Ashington man launches online estate agency to modernise home selling

Last year, Brandon Affleck sold his home and bought another but was left feeling frustrated by a lack of communication and limited visibility over negotiations.

This prompted him to give up his job as a business energy consultant to develop a service designed to give homeowners clearer information and greater control throughout a sale.

Following months of planning, Brandon is now preparing to launch Clear Offer as a new technology-based estate agency to serve homeowners across Northumberland.

“The inspiration to build Clear Offer was from my own whirlwind experience when buying a property in Ashington,” Brandon said.

“Communication was very fragmented.”

The business combines professional estate-agency support with a digital platform which allows sellers to directly see viewing activity and review offers.

“The idea is you can sell your property from your phone,” Brandon added. “You don’t need wasted time on appointments or chasing paperwork.

“The inspiration really was to try and create a product in which the homeowner has complete control and visibility over the process from the very beginning.

“It’s a very modern, up-to-date way of buying and selling.”

Contrasting traditional estate agencies, all sellers will pay the same upfront free, regardless of the properties value, which covers professional photography, checks, a floor plan and marketing.

“I feel as though the commission structure for a lot of traditional estate agents is very unfair,” Brandon added

“A house is often someone’s biggest asset, and why should they lose several thousand on trying to move?”

Clear Offer will officially launch on Tuesday, September 8.