Strike moves into central England, promises UK-wide coverage next year
Estate agency says it has been able to maintain selling service quality while offering a free-to-use platform since it launched last year.
Hybrid estate agency Strike has launched in the West Midlands and central England following similar launces over the past two years in Yorkshire and the NW and Nottingham and the NE of England.
The expansion will create 80 jobs both on the road and at its HQ in Colchester.
The agency continues to ruffle feathers within the property industry by offering vendors a free sales service but generating revenues from third-party services and referrals.
Figures published by the company reveal it has sold properties worth £1.7 billion since the Strike name and free sales service were launched in 2019, representing approximately 6,400 properties.
The company, which is headed up by former Rightmove chief Sam Mitchell (main pic), says the latest regional launch is part of its plan to eventually go national across the UK by early 2022.
Strike claims vendors can save £4,000 on average, which assumes an average high street estate agent fee of 1.56% and an average house price of £256,000.
The latest locations where it has coverage include Birmingham, Leicestershire, Coventry, Derby, Dudley, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shrewsbury, Telford, Worcestershire, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Home for free
“The ability to sell a home for free, without paying any estate agency fees, was always going to be well received, but maintaining a quality service is what has been key to our model’s success and allowed us to continue to expand,” says Mitchell.
“The Midlands and Central England are the latest pieces to our jigsaw puzzle as we strive to offer our full service nationwide before long.”
Strike was launched last year after the company behind it dropped the HouseSimple name.
The online agent Strike, which was previously House Simple, before it re-trenched from its aspirations of being a national agent brand and concentrated on the North, is looking for fresh recruits.
Based on an agency model of being free, unlike the typical no sale no fee model, or even online model of Purplebricks – pay upfront sale or no sale, it may be hard to understand how these new starts are going to earn a living.
Maybe Sam Mitchell the top man knows, as worryingly if you look on their website you have to take a £699 option if you want accompanied viewings, (not very free) and there does seem a heavy emphasis on ‘free mortgage advice’ which possibly means the service is a sales funnel for financial services revenue.
Maybe Sam can enlighten me, as to how free the model is, after all their slogan is ‘A transparent experience from start to finish’.