Purplebricks Share Discussion Threads

[sweet karolina] 06/12/2018 21:50

I provided a full service to make it easier for people (a bit like a traditional agent) you provided the link and let people do the donkey work (a bit like an online agent)

[andy] 06/12/2018 21:19

Beat you by a minute!

[sweet karolina] 06/12/2018 21:18

Major online estate agent Emoov, which also owns Tepilo, has gone into administration, potentially leaving thousands of home-sellers out of pocket by as much as £2,995. James Cowper Kreston, the firm appointed to act as administrators for Emoov, says the company currently has 5,000 properties listed for sale or sold subject to contract. Of this total, around 80% have paid upfront for the service and are at risk of losing money from the collapse. This follows the closure of Hatched, the online arm of estate agency group Connells, in September 2018. We explain what options you have to get your money back and what to do if you’re in the middle of selling your home. If you’re thinking about selling your property and want to know how much you’ll be able to borrow for your next home, call Which? Mortgage Advisers on 0808 256 6397.

How big was Emoov?

Exclusive data provided to us by TwentyCi shows that over the past 365 days, Emoov had approximately 8,000 new instructions. The firm accounted for approximately 0.5% of the estate agency market in 2018. Around 53% of new instructions received by Emoov typically went on to be ‘sold subject to contract’ and the average price of a property listing was £375,000. Tepilo’s figures are rolled into this data as its activity is merged with Emoov.

How did Emoov work?

Emoov was founded by Russell Quirk in 2010 and described itself as a ‘hybrid’ estate agency, combining a low-cost online service with support from local agents. Sellers could pay a flat fee of £895 (or £995 within the M25) if they paid upfront or using a 0% finance option. There was also a more expensive £1,995 (£2,995 within the M25) option if you preferred to pay on completion, after your home actually sold. For the fee, home sellers got a valuation by an agent, floorplan, ‘for sale’ board, professional photos, listing on major property portals such as Rightmove, viewings arranged, offer negotiation and sales progression. In April this year, Emoov acquired Tepilo, the online estate agent founded by Channel 4 presenter, Sarah Beeny. Tepilo offered three packages which charged £645, £895 or £1,295 paid on completion or after 10 months. The administrator has stressed that Urban Sales and Lettings Limited, an Emoov subsidiary service for landlords, is unaffected. Find out about the pros and cons of using an online estate agent

What will happen next?

The administrators say that a number of prospective buyers have expressed an interest in buying Emoov and Tepilo’s property listings. It will be exploring the transfer of these ‘as a priority’ to minimise disruption to home movers. If a firm does buy the firm’s listings, this should be under the same terms originally signed up to, but that’s not guaranteed. Purplebricks founder Michael Bruce expressed an interest in helping customers out on Twitter today:

What does the Emoov collapse mean for its customers?

Emoov’s collapse will leave thousands of home sellers in limbo as the administrator tries to arrange the sale of current property listings. For now, it might be best to wait and see what happens over the coming days, as you may be able to transition to a new company and not lose any money. But if another firm doesn’t step in to buy the property listings, or you’re not happy with the way the firm chooses to honour your agreement, you may want to try and get your money back.

How to get your money back

The administrator says it will be writing to creditors to invite them to submit claims for the money they are owed by Emoov and Tepilo. However, creditors will be ranked by priority. Secured creditors such as banks that have loaned Emoov money, as well as employees owed salaries, are likely to rank higher than customers, so it’s likely you’ll end up quite low down the list of who needs to be paid first. If there aren’t enough funds to pay unsecured creditors, the administrator says there is a possibility that a dividend will be calculated as a proportion owed to the class of creditor you fall into. If you paid your fees upfront using a credit card, you may be able to get your money back using section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Under section 75, you can make a claim against your card provider if something goes wrong with goods you’ve paid for so long as they cost between £100 and £30,000. You can use our section 75 claim template letter to write to your credit card company.

What happens if you’re mid-sale?

