In the press...
The Negotiator Magazine - April 2007
HIP service for private sellers
Home Information Pack provider Stratify Associates is to provide an onine HIP service for priate home sellers in London and the south-east.
It has partnered with private sales website privateHQ.com which was founded last October and allows buyers and sellers to deal directly with each other.
Quintessentially Rich Magazine - Winter 2006
Love giving money to estate agents?
Take control of your biggest asset by using privatehq.com. privateHQ. com is the new way to buy and sell property privately online, enabling you to save thousands on estate agents fess. privateHQ.com provides you with everything you need to produce a high quality advert as well as our exclusive floorplan software to make the most of your home.
Be smart with your property, go to privateHQ.com
The Independent - January 31st 2007
Property: Six to view - Calling all bachelors
'West Brompton..
They say: This stunning architect-designed period house is in immaculate condition and features a huge limestone tiled reception room, gorgeous arched windows with leaded panes and a games area.
We say: It looks absolutely beautiful but that does hidea couple of pracical issues. The roof terrace is bigger than the garden and at nearly 13ft long and less than 6ft wide, the second bedroom, which is at the end of a corridor off the sitting room, this is really a single person's property - the ultimate bachelor pad perhaps?'
The Journal - January 25th 2007
Northern business daily - leading edge: The North's carrot to London home owners
'Creative design and communications agency Carrotmedia has developed a website which puts London home buyers and sellers together without the need for an estate agent. London-based privateHQ's directors, Nicola Hoare and Annie Allison launched their company to trade solely in the capital and over the web...Newcastle-based Carrotmedia devised a site which as some innovative functions...Since the site launched in October it has attracted an average of oer 6,000 unique visitors per month and a total of around 500,000 web hits.
So far, 13 properties have been sold through the website for a value of £6,731,000. Based on a typical estate fee of 2.5%, users of the website have already saved a massive £168,275 altogether.
...Carrotmedia has given privateHQ a website that will make estate agents in London sit up and take notice...Carrotmedia is a member of Codeworks Connect, the trade association for the North-East's digital industries. Herb Kim, CEO of Codeworks, added "privateHQ is a terrific idea and one that I can see catching on elsewhere. It's very pleasing to discover the people behind this very London-centric business ame to the North-East to get their website designed and developed. It's further proof, if that were needed, that our region in genuinely competing with the capital's new media scene."
The Independent - January 24th 2007
Property: Six to view - Smart thinking
'Culford Gardens, Chelsea...
They say: A newly refurbished flat located just off Sloane Square. It's decorated in a minimalist style, with floorboards throughout and has a large roof terrace. There are two bedrooms on the mezzanine level, two bathrooms and a separate dining room.'
We say: This flat appears on London's first property website for private sales. As most of us dream of cutting out the estate agents, and their fees, it's worth considering this kind of shop-window website when you start hunting. This is a beautiful flat, and is kitted out with new furniture, too, which the vendors will include for the same price if the buyer wishes to keep it.'
The Telegraph - January 18th 2007
London property: Prime site for home buyers?
'A website to help Londoners sell their homes privately has signed up its first million-pound property three months after launch. By using privateHQ.com, the owner of the Chelea property, Katherine Ardiss, who is selling her two-bedroom mezzanine Chelsea flat for 1.2m, believes she will save around £24,000 in agent's fees.
The site is the brainchild of two disgruntled sllers, Nicola Hoare and Annie Allison. Since October it has listed 57 properties, selling 13 and securing offers for seven - a middling performance as desperate buyers are going to almost any lengths to secure the rare house that comes on to the market.
Direct sale sites are mushrooming, even though sellers have to handle their own viewing and deal directly with the buyer.
"Private sales are new," says Allison. "People are becoming more sophisticated and don't just sleepwalk in to agents any more."
Marmaladya.com - January 7th 2007
Business matters: Vogue traders - privateHQ.com
'marmaLADYa.com talks to Nicola Hoare and Annie Allison, directors of London’s first advertising website for private home sales...'
http://www.marmaladya.com/london-everywhere/features/business-matters/vogue-traders-privatehqcom/
The Evening Standard - November 22nd 2006
Really Useful guide: Problem solved
'Question: I am looking to sell my two-bedroom property in west London, but my work keeps me away from home much of the time. Rather than using a local estate agent, I would quite like to organise the sale myself, but I would need help. Where can I find it?
Answer: London's first advertising website for private home sales, www.privatehq.com, offers an alternative to the traditional way of selling a home.
