So why has the market not bought in to the idea of a relatively young online hybrid estate agency being worth £240M or more?

Well you only need to look at their model to see why I feel there is a significant lack of confidence in the company with investors.

Local property experts currently could be up to 50-75 miles away, so therefore are not local, have no idea what your house is really worth, the local nuances of the property market- Nor do they have a local applicant list to start driving interest in your home. More importantly they don’t know that actually Mr Smith at “1 The Street” will list his house with you, because he wants to buy in “The Avenue” and the local agent knows Mr Jones is looking to sell there. This is the true power of the high Street agent, and where their true income generates from – Instigating chains that would never happen without them. Local High Street agents know the market, but more importantly the goals of the people in the market. They bring those people together to make things work. This is the pure definition of marketing; bringing the buyer and the seller together in the market place.

Purple bricks website can never be that good, and nor can its “local” representatives in Essex listing houses in Norfolk be expected to know that information.

They actually don’t have that many houses to sell in real terms, and have listed circa 1000 at the time of writing since the turn of the year. Your big players in the market on the high Street will still be out listing them considerably in every location. [Both corporate and independent].

Neil Woodford: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Woodford

We feel that local knowledge and skilled staff can help you achieve the best possible price, which may be more than the savings you make by choosing an on-line only agency.