HouseSimple reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

We used Strike a year ago to sell our house as we were fed up with dishonest estate agents. We really wanted to love the process but felt the system was unbelievably disjointed. We opted for the photo package and the photographer rushed through which resulted in blurred images. We ended up using photos we took. We then had issues with our buyer who wanted to reduce their offer for the fun of it and our agent at Strike managed the situation incredibly poorly. It was dragged out and the buyer as invited to put a new offer forward instead of being shut down. We asked for our house to be put back in the market but they stalled on this. It dragged out and caused weeks of uncertainty. There were then problems lower down the chain aNed Strike were unable to communicate effectively with the other agents. Although we saved money on agent fees the process cost us greatly in additional storage and moving fees. If your sale runs smoothly I’m sure Strike are great but we found any hiccups in the sale were not dealt with and we would not use them again.

Bridget · 18 August 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

I've encountered significant issues with Strike Estate Agents that have seriously impacted my confidence in their services. Initially, my concerns revolved around potential mis-selling and pushy approach by one of their team members, an issue serious enough to warrant an internal investigation. Despite this, I decided to continue working with them, hoping for a smoother process. Unfortunately, my current experience has been far from satisfactory. The solicitor recommended by Strike to my buyer has caused a month-long delay in approving their source of funds. This isn't just inconvenient; it disrupts my personal plans and raises serious questions about the diligence and integrity behind Strike's recommendations and practices. Choosing Strike was based on their reputation for professionalism and efficiency, but these recent experiences suggest a worrying pattern of oversight and lack of urgency. It's crucial for estate agents to ensure their recommendations and services uphold the highest standards, something that has been conspicuously lacking in my dealings with them. I urge Strike Estate Agents to address these issues with the seriousness they deserve, to prevent such situations from affecting more clients in the future

Greg · 27 April 2024

★★★★★ 4/5

Google

What a journey. The pros….. I have found Strike south easier than traditional agents as I can sell my home better than any agent. I am experienced in sales and the portal for negotiating made the front end of negotiations so easy. Nicole is stand out in her limited influence in completing the deal and also a ray of sunshine. I will miss our daily calls! The cons…. The buyers in my chain used conveyancers recommended by the agents (Strike) and they were the worst. The whole process which could have been dealt with relatively quickly dragged for months because of the sub-par conveyancers. Nicole at Strike was tenacious in trying to get the exchange closed, it is a shame their partnered conveyancers did not have her diligence or customer care. DEFINITELY USE STRIKE AS YOUR AGENT BUT USE A PROPER SOLICITOR FOR CONVEYANCING AND NOT A BOILER ROOM OF BELOW PAR ADMINISTRATORS RECOMMENDED BY THEM

Kelli · 27 April 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I am presently selling with Strike having successfully used them in the past. It’s always good to get a great contact and this time I am dealing with Megan Hewitt. She is absolutely on the ball and efficient. She makes contact with me every week without prompting and updates me. If it wasn’t for her I’d be completely in the dark as sadly this time my solicitor is not as efficient. Thank you Megan for all of your help so far and looking forward to completion with your help and guidance.

Virginia · 27 April 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Rubbish services giving to the public Buyers beware not worth the heartache or hassle Strike is very very very very poor estate agency Complete waste of time very poor quality call centre and no support to the buyer they are just interested about there commission only Seller accept my offer and after 1.5 week without informed strike found another buyer and they reject my offer just because of there few more £ commission Strike is only stress and heartbreak due to Strike's greediness

Faisal · 28 March 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Stike is the estate agents that handled the house sale when I purchased my property. I have found them very good. My point of contact was Claire Wheeler. Claire was very good at keeping me informed of all aspects of my purchase. I found that whenever I rang Strike, I didn't have to explain who I was as their system obviously is set up to recognise a client calling. Also, the phone was always answered - no hanging on or having to ring back later. All in all a very good service.

