Take control when selling your property, save money, go at your pace, and get in front of potential buyers in a new and innovative way

homebuddy® announces the launch of its unique online platform allowing homeowners and private sellers to advertise and sell their property without the need to appoint, rely on and pay an estate agent.

There is a myth in the world of conveyancing that you need an estate agent to sell your property. homebuddy® aims to dispel this myth with the launch of its platform allowing property owners in South Wales to take control of selling their property from as little as £99!

Cut out the Agent

homebuddy® is a unique online platform that allows homeowners and private sellers in the South Wales area to sell their property without the need for an estate agent.

The Housing Alliance¹ report from YouGov showed that when it came to housing, 58% of those polled were concerned about the cost of estate agents’ fees and with homebuddy® removing these from the conveyancing process, you could potentially save thousands of pounds. With the average house price in Cardiff being £242,982² (a staggering 11.85% increase in the space of twelve months), the savings on estate agent fees could be vast.

homebuddy® will not only save you money that can be spent on your new property, but also can save time and give you the flexibility to arrange viewings at your convenience.

A platform to sell your home

homebuddy® has been developed by a team of professionals who have extensive knowledge and understanding of the home buying and selling process. We believe that homeowners and private sellers should have a specialist marketplace that gives them a platform to advertise their homes to a wider market. This will enable them to target potential buyers who are actively looking for a new property. Such a platform is currently unavailable with homeowners and private sellers limited to generic websites such as Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace. To fulfil this need, homebuddy® was created.

Buyers are missing out on the private sales market

Normally, when people choose to sell their homes privately, they don’t have the ability to advertise on popular websites (such as Rightmove and Zoopla), as those can only be accessed through an estate agent. This means that buyers are potentially missing out on the opportunity to purchase properties that are sold privately.

Many buyers may not even be aware that there is a market for private house sales, let alone where they should be looking. Those who do know may be put off at the thought of sifting through various adverts not related to properties or by a lack of trust in a potential advert. There were 8.58% online transactions vs high street transactions in Q4 2019³ but with 58%¹ of people concerned about estate agent fees and with the launch of homebuddy® this is set to change as more and more of us move across to a simpler and cheaper way of selling our property.

homebuddy® removes barriers by providing a trustworthy and easy to use platform

In 2021 the Property Ombudsman⁴ (TPO) reported that complaints about estate agents were on the rise with top causes of complaints being (1) communication & record keeping, (2) instructions/terms of business/commission/termination, (3) marketing & advertising, (4) complaints handling. Further, the award-winning property trade magazine “Property Industry Eye” reports that TPO anticipates that there will be a further a rise in enquiries submitted to them which will be shown in their report to be published later this year. Therefore, by taking matters into your own hands, homebuddy® removes these potential problems.

homebuddy® is super easy

homebuddy® can be accessed via laptop, tablet or mobile device simply by visiting www.homebuddy.co.uk. You will initially need to register as a homebuddy® user and create an account. Once registered, you can add a new listing. As part of this, you will be required to choose a price, upload photos and/or videos and a description of your property. The level of detail and creativity is entirely up to you.

Once a property is uploaded, potential buyers will message you direct. It is then your responsibility to organise viewings and manage the overall sales progress at your discretion, knowing that everything you need to complete the transaction is at your fingertips.

If you get stuck, the platform contains helpful tips and hints together with a step-by-step guide on how to use homebuddy®. If you are still struggling, then email homebuddy® direct at info@homebuddy.co.uk and one of our friendly team will be happy to help.

How we market your property

homebuddy® has a strong and engaged social media presence (@homebuddyuk on both Facebook and Instagram) which is the perfect space to reach and connect with people looking to buy or sell. The homebuddy® platform itself achieves a high level of traffic per week and this is increasing. In addition, due to our registration process, we have a significant number of potential buyers registered and actively looking for a new property.

It is also an exciting time for our marketing team with plans to expand our business presence and visibility through further media outreach and a full scale advertising campaign including local radio and paid for media rollout.

Supporting homegrown Welsh businesses

Anyone who has bought or sold a property is fully aware that it is not enough to only agree its sale and/or purchase. To complete the transaction, you will need to instruct solicitors. You may even need the services of additional third-party providers such as mortgage brokers and removal companies.

To ensure that homebuddy® is a convenient and all-encompassing platform, we have partnered with service providers to ensure that everything you need to complete a property transaction is only one click away. What is even more reassuring is that the homebuddy® partners are local businesses to you. Therefore, not only will your transaction be completed by homegrown welsh businesses with excellent reputations, by appointing them you are also further supporting the South Wales economy.

homebuddy® partners include access to solicitors, mortgage and insurance brokers, removal companies and surveyors, however we are always on the lookout for further partners that can add value to the homebuddy® members.

If you are looking to buy and/or sell your property in the South Wales area, check out www.homebuddy.co.uk today.

For more information please contact: info@homebuddy.co.uk