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Selling homes online on the increase
28 October 2008
Estate agents are in need of more than just a Quantum of Solace in these recession-hit times with more than one hundred facing liquidation each week.
Bucking the trend and proving you can live twice, former estate agent David Amstell has 'gone freelance' and set up the UK's leading, low cost, independent property website.
www.briffy.com allows sellers from all over the country to advertise their homes online themselves for a one-off fee of £25.
"Having been an agency man myself and having sold my house through one I realised they don’t do that much and their fees scare the living daylights out of customers," says Amstell.
After casting his golden eye over the potential of the internet he devised a way to let buyers, landlords and sellers say 'No' to agencies – and save themselves thousands of pounds.
"All estate agents do is put an ad online, stick a sign up outside your home and wait for the phone to ring. What people are now realising is they can do it themselves, and it doesn't have to be mission impossible.
"You have to be an estate agent to use a site like Rightmove but anyone can advertise on www.briffy.com and it takes as little as four minutes to have your house on the market."
Amstell says estate agents are on the way out thanks to the growing number of internet-savvy homeowners and sellers, who have been tapping into the potential of their own Goldfingers.
With the number of properties being sold by agents hitting a 30 year low – sellers needed a different way to bring their properties to the attention of buyers.
"Estate Agents deserve to be obsolete," says Amstell. "When young people want to buy or rent a home they will want to go online, not go to an agency.
"All it really takes to sell or let your home is to find a buyer or tenant, and using my website you can do that yourself. The difference is, this won’t cost thousands of pounds."
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