While digital continues to dominate the way we purchase properties, the latest property insight from YourBusinessNumber suggests that homebuyers still find value in some traditional methods.
It’s become incredibly simple to browse for properties since technology has transformed the way we sell and buy properties, especially with the advent of the property portal which is perhaps the biggest change in recent years.
Browse for property from virtually anywhere
When surveying over 150,000 recent homebuyers, YourBusinessNumber found that searching the property portals ranked top when asking how they went about looking for property to purchase.
Ranking second is estate agents’ own websites, which ultimately cement the fact that today’s homebuyers take a predominantly digital approach to their property searches.
However, the older traditional methods are still considered and worthwhile in the modern-day market with estate agent windows ranking third which is followed by the ‘for sale’ board.
| Thinking about your recent property purchase, which of the below did you do when looking for a property? (Tick all that apply) | |
| Answer | Totals |
| Searched the property portals (e.g Rightmove) | 52% |
| Went directly to a local estate agent’s website | 16% |
| Looked at an estate agent’s actual branch window | 13% |
| Rang around multiple estate agents to enquire | 7% |
| Contacted an estate agent after seeing a ‘for sales’ board | 4% |
| Replied to a marketing email from an estate agent | 3% |
| Contacted an agent based on word-of-mouth recommendations | 3% |
| Contacted an estate agent after receiving a leaflet | 1% |
| Contacted an agent after seeing a TV advertisement | 0.4% |
| Contacted local agents by post | 0.4% |
| Contacted an agent after hearing a radio advertisement | 0.2% |
| Would an agent with a poor reputation prevent you from purchasing a home they were listing? | |
| Answer | Totals |
| Yes | 66% |
| No | 34% |
| When purchasing your last property, how did you primarily communicate with the selling agent and/or seller? (Tick all that apply) | |
| Answer | Totals |
| 47% | |
| Phone | 32% |
| Instant message (e.g. WhatsApp) | 19% |
| In person | 1% |
| Social media | 1% |
| Post | 0% |
Diversify and connect
The research done by YourBusinessNumber found that reputation remains key and the results showed that 66% of buyers would avoid purchasing a property from an agent with poor customer feedback.
When it comes to communication, the preference for a mix of old and new was less prominent.
Most buyers, when asked how they primarily communicated with the selling agent during their last property purchase, the majority opted for email, although communicating by phone remained a firm second option.
While still in relative infancy compared to phone or email, instant messaging is also a viable form of communication, ranking third.
Bottom of the list was in-person communication, along with social media or by post.
George Lineker, co-founder of YourBusinessNumber, commented: “Digital marketing channels have massively disrupted the way we buy and sell homes, but despite this, today’s homebuyers still value some of the more traditional tried and tested methods.”
“It’s interesting to see that the physical branch window and for sale board are still standing firm when it comes to attracting buyers.”
Lineker concluded: “At the same time, we’re seeing new comms channels such as instant messaging become as important as phone and email, while social media is rarely utilised despite being a ‘new age’ comms platform.”
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