The Sunday Times June 11, 2006

Internet opens door to easier house hunting

"BUYING property is always a stressful process, but at least the internet has helped home hunters save time and money, writes Matthew Wall."

"When first-time buyer Katie Tucker, 26, an IT consultant, wanted to move from Maida Vale in London back to her home town of Reading in Berkshire, the internet proved a godsend."

Matthew writes that Katie could have potentially saved thousands of pounds advertising online and bypassing estate agents had she needed to sell a property before moving. He describes hows that 'an agent will typically charge 2%, or £6,000 on a £300,000 property' but by selling through an online publishing website you can pay between £47 and £299, depending on the type of advertising package you chose.

"because private-sale websites are considered publishers and not agents, there is nothing to stop you from advertising with a conventional estate agent at the same time. If a sale arises through the website rather than the agent there is no obligation to pay commission.

Estate agents often argue that the private-sale route exposes you to a lot of work and the possibility you will get the pricing of your property wrong. But this argument is less compelling now that the Land Registry’s database of property prices is freely available via any number of websites, including Yahoo.

Private sellers can judge what a reasonable asking price is for their property based on the sale prices of other properties in the same street. Home buying is never going to be stress-free, but the internet helps make it more tolerable, cheaper and less time-consuming ."

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