Purplebricks to spend almost $2m a month on TV and radio ads in US

Purplebricks has given more details of its activities in the United States, where it is hoping to break into a market dominated by realtor fees of up to seven per cent. 

It is currently recruiting what it calls Local Real Estate Experts for its launch area, California, a state chosen because of what the company describes as its “strong housing and economic fundamentals” and because of its reputation as the area with the highest volume of transactions in the country.

Online advertising says LREEs could earn up to $100,000 in year one “and the opportunity to double your income every year from there, building a profitable business.”

The advertising, on LinkedIn, also says successful applicants will have the opportunity “to operate in your own exclusive multi-zip code territory” with a pledge of nearly $2m per month spent on “heavyweight TV and radio campaigns that will bring the customer to you.”

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange at the start of summer Purplebricks revealed that its US chief executive, Eric Eckardt, would be recruiting “hundreds of highly experienced, full-time real estate agents across California who demonstrate extensive local market knowledge and a passion for customer service”.

Purplebricks is already active in part of the Australian residential real estate market - in its most recent tradiing statement, the Australian business contributed £3.5m of revenue to the company and made a first year loss of £6.1m.

* Thanks to Mike DelPrete for help with this story.