House Network Review – As the UK’s very first online estate agent, having launched in 2004, House Network has won multiple awards for the service they provide both buyers and sellers alike. They promise to do everything for you, and save you money in the process, but let’s find out if they deliver…
At A Glance:
House Network claim to be the only estate agent with a 20 point customer promise. In short, if they break any part of the promise, they’ll sell your home for free.
Here’s how they perform in the most important areas:
- Potential to save you thousands over high street agents
- Full online management puts you in complete control
- 98% of House Network property listings achieve their asking price
- Won the ESTAS Best Online Estate Agent Award from 2015-2017
- 96% of their customers rated them as ‘Great’ or ‘Excellent’
Things are looking pretty good for House Network so far, but, let’s look in detail at the packages they offer…
Is House Network The Best Agent For You?
Take our short 5 question quiz to find out which online estate agent is right for you:
How Would You Prefer To Pay Your Estate Agent? Pay Upfront (Lower Cost) Pay On Completion (Lower Risk) No PreferenceNEXTWho Do You Want To Conduct Your Viewings? Estate Agent – I Don’t Want To Do ANY Viewings Myself Myself – I’m Happy To Conduct ALL Viewings Myself A Bit Of Both – I Don’t Mind Doing SOME Viewings MyselfPREVIOUSNEXTDo You Need An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)? Yes No Not SurePREVIOUSNEXTHow Much Do You Think Your Property Is Worth? Less than £150,000 £150,000 to £400,000 £400,000 or more Not SurePREVIOUSNEXTWhat do you value most in an estate agent? Ability To Sell Properties Quickly Good Customer Service Option To Pay On Completion Low Prices Ability To Achieve Asking PricePREVIOUSNEXT
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Insert your email below and we’ll send you it along with our regular newsletter and other downloadable guides to help you sell your property. You can unsubscribe at any time.Email (Optional)PREVIOUS
How Much Does House Network Cost?
House Network have two different packages for you to choose from. The standard (and cheapest) option is £875 which will market your property for up to a year. However, there is also a ‘No Sale, No Fee’ package priced from £1,875 (depending on postcode) which allows you to only pay if and when your property is successfully sold.
The standard package can be paid upfront or you can defer the payment for 10 months or until sale completion (whichever comes first). As standard, the packages come with:
- Professional photographs and floorplans
- Virtual tour
- Listings on Rightmove, Zoopla, and more
- Money-back guarantee
- ‘For Sale’ board
- Viewings arrangement and feedback service
- Dedicated negotiator
- Personal support through to completion
- Online platform to manage everything
The premium package includes all of the above, plus; an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), premium listing upgrades on Rightmove, Zoopla, & Prime Location, and an upgrade on the virtual tour to include all rooms in your house (instead of only four). If you go for the premium package you’ll save £155 on all of these extra services so if you like the sound of them they are well worth the extra cost.
House Network Add-Ons:
When conducting our House Network review, we found the following added extras were available (note that some are already included if you choose the premium package):
- Rightmove Premium Listing Upgrade (£95)
- Zoopla & PrimeLocation Premium Listing Upgrade (£95)
- Photo Rotation Service (£45)
- Virtual Tour Upgrade (£45)
- Energy Performance Certificate (£75)
- Upto 20 Accompanied Viewings (£375)
The above prices were all correct at the time of writing but we advise you check the House Network website for the latest pricing and available add-ons. Don’t forget you also save an additional 5% on any add-ons with the code LEIRJGYKLK during checkout.
Our favourite upgrade here at Property Road is the unlimited accompanied viewings. If you work full-time, or simply lead a busy lifestyle then having someone else perform viewings for you will save you time and effort. It could help sell your house quicker too, as you’ll be more flexible for viewings which could help you find your perfect buyer more quickly.
Keep in mind that one of the main upgrades (the EPC) is included in the premium package, however, it’s possible that you won’t need an EPC if your property has had one issued in the last 10 years. You can check if your property has a valid EPC at the EPC Register.
