Purplebricks Share Discussion Threads

[elcapital2017] 15/12/2017 19:24

Sad pathetic stalker!

[tonybaloni] 15/12/2017 14:38

I still maintain the current high street model is doomed. Long gone are the days when people trailed around town collecting brochures and leaflets from agents then spreading them out on the dining table for consideration. It's all online to view from the comfort of your armchair. The perfect model would be some half way point between old and new. Fixed sensible price but with slightly more interaction from the selling agent, without the high street premises / fancy car(s) overheads. When I bought my current house the local seller wasn't trying at all for the seller. My seller parted with over £8000 and was furious at the time taken and the level of input from the selling agent.

[wiseacre] 15/12/2017 14:05

The reason for today's rise Investors Chronicle:


Purplebricks (PURP) delivered a solid set of half-year figures for the six months to October, with strong growth seen in the UK, Australia and good early signs in the US. This helped to boost revenue for the 'hybrid' estate agent by 150 per cent (see table).


Headline losses reflected the decision to invest more in expanding the business, notably in the US, where it will begin trading in San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno in January 2018.

In the UK, revenue jumped by 118 per cent, and cash profit rose from £0.3m to £4.7m. A total of £4.6bn of property was sold and completed, with a further £3.8bn in the pipeline. Further investment saw local property expert numbers more than double to 650 from a year earlier, while local letting expert numbers were up to 58. Purplebricks has increased its share of the online market to 74 per cent.

The Australian operation has just passed its first anniversary since launching and raised £6.8m of instruction fees, having sold or completed A$1.1bn (£662m) of property. Brand awareness reached 10 per cent, a level that took two years to achieve in the UK.

The attractions of the $70bn (£52.5bn) US market include the fact that average commission on house transactions is between 5 and 6 per cent, a level that Purplebricks can substantially undercut with its fixed price model. The US launch went to plan and within the expected budget, and although it is still early days there has been a positive response to its advertising campaign, with increased website visits, valuations, listings and sales.

Purplebricks continues to focus on improving the customer offering through the use of more technology. The app for buyers and sellers has been upgraded, and users now have access to a range of services from booking valuations through to agreeing sales.

Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting an adjusted pre-tax loss for the year to April 2018 of £23m and a loss per share of 9.2p (from osses of £6.1m and 1.2p in FY20


Purplebricks is investing heavily in marketing and structural improvements, and the benefits will start to show through in the year to April 2019, when Peel Hunt is forecasting profit of £6.1m, rising to £44.8m the year after. Cash generation is starting to grow and there’s a useful £64m cash pile. The shares are up from our buy tip (135p, 7 Apr 2016) and with continued growth and increased market shares, we think there’s more to come. It's also a good sign that revenue is growing faster than expenditure, especially in the UK, where cost per instruction continues to fall. Buy.
Last IC View: Buy, 417p, 29 Jun 2017

[elcapital2017] 15/12/2017 13:18

If they sell 80 odd per cent of properties they take on, surely they would be better to increase the price and only charge on success. That would really stir things up!

[rogthepodge] 15/12/2017 13:06

time will tell boofay

my friends were very impressed when they sold through PURP

are you trying to tell us that thousands of PURP Trustpilot reviews are fake? LOL

word of mouth will do the trick I believe

74% of online market seems to make that point

[boofay] 15/12/2017 12:55

lolol which review sounds more fake..the 1* or the 5*...
1)
Thank you Mark Bruce and the isle of wight team for all your help with our sale. Mark has been there every step of the way and the team closely behind. Purplebricks is a good way to sell, I would definitely recommend it....

2)Well I put my two bed flat on the market through Purple bricks at the price they recommended. When I chased progress two so called buyers made appointments to view neither arrived. After 5 weeks and no progress I approached a local agent and the flat sold in two days. So I paid PB over £800 for nothing. Poor service lots of promises nut no action....

the reason traditional agents arent going to stoop to PB business model is because it stinks...end of.

[rogthepodge] 15/12/2017 12:54

bears sound rather desperate

[boofay] 15/12/2017 12:53

haha no wonder they wanted them quietened down. Discrace that trustpilot ..well cant be trusted.
The fact customers are being duped into reviewing the day they put house on market shoudl be enough for trading standards but they have proved they are a company where quite dim public school boys go if their dads wont give them a job in the hedgefund that their dads set up in the 70's.... lol

hxxps://www.allagents.co.uk/purplebricks/

[panic investor] 15/12/2017 12:32

PB is a con and it will be found out imho

[elcapital2017] 15/12/2017 11:39

I know. But many wouldnt want to register, so It was there just as source

[bbmsionlypostafter] 15/12/2017 11:30

You have to register to comment, but anyone can see the article.

