Online Property Agents Give High Street the Boot on BBC's The One Show

Online Property Agents Give High Street the Boot on BBC's The One Show

LONDON, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --



- Settled Expanding to Disrupt GBP3.5bn Real Estate Sector 



- Settled Slashes fee to an Industry-leading GBP399 (inc VAT) 



- Owners Save an Average of GBP5,000 



- Settled is the Only Online Service to Remove Dependency on Real Estate Agents  



A battle between online and high street estate agents saw the online way triumph on an
episode of this week's BBC's The One Show.



(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/814004 )




The One Show pitted Settled [https://www.settled.co.uk ], a home selling platform and
alternative to expensive estate agents, against Madison Oakley, an independent high street
estate agent in Bath. Three sets of buyers were shown around a property firstly by the
homeowner, who was selling through Settled, and then by the high street agent. At the end
of the experiment each buyer was asked to choose their preferred method. Four out of the
five buyers championed the online agent.



One buyer commented: "The lady owner impressed us with her personal knowledge...she
could tell me what it was like to live in this building, in this flat, on this road."



The home seller Deb Wright who had chosen to sell her 3 bedroom flat in the centre of
Bath through Settled said: "I chose Settled initially to save money because it was a lot
cheaper. I was also curious to see if I could actually do it."



Over the past 3 years, the number of people selling their homes through online agents
has risen over 5 [http://www.zoopla.co.uk ]00 [http://www.zoopla.co.uk ]%
[http://www.zoopla.co.uk ]. Obviously the price is a real driver of this change, but
increasingly sellers and buyers are finding online companies offer them more than just
cost savings; they are quicker, provide more transparency and give customers much more
control over the process.



Settled is the only online service totally eliminating the need to rely on expensive
high street estate agents. Settled champions customers as 'the best people to sell homes'.
Buyers and sellers are connected through the platform and are given access to a range of
digital tools and round-the-clock support - this allows Settled to lower costs to an
industry-leading GBP399 (VAT inclusive). Settled saved Deb Wright around GBP8,000 on her
property sale.



The One Show [http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07k0sl0/the-one-show-12072016 ],
which attracts 5 million daily viewers (Source: BARB [http://www.barb.co.uk ]), also
featured a debate between Gemma Young, CEO and Co-Founder of Settled and Carey Gilliland,
owner of Madison Oakley. They discussed the pros and cons of each approach with Gemma
Young commenting: "The common misconception is that lower price means a lower level of
service. This is not the case."



Gemma continues: "More needs to be done to innovate within the property sector. Owners
are still being told that the best person to manage their home sale is a middleman. With
Settled we believe the key to unlocking a better future for real estate transactions is
inside consumers, not a third party. We've seen that when buyers and sellers are more
central to the process, they have an extremely positive impact; things run more smoothly,
they make huge savings and most importantly, they get something they've been craving for a
long time; more transparency and control".



Notes to editors: 



For the full episode see the BBC iPlayer clip
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07k0sl0/the-one-show-12072016 ] (the estate agent
feature starts at 02:00)



A range of high resolutions images and photos can be downloaded
[https://www.settled.co.uk/media ] from the Settled website.



About Settled  



Settled is an easy to use online property platform that eliminates the need for
homeowners to rely on expensive estate agents to sell their home. Instead Settled gives
sellers and buyers the tools and around-the-clock support they need to manage their own
sale or purchase. It aims to lead a new way of buying and selling homes of open
transactions, low transparent fees and honest advice.



Since its launch early this year, the proptech start-up has helped customers sell over
GBP50m



worth of homes and provide average savings of GBP5,000. The co-founders are brother
and sister team Gemma and Paul Young, who combined their previous experience in the
technology and property industries to reassess the traditional approach to buying and
selling homes.






Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/814004


Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/814004
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/814004
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Settled

CONTACT: Contact: Jessica Pearn, PR Manager, Settled, (e) press@settled.co.uk , (m) +44 (0) 7788 100 131


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