What on earth is a "personal" agent?

Personal agents, corporate agents, high street or online, self-employed, franchised……where did all this choice come from??

 

If you’ve even dipped your big toe into the property market over more recent years, it can’t have escaped your notice that there are changes afoot in the many types of agents you can choose from. 

 

Phrases such as personal agent, bespoke agent or the Americanism ‘real’ estate agent are becoming more common place, amongst others, as a new wave of Estate Agency finds it place in the market. 

 

But what/who are they, and who should you be using to sell your most valuable asset? 

 

I can already hear some of you thinking ‘oh, here he goes, he is going to trash the new boys and say that traditional is best’ and had I been reading this blog, rather than writing it, I’d assume exactly the same….but please, bear with me, read on….you may be surprised. 

 

When I came into agency in the late eighties, there was only one type of agent. The High Street agent. Although, even back then, they were split into self-categories such as independent and corporates, each shouting about the benefits of their individual structures, but ultimately, the agents were extremely similar in their approaches and marketing. A large corporate agent would often boast that their network of offices allowed them to reach more buyers.

 

The dawn of the internet, and the birth of Rightmove, gave a newfound strength to the independent agents, they could now play on a level playing ground, and suddenly it was less important as to where your branch was in relation to your home, and arguably, if you even needed a physical office.

 

And technology plays a huge part in changing the face of Estate Agency, time and time again. 

 

The ‘online’ agent was one of the more seismic changes in the choices you had as a seller. Cheaper fees, but more risk, lured many a seller, and still does, with High Street agents slow to offer people an alternative to their traditional approaches.

 

To start to understand who is best to sell your home, it is important to get under the bonnet of some of the terminology, so let’s start there. 

 

What is a ‘High Street Agent’? 

Probably the one that most people recognise. The traditional agent, with physical branches, situated in your high street, or near one at least. The high street agent will come with a differing array of window displays, but will also have an internet presence provided by well known portals, such as Rightmove and Zoopla.

 

What is an ‘online’ agent? 

Purplebricks, Yopa, Strike and others, use the internet as their shop window, with no physical locations, and will rely heavily on advertising campaigns for brand awareness.

 

What does hybrid mean? 

Any agent with a website and an office could technically call themself a hybrid, offering a mix of both, but I would argue that an agent should have more online functionality, such as online bookings before they can truly claim the mixed title. 

 

What is corporate estate agency? 

Larger chains of agent are often referred to as ‘the corporates’, agents such as Haart, Countrywide, Connells etc.

But even within these companies there are vast  differences to the structures, such as company ownership etc. so size, in itself, isn’t the only factor in this label. 

 

For many, being corporate is more about a uniformed image across the entire company, with focused training and strong consistent branding. 

 

What makes an agent ‘independent’? 

Simply having no ties with interests other than selling and letting houses, for example, back in the eighties, many agents had ties to banks and building societies, and the financial institutions saw the Estate Agencies as a way of luring people across to do their mortgage. This doesn’t mean that an independent doesn’t offer those services, just that they are not governed by them. Selling and letting is their main priority.

 

What are personal or bespoke agents? 

There are several new terms for this new breed of agent, but in a nutshell, most are effectively franchisees of bigger, newer brands such as Exp or Keller Williams. These agents work as self-employed, but with the support of a chain. An idea imported predominantly for the states, and now looking to make a mark on our shores, the individual agent is usually prolific on social media.

 

I could expand on each of these sub sectors of agency, and others will describe them differently too, but I’ve tried to give offer a bite-size synopsis of each, to offer a basic understanding. 

 

So, with all these different types, who should you be choosing to help you move? 

 

Any of them.

 

See, what “type” of agent you go for shouldn’t really be a factor in your decision, as many of the methods of marketing that agents use, is apparent in every sector. Whether an agent is in the High Street or working out of a shed in their back garden, they will still put your home on Rightmove.

 

Does that mean that all agents are the same? No, far from it, and you should always be asking questions about how an agent intends to market, and where.

 

But, and to me, I think this is the most important factor. It’s about the person. The individual agent, and who you trust, who impressed you the most, who seems like they are truly on your side, and who you would be happy working with for the months in which it will take to get your transaction forward. And that person could be in any of the sectors above.

 

That person could be a young fresh-faced agent, carving a career in the corporate world, or the owner of the business. If they have your best interests at heart, rather than just their own, then they are the agent for you. When I came into the industry, as a product of corporate training, I was often offended when people presumed that I didn’t care as much, because I worked for someone else. This was never the case, and I see many young agents, employed, that are extremely passionate about helping their customers.

 

In summary, choose your agent on their individual merits, and how they intend to work for you.