[elcapital2017] 15/12/2017 10:48

I only put it there to show the source, you have to register for it

[bbmsionlypostafter] 15/12/2017 10:42

To make a link live put a capital letter in the 'https' bit.

[boofay] 15/12/2017 10:01

Over the years many people have tried entering Agency offering cheap fees. I did it for a few months to get established but made no money and stopped quite quickly.

They think this is enough to wipe up the competition. Trouble is people are awkward and hard to control. Online agents Avg 5% market share in every town is actually a terrible take up by the general public against marketing spend.

Remeber the true greats that are genuine products rarely have to advertise....PB burns all income on telling people you dont need an office..ironic really.

Only thing PB have is adverts..which the average bloke in the street was nearly tricked by..luckily watchdog put a stop to that.

iam not saying they are over but people in britain still defend real service and real jobs,,,not out of a romantic idea but because they know it might be their jobs next...

[elcapital2017] 15/12/2017 09:54

Tony

No doubt purp have been disrupive, but what MAY happen is it just changes the industry to a cheaper charging model or optional packages. This would severley hurt purp as theyre still the new kids on the block. This is, I beleive what Andy has been alluding to with his 995 packages

[tonybaloni] 15/12/2017 09:45

Elcap,This extract from your post says it all for me, Traditional agents are entering an era of collaboration, consolidation and transparency. This, coupled with great tech will signal a whole new breed of lean, capable and genuinely local experts who know their area and have the tools, marketing budgets and back-up to service customers properly.It shows the industry has been caught with its pants down, its had its own way for too long. If Purplebricks is just a flash in the pan then the industry would ignore the model and not change in any way. DISRUPTORS CAUSE CHANGE, that's the point.

[andy] 15/12/2017 09:36

The last paragraph sums it up IMO, "as the property market softens" is the key.


It's not "if", it's "as", and it's happening now in some areas, and the rest will follow on as they always do.


Australia and Canada are already falling after soaring prices for nearly a decade.

[elcapital2017] 15/12/2017 09:10

Purplebricks: Estate Agent Today's experts look behind the latest figures



Purplebricks: Estate Agent Today's experts look behind the latest figures
Here it is - the industry’s verdict on the latest set of figures from Purplebricks.

The agency doesn’t play by any of the rules we’re familiar with: who worries about completion rates in the UK when expansion in Australia and the US are priorities?

In return, the market doesn’t quite know what to do either: Purplebricks’ share price quickly rebounds from public criticism of the company on the BBC, yet drops two days in a row after what most people regard as a successful first six months of the trading year.

Either way, the firm now has 74 per cent dominance of the online sector, hugely increased revenues, and appears well on the way to meeting its ambition of becoming Britain’s largest estate agency by stock.

So once again Estate Agent Today has assembled its panel of experts to give considered, authoritative opinions on the most controversial company in agency today.

Our thanks go to our contributors, and thanks to you, too, for reading - and please feel free to add your views.

Ian Wilson, chief executive officer of The Property Franchise Group:

Purplebricks: Estate Agent Today's experts look behind the latest figures

“I’d say it’s a good set of results where it counts - which is the size of the LPE footprint and the trading volume. The rest of the online players are not getting any traction and Purplebricks is probably one-year away from becoming uncatchable.”

“There is no evidence yet that customers are (en masse) dissatisfied with what they have purchased. Purplebricks remains a textbook example of the power of a single, national brand and clear customer proposition."

"The industry has to wake up and smell the coffee.”

Mike DelPrete, a US-based PropTech expert and consultant at media firm AIM:

“Purplebricks should be commended for two things: its large scale and strong growth. Doubling the number of instructions at that scale is no easy task, and is unmatched by its peers.”

“Purplebricks is doing more business, in a shorter time, than similar models [US portal] Redfin (which has raised $300 million and is listed with a valuation of $1.98 billion) and Compass (which has raised over $750 million and is valued at $2.2 billion). Redfin launched in 2004 and Compass in 2012.”

“But make no mistake, success in the US market is far from certain and will be achieved along a different path than that taken in the UK and Australia.”

