Internet house sale undercuts agents

A London couple has saved almost £1,500 by selling their house through an Internet estate agency, despite dropping their price by £7,000.

A London couple has saved almost £1,500 by selling their house through an Internet estate agency, despite dropping their price by £7,000.

The sale of the house, in fashionable Islington Park Street, for £263,000 was completed on Wednesday. One Percent, the Internet estate agents set up by Matt Tapsell, 32, was able to charge fees more than three times lower than a High Street firm could because it doesn't have to pay high rents and overheads for a shop front.

"The property had already been advertised in commercial estate agents' windows but we got asked to show it by the vendor. We then got a couple of potential buyers who showed interest via the Web site. But they couldn't afford the price the vendor was asking."

Because One Percent's fee, including VAT, is just 1 per cent of the sale price, the vendors could drop their price by £7,000 and still come out ahead compared to selling it through High Street agents, which charge up to 3.5 per cent plus VAT.

One Percent charged £2,630 on the lower price, while an estate agent could have charged £11,100 in commission and VAT on the original £270,000 price.

Vauxhall said it will start to sell its cars from its Web site,www.vauxhall.co.uk, offering reductions of up to £1,000 on its six most popular models.