The UKâs largest and oldest private sales website
will be re-launching on Monday 16th March after suffering for years
with agents trawling the site and poaching their private vendors.
Private sellers’ frustration at being contacted by numerous
estate agents trying to win their business proved to be a major source of
complaints for The Little House site, but there was little the website could do
to stop the practice.
Given the traditionally frosty relationship between estate
agents and private sellers, it seemed slightly ironic that an agentâs secret
weapon for expanding their business was a For-Sale-By-Owner site. Co-founder
Nick Marr has found that private sellers who wanted to go it alone still wanted
advice or services from professionals when it came to certain crucial aspects
of the sale â such as valuing a property for example. In fact, Marr claims that
8 out of 10 of his customers will require the services of an estate agent at
some point in the process.
Formally The Little House Company, TheHouseShop.com will now
launch with a new offering that lays out a more transparent, formal
relationship with the agents that have been secretly using the site for years.
TheHouseShop.com will offer homeowners a gateway to access
all the ways to sell a home: from For-Sale-By-Owner and online agency, to high
street agents and even property auctions â making it the first site to allow
homeowners to choose how they want to sell their home.
In the digital age, more and more people are going online to
buy, sell and rent property, but the offerings from the main property portals
are almost identical, and while benefitting estate agents, offer nothing new to
consumers. TheHouseShop.comâs model allows sellers to pick and choose as much
(or as little) professional help as they need and gives agents a legitimate,
above-board way to showcase their services to private sellers.
As an added incentive to get agents flocking to the new site,
TheHouseShop.com will offer them free listings, along with the option to sign
up to offer professional valuations to homeowners and receive free valuation
leads.
Consumers also stand to gain a good deal at
TheHouseShop.com, as it will feature listings from private sellers, online
agents, high street agents and property auctions, allowing buyers to search the
entire market in one place. TheHouseShopâs inclusive, pro-choice approach
appears to have given them an edge over exclusive âagent-onlyâ portals like
OnTheMarket who will only deal with brick and mortar agencies.
âDifferent people and different properties have different
needs, and we offer sellers all the available options at a competitive price,â
says Company Director Nick Marr. âWe are already working with thousands of
estate agents who recognise the value of our unique audience and the services
we offer, so this new model was a no-brainer for us.â
TheHouseShop will be an inclusive platform for everyone
buying, selling or renting property, be they consumers or professionals.
TheHouseShop â Itâs Your Choice!
Estate agents can go to www.thehouseshop.com now
and sign up for exclusive Beta access to the services on offer at TheHouseShop.
