Purplebricks Review & Promo Discount Code 2018

Purplebricks Review

Purplebricks.com, arguably the biggest UK estate agent, and almost certainly the biggest and well-known online estate agent. In fact, their brand is so strong that many still believe they’re “one of a kind”, in the sense that they’re the only cost-effective estate agent operating online. Well done, Purplebricks.

But the reality is, they’re not the only online estate agent around anymore, and while the likes of YOPA and emoov (both of which you may have heard of) are throwing heaps of money at their own brands in an attempt to close the gap, they’re both still quite a stretch behind, which means people are still unaware of the fact there are options beyond the market leaders.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to discourage anyone from using Purplebricks as their online agent, but at the same time, I’m definitely trying to encourage everyone to look at the other feasible alternatives, some of which are allegedly just as good, if not better, and a whole bundle cheaper. Just to give you some sense of perspective, at the time of writing this blog post, Purplebricks are charging £849 for their services, while there’s an alternative online agent offering ‘comparable’ services for £199… you do the math!

Estate Agent	Rating	Duration	Includes / Notes	Price
Door Steps	Rating 9.7 / 10 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration Until Sold	Includes / Notes Premium package Markets on Rightmove, Zoopla + more Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation	Price £199Inc VAT	Visit Website
PurpleBricks	Rating 9.5 / 10 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration	Includes / Notes Standard package Markets on Rightmove, Zoopla + more Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation *Selling fee of £1,199 in London and surrounding areas.	Price £849Inc VAT	Visit Website

List of the best Online Estate Agents →

How does Purplebricks work?

You probably already know.

You’re probably only here because you already plan on using Purplebricks and you just wanted to grab and run with the discount code (which doesn’t even exist, currently…). But on the off chance, if you’re genuinely here to understand more about the process of how Purplebricks and other online agents work, please allow me to alleviate some of your ignorance. I think the best and easiest way to break it down is by highlighting the four main differences between an online estate agent and your regular local high-street agent (which we all know and loathe)…

• There are no local branches/offices
  I’d say this is the main difference, and the reason for why online agents are considerably cheaper than your local high-street agent.

  Online agents do NOT operate out of local branches, everything is handled through one central office… somewhere in the UK (I’ve yet to find any online estate agent that outsources their call centres overseas). This means their running costs are significantly less than a nationwide estate agent that has branches all over the place.

• Local agent
  Many of the online agents (Purplebrick is included with in this list) are technically ‘hybrid agents‘, which means they provide a blend of online and real-life services.

  The ‘real-life’ services comes in the form of a ‘local expert’, who will visit your property and conduct a in-person valuation, and then assist you along the way until completion (although, you’re unlikely to see them again in-person after the viewing, unless you pay for ‘hosted vieiwngs’. More on that shortly). A common misconception about online agents is that they’ll leave the vendor to their own devices, but that’s not entirely true; you won’t just be left unsupported.

  These local agents typically workout of their home (not from a local office or branch).

  The pure online agents won’t provide a local agent and they’re generally much cheaper, but they usually provide a dedicated account manager which you can communicate with either by phone or email, right up until completion.

• Rightmove, Zoopla & other Property Portals
  All of the best online agents will market your property for sale across the biggest UK property portals, like Rightmove & Zoopla, and this will be the primary method of generating enquiries, if not the only way.

  In fact, all the best estate agents, including high-street agents, will market their properties across the same property portals, because that’s how the majority of them generate their leads. You want the most eyeballs (i.e. potential buyers) on your property sale? Put it on Rightmove & Zoopla. Simple.

  However, the average local agent will also advertise in their window, in local papers, magazines and various other localised outlets (methods which are quickly becoming less and less effective).

• Viewings
  Perhaps the second most notable difference between an online agent and a high-street agent, the viewings.

  While some online agents are starting to provide “viewing services”, most of them don’t, so that means you’ll need to take the viewings yourself.

  The online agents do provide the service, demand an extra premium for it, because it’s an ‘add-on’.

  In my opinion, I think an online agent solution is better suited for vendors that are willing to take their own viewings, because the cost of an online agent doesn’t become all that appealing when you start bulking on the viewing services. Purplebricks currently charge an additional £300 for their viewing service, which gets thrown on top of their base cost of £849. For £1149 I’d be tempted to negotiate a deal with my local agent, even if I have to pay a little more.

So there we have it.

Hopefully you’ve been enlightened, even if only a smidgen. Admittedly, I only covered the highlights in this blog post, but for a much more detailed coverage, I recommend heading over to my online estate guide. There’s plenty more in there.

The Negatives Of using Purple Bricks

PurpleBricks have tens of thousands of reviews on TrustPilot, and while the vast majority of them are positive, there are a couple of complaints that seem to keep reappearing. And to be fair to PurpleBricks, many of the negatives apply to most hybrid agents, purely because of the nature of their setup…

• Extra fees – while online agents live by the premise of having “fixed fees”, some people have complained that PurpleBricks add on unnecessary charges if you want to use the “pay after sale” option. I quote, “You can defer your fees until the house is sold, but you will have to use their choice of solicitor, who of course charges over the odds. You can use your own solicitor, IF you pay ANOTHER fee. Alot of hidden charges, as usual, if it appears to good to be true…then it probably is.” Sidenote, PurpleBricks outsource their conveyancing service to MyHomeMove/eZieConveyancing.

  To re-clarify, PurpleBricks are definitely one of the most expensive online solutions to selling property! Whether their price is well justified or not is another question altogether, however.

• Poor Communication – perhaps the most vocalised complaint is about the unsatisfactory experience when it comes to communication. My guess is that the local agents cover vast areas, more ground than the average local high-street estate agent, which obviously means they have less time to answer phonecalls and reply to queries. I quote, “Service at start was excellent. But when offer was recived no negotiations done for a better price. Estate agent was hard to contact at the most crucial of times”

  It must be noted though, the very nature of online estate agents entails less “hand-holding” and more waiting (generally speaking, but not necessarily always), so I recommend only using an online agent if you’re fully prepared for its genetic makeup.

In order to minimise your disappointment with ANY online agent, including PurpleBricks, you should fully understand how online agents work so you know what to expect, and I also recommend checking out the cheaper alternatives so you weigh up your options.

For those of you who have used Purplebricks, or are contemplating it, I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts in the comments section below…