Supermarket group Tesco has joined forces with estate agency Spicerhaart to offer a cheap online way to sell your home.
Instead of paying out fees of about 2% of the sale price of your house, you pay iSold.com £999. If you sell your home for £200,000, you stand to save something in the region of £3,000.
The service will be launched first in the Bristol area, and Tesco will advertise the service to its own customers. The business will be distinct to the high street agencies operated by Spicerhaart.
Tesco has dipped its toe into estate agency before, charging users £199 to put up a 'For Sale' board and advertise their homes. However, the company pulled out when it realised it could not make a profit if it complied with all relevant legislation – so it sold the business to Spicerhaart.
The new service has a large market to woo, but signs from America are good. In the USA, 15% of property sales are made online, compared to only 2% here.
Of course, if this market does take off in the UK, then good SEO and PPC campaigns will be paramount. We'll be watching developments closely.