Anthony Codling, equity analyst at Jefferies International:

“The success or failure of Purplebricks will rest on their ability to sell homes, whilst charging a non-returnable upfront fee. Until they are willing to disclose those statistics, which as a data driven company they must have, I believe the jury remains out with respect to the effectiveness of their model.”

Purplebricks: Estate Agent Today's experts look behind the latest figures

“I do not doubt that Purplebricks is the clear market leader of the non-traditional agents, which suggests that in terms of winning listings their strategy has been more effective than their peers."

"Basing growth on TV regions, growing from a regional player to a national one was a canny plan. Most of the others attempted a national footprint from day one, which stifled growth as they spread themselves too thin.”

“Purplebricks is no longer just about the LPEs – you actually have around one person back at base for every LPE on the road – most of whom sit in one big office rather than in a network of offices close to the customers they are trying to serve.”

“To my mind, this is more about Purplebricks having to strengthen its infrastructure and adapt its model, putting in more lifeguards if you will rather than traditional agencies being able to treading water.”

James Dearsley, PropTech influencer and partner in PropTech Consult:

“On a top-level look, these results are looking positive for Purplebricks, further validation that the online/hybrid sector is gathering steam with a few major players leading the pack.”

“I am concerned that still there is no mention of sale numbers. However, perhaps some conclusions can be drawn by their claim that they have now have 20 people in staff support. If they are selling that many, surely they would need more than this to cope with the sales progression?”

“The outlook on Australia shows great growth and perhaps in the US it is too early to tell at this stage. There are signs that this model could possibly work elsewhere which paves way for others to enter, but I fear for the long term in the US.”

“The money needed to scale that operation up successfully and gain some form of brand equity, which is obviously forming well in the UK, could cause a serious hole in their balance sheet in coming years.”


Chris Wood, industry campaigner and managing director of PDQ Estates:

Purplebricks: Estate Agent Today's experts look behind the latest figures

“Michael Bruce repeatedly stated that they sell (complete) on 88% of all property listed. They have since made statements that this figure is higher. Independent data from GetAgent suggests a rather different figure. A lack of evidence to substantiate a claim made by the CEO of a PLC suggests that they do not have the evidence to substantiate the claim made.

“The statement is clever in that it avoids mentioning any growth into the traditional market which, last year, showed call-centre agents were losing or, at least relatively static. Purplebricks clearly dominate the call-centre market share (circa 5% of the UK market as a whole) however, if they are to achieve the growth they promised to investors (albeit outside of the timescale advertised) they will have to start eating into the remaining 95% of the market which will require more spend and, I would suggest, much more transparency in the success they make much of.”

Iain White, industry consultant and mentor at Agency Mentors:

“If the results were good, would the sales data be published or would it still be too early to have representative completions data? I believe they are shying away because the results are not convenient for them and would allow a real cost comparison between the upfront fee model against payment on results model.”

Purplebricks: Estate Agent Today's experts look behind the latest figures

“The media spotlight on Purplebricks has given the customer food for thought about transparency and it does look like their instruction volumes are not increasing despite the reported increase in the number of LPEs.”

“These figures show us that Purplebricks’ marketing message has worked better that the rest and that they are the dominant force for those choosing the upfront payment model."

"Logic suggests consolidation or collaboration is inevitable among Purplebricks’ competitors and perhaps new models and tech are being readied to fill the obvious gap between the traditional and upfront consumer options.”

“Traditional agents are entering an era of collaboration, consolidation and transparency. This, coupled with great tech will signal a whole new breed of lean, capable and genuinely local experts who know their area and have the tools, marketing budgets and back-up to service customers properly.”

“That said, recruitment is a big problem for all estate agents. The trick isn’t having lots of people, it’s about having effective people who are passionate about what they are doing. Work-life balance is a real issue that our industry needs to face up to, and at present is largely ignoring.”

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman:

“Not surprisingly, Purplebricks appears to be taking a growing share of non-traditional online agency business. However, the lack of real evidence of its inroads into traditional agency via sale completion numbers, as well as the proportion of listings it actually sells, continue to cast doubts on the proposition.”

“My personal view is that Purplebricks may find favour with sellers of similar houses or flats in blocks where a ‘going rate’ is established but will struggle on larger, more individual properties, especially as the property market softens. Traditional agents will then have a better opportunity to demonstrate value and service to their customers and potential customers.”