How Selling With House Network Works:
The first step to selling with House Network is to decide whether you need to take advantage of their free valuation service (don’t forget to use the House Network promotional code LEIRJGYKLK to get an additional 5% discount on any purchases) or if you already know the price you wish to sell your property for. In most cases we recommend you do get your free valuation, not only is it free but it will ensure you are not under-valuing your home.
Once you have decided to instruct House Network, they’ll arrange for a local House Network agent to come and visit you at a time that suits you. The primary purpose of the visit is to take all the photographs and details needed to create your property advert on sites like Rightmove, Zoopla, and PrimeLocation, but the agent will also be able to explain the process and answer any questions you may have, too.
House Network promise to have your advert ready for your approval within 24 hours of your local agents visit so no time will be wasted, you’ll be receiving viewing requests in a matter of hours. This may sound daunting but it really isn’t, House Network vet and arrange all your viewing requests at times convenient to you so there is no hassle on your part.
Once the viewings are underway you’ll be assigned a dedicated negotiator who will let you know when an offer comes in for your property and help and advise you all the way through to completion of the sale.
So, Is House Network Any Good?
Our House Network review has found a really impressive online estate agent backed up with an excellent 5-star customer rating on TrustPilot from over 1,000 reviews. It should be pointed out that many of these are from buyers rather than sellers but it still shows the company takes customer satisfaction seriously.
Something really unique about House Network is that they offer a money-back guarantee linked to better communication. In short, once your property is on the market your dedicated negotiator will arrange a convenient time to call you each week to give you an update. If they are ever late in making that call, they’ll sell your house for free.
If you have ever been through the frustration of being unable to get hold of an estate agent then you’ll understand just how important this is. It really commits House Network to giving you a great, frustration-free experience.
We also really like the coverage that House Network achieve. Having been one of the first online estate agents to hit the market, they have had more time to build up a network of local experts across the UK. This means that no matter where you live, you are likely to be able to sell using House Network.
Negatives Of House Network:
There really aren’t too many negatives that we’ve found while conducting our House Network review. The packages offered are really good value, but you should be aware that if you choose the ‘no sale, no fee’ package it only includes 12 months worth of marketing for your property. However, this can be extended free of charge.
That said, it’s unlikely you’ll need to consider this as, on average, people who sell through House Network receive their first offer in 24 days. This is of course also linked to setting a fair asking price, which is where the free valuation service is so important.
Although customer satisfaction is clearly one of the priorities of House Network, there are occasions when they don’t quite achieve their own high standards. It’s rare, but it does happen, and it’s partly down to the luck of the draw as to which members of staff you deal with. Still, that’s why the money-back guarantee is there so it shouldn’t put you off.
A Short History Of House Network:
House Network are credited as being the UK’s very first online estate agent having been established in 2004 by Graham Lock.
This means they have been around since the start and have led the way in innovating the process for selling properties online.
Initially started from Graham’s garage, the business spent several years without any physical premises.
Instead, local agents and other employees of the company worked remotely and were successful in selling over 6,000 properties across the UK by the end of 2015.
The rise in popularity of online agents over the last couple of years has seen this figure shoot up to over 12,000 sales for House Network by the end of 2017. Add to this the fact House Network now have registered offices in Essex and you can see how they are quickly becoming one of the leading online estate agents in the UK.
In fact, they have won the ‘Best Online Estate Agent’ award for three years running at the annual Estas (Estate Agent Awards) event.
House Network Review – Summary:
They may have been the very first online estate agent to set up in the UK, but our House Network review has also shown that they are still one of the best around. With packages starting from just £875, they are very competitively priced and offer great value for money.
There are plenty of fantastic 5-star customer reviews on TrustPilot showing that the promises House Network make about their high levels of customer service are not unfounded.
And that’s probably a good job since they even offer a money-back guarantee should your dedicated negotiator fail to call you at your agreed time!
The ‘no sale, no fee’ package used to be restricted to a 12-month time limit which was a fairly big negative. However, if your property doesn’t sell within 12 months you can now choose to extend the listing free of charge.
It should be noted that the pay-up-front package gives you unlimited marketing time without needing to extend.
Overall then, House Network is a strong online estate agent with plenty of positives and a fair price, so they are definitely worth a try if you want a no-hassle way to sell your home.
