I was asked today what being a new breed of estate agent actually means. Good question, read on.

New pricing –Our selling fees are lower because we have identified & recalculated what the actual cost of selling a property are – this is not about having offices in prominent locations but ensuring we get your property in front of as many prospective buyers as possible, Locally and nationally!  This is achieved through optimum presence on the internet so we do not need to pass on unrealistic charges, especially in austere times! Our attitude is “what does it cost to sell your home” and therefore what should you pay and not “How can we charge the most from every vendor”.

New values – “Traditional” estate agents exploit the boundaries of the profession and many people complain about the service they receive. We have hundreds of satisfied clients who really appreciate our revolutionary concept. The solution is a combination of transparency and honesty in all communication and dealings along with and better access to essential information. All our customers have their own online accounts which mean everything we say and do can be seen and interacted too in real time 24/7. We have abolished contracts so vendors have total flexibility and control.  

New methods – We are a mix of the traditional with the innovative and it goes without saying that our business wouldn’t succeed and our vendors would be disappointed if we didn’t sell property so we prepare your details in the traditional manner but ensure we utilise the web to give your property the maximum exposure. Vendors and purchasers alike are empowered with a suite of tools to value, change house descriptions, offer and arrange viewings which are just a few examples of the interactivity or, if you prefer we do everything. Most customer mix the two.   

New Breed –Estate agency is a people business and our team is brimming with highly professional customer focused individuals who will manage every aspect of your home moving experience, resolving issues quickly and keeping in regular contact with you from the outset in whatever method suits you best, live chat, email, SMS, mobile or calls to your home or work phones . At the team’s heart is the desire to see a change in the perception of estate agency and hopefully you will find this a welcoming and refreshing approach.

Chris Sargisson

Founder

How many staff are currently employed at the company?

We currently employ 11 staff and expect this to increase next year. We’ve taken additional space at our premises in Thorpe Road to enable this expansion to occur.

What was included in the 2009 expansion programme for the business – eg London borough office?

2009 was a particularly difficult year in the property market, and whilst we intended to expand out of the Norfolk area, in practice the conditions did not make economic sense. Therefore we continued to focus on our local market and were able to continue to grow organically without exposing the business to unnecessary risks (its worth noting that 2009 was a year in which many agencies ceased trading). We are very fortunate in that month in, month out, between a quarter and a third of our new business comes to us on the back of referral by satisfied customers. This means that we are able to contain our marketing costs, and therefore maintain our low fees for our customers.

Any future expansion plans?

In 2010, as the market has improved, we have begun our expansion out of the Norfolk area. We currently have approaching 1/3 of our stock outside of Norfolk. We will continue to develop the national side of our residential sales business, with the objective of handling 1% of UK property sale transactions within 3 years.

We are also developing ‘white label ‘ partnerships with businesses needing an Uk wide, low cost service to help them dispose of volumes of properties.

We intend to have a hard look at the rental market as this has grown significantly of late, given the problems with mortgage availability. We will look to put the House Revolution spin on any offering, rather than follow what everyone else does.

 What is the current average saving on fees per customer, compared to traditional estate agents?

Average values nationally are now as low as £166,000. Typically, High Street agents charge at least 1.5% + VAT, which means they would be looking for a fee just under £4000 including VAT.

Incidentally, we have just sold a property for more than a million pounds. On these high end properties, traditional fees are 2% upwards, plus sundries such a the cost of a glossy printed brochure – so the wrong side of 20,000 pounds – guess what we charged? 999+VAT.

With the recession, have you noticed more people turning to your company to save money?

We have grown significantly over the last 18months, but I wouldn’t say that this is down to people specifically trying to save money. To many people that contact us, our pricing is a bonus, it’s more the fact that they are looking for a viable alternative to the high street agent and it is our levels of customer service and transparency that tend to be the ultimate attraction.

What is the call centre support/e-chat service?

Our team in our Thorpe Road offices fulfil a range of functions, from arranging valuations appointments to viewings, helping people find what they need on our website, to managing the sale of our customers’ properties through to a conclusion. Whilst we don’t have a shop front as such, we do welcome visitors to our office and we are very happy for people to see that we are very real. We are giving people an insight into what goes on in our offices via our facebook page at www.facebook.com/houserevolution

The e-chat service is a real-time messaging service, which enables a customer or a site visitor to engage quickly with one of our team and get an instant response.

What is the connection with RightMove and other property websites?

No connection other than we automatically upload all our properties to them to ensure the maximum exposure possible for all our customers’ properties.

More than 90% of all property searches start online now, and 7/10 searches are on Rightmove, so it is incredibly important to be on these sites.

It is interesting that a customer will now search on Rightmove for a particular type of property, in a particular area, within a price band. When they find a property they like, they will then look at which agent it is through. Which means that it less significant which agent you are with, and arguably we provide one of the cheapest routes to get your property on these sites, as they do not accept listings from private sales.

In a couple of sentences, how would you sell House Revolution to someone who had only ever used a traditional estate agency before?

Tell me about the things that you disliked about using a traditional agent, and I will pretty much guarantee that House Revolution does it differently and better.

Been to see a couple of local radio stations this week with the idea of advertising both us and our houses. Its so expensive. £3000 a month for a few 15 second adverts, Quite an outlay really… hummm. The biggest problem is the ‘creative’ IE the what the adverts will say. Both stations ideas were really rubbish. One even got our price and name wrong. They have made no effort to understand what we do and why we are unique. Its quite disappointing really. I have sent them back their respective drawing boards.

Anyway, the big positive this week is my children going back to school after the summer holidays. Florence has moved up to middle school and seems to be loving it although it was only been one day which was probably spend designing a name tag for her coat peg. The return to school means the return to house revolution of Rachel my wife. Having her in the office lifts my day and my spirit. They say husband and wife should not work together but i don’t know, so far its been a joy and her coat peg designs are quite good as well!

Back to work. laters…..