The Rise of the Online Estate Agent « Real Estate Blog

The Rise of the Online Estate Agent « Real Estate Blog

The advent of technology in both computers and internet paved the way for the introduction of changes in the way we conduct property searches nowadays. However, the services provided by the real estate agents stayed basically the same.

In the not-so-distant past, the real estate agent was responsible for finding the buyer a home. Presently, approximately 90 percent of houses sold are found online by buyers.

In most cases, the properties were located in the major property websites in the UK such as
Zoopla, Rightmove, Prime Location and Find a Property.

Perhaps, the greater question now at the back of our minds is how do real estate agents still exercise a degree of control over the property market despite the lesser demand for their services?

Real estate agents still hold a huge amount of influence over these online property portals. This is because it is highly impossible for anyone to just advertise properties without an agent license. Only agents are allowed to advertise their own properties.

For ordinary sellers, this means you still require the help of a real estate agent to be able to list the properties you are selling online.

For a time sites such as Rightmove allowed websites known as private house sales sites to advertise. However, once these became a threat to traditional agents, private house sales sites were blacklisted from advertising on these estate agent controlled sites.

Online property agents provide similar services as high street property agents at a hugely discounted rate. The reason for this is that they do not need to open and operate a high street store to be able to attend to their clients.