No Flies - Fantastic NEW Local Estate Agent

[jbodey]

Following the recent sale of our flat in East Dulwich, I would like to recommend the agent we used, No Flies.? This is a new online only agent in the East Dulwich area.???????

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Online only agent means lower fees than other local agents. Remember, those fancy window displays are paid for out of your commissions! I do not believe the lack of a high street presence makes any difference, after all who buys property these days without searching online?

Of course, the fee is only part of the story. The main reason for recommending No Flies is the tireless hard work of Brendan, who we dealt with from beginning to end. He wasted no time following instruction in getting the property to market, and had a number of offers on the table within a week. The offer we accepted was higher than the predictions of other local agents. Once the offer was accepted, Brendan was always on hand to answer any questions, to assist in any way he could, and to give us considered advice based on his years of experience. There was none of the arrogance and sales patter that I have come to expect from estate agents.

I am sure we have all heard horror stories about estate agents, but I can honestly say my experience of dealing with Brendan was nothing but positive.

So if you are thinking of selling your property in East Dulwich, get in touch with Brendan at?http://no-flies.co.uk. You won't regret it!

[Mick Mac]

Can't have been higher than Peddar's valuation, surely.

[jbodey]

We got three valuations, we ended up getting more than any of them. I am not interested in "naming names" ;-)

[Loz]

Anyone smell a rat?

[jbodey]

No rat here - I am a genuine satisfied customer. We are all quick enough to moan when we are not happy about stuff, so nice to have the chance to say something positive.

[Loz]

Hmmm. All the signs are there: first time poster, gushingly positive, reads like an business flyer. That second paragraph in paricular reads like standard agency copy.

Apologies if I'm wrong, but it's a stunt that's been pulled around here many, many times.

[jbodey]

I do understand why you may think that, all I can say in response is to repeat that I am a genuine happy customer. I registered for the forum as I wanted to express my thanks to Brendan for his hard work, and as we found out about him via this forum I know that it is effective in getting to the right audience. He deserves the recognition, and I hope the success, that follows. I also think that it may be a genuine useful post to somebody wishing to sell a property in the area. I don't *think* the kind of stunt your are suggesting is Brendan's style, at least I hope not! Not sure there is much more I can do to persuade the hardened cynics amongst you! That said, from what you are saying, maybe I should consider a change of career to marketing!!

[northlondoner]

Sounds genuine. Fakers tend to bugger off when challenged

[jbodey]

It has provided me with a good laugh this evening actually, nobody has ever accused me of being a faker before!

[Mick Mac]

jbodey Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We got three valuations, we ended up getting more

> than any of them. I am not interested in "naming

> names" ;-)

I take your point. But there are many houses selling above asking price. It's not unusual and you can't assume the other agents would not have achieved the same or a better price than you achieved.

I'm not a fan of online estate agents generally although they are rising in popularity.

[jbodey]

I do not sell "many houses". In fact I have only sold the one. I was very happy with the service I received and wanted to say why. Of course one cannot assume what may or may not have happened given a different path, I am only talking about what did happen in my case. In fact, Brendan said at the beginning that the eventual price will mainly be decided by the market rather than the brilliance of any estate agent, whereas one of the other agents we spoke to claimed that he could get us 30 grand more than anyone else. He had no evidence at all to back up this claim, of course. As far as I could tell he was saying this merely to justify the 50% higher commission he was asking for.

I am not telling anyone who they should use to sell a property. If you like paying unnecessarily high commissions and don't like straightforward honest advice then by all means stick to the traditional route.

[StraferJack]

plus they have used what appears to be a real name - one easily googleable

As they live close to me I can also vouch for the signs outside the property

But my spidey senses did tingle initially, 'tis true

[Mick Mac]

It's not the case here - but in general people who use online estate agents often think they have saved money in lower fees whilst being unaware if they achieved the best price for their property.

Real life estate agents should create some competitive tension between buyers which is more difficult for an online agent to achieve.

[jbodey]

I see your point, and that was initially a concern of mine as well. However we had numerous above asking price offers which went to sealed bids, so I think I this case there was plenty of competitive tension. I honestly don't believe we could have got a better price, given my research into other asking prices in the area, and eventual selling prices.

[Mick Mac]

As I said, its not the case here.

[Otta]

I think in East Dulwich at the moment, anyone could flog a property for over the asking price.

[jbodey]

You are probably right Otta, in which case payable commission and level of service become the important differentiators

[red devil]

What Ots said. I'd be more impressed if an estate agent sold above asking price etc in a tougher market.

In my experience high street agents will negotiate downwards on their headline commission rates, but they will never publicly admit to doing so. In the current crazy market it wouldn't surprise me if they would be willing to undercut a rival, as they know a property will fly out the door. Some commission is better than none.

I think the challenge for a company like NoFlies will be if they become more successful and therefore have more clients to deal with. Will they still be able to provide such a personal bespoke service? Additional staff will have to be employed, responsibilty delegated etc, it's not easy to control the ethos of a company in a sales commission driven industry...

[jbodey]

All fair points. I can only comment on the sale that I was involved which, thankfully for me, wasn't a tough market. I can comment on the commission undercutting remark. The other agents we spoke to were willing to cut their commission, but not to the level offered by No Flies. I was actually quite surprised, given the state of the market would have thought it wouldn't have been a difficult sale for them. I suppose they didn't want to set a precedent.

[No-flies]

Thank you so much jbodey for your very kind recommendation ? we are delighted that you were pleased with the service you received.

Mick Mac ? we would just like to clarify what we mean when we say we are an ?online agent?. We do not have a high street office and it is in that sense that we are online. Some ?online agents? list your property on Rightmove/Zoopla, etc and then leave the rest of the process to you. We are not an ?online agent? in that sense. We provide a full service, including valuation, marketing, accompanied viewings, feedback and sales progression after an offer is accepted. Anybody using us will notice no difference from using a high street agent (whether in terms of generating competitive tension amongst buyers or otherwise) except that they will be dealing with grown ups (who have bought and sold their own homes on a number of occasions so understand the possible frustrations), getting better service standards and lower fees.

Red devil - you are correct that challenges do, potentially, lie ahead. If we are to succeed in the long term we will need to ensure that anybody else who represents No-Flies embodies the ethos of the company (and that the directors remain hands on in relation to individual transactions) as that is, we believe, what distinguishes us. Should we fail to do that we would be rightly criticised. This is, however, a challenge all companies focused on excellent service standards face and one with which we look forward to dealing when the time arrives.

[katanita]

Can vouch for No-Flies, they are friends of mine. Haven't bought or sold through them but the day I want to I'd choose them in a heartbeat. Lovely guys, very knowledgeable and conscientious and have had an excellent success rate since they started. Plenty of other recommendations for them on the forum if you have a search.

[Loz]

Sounds like my suspicions were unfounded, so my apologies to jbodey for doubting you.

Out of interest, what is the commission that No-Flies charge? (awful name, IMHO)

[No-flies]

Loz - our current autumn promotion is a flat fee of ?3,000 (with no VAT) for sole agency appointments irrespective of the selling price of your property.

[ratty]

Bargain in SE22!

[jbodey]

No worries Loz, I can see why you would have been suspicious! Glad I was able to convince that I am real!!