May 14, 2019

The Purple Bricks Fiasco

NEW HOPE FOR TRAPPED HOME-SELLERS!

by Neil Jenman

READING TIME: APX 2 MINUTES.

There was one major flaw with English real estate company Purple Bricks and their entry into the Australian real estate market: They were dodgy. In both Australia and England, Purple Bricks has been in trouble for misleading and deceptive conduct.

Contrary to claims made by Purple Bricks, many Australian sellers got a worse deal with them than if they had chosen the worst real estate agent in their district. What makes the Purple Bricks fiasco so outrageous is that they were guilty of the very sin of which they accused almost every agent in Australia – charging too much for doing too little.

Indeed, with Purple Bricks, their deal was worse for sellers than normal agents because Purple Bricks forced sellers to pay thousands of dollars in commission in advance. That’s right, before their home was even sold, before a single ad had been placed or a single buyer had inspected their home, Purple Bricks demanded around four thousand dollars. For nothing but the promise of a future sale, a promise that often failed to eventuate. And when Purple Bricks failed to sell a home, well, their sellers lost thousands of dollars.

The hypocrisy was breathtaking. Purple Bricks came into our country and, through mass advertising campaigns, yelled at Aussie home-sellers: “Hey, you are paying too much commission. You are being ripped off.” At one stage, before the authorities stopped them, Purple Bricks had the hide to claim that they charged “no commission”.

But of course, Purple Bricks charged commission and, in so many cases, much more than local Australian agents because Purple Bricks did what almost no Australian agents ever do – charge commission when a home is not sold. Later, on top of that loss of paying thousands to Purple Bricks for doing nothing, the hapless sellers had to find a normal agent to sell their home for which, of course, they then paid the commission that Purple Bricks promised to save them. So, signing-up with Purple Bricks left many sellers far worse off than if they had just gone to a normal agent. No Australian real estate company treated sellers as badly as Purple Bricks treated them.

With Purple Bricks now exiting Australia, what will happen to those home-owners who have forked out thousands of dollars to Purple Bricks in advance of their homes being sold?

Well, according to Purple Bricks, they are still going to look after their current sellers. Oh sure, as if their salespeople are going to hang around with no prospect of any future. If Purple Bricks was honourable, it would now refund the money to its current sellers and allow those sellers to now find a normal Australian agent to sell their home.

So, what can be done now to help those sellers who have paid thousands of dollars to Purple Bricks and whose homes remain unsold?

Well, here is an idea for those unsold home-owners caught in the Purple Bricks fiasco. Contact ‘Jenman Real Estate Support’ on 1800 1800 18 and we will do our utmost to find you an agent who will agree to credit you with the amount you have paid to Purple Bricks.

So, if a normal agent will charge you, say, ten thousand dollars to sell your home and you have already paid four thousand dollars to Purple Bricks (for nothing), we will insist that your new agent credits you with the amount you have already paid to Purple Bricks. And, of course, Jenman Support charges you nothing as the new agent will pay us a fee. Therefore, it costs sellers no extra to have our help.

So, this means that instead of paying ten thousand dollars to sell your home, you will only pay six thousand dollars. You will effectively not suffer a loss despite what has been done to you by Purple Bricks.

For sellers interested in this offer, please call 1800 1800 18 or email info@jenman.com.au.

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Please note: As we are a “support service”, we do not personally sell homes. But we do give massive and very helpful support. In some areas, it may not be possible to find an agent who will agree to this idea. If this is the case, we will still offer you our FREE help and support. In some instances, we will even show you and help you to sell your home without any agent. And that means, provided you get the best price – which you almost certainly will with our help – you will be many thousands of dollars better off than if you had used any agent. Now, wouldn’t that be the best news of all for you!