Is it possible to TRUST a real estate agent?

Purplebricks is changing the real estate landscape forever with a revolutionary platform that finally establishes trust. (No that’s not a typo)

Ask a group of people who have sold a home to describe the journey and the words you’ll often hear are – frustrating, infuriating, relief, joyful, stressful and deceitful.

We’ve only touched on a few, but expect a patchwork quilt of human emotions, and unfortunately the last one can be the most overwhelming.

You could forgive a cynic for claiming when it comes to the biggest financial transaction of our lives everyone is lying. The buyers are lying; “that’s my final offer” The vendors are lying; “we won’t budge on the price” and between them the real estate agent is lying to both sides.

It’s little wonder Roy Morgan research shows only 7% of the population feel real estate agents are trustworthy. But to be fair, surely the problem is the outdated process.

Both sides work through a go between, whose job is to represent the seller, but they’re also representing themselves. The agent needs to get the deal done quickly, collect a commission and move on. The job therefore becomes talk down the seller, and talk up the buyer.

But there is a new and better way – Purplebricks. Independent research shows more than 90% of people who have sold with a Purplebricks agent would use them again. It begs the question why?

The innovators of fair fixed-fee real estate have saved Australians more than $51 million in unfair commissions in just two years. But talking to sellers you soon discover it’s not just about the hip pocket.

Purplebricks customers say things like “it was more honest” or “it’s the no bullxxxx way” and “it’s 100% transparent”

So what is winning over customers and making Purplebricks the fastest growing agency in the country?

Yvonne’s home was passed in with another agent, she listed with a Purplebricks agent, sold in 2 weeks for $50,000 more and saved $22,000 in commission.

Yvonne, had her home with an old-fashioned agent and it was passed in, then several agents approached her.

“Selling my house was a very negative experience for a year, it was so stressful. Real estate agents are seriously greedy. The games (some of them) played with us, saying they had a bidder, someone interested when they didn’t,” Yvonne said.

The experience left Yvonne not trusting agents, but the home had to be sold.

In the end, Yvonne listed with a Purplebricks agent. Attracted by his up-front approach and the fact the revolutionary mypurplebricks platform meant Yvonne didn’t have to take things on trust. She could track every step of the process.

While the agent does all the things you’d expect, from marketing the property to hosting open houses and negotiating, offers from buyers and their feedback are made online.

So Yvonne could see the offers in real time. She knew exactly what was happening. She didn’t have to take the word of the agent on face value.

“With Purplebricks there’s no value in them playing games. They do their job and it’s all online, so you know what’s happening, it’s very transparent,” Yvonne said.

As for the outcome, the home that had been passed in with another agent at $990,000 was sold by Purplebricks in two weeks for $1,040,000.

“I’d say we saved $70,000. We got $50,000 beyond the price and we saved $22,000 in commission,” Yvonne said.

No commission, no compromise

So the no commission part is simple, but what do they mean by no compromise?

It means you don’t have to accept being overcharged to get great service and a great result. Because Purplebricks have experienced agents who do not have high street offices, have centralized admin and have a transparent platform that creates competition amongst buyers you get everything you need to achieve your target or more without the extra cost.

Knowing you get a full service agency at a fair fixed-fee and that you can see and control the process means it’s less stressful and you can trust your agent. After all, how can he or she lie? You can see what’s happening.

Just ask Paula who with her husband sold an investment property with a Purplebricks agent for $37,000 more than their target.

We did speak to other agents but their commissions were ridiculous, so we said let’s go with the one telling us straight out what they are going to charge.

“Every offer was online so we could see, rather than relying on what an agent is or isn’t telling us. It put us in control. It makes it fair, it was all out in the open” Paula said.

As for the result, Paula couldn’t be happier.

“I reckon we were 50 grand better off going with Purplebricks. It was an awesome experience, I wouldn’t hesitate using them again. Why would you pay $20,000. I don’t understand why people would give their money away.”

There are many more similar examples. What it shows is the platform itself builds trust. It may often be that everyone isn’t lying, including the agent. With mypurplebricks you can see that to be true.

Getting the right result

But how do you know for sure you’ll get the right result? Purplebricks can guarantee you will save on commission and you can trust the process because you can see it in action.

As for the success of fixed-fee agents, you may like to check out a long term research study done by the University of Amsterdam.

Last year, it published analysis of sales in the Netherlands over a 25-year period. During that time fixed fee agents were introduced and on average the fixed-fee agents sold homes quicker and for 2.7% more than their old-fashioned commission collecting rivals.

For more information: Purplebricks