Rosemary · 29 December 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

As the cliché goes, if I could leave zero stars I would. My partner sold his house with Strike while we were buying our first home together, and the service was absolutely appalling. The representative who did the sales pitch was very friendly and reassuring, but after that it has all been downhill. We have received updates days after we heard them from our solicitors, and when asked to chase things up they were horrendously slow. The final thing that takes the biscuit is that a few hours after we completed on our new property, we got an email from Strike saying "contracts have been exchanged". Well obviously, we've already bought the house and moved in! The only bonus of Strike is that there are no fees (apart from to get up on rightmove). I would advise that unless you have a very good and communicative solicitor, don't go with Strike. They are incredibly slow and we seemed to go round in circles whenever we spoke to them. All in all, a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

Simon · 29 November 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

A good initial experience with a friendly sales agent who gave a valuation of our property that matched that of the High Street Estate Agents. But it all fell down once we were through the door and had paid the £699... After over a week of trying to get in touch with our contact, it turned out he was on annual leave. We were assigned a different contact who then turned out to be on annual leave too at the time we wanted to list our property. However, the main issues were with the photography, floor plan and virtual tour, resulting in us having to retake the majority ourselves and re-edit those that were usable. The floorplan was completely the wrong way round and with some incorrect measurements, on the Virtual Tour all of the bedrooms were all in the wrong place (and took 2 attempts to fix it, taking almost 2 weeks), and we were not provided with key photos such as the Family Bathroom (never received despite requesting) or the hallway and back of the house (had to request). Others were so poorly taken that they were not usable. This delayed listing our property by 3 weeks at a key time of year in the market. The main issue was that Strike use third-party photographers and evidently the contact between them is poor and slow, and the quality of the photographers' work and processes is not up to scratch. For example, it took a week to get the photo of the back of the house once requested and a week to make edits to the Virtual Tour (which was still incorrect). We also needed to re-write the property description text. Once our property was listed, we could get no replies from our contacts. We were assigned a new contact who turned out to be on annual leave too, so we were given yet another contact. On the Strike platform you can set you availability for viewings. This is clunky and difficult. We are available at the same times every day, but you have to edit your availability for every day individually (no bulk editing or option to duplicate days), which makes it a long process. Then when we received our first viewing request, it was for a time we had set as being unavailable for, so the system doesn't appear to work. Having had a good experience with Purple Bricks in the past, we took a risk on Strike in the hope of saving money compared to regular Estate Agent fees, but sadly you do get what you pay for. They're not interested once you've parted with your cash and they're not a patch on Purple Bricks (which is ironic as Strike have bought Purple Bricks). With only 1 viewing so far, after the many hours spent correcting the issues and re-taking / editing photos, we are now looking at using a regular Estate Agent with our tails between our legs :-(

Paul · 29 November 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Strike were fantastic and helped us understand how the selling of our property would work. They gave us the best advice for our circumstances and recommended the best deals, and didn't try to upsell us things that wouldn't benefit us. We bought the Rightmove package and this was really helpful. Once our property was sold, which it did in a matter of weeks, we were directed to a sales chaser who wasn't too great and didn't get back to us as quickly as we would have liked, however, we spoke to Strike's offices and they put us in touch with a different person, Shona. Once Shona took over, things started to happen. She moved the matter forward at a pace of knots, and within around three weeks we had exchanged and completed. Shona was great, she kept us informed at every step of the way, prompted our buyers solicitors and even our own solicitors to bring our matter to a conclusion speedily. Overall an outstanding service. Would highly recommend.

Michael · 29 November 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

We are currently trying to buy a house and every interaction with Strike has been a nightmare. We tried to book a viewing and were told that the agent dealing with the home was not available so booked a call back for later that day.. We did not receive a call back. we have just tried to book a viewing for another home and have been told off for not being available when they call back and that if we try to book a viewing for more than one home.... it will effect our credit report????? This company are an absolute sham. We are now avoiding any homes on the market with Strike so we don't have to deal with their crazy booking staff.