It provides free software so you can create accurate floor plans, helps you value your home and gives you tips on negotiating the best price. You can also use it to showcase your home, without having to pay the fees of an agent.'
The Independent - November 8th 2006
Property: How to sell it yourself
'After thinking about selling her two-bedroom Battersea flat for several months, Camilla Harvey, a marketing manager, decided to take the plunge. But she didn't call her local estate agent. Instead, she put the details of her flat on privateHQ.com, a website for people who want to sell their homes themselves.
"I couldn't stand the idea of dealing with estate agents again," she says. Her flat has been on privateHQ.com for two weeks now and she has had two viewings and others are set up. "It's been easy," she says. "I'm busy at work, but this takes minimal effort. It has everything to recommend it."
Many would agree. Estate agents are not popular and as house prices have soared, their percentage cut has risen. Add a reputation for bad practices and one can see why vendors want to buy and sell without using one. It's a method that has been popular on the Continent for many years.
....One in five properties are now advertised privately.....PrivateHQ.com was set up by the marketing expert Nicola Hoare to specialise in London properties. Hoare and her business partner, Annie Allison, were driven in part by personal experience. "The idea hit home when I was selling my house," says Hoare. "I thought how ridiculous it was to hand all this money over to estate agents."
...Selling privately, she says, is "far easier than people think". Firstly, the website gives each vendor a questionnaire and requests pictures. "The quality of the pictures has been excellent," says Hoare. "People are shocked at how easy it is, and how professional their ads look." privateHQ.com also offers a hi-tech floorplan service.
Hoare believes that it is empowering to both buyers and sellers. "Estate agents are supposed to market the house, and they control the process," says Hoare. "We offer the vendor the chance to take control back."
"We're a platform for selling. It's a small proportion of the market, but people are waking up to it. It's the future."
How are estate agents taking this new threat to their market? "We've heard it before with Asda and even Woolworths," says Peter Bolton King, the director of the National Association fo Estate Agents. "Direct selling has been around for a long time. But to be fair, this time it's more serious - they've got technology on their side."
...But direct sellers are catching up, and sometimes they even use agents to their advantage. "I had an agent round to value my home," says Camilla Harvey. "It gave me an idea of the value, and I then put it on the site at that price." At a standard 2 per cent fee, she'd be giving up almost £8,000 had she chosen to sell through an agent.
Hoare thinks that valuing your property is easy, and that estate agents mystify it. "We give step-by-step guides to selling," she says. "It's about taking control of your biggest asset."
Another benefit is that sellers might share their savings with a buyer...many vendors start on their own.....or use a mixed method, going private and with one agent.
But this can lead to conflict because vendors could argue that their own efforts sold their home. So some estate agents are redrafting their contracts to include "sole selling rights", as opposed to sole agency, to tie vendors into a commission, however the property is sold.
Agents also stress the security issue of conducting viewings on your own. But Camilla Harvey claims that this hasn't been a problem - she's made sure that friends were present at viewings. Meanwhile, she is sitting in her flat, which remains unsold. "I'm not in a hurry," she says. "Even if it takes a bit longer, I'm happy. That £8,000 will be very useful when I do up my new place."
The Sunday Telegraph - October 29th 2006
Home and living: Buy a house with a mouse
'.... another new website has launched for home sellers in London called www.privateHQ.com. It's founders say it is the way ahead; if everyone put their home on the web, Nicola Hoare observes "the main role of estate agents would simply disappear"'
The Mail on Sunday - October 29th 2006
Property: HOTSPOT WEBSITES
'www.privateHQ.com. This latest private sales website was set up by Londoners Annie Allison and Nicola Hoare, who have both had bad experiences with estate agents and want to offer a service that will bypass them. The site doesn't charge anything to list potential sellers' property. It only features London homes and its unique selling point is that you can search by the nearest Tube or mainline station - a useful tool for commuters.
This striking two bedroom detached house in Lillie Road.....
Other features to look out for include free software called Floorplan Wizard, which allows you to create an accurate floorprint of your property and an ask the expert section where users can e-mail a financial consultant for advice.'
The Times - 13th October 2006
Bricks and Mortar: THE SURVEYOR
'There are dozens of internet companies promising to help you sell your home. The latest is privateHQ.com.... it will list you on its website and give you a car sticker to advertise your house...'
The London Paper - 11th October 2006
Give the estate agent a miss
'...privateHQ.com, allows vendors in London to upload property details, create floorplans and add photographs. Co-founder Nicola Hoare said "Your property is your most important asset and you should be free to sell it yourself."'
