads and as I needed a quick sale I went to a high street estate agent. The other had many leads but I took this property off the market prior to arranging too many viewings.

I think it depends on the property and the area, some properties need a high street agent to suggest properties buyers would not necessarily pick out to view.

The property a prospective buyer enquires about is rarely the property they actually put an offer on, and once estate agents have them on their books, they will show them other properties.

Also, estate agents show prospective buyers properties outside their budget whereas the buyer themselves will most likely wouldn't view these.

My property didnt get many viewings through the agent either, however they marketed at 11% higher then i did and achieved an offer 4% over my initial price. I do not think I would have achieved this amount otherwise. This more than covered their extortionate fee.

Even though I generally try to avoid lettings and estate agents, in this climate, and unless there is a massive demand for your property and area an estate agent would be able to achieve a better and faster deal.

I guess theres no harm in trying 1st, I only paid 199+VAT for the service and with the amount of enquiries for my 2nd house, I may have managed to sell for a good price.

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YesAdam 29th February, 2012 @ 13:03

Online Letting Agent seems logical but Online Estate Agent does not seem feasible.

BUT.. If you can do both (?) then its worth a try.

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The Landlord Avatar
The Landlord 1st March, 2012 @ 08:33

I definitely think it's worth a shot.

But I also agree, very much depends on location. In popular areas, properties will naturally sell quickly with very little marketing. That's when it's probably worth using an Online Estate Agent. In more specialist and niche locations, it might be worth using a high-street agent that knows how and where to source the niche buyers from.

But the same principle also applies with using online letting agents.

Either way, as you've both said, it's worth giving online agents a chance, especially as more and more people are starting to use the internet for buying/selling property.

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Fee 5th March, 2012 @ 01:24 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating 3 out of 5 rating 4 out of 5 rating 1 out of 5 rating

I think when I next come to sell my house, which I am thinking about doing soon, I will definitely be going for this option! Yes, it isn't in agents window or in the local paper but it is on Rightmove and all the others! Which is mainly were people look when buying a house.

Also I am fine with there being no agent to show people around as they normally do a shit job of it anyway and cannot answer half of the questions about the property.

But it does all come down to money and I would much rather spend under £500 than £2,700 which is what it cost with a normal estate agents when I last sold my house.

Informative post!

Fee.

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Allen 23rd April, 2012 @ 11:05

Hi,

Online Estate Agents concept is good but many persons feel that maximum these kind of company or people will be fraud, because they don't have their own identity...
Its my personal opinion...

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MiffedLawyer 27th June, 2012 @ 22:53

What's the beef with solicitors? I notice you take the pain to refer just to licensed conveyancers in relation to "conveyance solicitor to handle all the legal paperwork" ...Your readers should note that they are also welcome to use a real solicitor regulated by the SRA who can be found by a search on http://www.lawsocietyapproved.com/conveyancing.aspx ( for an accredited conveyancer)

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Mike 11th July, 2013 @ 15:34

The high street estates are more reliable and you get one to one relationship with them. Also they are more flexible when it comes to arranging appointments and showing the people around. I had an online estate, they didn't get leads, so I had to go direct to a high street estate and within a month they found a buyer.

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Jodie 13th June, 2014 @ 13:13

Really great tips.
Thanks for sharing.

Jodie

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Mad Richard 6th October, 2014 @ 13:42

Sounds like On line Estate Agent is a great idea. Most can advertise your property on Rightmove, Zoopla etc. for a lot less than a High Street Agent.
As for credibility, I don't think Sarah Beeny for instance is 'here today, gone tomorrow'

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Peter 5th August, 2015 @ 14:29

I have just had a valuation from an on line estate agent .His assessment was the property is in mint condition and he would sell it in 2 weeks for 35 grand.. 24 Hours later 2 local estate agents valued it , one said they would market it for 65 grand the other said 50-55 grand... I wont be using the on-line agent as you can well imagine ..totally clueless

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Martin Haywood 18th November, 2016 @ 09:37

Having been a qualified agent for 30 years and seen the total disappearance of foot traffic on the High Street I have now joined the revolution. Online agents are not just sharp businessmen with no pedigree, there are some who are experienced property professionals who put customer care first equal in their list of priorities alongside fantastic value.

