Online estate agency Strike - which used to be HouseSimple - is expanding its sell-for-free service out across the Midlands and parts of Central England.
The free service, which launched in Yorkshire and the North West in June 2019, followed by Nottingham and the North East in 2020, allows homeowners to sell their home for free.
The agency says vendors are still receiving local expert valuation and sales support from listing to completion, despite not being charged.
Its latest expansion will see the creation of around 80 new jobs in its agency and financial services teams.
Based on the average UK house price of £256,0001, the agency claims the model could allow homeowners to save almost £4,000 in commission fees - £1,000 more than the average stamp duty holiday saving.
Strike’s latest new locations include Birmingham, Leicestershire, Coventry, Derby, Dudley, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shrewsbury, Telford, Worcestershire, Walsall and Wolverhampton, with the online agency planning to offer its full service nationwide from early 2022.
Sam Mitchell, chief executive officer at Strike, says: “Strike is here to redefine the way we move. Estate agency has remained largely unchanged for 200 years, with people feeling overcharged and underwhelmed, but we’ve been fighting to change that since we launched our sell for free model back in June 2019.
“The ability to sell a home for free, without paying any estate agency fees, was always going to be well received, but maintaining a quality service is what has been key to our model’s success and allowed us to continue to expand. The Midlands and Central England are the latest pieces to our jigsaw puzzle as we strive to offer our full service nationwide before long.”
Strike describes itself as the evolution of Housesimple following a rebrand in 2020.
It says it’s sold over £1.7 billion worth of properties since it became the first agent to sell homes for free in 2019, and over £4.5 billion since first launching.
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The online agent Strike, which was previously House Simple, before it re-trenched from its aspirations of being a national agent brand and concentrated on the North, is looking for fresh recruits.
Based on an agency model of being free, unlike the typical no sale no fee model, or even online model of Purplebricks – pay upfront sale or no sale, it may be hard to understand how these new starts are going to earn a living.
Maybe Sam Mitchell the top man knows, as worryingly if you look on their website you have to take a £699 option if you want accompanied viewings, (not very free) and there does seem a heavy emphasis on ‘free mortgage advice’ which possibly means the service is a sales funnel for financial services revenue.
Maybe Sam can enlighten me, as to how free the model is, after all their slogan is ‘A transparent experience from start to finish’.
Nothing is for free - there has to be a revenue stream somewhere and perhaps if the vendor/purchaser don't take the options that create the revenue stream, then they will have to pay. Better to pay an agent to do the job so that they are accountable otherwise expect a sub standard service that is chasing revenue from somewhere.
And how many £Millions does this business lose every year? Surely it’d be easier to just set fire to their money.
I’m thinking about offering free brain surgery, my business model is based on referrals to Undertakers
It takes courage to do new things and risk making a fool of yourself.
Innovation should be applauded, as you never know where it may lead and what new discoveries might be uncovered.
For years agents have generated more revenue from mortgages, life insurance, etc than they have selling- so building an agency model around this makes some sense. However, the cost to grow a brand from scratch on that scale is hugely expensive evidenced by the £50m lost to date. Not sure broadening their target market will solve this- rather increase marketing spend further.
The model starts with an outdated and false fact to try to gain a place in property market
Estate agents fees are not expensive
You do not get anything for nothing
Who’s fooling who
Pay peanuts…
How much could they pay a “self employed agent” with hypothetical “referral fees” as the main source of income. How on 🌍 is this a business model rather than a simple soundbite/usp.
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