Why do we still need estate agents when we have technology?

[BusinessTech]

Why do we still need estate agents when we have technology?

The rapid advancement in technology that we have seen this year, has revolutionised, not replaced estate agents says Ted Frazer, national marketing manager for the Seeff Property Group.

 

[ToxicBunny]

The only reason it hasnt replaced them is because sellers still insist on using them...estate agents are by and large useless and just get in the way

 

[Kosmik]

Look at the new fnb sell home app, we DON'T need them.

 

[LazyLion]

We plan on approaching the transferring attornies directly and just have them handle everything for us.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

There will be always be a need for Estate Agents as much as there will be a need for brick n mortar stores.

Only those that offer a service will survive.

I don't need a salesman to sell me what I know I want but I do need one when I don't know what size, brand, type, etc like running shoes that requires somebody to be an subject matter expert to fulfill my needs.

Same with property. Not all property needs somebody to sell it, some property sells itself.

But they are going to have to give better service at a lower comission or better, a fixed fee, if they don't want to make themselves "employable".

 

[Grubscrew]

Well the industry is changing and mostly for the good for all involved. I don't see agents dissappearing at all. I do however see that useless agents will fall out of the bus completely.

 

[rietrot]

They do some useful runaround stuff, and selling a home is a process that most people don't know how to do. So it is easy to just call someone.
They are about 80% overpaid though, that's just the sellers being stupid.

 

[calypso]

They exist because buying/selling a home is a transaction that you will only do a few times in your life. Because of the value of the deal and unsureness of the transaction process people call in estate agents to assist.
If you have done this process many times over, the value of the estate agent diminishes.

 

[ToxicBunny]

They exist because buying/selling a home is a transaction that you will only do a few times in your life. Because of the value of the deal and unsureness of the transaction process people call in estate agents to assist.
If you have done this process many times over, the value of the estate agent diminishes.

You honestly don't even need to do it many times... Places like private property will do it all for you or provide the assistance to get it done for way less than the oxygen thieves...

 

[Lupus]

I tried selling privately last year, had one bite that didn't go ahead. Eventually got an estate agent and the place was sold after two months with quite a few viewings.
A good estate agent does more then just put the property on property websites, a good one will also have a more professional picture/video setup. They'll help you position furniture to make rooms look bigger, advise where to do fix ups to make it more appealing. They'll also bargain on their % and after the work they did it was actually really good.
Though on buying a house there are a ton who are absolutely useless, using their phones camera, leaving houses in states that would never get them sold, indifferent and just as said oxygen thieves.