At the time of writing, Emoov and Tepilo’s sites were still up and running, so customers should still be able to access their online accounts to take any information about viewings and offers. Currently, there is no customer service team answering calls, so if you’re unable to get any information online you could contact the administrator to see if it can help unlock the information. If you’ve already accepted an offer and solicitors have been notified you shouldn’t have to worry, as they’ll be able to progress the sale without an estate agent.

What if you had chosen the ‘pay-on-completion’ option?

Emoov and Tepilo also offered a pay later option which meant fees were only due after you had sold your home. If you had a pay on completion deal with Emoov or Tepilo and you’ve sold the property, don’t assume you won’t have to pay. It’s likely that you will be contacted by the administrator for payment if you owe money.

[andy] 06/12/2018 21:17

stantini,


Yes it was here:

[stantini] 06/12/2018 20:47

Hi Andy


Can I ask where did you get the above info? As Emoov have never officially confirmed their throughput rate.

[andy] 06/12/2018 19:13

Santini,


Your post recently has been vindicated here:


"Emoov had approximately 8,000 new instructions. The firm accounted for approximately 0.5% of the estate agency market in 2018.


Around 53% of new instructions received by Emoov typically went on to be ‘sold subject to contract’

and the average price of a property listing was £375,000".

[elcapital2018] 06/12/2018 19:11

....the odd one out indeed.....not many are as thick as numb nuts

[rogthepodge] 06/12/2018 18:05

I feel sorry for the Spanish having you immigrate Elcap, but their loss is our gain.

[rogthepodge] 06/12/2018 18:02

Elcap, you are making things up, as per

[rogthepodge] 06/12/2018 16:50

where did I say that lydnem?

[andy] 06/12/2018 15:08

Stantini,

I think PURP will covet the emoov customers but not for free, and if they offer a reduced fee that will look like a frying pan to fire situation, IMO.

[elcapital2018] 06/12/2018 13:36

numb nuts you said purp were going to buy emoov

[ltcm1] 06/12/2018 13:06

Good luck Rog but do you really trust the management here??? They do seem pretty blunder prone and they don't seem to update the market very often either.

You like to compare them to ASOS and Boo-hoo but they never seemed to court the controversy that Purp often finds itself mired in.

They don't seem to have kicked on much in my humble opinion.

Some time ago I said 96p was fair value and that still seems about right - and still optimistic at that.

[rogthepodge] 06/12/2018 12:04

Stantini.I certainly did not say that PURP would buy emoov. I said it would hoover up its customers for free.Please don't misrepresent me, as most other poster(s) do on here.

[andy] 06/12/2018 09:42

"Although the firm’s fixed-fee model is different to a traditional commission rate, I believe mainstream agents will be able to adapt their pricing to become more competitive if they need to.

Purplebricks may well cause estate agents’ profit margins to fall. But I don’t think it’s a truly disruptive business."

-------


I have been saying this all along.


It's only the pricing that is different, and the upfront fee model, which will look increasingly vulnerable on a falling and 'sticky' market, where a few people moaning about paying a fee for no service will damage PURP and other upfront fee sites no end, IMO.

I expect to see some negative press about people having to pay an upfront fee and not achieving a sale of their property in the near future.

[stantini] 06/12/2018 09:25

I am sure that Rodthepodge like Trump will be counterpunching by lunch time - as long as he does not start to talk to the Russians as the FBI are very uptight about that sort of activity.

Thoughts

[cowtrader] 06/12/2018 09:20

LOL ROG GETTING DECIMATED AGAIN AS USUAL LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOLOL "GOODBYE INVESTMENT" - Rogthepodge, 2018 LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[stantini] 06/12/2018 08:18

So Rogthepodge

Motley Fool are not confident, the pay upfront model is going to come crashing down and investors are going to go 7 years before a dividend - looks like the future is truly Purple for Purple Bricks.

You said PB would buy Emoov - wrong, you said PB would be the shining model, my thoughts very soon YOPA and Doorsteps and Housesimple, will stop pouring their money down the drain - leaving PB as the go to cheap brand - but if it has to adopt pay on results (due to pressure of public after £300,000 of fees were paid upfront to Emoov and lost) then doom is coming, as their immediate cash flow will decrease by 58% overnight.

