This is a very interesting article which was published in the Estate Agent Today on the 8th December 2016, where a campaigning Estate Agent, Chris Wood has escalated his complaint to the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) about Purplebricks’ Local Property Experts.
The complaint involves concerns that at least some of the hybrid agency’s “Local Property Experts” are not individually registered with one of the industry’s three approved redress schemes, and that at least some are not registered with HM Revenue & Customs for anti-money laundering purposes.
It is important to note that, on June 2016, Property EYE reported that Individual Local Property Experts who are self-employed with the likes of Purplebricks and other online firms were being fast-tracked to sign up separately to redress schemes, such as the Property Ombudsman Scheme, in order to avoid breaking the law. Also, in recent weeks on Estate Agent Today, Wood has suggested that “there may be systemic, endemic portal juggling” undertaken by the agency. The story addresses the practice of repeated de-listing and re-listings of properties on major portals like Rightmove. Portal juggling has been defined as one of a number of emerging threats aimed at distorting the market and misleading consumers through the manipulation of digital technology.
At McEwan Fraser Legal, we are a trustworthy brand, employing only the best-experienced people in the industry and we have no self-employed valuers/local property experts. Sellers should be pleased to know we have recently been voted the “Best Estate Agency in Scotland” by various independent judges including The Sunday Times, The Herald, The Scottish Business Awards and The Scottish Legal Awards.
Please see more here: https://www.mcewanfraserlegal.co.uk/blog/category/awards/ This award should give all our clients the confidence that McEwan Fraser Legal really do go the extra mile to exceed our client’s expectations and provide a proactive professional service. Unlike Purplebricks and most online agents, we only get paid a success fee if we actually sell your property. We don’t believe any sellers should be paying agents for just listing properties on websites as there is absolutely no incentive for the agent to actually sell the property. If you would like a free valuation, please visit our website or call us on 0131 524 9797.