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Goldie 12th June, 2017 @ 12:42

The Landlord, This Awesome Tips! it's really helpful for me. Thanks for sharing.

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Mr Ian Thompson 14th December, 2017 @ 13:02

doorsteps £99 pack does not include for sale signs so is incorrect

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The Landlord Avatar
The Landlord 14th December, 2017 @ 18:34

@Mr Ian Thompson,

Thank you, I have updated the table.

They were recently running a promo where they included a sale sign, but it looks like it's been pulled.

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James Ryan 4th January, 2018 @ 00:34

Just before I start - I wouldn’t like to note I am an estate agent, not a hybrid agent or an online agent; but where there is a post which is nearly slanderous towards estate agents I thought it would be equally helpful for the public to read into both sides.

Having taken an interesting read through the post it occurs to me that there is a real obsession with ‘saving money’. Don’t get me wrong, good point but maybe instead of going to a nice steak house for dinner I’ll go to McDonald’s because it’s cheaper...? Same context. I would say the obsession needs to be the net figure achieved. I.E Sale price minus agent fee; therefore if an agent sells the property for more money this has been beneficial?

Working within the industry I am exposed to the everyday running of what we do as estate agents and as a result the post here is completely inaccurate and unfair. There is a real assumption that we sit down and wait for the phone to ring and we book viewings, this isn’t the case and I’d like to point out some more points of difference.

Firstly, fees with estate agents are not upfront. They are paid upon completion therefore if you don’t see you won’t be required to pay any money. This is surprising when roughly 18% of people who attempt to sell through an online agent actually go through to completion - paying £500 for an 18% chance of selling doesn’t sound like a good deal to me? That’s 72% of properties which either ended up selling through a traditional agent or hated the experience so much the excitement for moving disappeared.

Another point I’d like to raise is that yes, it is correct that most enquiries are sourced from the internet portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla, however these applicants are placed upon a database and are called & emailed to arrange viewings on other properties. In my experience properties do not receive an uncontrollable amount of enquiries as this post leads us to believe. A rule we work by is that for every 10 viewings we show we expect 35% to come from Enquiries and 65% to be generated by the database, this offers nearly 3 viewings for every 1 viewing? Also excuse me if anything finds this incorrect but I believe that the more viewings leads to more offers and a higher sales price.

I won’t go on and bore you, but my advise to anyone selling is to invite a high street agent out, ask questions about strategy and marketing. Ultimately Your decision could cost you thousands! I will check on this post a few times in the coming weeks incase or any questions.

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The Landlord Avatar
The Landlord 4th January, 2018 @ 09:50

@James
Thanks for your comment. I don't want to get bogged down by a back-and-forth, but I feel inclined to respond to a few of your comments...

The point is, people DO want a cheaper option. Otherwise, it's like saying, "there's no point in McDonald's existing because you can pay for a better meal [allegedly]"

That's not really an argument. No one is disputing that you may or may not get a better service if you pay more, but people are willing to pay significantly less knowing they'll there's a trade-off. At the end of the day, the result is the same. Houses sell and stomachs get filled.

And the reality is, many people don't actually want to deal with an estate agent!

I think many high-street agents are getting caught up in the "saving money" argument, when they're missing the point- people want an alternative model that's cheaper. If said model didn't work, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. There's a reason why more and more people are using online agents.

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Rav 2nd February, 2018 @ 09:36 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating 3 out of 5 rating 4 out of 5 rating 5 out of 5 rating

We went with 99home, worked a charm. Sold for under £100 and for the asking price.

Many thanks

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Del 27th August, 2018 @ 21:31

I sold a property in April 2016 via an on-line agent (Think it cost me about £500 quid at the time)
It sold for £370K which was 5K under the advertised price some 6 days after the add went live.
A local High St agent who had valued the property 40k below my own researched valuation saw the add and wrote a very angry letter to me stating i was deluded and would never sell it! Sour grapes me thinks!
I am next week going to advertise my own home (on line again) for £575k, if my research and understanding of my local market is correct it will be 900 quid well spent!
If i fall flat on my face, then at least i tried and will hand the task over to the slime balls.
Would urge everyone to at least try, for the cost its a no brainer!!!

