Brummies leading the home-selling way in Europe’s youngest city
Copenhagen, Lille, Rotterdam and Stockholm make the shortlist but Birmingham tops the league as Europe’s youngest city.
These youthful populations impact on their cities’ cultures. That comes into sharp focus on Birmingham’s property scene – both in who’s buying and how they’re selling their homes.
“One of the reasons behind property prices continuing to climb in Birmingham while other UK regions stagnate or decline is because more young people are choosing to get on the property ladder,” says Philip Jackson, founder of estate agent, Maguire Jackson and trusted commentator on the Midland property scene.
“Another clear trend is people in their late twenties and early thirties leaving London and the South-East and choosing to live and work in Birmingham because it’s a world-class rejuvenated city which remains affordable.
“But perhaps the most interesting way millennials have affected the property market is how shrewd they’ve become at selling their homes online which is now impacting on sellers of all ages.”
Savvy millennials driving online home sales
“Using a traditional estate agent means you will get an accurate valuation based on local market prices with a professional handling the sale for you. But the seller pays up to 2% commission for the privilege which, on an average house price of £225,000 in Birmingham, means £4,500.
“Millennials can’t rely on inflation – as their parents did – to see their asset gain value – whether that’s property price or wage inflation. They’re increasingly sensitive when considering big sums such as when selling their home so they look for a great deal.
“Using a national online estate agent may slash old-school estate agents’ expensive commissions but bypasses a critical step – a local and accurate valuation. Several case studies have come to our attention of national online estate agents which has sold a property for thousands below its market worth in comparison with the price we’ve achieved on a like-for-like basis.
“There’s the other issue that national online sites use self-employed valuers who don’t have local offices which you turn to for sales support during such an important transaction. Interestingly, sellers prefer to deal with local people, face-to-face rather than a call centre manned by people who sound as if they’ve never been to Birmingham.
“The key for the millennials and other modern home-owners selling their homes is to use a local agent for a trustworthy valuation, for sale board and national marketing then adopting a DIY approach to generating particulars, photographs, arranging viewings and negotiating.
“We’re the first to offer such a service where you can use our website to sell your property for as little as £670 if it sells in the first month.
“What sellers like is the transparency of our online service. Some prefer more support such as help drawing up floor plans and professional photography so they’re happy to pay £860 rather than £670.
“They get the reassurance of a local’s expert knowledge in setting the right price – high enough to merit its value, low enough to ensure a timely sale. Promotion on the UK’s largest property portal – RightMove. A for sale board. Input to how they project their property by uploading their own text and pictures – all guided with video including viewing and negotiator and other tools. They also get recommendations for local solicitors and mortgage providers.
“On top of the basic package, sellers can choose to include professional photography, the production of floorplans and sales particulars, accompanied viewings and the supply of an energy performance certificate (EPC).”
| Traditional way of selling | Online way of selling, online |
| Local estate agent evaluation to ensure price is high enough to maximise value but parity with comparative sales | Same as the old |
| Estate agent prepares particulars using professionally-trained photographer | Home owner prepares own floor plans, writes own particulars and loads up own photographs onto Maguire Jackson website |
| Viewings set up and often attended by estate agent | Seller uses online tools to set up viewings and attends |
| Promoted through traditional print ads | Promoted through Rightmove |
| Offers – estate agent acts as intermediary | Offers sent directly to home owner |
| Negotiations – handled by estate agent | Negotiated by house owner using online tools |
| Legals – estate agent acts as intermediary | Legals – online recommends and passes details to solicitors |
Marcus Whewell, chief financial officer at The Guild of Professional Estate Agents says, “We believe many other regional estate agents will follow Maguire Jackson’s lead in putting their established brand behind an online service package. Online is still relatively new as a model, but it does offer sellers much more transparency on the fees they are paying. Maguire Jackson’s approach is intended to give buyers the best of both worlds: in-depth, local, market knowledge and professional, on-the-ground, support – delivered at a price which reflects all the efficiencies the internet brings.”
The Maguire Jackson Online website is available now to house sellers across Birmingham.
For more information, visit www.maguirejacksononline.co.uk.
