Strike Estate Agent Review

Strike Online Estate Agent Review

Strike has now merged with Purplebricks, all links have been updated to redirect you to the new offering (which is still FREE!).

Strike Review

Overall Rating:

9.4

Value For Money = 10

Customer Support = 9.2

Reputation = 8.9

PROS:

  • List your property on Zoopla for FREE
  • Build a custom package to suit your needs
  • Can negotiate offers and progress your sale on your behalf (included for free)

CONS:

  • You’ll need to pay extra for things like hosted viewings, photos, or a Rightmove listing
  • You will be offered an optional paid package upgrade as part of the sales process
  • Only available in England

Online Agents Reviewed:

13

Hours Of Research:

72

We’ve Featured In:

Media Property Road Has Featured In
Strike Estate Agent Review [Updated 2023] – By far and away the stand-out point of Strike (formerly Housesimple) is the promise to sell your property for FREE. It’s a bold claim but let’s see if they can back it up.

Of course, it’s natural to assume there must be some kind of catch. But actually, there isn’t, though there’s still something you should know about the service which we’ll explain in a moment.

But first, let’s see what Strike Online Estate Agents offer…

At A Glance:

Our Strike Estate Agents review has found that the promise to sell your home for free is very much one on which the company can deliver.

In fact, they provide what you might consider close to a ‘full estate agency service’ without any charges.

Plus they’ve been around as a while as the company used to be known as ‘Housesimple’ before a rebrand in July 2020.

The other key difference is they have now embraced mobile technology and offer a dedicated app for iOS and Android users to manage the selling process ‘on the go’.

Here’s how they perform in key areas:

  • The FREE package includes all the key elements you’ll need
  • Some optional paid extras such as photos & hosted viewings
  • Claim to have sold over £5.02bn of property (January, 2023)
  • Highly recommended by past customers
  • You have full control over how your property is sold
  • Options to add on professional photos and a floorplan for £599 (£699 for London)

So far, so good in our Strike estate agent review then. Despite the fact they offer their core service for free, it still appears to be pretty comprehensive.

Sure, you’ll have to take your own photographs and host your own viewings. Plus, you’ll only get on Zoopla, not Rightmove (though Rightmove listings are available for an additional fee).

However, if you want these extra services, you can add them on for a reasonable fee that still makes them much cheaper than a ‘normal’ estate agent.

When we were selling our home, we certainly found that Strike compared well not just compared to other online estate agents, but also to high street ones.

Their free package was really appealing, but we quickly decided that if we went with Strike, we’d want a few of the extra services that come with the paid packages. Therefore, we compared their paid package to that of Yopa and Purplebricks.

In our experience, there wasn’t much to choose between the three of them, though the fact they didn’t have a ‘no sale, no fee’ option put us off Purplebricks.

Strike has now merged with Purplebricks, all links have been updated to redirect you to the new offering (which is still FREE!).

So, it came down to a straight choice between Strike and Yopa. We’ll share a little more of our experience below…

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How Does Strike Compare to Other Estate Agents?

There’s no shortage of estate agents available, which is handy if you’re in the market to buy or sell a property. Why not find the best option by checking out what’s on offer?

Our Strike estate agent review outlines what you can expect from this online estate agent and will give you an idea of how the company compares to its rivals. 

Strike Vs Yopa

Yopa Review - Online Estate Agent

Customer service wise, both Strike and Yopa are on a relatively even keel, but there is one marked difference we need to point out – and that’s the difference in price. 

Strike offers a free service, whereas Yopa charges £999 + to use their agency.

Yopa does charge less for hosted viewings (they come in at around £400 cheaper), but Strike still can’t be beaten on overall price (and lets face it the lure of zero fees is surely a huge advantage).

We should point out that Strike generates profit from promoting upgrades and pushing referrals, but you don’t have to do either to take up the standard service. 

Yopa does have one distinctive advantage though, and that’s the fact that the company has managed to build up quite a reputation for itself over the years. Strike are relative newcomers in comparison, and this is enough to put some people off giving them a try. 

For us, that didn’t concern us too much and we asked both Strike and Yopa to conduct a valuation on our home. Both valuations were conducted very professionally and we got a good feeling from both companies.

We actually found it extremely difficult to decide which of the two agents we wanted to use to sell our home and we took a good few days to decide (our experience is below).

For a full picture of Strike Vs Yopa check out our comparison table. 

