Online or high street agent? Sellers reveal their decision-making process

Google 'online vs high street estate agents' and you'll get nearly five million pages debating one of the biggest decisions a vendor will make about the most valuable deal of their life.

It's a huge thinking point for home sellers, and a bustling topic of conversation in the property industry.

Property Academy recently surveyed 14,530 home sellers in its Home Moving Trends survey.

As well as touching on Brexit and Virtual Reality viewings, the respondents shone a light on their decision to go with a high street, rather than online, agent.

In the Home Moving Trends survey, 85 per cent of respondents said Brexit “has not impacted my decision to move.”

Two per cent decided not to move, and seven per cent perceive property prices to have decreased in their area.

Movers are also showing increasing confidence in new technologies such as Virtual Reality; as 60 per cent would consider viewing online prior to a physical viewing in the future.

When asked whether they considered selling their property through an online agent, 30 per cent had thought about it, but eventually went with a high street agent.

The remaining 70 per cent didn’t consider it at all.

Out of the 14,530 sellers 34 per cent, or a little under 5,000, never even visited the agent, compared to the 32 per cent who visited in advance.

And although this is most likely the biggest deal of their lives, a third of sellers don’t take the time to visit offices at any point in the process.

In the infographic below, produced by property marketing specialists KeyAGENT, the sellers reveal exactly what’s most attractive about high street agents – and what they find intriguing (and potentially convincing) about the newer online agent industry.