Tesco is set to make it’s entry into the UK property market according to the BBC. It appears Tesco will be creating a real competitor to Rightmove, but one that allows private sellers to list their homes on for a one-off fee of about £200. While it’s not a new idea - there are a considerable number of private seller websites, none have the traction or brand recognition that Tesco will be able to bring to the market.
Given the image problem the estate agent industry has and the generally poor service they offer I believe it’s likely that private home sales will take off rapidly - after all many of us sell cars privately so why not our homes - especially as when selling our homes there’s a solicitor checking all the paper work for us.
According to The Sun the new service is will be known as Tesco Property Market. For the one-off £199 payment, sellers will be shown how to become their own estate agents.
People using the property sales service will get a Tesco-branded “for sale” sign to put up outside their home - I bet that’s going to please the anti Tesco campaigners!
I look forward to seeing this in action.
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I can see it would be attractive to sell your own home, a fee of £199 is going to be considerably less than an estate agent will charge. If I were to sell my home through an estate agent it would cost between 1-3% of the sale price, which would be between £1,800 and £5,400 - much cheaper to do it privately. My only worry would be the laws that govern estate agents, like the Property Misdescriptions Act - will private sellers have to comply with that? Or will it be one rule for EA, and a different rule for private sellers.
It wouldn’t suprise me if that law applies to any property sale. Even so I’ve never quite understood the need for the law in the first place as most misdescriptions should show either at viewing, survey or during the legal work.