Want to find out more? Take a look at our comprehensive Strike Vs Emoov overview. 

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Strike Vs Other Online Estate Agents

So far, we’ve got the lowdown on Strike Vs Purplebricks, Yopa and Emoov, but there are plenty of other estate agencies to look at too. Strike might not have a robust reputation as a large player in the estate agency market, but they do offer good value for money. 

There’s also the added bonus of Strike offering quality customer service. This is important – after all buying and selling a home can be difficult enough!

You won’t get any hidden conveyancing fees either (pushed onto consumers by certain online estate agents). That’s because Strike offer a free service, and you only pay if you would like to upgrade. 

When we sold our home, Strike and Yopa were the stand-out online agents and, while we looked at what they all could offer, we didn’t invite any other online agents to value our property.

Strike has now merged with Purplebricks, all links have been updated to redirect you to the new offering (which is still FREE!).

Strike vs High Street Estate Agents

Strike have a show-stopping pricing policy. Lets be fair, any free service is going to catch the eye of thrifty consumers! Compare this with high-street prices and you can see why an online option seems more attractive.

High street agencies have recently focused on raising their game and becoming more competitive. But, with rent and overheads they are hard-pressed to match the prices of their online counterparts. 

High street agencies do have that advantage of offering a human touch, but you will pay more for the privilege. Plus, it doesn’t mean you will secure a sale or buy a house any quicker than you would using an online agency. 

In addition to Strike and Yopa, we also invited a couple of high street estate agents to value our property. The high street agents came across OK, but actually lacked the knowledge of the online agents that visited us.

Given the significant higher prices the high street agents were quoting us, they were never really serious consideration for us after the valuation.

Our Experience Of Strike – By The Founder Of Property Road

Back in 2021 we decided to sell our urban property so we could fulfil our dream of living in the countryside.

We looked around at all of the available options and decided to invite two online estate agents (Strike and Yopa) to provide us a valuation, alongside two local high street agents.

Strike were the first one to conduct the valuation and, as we were still coming out of one of the COVID-19 lockdowns, they were doing virtual valuations in our area.

We didn’t have a problem with that since estate agents already have a good idea how much they’ll advise you to sell for since it’s based on the recently sold prices of similar properties in the area (among other things). The home visit is mostly to check the condition of the property to pinpoint the exact price, and to sell the agency and their service to you.

The valuation with Strike went very well

The video call went seamlessly and we used the call to ‘virtually’ walk the agent through the property. He was very complimentary throughout and we warmed to him immediately.

After this, he talked us through the Strike offering and the various options and prices we would be looking at. There was no pressure at any time, he simply told us what we could expect from each option.

Finally, he gave us his valuation which was a little higher than we expected but, as it was our first valuation, we thought we had perhaps been a little pessimistic.

We were impressed with Strike, that was for sure, but we still had Yopa and two high street estate agent valuations to come.

Yopa and the two high street agents all came up with similar valuations, but the two high street agents didn’t demonstrate the level of knowledge about selling property that the Strike and Yopa agents did (this came as a surprise to us, we must admit!).

A choice between two online agents

Our 'Sold' Sign
Our property eventually sold with Yopa

So, for us, it came down to a straight choice between Strike and Yopa. And boy, what a tough choice it was!

We spent days going back and forth and struggling to split the two online agents.

Yopa’s valuation (and the two high street ones for that matter!) was actually a little lower than Strike’s.

Given our property had an unusual layout, we felt that the valuation from Yopa was perhaps a little more accurate. That, combined with the rapport we developed with the Yopa agent following their in-person visit, made us opt for Yopa in the end and we successfully sold our home with them a few months later.

However, I’ve no doubt that if we had used Strike instead, we would have had an equally excellent experience. Of course, we’ll never know if Strike’s higher valuation would have led us to achieve a higher sales price but that was the choice we made.

Your local area may be different!

Overall, our experience probably came down to the local agents, and it may be different in your area. So, our advice would be to do exactly what we did, get a valuation from Strike, and, to compare, get a valuation from Yopa.

Listen to what they both have to say and then make a choice based on what you hear and what you feel is right for you. There’s so little to choose between the two that you’re unlikely to be disappointed no matter which one you choose!

How Much Does Strike Cost?

The reason you’re probably here is because you’ve heard that the Strike online estate agent does not charge a single penny to sell your home? Right?

It’s absolutely true (even if it does sound like it shouldn’t be!). Strike sell your home for free and it’s actually a pretty all-inclusive service you get, too.

