10 Things You Didn’t Know about Purplebricks

With the American and international real estate markets undergoing a strong recovery over the last five years, entrepreneurs of both high tech companies and the more traditional approaches to selling real estate have experimented with new ways of making the buying and selling of properties less stressful for the owner and more efficient for the real estate agents. Purplebricks is another one of the more recent innovations, as they combine the use of recent technology with the personal touch many homeowners are looking for. Here are 10 things you need to know about Purplebricks and its self-define hybrid approach to real estate transactions.

1. The company got its start in the United Kingdom back in 2014.

This fact makes it a relatively new business, but may speak of the success of its business model and sales approach. According to its website, it has become the number one real estate brokerage business in its short three years of existence. It has found a similar success after expanding to Australia, and then to the United States.

2. A large number of its regional sales offices are located in California.

Having one of the world’s largest real estate property markets to work with can’t hurt the future potential of a startup company. They haven’t forgotten about the Northeastern part of the real estate market, particularly New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but there are two California offices dedicated to specific California counties – Los Angeles and Orange.

3. You can see how much money you can save without talking to an agent.

As a seller, you always want to know how you can maximize your profit whether you are trying to sell your property in 30 days or 30 months. Purplebricks has an online calculator that gives you a clear dollar value of what you can potentially save based on the value of your home and the commission you are seeking to negotiate. They have a fixed rate value next to your estimated savings, making it a simple and fast way to determine whether you want to use their service. One limitation is that your property must have a minimum value of $200,000.

4. They have a $1000 credit towards closing costs once your home is sold.

Unfortunately, this applies only in the state of California, where the majority of their properties and profits happen to be. But if you live in California this is a huge incentive to work with Purplebricks. Closing costs are often the bane of selling a home, and you can basically add this credit to the selling price of your home.

5. Customer reviews of the business usually care accompanied by specific name of sales agents.

Trustpilot, one of the more reliable and trusted real estate review websites, shows that a fair majority of the positive reviews mention specific Purplebricks agent’s names. While there are some instances where reviews mention names, in most cases all you have to go by is a 5 or 4 star rating with a general comment. Their agents seem to be noteworthy enough to give a shoutout to by both first and last name. This is valuable because instead of asking for a list of references (which you still should) you have a public record you can search through and contact the best available agent to work with.

6. Their real estate platform allows you to do virtually everything online.

The company prides itself on personalized service – and it does just that. But merging existing and proven technology with a personal touch gives the seller almost complete control of the process from beginning to end. Purplebricks lists you properties on such well-known and respected websites such as Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. This gives you maximum exposure and you can do it at 3 in the afternoon or 3 in the morning, whatever time is convenient for you.

7. It may have taken a page from a popular American movie.

In the movie Up in the Air with George Clooney, Anna Fargia, and Anna Kendrick, Kendrick’s character introduces the concept of “glocal.” In the movie the idea was laying the foundation to lay off a number of employees, but Purplebricks may have turned the concept on its head and actually created jobs for hundreds of people on three continents. Creating a global business with local underpinnings is not necessarily new, but Purplebricks has managed to do it consistently and successfully.

8. They actually have a support team that is literally available 24/7.

If you want to talk to your agent at 3 a.m., they are likely to be available. Purplebricks is upfront and honest about this company feature, and lets you know everyone has to sleep sometime. But they have set it up so you will be able to speak with someone at any time, on any day. Their support staff is multilingual, so it is a diverse company as well as an efficient one.

9. Most of their real estate agents have a minimum of 5 years of selling experience.

While the company does not outright make this claim, they make a strong hint in their FAQ stating that they may hire someone who is an exceptional real estate agent who has only 4 years of experience. It’s hard to know why they would say it without saying it, but just taking a minute to think about things will tell you the general experience level of their agents.

10. You cannot list your property with Purplebricks without an unconditional release from another MLS.

The multiple listing service (MLS) you have been using will have to be legally released by you in order to use Purplebricks. Once you make the move, the selling rights of your property immediately transfer to Purplebricks who then becomes the exclusive owner of the rights to sell your property.