[stantini] 06/12/2018 08:13

Article from Motley Fool - by Roland Head posted today

'The Purplebricks Group (LSE: PURP) share price has fallen by 58% so far this year. Today I want to take a fresh look at this fast-growing online estate agent.
I’m also going to take a look at a different kind of internet stock. The company concerned has 10-bagged over the last 10 years and is ahead of Purplebricks by 45% so far in 2018.

Should we ignore mounting losses?

My colleague Graham Chester reviewed Purplebricks’ half-year trading update recently. I agree with his view that we don’t yet have enough information to know whether the firm will hit its growth targets this year.

What I do know is that the near-term outlook for the firm seems to be worsening. One year ago, analysts expected the firm to report earnings of 2.3p per share on sales of £169m in 2018/19. Today, forecasts indicate a loss of 10.8p per share on sales of £173m.

It’s a similar story in 2019/20. Forecasts for earnings of 10.4p per share have been replaced with an expected loss of 4.6p per share.

One reason for these downgrades is that the group’s international expansion has been ramped up. In the short term, this means that profits from the UK business are being swallowed up by operations overseas.

Is PURP a genuine disrupter?
If the group’s global expansion is successful, this business could become a genuine disrupter, like Amazon.

Personally, I don’t think this is likely. Purplebricks’ business model seems more like evolution than revolution to me. Its sales and property listings still depend on a small army of estate agents (630 in the UK). The only difference I can see is that they don’t have offices.

Although the firm’s fixed-fee model is different to a traditional commission rate, I believe mainstream agents will be able to adapt their pricing to become more competitive if they need to.

Purplebricks may well cause estate agents’ profit margins to fall. But I don’t think it’s a truly disruptive business. For this reason, I view the shares as expensive and risky.'

[stantini] 06/12/2018 08:09

The following has been taken from Estate Agency Toady - the estate agents trade magazine, the editor sates ...

Purplebricks is understood to be pondering the best way to assist victims of the collapse of Emoov without committing money for what is essentially a worthless set of listings.

Purplebricks’ chief executive Michael Bruce has indicated that his company “will do what we can to help all these customers and ensure they’re not out of pocket” but it is thought this will not be in the form of purchasing the client book.

Emoov clients are thought to have almost wholly paid their fees upfront to the company, with that money spent or accounted for in the losses run up by the firm before its former chief executive, Russell Quirk, called in administrators on Monday.

One way would be to transfer the remaining Emoov customers to Purplebricks’ books free of charge, although it is thought that may require the properties being revalued.


Many traditional agents have for some weeks been approaching Emoov and Tepilo sellers in a bid to secure their business, while prominent consultant Richard Rawlings has already made a social media video explaining how existing agents can approach stranded Emoov clients whose details are available via TheLeadHub.


Meanwhile the head of an online estate agency says the Emoov debacle has effectively killed the upfront fees business model.

Rob Bryer, founder of The Good Estate Agent, says that he anticipates Emoov’s collapse this week is just the start of things to come.

“The other fixed fee upfront models will follow shortly as they struggle to gain stock in a difficult market. The investment money will dry up and the pipeline will be non-existent.

There are no agency disruptors out there. All they have done is change the pricing model but it’s still the same business” he says.

Describing the approach of many online agencies as “a lot of hot air and marketing spend” he says that Emoov is now “a worthless business with nothing but liabilities to pass on.”

Bryer, who says his firm has some 50 franchisee estate agents operating in the field across the country earning up to £18,000 a month, says the Emoov debacle has resulted in catastrophe for its staff. “My inbox is already full of Emoov CV’s” he claims.

“We setup The Good Estate Agent [in 2010] without investment or borrowing. As the first true hybrid agency we found lower fees did not work. This is an expensive business and with portal costs such as Rightmove and Zoopla high revenues are required just to stand still” he adds.

“Traditional estate agents are not greedy. Most just get by even in the best of markets so pressure on fees is not good for anyone.”

If Purplebricks goes down the no sale no fee route - end of story no more £1,395 cash upfront all sales, instead £1,395 on completion of 50% of sales as 1 out of two get sold by the first agent, and also 18 week wait for the transaction to complete and payment to be made.