Here’s what you get as standard, all for FREE:

  • Valuation by a local expert
  • Property listing on Zoopla
  • A ‘For Sale’ Board
  • Professional offer negotiation
  • Dedicated support through to completion

That means it’s a similar service you can expect from your local high street estate agent. Perhaps with the exception of having to pay extra if you don’t want to conduct your own viewings or take your own photographs, plus you don’t get on Rightmove for free either.

However, we found that during the valuation call, our Strike agent offered us several options to include viewings and Rightmove listings if we wanted them. Of course, they came at an extra cost but the ones we offered were all priced reasonably and were in line with what the other online agents would have charged us.

Plus, as briefly touched on earlier, you also get an app to manage your listing. Everything can also be easily managed online via the dedicated sellers portal.

When we sold with Yopa, we found this portal to be fantastic and it’s definitely one of the best things about using online agents.

All things considered then, it’s close to a full and professional estate agency service, for free.

If you prefer to have your agent take photos and create a floorplan for you, you can opt for the Photos package at £599 (£699 in London). Or, for an extra £100 you can upgrade to also get a virtual tour, premium Rightmove listing, and a Facebook boost campaign included.

The paid packages can either be paid in one lump sum, or spread over 3 equal monthly payments.

How Can Strike Sell Your Property For Free?

Strike Estate Agent Review

Strike has now merged with Purplebricks, all links have been updated to redirect you to the new offering (which is still FREE!).

We mentioned at the start of our Strike estate agent review that while there are no catches to the offer to sell your home for free, there is something you should be aware of.

Naturally, the company still needs to make money. So, how do they do it?

Well, pretty much all estate agents sell their customers extras. It could be some listing upgrades or it could be via a referral to their recommend solicitors (for which they get a kickback).

Now essentially, Strike have perfected this process. They’ve found that they can sustain their business simply through the extras they sell and the referrals they make. This is good news for you as all of these are optional. It is perfectly possible and OK to just take the free house sale option and nothing more.

But, it’s important you’re aware of this as it does mean you will be asked to consider these extras that earn Strike the money. In our experience, they don’t use any high-pressure sales tactics or anything like that. In fact, they are pretty laidback in their approach, but it is worth keeping in mind.

While our Strike agent went through all the paid options and add-ons with us, he did it in such a way it was just informing us rather than putting any pressure on us.

Strike Add-Ons

While conducting our Strike estate agent review, we checked how much some of the extra add-on services cost. Naturally, you may expect that since the main service is free, any extra you want will be considerably more expensive than the normal going rate.

We’re pleased to say that that’s not what we found. For instance an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) will cost you £90 if you need one. That’s around the same price as you’ll find most leading estate agents charging (give or take £10 or so).

Hosted viewings, should you decide you want them, will set you back an additional £799 (or £999 for some London post codes). That’s fairly pricey but does include an unlimited number so there are no risks of having to buy more later.

Looking to upgrade your listing to try and attract more attention? That’s a paid extra too, but is reasonably priced from £699. It also comes with enhanced photos and a custom video trailer.

So, it’s pretty clear to us that Strike aren’t overcharging for their extras in order to make up for giving away their core service. You’re essentially getting the same core services you’d expect from any other online agent. Plus, you’re paying a fair price for any extras – just like you would with any other agent.

How Selling With Strike Works

The process for selling your home with Strike estate agents is very much the same as the process when you sell with any online agent. In fact, the experience is pretty similar to how it works when selling with a traditional high street estate agent, too.

Step 1: The Valuation

First, you’ll need to book a valuation. This is an estimate from the agent for the price they think they can get for your property. Now, we can let you into a little secret here.

The majority of the valuation is done by checking data that’s available online. It includes recent sale data and market value trends that’s readily available to all estate agents (online and high street).

The actual home visit that most estate agents do is as much to give them a chance to sell themselves to you face to face as it is to value your home.

Don’t get us wrong, there is still something to gain from the agent seeing your property in person. However, the benefit is probably not as much as you may first think.

Still, our Strike estate agent review has found that they now offer in-person valuations across the whole of England. That means you still get that ‘personal’ introduction you’ll get with high street agents.

This is something that has changed since we had our Strike valuation. Back then, with the pandemic still causing problems they were only doing virtual viewings.

Step 2: The Listing

Once you’ve had your property valued and you’re happy to list your property for sale with Strike, they’ll need to create your property listing.

