“We’re not an online agent” insists EweMove Head Shepherd

The ‘head shepherd’ of estate agent EweMove says his business is not an ‘online agency’ and that nearly 10% of his franchisees have now opened high street stores. The latest to open is in Bexleyheath in South London (pictured), which like many of the company’s 110 franchisees is a high street agent who has re-branded – in its case from Apex Residential. Nick Neill, who became Managing Director of EweMove in June and also used to hold a franchise in York, says he believes its model is one-off in the industry. “I don’t like it when we’re lumped in with the online agents – we’re just chalk and cheese. There is no comparison,” he says. “Online agents in my book charge up-front for their service and leave a lot of the rest to the vendor including viewings,” he says. “Although a lot of marketing is online to generate leads, we do all the viewings and also do face-to-face appraisals, valuations and photos and also pre-qualify viewers. No contract “Also, we don’t tie any seller into a contract term and they are free to walk away at any time, not having spent a single penny on bringing their property to market…