Buy. Sell. Let. Rent. No Agents!
Benefits: what HouseShout! is about
Every penny counts
The average home in Britain has seen a £50,000 reduction in its value since the housing slump began in 2007. The slump has plunged one in seven home owners into negative equity. With analysts predicting economic recovery may not be until 2011, more and more people are realising that they will have to sell for far less than they had expected. HouseShout’s agent-free process will save £8,425 in estate agent fees on the average London home and prove a great way to claw back value.
Customer dissatisfaction
According to a recent BBC survey, estate agents rank third amongst the most disliked professions in the UK. Statistics published by OFCOM show estate agents received a record number of complaints compared to all other professions for unethical behaviour in 2007. With such a bad reputation for unscrupulous behaviour, why would someone want to trust one of their most important assets with them?
The cost
Posting on our site is free for those looking to rent or share properties, those looking to sell incur a one-time fee of £49.99 (inc. VAT). BUT WAIT! For the first three months even posting for sale is absolutely FREE. There are no hidden charges, we are just trying to build up our database of properties as quickly as possible. Even if you intend on using an agent, our service is free with this initial promotion and could save you thousands so why not give it try. To be notified when the site launches sign up for updates.
Online community
Along with facilitating private transactions, HouseShout's aim is to become the most trusted source on the web for information on ancillary property products such as mortgages, home insurance and property law. We will also provide help once our users have moved – "What is really the best flat screen TV out there?". Using our ‘HouseShout! Guides’ feature, we will provide a foundation of research. The community will be able to freely discuss and share experiences and opinions becoming the first place to come for any property help… even for those who’d rather use an estate agent.
UK is online
Searches to buy property now begin online, in the last five years the landscape of the housing industry has drastically changed. Technology has made it more convenient than ever to buy, sell, rent or let a home. As is occurring in every industry, the internet has caused a decreased role for middlemen. As direct contact between end parties is made easier and more efficient we will soon all be cutting out the agent.
Sell quicker
In a June 2007 independent study by Alliance and Leicester, it was found that private property sales occurred an average of two months quicker than sales with an agent. Selling your own home saves money, saves stress and saves time.
HouseShout! and the Agent
Although steadily decreasing, the majority of people in the UK still use an agent when they put their house up for sale. In doing so, they are forced to enter into a contract stating that either the agent has the sole right to sell that property, or, for a higher commission several agents are instructed with the fee going to the successful agent. HouseShout! is not an estate agent so is able to sit uniquely outside most of these agreements. Think about it as posting your property in your local newspaper, only with a bigger reach. WARNING: Make sure to watch out for certain clauses before you sign. Click here for thefull story on clauses to avoid.
Safe and sound
We understand that trust in our brand is paramount to the growth of our service and we take this subject very seriously. Any user found using the site in an undesired manner as according to our terms of service will be immediately contacted and if necessary removed from site. HouseShout! incorporates several features listed below (but not limited to) to combat fraudulent activity:
1) Membership – All users wanting to contact advertisers, add to discussions or get involved on the site will need to first register as a member. Members will receive their own email facility, the only contact method people can use unless they decide otherwise. Should unsolicited emails be sent through the site or users experience fraudulent claims, HouseShout! will take action to remove the user.
2) Manual Comment Approval – The first time a comment is made by a user that comment is placed in a queue which must be manually approved by our staff. After this first comment has been cleared and OK'ed, they will be able to freely post in the future… within our community guidelines of course.
3) Unique ID – All properties on our site will be given a unique ID which can be used anywhere the advertiser chooses to advertise outside the site. ‘For sale’ boards and ‘for rent’ boards are a popular and effective tool used when advertising a property. Rather than using a phone number users will be able to give their unique property ID to interested parties, who can then locate the property on out site.
FREE posting promotion
In order to build up HouseShout! users we will be offering a limited time completely free promotion. What do you need to do? Make sure you're one of the first to post your advert, that's all. So sign up to be informed of all our news and our launch date.
