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Are 1 in 5 estate agents at risk from rise in online portals?

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Longterminvestor

Administrator
Offline estate agents need to up their game to compete with the low cost high volume online portals. There will always be a place for offline estate agents but the market will be but a fraction of the online arena. Ideally offline estate agents need to increase their online exposure.
 
L

lookinginvest

Member
Offline business will need to trim the fat and increase their online exposure. It would not be healthy if a small number of online players effectively ruled the UK estate agency sector - not good for competition or charges!
 
P

PostBrexitInvestor

Member
If you snooze you lose - offline estate agencies are still getting caught out by the online revolution. I agree about a potential lack of competition going forward as the big online players take over - not good for the consumer in the long term.
 
R

realdeals

Active Member
At some point the regulators will need to show their teeth - if competition is reduced it will be consumers who lose in the long term. Just look at the search engine market which is dominated by Google - with little the regulators can do about it.
 
L

Longterminvestor

Administrator
How many of these real estate offices actually make money? They cant increase prices because of online competition.
 
J

Jason Guest

New Member
High Street agents have spent too much time arguing and moaning about the rise of online agents instead of moving with the times and updating their practices!
 
L

Longterminvestor

Administrator
Totally agree - rather than fighting the online revolution they all need to embrace it. People will only now view properties when they are pretty clear they will be putting an offer in. The majority of their research will be carried out online.
 
J

Jason Guest

New Member
Absolutely, theres no reason why high street agents cant adopt a hybrid mentality and use their newspaper or magazine advertising budget to put towards changing their website or marketing habits to a more online route. For a few years there will still be a dwindling amount of people that like/need a walk in office but this will eventually die
 
R

realdeals

Active Member
We also have virtual tours now and drones to give you a wider view - although nothing beats an actual visit to a property.
 
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