This is what will be added to Zoopla in order to show off your home to potential buyers, in all its glory.

Depending on the package and add-ons you’ve chosen, you’ll need to either upload your own photographs or Strike will arrange for them to be taken professionally along with an accurate floorplan.

You can approve the listing or request changes via the official Strike app, giving you ultimate control over how your property is sold.

Step 3: The Offer

Unless you’ve paid extra for the hosted viewing service, you’ll be expected to conduct viewings with potential buyers yourself. This can actually be a positive thing as you know your property better than any estate agent and so are more likely to highlight the things that actually matter.

That doesn’t mean you’re on your own though. You’ll get feedback from potential buyers direct to your mobile phone. Once you get an offer, the Strike team will help negotiate the best possible sale price.

Step 4: Sales Progression

One of the most important roles for any estate agent is to ensure a sale completes successfully. This is actually a highly-skilled role and requires patience, organisation, determination, and good interpersonal skills.

The sales negotiator is an expert communicator and will help iron out potential problems before they happen and prevent anything going wrong.

That’s why Strike house sales involve a team of experts to chase solicitors, deal with changes that happen, and keep you informed the whole way. If you’ve ever sold before, you’ll understand just how important this is. That’s why we are pleased to see Strike haven’t cut any corners here.

How Accurate Are Strike’s Valuations?

Some believe high-street estate agents have the edge on providing accurate valuations. They believe local agents have home-grown knowledge of the market and area – and can therefore make a better-informed valuation. 

However online agencies, such as Strike also offer in-person valuation. There are no strings or obligations, you can merely ask Strike to send a property expert to take a look (there’s also an option to book a virtual valuation, if preferred).  

How Long Does It Take to Sell A Property with Strike?

This is a very tricky question to answer as there are a variety of factors to take into account, including the area your property is in and its condition. Market conditions also have a part to play – a fluctuating economic climate can cause uncertainty and have an impact on the property market too.

With all of this in mind we see why it’s difficult to put a figure on this – a fast sale could take around 12 weeks, a longer one could take longer at 27 weeks. 

As our property was of an unusual layout, we found it took a little longer to sell our property than others might expect. It was still sold in a few months but it shows how the little quirks of an individual property can speed up or slow down getting an acceptable offer!

Who Owns Strike Estate Agents?

The majority owner of Strike estate agents is Sir Charles Dunstone, the founder of Carphone Warehouse.

However, perhaps the most public-facing person is Chief Executive Sam Mitchell who previously worked as Head of Lettings at Rightmove and also had prior roles at Your Move and Foxtons.

Strike Estate Agent Reviews From Customers:

Excellent service and it really is free! They found us a buyer for full asking price in just 3 days. Communication has been great too and they got me a fab deal for conveyancing. Because they know who gets on with it, I have a proactive and communicative conveyancer for the first time in 8 moves. Thanks it’s going great!

Pat via 5-star Trustpilot review

Excellent service! I was nervous at first but I was reassured throughout. It was an easy and simple process. Very supportive and efficient staff always on the other end of the phone. My house was sold subject to contract within 5 days. I would highly recommend using Housesimple (rebranding as Strike).

G Kaur via 5-star Trustpilot review

Any Strike Bad Reviews You Should Be Aware Of?

People are entitled to an opinion, and most businesses get their fair share of both positive and negative reviews. Strike seems to doing well on the feedback front. Customers seem to feel that they are getting a good deal.

They mention the professionalism and enthusiasm of advisors and seem satisfied by the level of customer service. 

However, there are one or two comments regarding valuations, with some concerned their properties may have been slightly undervalued to promote a swift sale. That said, this doesn’t seem to the opinion of all, and in the main Strike looks like being a good bet should you be seeking an online estate agency. 

It’s also worth mentioning again that we had the complete opposite experience with Strike. We actually found that, if anything, they slightly overvalued our home with it ending up selling for around 12% less.

Of course, that is also not ideal, but at least with an overvaluation you can always reduce your price if you don’t get the interest you’d like. You can’t do that if your home has gone on the market under value!

So, Are Strike Estate Agents Any Good?

In one word, yes. In fact, our Strike estate agent review hasn’t just found that this company is good, it’s found that this is one of the very best online agents in the UK.

The fact that they offer their service for free is exceptional and pretty much unheard of. Sure, that means you may have to put up with some sales pitches aimed at getting you to buy extra add-ons, but you’ll get that with ANY estate agent. With that in mind, why pay for the privilege?

