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Charles Tarbey says that Purplebricks is “completely wrong” and that selling real estate is not about cheapness, after the low-cost, fixed-fee network’s latest sideswipe at Australian-styled real estate.
Last week, Purplebricks Australia unveiled a Barry Du Bois-led ad campaign attacking the current “commission collecting” model, which it says has not changed for 30 years — and is only in place to benefit agents.
But the Century 21 owner and chairman has said that the way Purplebricks has presented its fees and talked about fees not changing for 30 years is “completely wrong.”
“That is not correct,” Mr Tarbey told REB.
“What they fail to understand is that in the past it was a flat fee administered by institutes and governments, and we didn’t have a choice. And in many cases today that fee would be higher than what the agents have been negotiating for themselves in the past few years.”
Mr Tarbey added that he believes firmly in a model that is reward for effort.
“I don’t believe in paying a low fee to get a service; I believe in paying the fee that is necessary to get the right job done.
“If I want to go to a surgeon, I’m not going to go to the one that offers a flat fee to come along and get the op done. I’m going to go to the best possible surgeon that can do the job that will give me the most benefit at the other end.”
Mr Tarbey said it’s not ambiguous.
“It’s been proven time and time again, particularly with a flat-fee, low-cost model, that the levels of service and follow-up are not the same as an agent that is committed to a process.
“The agents that are committed to getting a good result for their people have got not just the motivation of getting the best possible price because of their fee, but they are also motivated because of their ongoing reputation.”
Mr Tarbey said selling real estate is not about cheapness.
“It’s about getting the right people to give you the right advice and to walk you through, what I believe, particularly in the marketplace that we are in right now, a very difficult and often long process.
“This is not a boom market where an auctioneer stands up and yells out numbers until somebody throws enough money at them. These are days where sellers require an agent who knows what they are doing.”
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