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Jonny L 23rd November, 2019 @ 21:47 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating 3 out of 5 rating 4 out of 5 rating 5 out of 5 rating

If you accept the limitations and want to keep hands on, use an online agent.

I had 4 viewings in 2 weeks and 2 offers - sold!

I think agents try to justify their existence by sending lots of people around even though most are just curious. That was my experience in the past. We had 4 genuine keen viewers.

Saving - £10,200 !!!!!!!!! Result!!

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Van 6th March, 2020 @ 00:55 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating 3 out of 5 rating 4 out of 5 rating 1 out of 5 rating

I've used 'I am the Agent' with success. I will give another online agent a go next time around for a new experience.

Confused, is a hybrid agent the same as a high-street agent or an online agent with add ons?

Do you have a list of hybrid agents?

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Ingrid Hill 10th June, 2020 @ 12:56

I used tepilo on line agent I paid the premium fee upfront even though they knew they were going into receivership. I lost all money paid and they became uncontactable. I wrote to the ombudsman who did nothing. It was a very dispiriting experience. I went with Tepilo as it was Sarah Beenys company. I would rate as zero stars.
Ingrid

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barry cook 31st July, 2020 @ 14:30

I used a very good online agent when selling house called Turtle Homes and all went
smoothly and they even vetted the purchaser to ensure he had funds available to buy , People are brainwashed from birth to use High street agents and probably why that
good firm stopped business as presumably not enough customers - SHAME really. I have always done own conveyancing too in last 40 years after reading a book by the late Michael Joseph called " the conveyancing fraud" and clue in title . Only problem I had OCCASIONALLY was obstructionism of solicitor acting for the other party but they backed off . want to keep their easy bread and butter income which is understandable !

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Dave 25th August, 2020 @ 13:55 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating 3 out of 5 rating 4 out of 5 rating 5 out of 5 rating

I used PB for my last sale (2016) and they were far better than any estate agent I'd used in the past, lots of viewings and quickly sold. Really just wanted to thank you for this article very informative and helpful. Thanks.

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Bear 17th May, 2023 @ 18:40 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating 3 out of 5 rating 1 out of 5 rating 2 out of 5 rating

Very late to this party but... I sold my last home using Doorsteps in 2021 with a £99 listing. I did it purely and simply to get the property onto Rightmove - and that is literally all they did for me. I was inundated with enquiries (via Rightmove) and sold the house almost immediately - as I expected. I had brought it up to a very high standard, taken great photos and written a good description. I must add here though that I was an agent for 15 years! I packed it all in for something entirely different when I realised that I'd need to sell my soul to the devil in order to continue. Like so many things in life - If you are prepared to do (and capable of doing) all the hard work yourself - why pay someone else ALOT of money to do it? In my experience, estate agents have it 2 ways depending on the market:
1. money for old rope - In 2021-2022 most wouldn't give me the time of day because they were so busy and property was selling itself almost instantly (with no effort on their part).
2. NOW (2023) the market has ground to a halt and they're all ringing me almost daily trying to get my business! I'm sure agents across the land are having to earn every penny of their commission with the way things currently stand.

I will be selling my house very soon - and have yet to decide which online platform to use - but it will be, as before, ONLY to get it on Rightmove. Doorsteps fees have skyrocketed themselves out of existence so it wont be them of course! :) If I have an experience worth sharing - I will.
Thank you for your informative and interesting (and amusing) blog!

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The Landlord Avatar
The Landlord 17th May, 2023 @ 18:50

@Bear

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you had success!

I personally think that's the only reason to use an online agent, to get listed on Rightmove & Zoopla. As you said, as long as you're organised and don't mind doing some of the leg work, it's great value. From the sounds of it, you're the perfect customer for an online agent.

From what I've noticed, the biggest mistake people make is that they expect to receive a high-street agency experience even though they're paying peanuts for an online agent. And then they complain! The reality is, they're different services, and the price reflects that.

BTW, ironically DoorSteps went into administration last year, after they skyrocketed their prices by like 300%, so definitely don't use them!

In any case, still plenty of good options available to get listed on Rightmove.

Best of luck with your next sale!

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