But, we need to make one thing clear. FREE doesn’t necessarily mean poor quality.

We get that when people see the word ‘free’ they assume there’s a catch. Like it’s a lesser service or something.

While it’s true you won’t get professionally taken photographs and a floorplan with the free plan. Nor will you get hosted viewings or a listing on Rightmove. Yet, you still get all the key things needed…

That means an advert on Zoopla, full management of your listing and viewings, an offer negotiation service and full expert sales progression.

An each one of those services is actually far better than you’re entitled to expect for free. Plus, there’s always the option to add on anything missing for a small fee! And that’s the crux of why we love Strike so much!

We found their valuation process to be excellent and the local agent knowledgeable and friendly. There was no pressure to add on paid options, though each one was clearly explained to us. We had a very positive experience of Strike, overall.

How Strike Make Money

Strike has now merged with Purplebricks, all links have been updated to redirect you to the new offering (which is still FREE!).

Negatives Of Strike:

To make our Strike online estate agent review fair and honest, it’s only right that we also cover the negatives of using them.

Of course, when you’re not paying anything for the service, it’s a little harder to be critical.

But, if we are being honest, there are a few disadvantages.

For instance, we need to mention the fact that the company still needs to make money somehow. If that money isn’t coming from the outright sale of your property, then it needs to come from referrals and add-on services.

That means you will get asked about these regularly. There are no high pressure sales tactics and all of the paid services are very much optional. But still, it’s worth keeping in mind.

It should also be noted that Strike only provide services in England. That means, if you’re in Scotland, Wales, or somewhere else, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Plus, as we have already mentioned a few times, you will have to pay if you want professional photographs, hosted viewings, or a listing on Rightmove. However, they are very reasonably priced, especially given the core service is free.

Strike Online Estate Agent – A Short History

To cover the history of Strike estate agency, we first need to look at Housesimple. After all, this is what Strike estate agency was known as before the rebrand in July 2020.

So, Housesimple was founded as long ago as 2007. That means they were actually one of the first ‘online’ estate agents in the UK.

For many of their early years, Housesimple plodded along and were often overlooked by sellers in favour of their bigger spending rivals (they were still charging for listings at this point). That changed in 2016 when Sir Charles Dunstone, the founder of Carphone Warehouse invested £13m in the firm.

This helped the brand establish itself as one of the leaders of the online market. Then, in June 2019, Housesimple shocked the market by moving to offer it’s full service 100% for free.

Called out as ‘certain to fail’, the reaction from the competitors was scathing. However, a year later and Housesimple were very much still a leading online agent and their free model was standing the test of time.

Just as everyone thought they knew where they stood, Housesimple shocked the market again in July 2020 when they rebranded as Strike, the name they go by today.

We’re not entirely sure why they decided to rebrand. However, we suspect they wanted a clean break from the Housesimple brand which had spent most of its time charging for its service. Now, with a new name under their belt, Strike property agents look set to grow their market share and become the leading ‘free’ estate agent.

Strike Estate Agent Review – Summary:

We know that not everyone will be entirely comfortable with using an estate agent that doesn’t charge for their service. We get that. But, if this is you, you need to seriously consider why you feel this way.

Our Strike estate agent review has found that the free service is close to what you’d get elsewhere. In fact, in some cases, it’s better.

It ticks most of the boxes in terms of what’s included, certainly when compared to other online estate agents. All of the paid extras are optional and many are the same kinds of things any other agent will try and sell you too. Plus, the cost of these extras is on par with other agents too.

That means you stand to potentially save thousands on your estate agent fees. And that’s money we’re sure you can put to good use with your next home.

The offer negotiation and sales progression services are worth singling out too. Both are very, very good and both are included in the free package. That means there’s very little difference between selling your property at the cost of a few thousand pounds with your local estate agent, and selling your property for free with Strike’s online offering.

We’ve experienced a very good valuation with Strike and found them to be non-pushy and ticking all the boxes we were looking for in an online agent.

So, as far as we are concerned, you won’t find many better when it comes to estate agents than Strike. You certainly won’t find any that are better value for money.

Strike has now merged with Purplebricks, all links have been updated to redirect you to the new offering (which is still FREE!).

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Author

  • Paul James

    Paul James, is a marketing expert with a passion for property. As well as being a property investor, Paul has also worked within the marketing departments of some of the UK’s leading estate agents. Paul is the founder of Property Road.

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