Ben · 30 October 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Strike offer an amazing service with full personal attention from start to finish. I have no idea why anyone would pay high estate agent fees, when Strike offer everything a local agent does, and with the highest level of support. The valuation from a lovely and knowledgeable Karlee was arranged and we were on the market very quickly at a price we thought was great. Fiona and Ashley helped us through the viewings and were superb in dealing with offers (even though some were silly). They took away any awkward discussions with potential buyers and time wasters. Chelsea got stuck into the negotiations with our buyer and ultimately it was the amazing Mel Flack that got us over the line, in spite of our solicitors being less than communicative. Mel was fantastic, keen to see us exchange and complete, and also fight our solicitors to do their job. We are thrilled she was on our side. My advice to Strike sellers is to use their conveyancing services, I wish I had. The whole process would have been handled a lot smoother and professionally. In fact, whatever Strike offer, take it up, they are really professional, nice people who get to know you and your circumstances, and also take the time to keep in touch.

Keith · 30 October 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Avoid at all costs - Especially First Time Buyers Details: Strike is a financial services company that has acquired an estate agency and works via referrals with a conveyance firm called Premier Property Lawyers. I'll just refer to them as Strike going forward but I will be putting this review on PPLs Trustpilot page as well and I urge you to check them out separately because with hindsight I would have avoided Strike if I knew to do that. Our purchase: We purchased a property that was being sold via Strike, did our homework on brokers and solicitors and it all came out around the same prices. Strike boasted that because they were internal they progress sales on average 3-4 weeks quicker because they have service agreements to respond to all messages within 24 hours. Sales on average take 10-12 weeks with no additional complications (which we didn't have) and the chain was only 3 parties so you'd assume since that's a smaller chain it would be bottom of the average. Total time from instructing solicitors to getting the keys was 18 weeks. Information I picked up from the Sellers and Vendor involved revealed that the constant weak link in the chain was the two sets of PPL/Strike Solicitors involved. Bottom line: Ok brokerage, average estate agent, abysmal solicitors - wrapped up in a nice online package and marketed at First time buyers. Avoid at all costs. The only thing worse than using Strike Solicitors is having two sets of them in the chain. It's house buying done by the numbers - which would be fine if it was cheaper or quicker but it was neither of these things. Our sale had very little complexity, if it was more complex or had something requiring significant support or negotiation I have zero confidence the sale would not have fallen through. Also I am fully aware of the trope that buying a house 'is the most stressful thing you can do' but don't take it just from my experience the Vendors in our chain (for a new build) reached out to me directly and explained just how terrible the experience was for them as professionals and that this experience is indicative of their experience with Premier Property Lawyers/Strike in general. Longer details: Brokerage: Pros- very good communication, nice broker, competitive offers compared to other providers I looked at no additional fees Cons- Communication less good once mortgage deal secured and passed on to more junior staff (who were still very effective) Estates: Pros- Front line negotiator was organised, clear and very much appeared like someone who would fight your corner Generally quite easy to talk to people and human Cons- Actual contact we were handed off to once the sale progressed was less experienced (running theme with Strike) Near impossible to get a hold of on the phone to the point it's clear they will actively avoid your calls Poor communication between parties Solicitors: Pros - We got the house In the end significantly later than expected, more expensive than quoted, at additional personal cost due to delays and extreme stress. Cons - Uniformed/unwilling to do anything that deviates from some kind of idealised templated sale Scaremongering - Worst case scenario information given with no context Repeated misinformation and incorrect guidance Slow or incorrect communication - constant out dated or incorrect information passed to parties Incompetence across the board - formatting errors on their part almost cost the sale No advice given even when asked for opinions or options No support or understanding at all Junior staff obviously work off a checklist they are not allowed to deviate Lack of care - would've allowed the sale to fall through Incorrect billing repeatedly and after correction still more expensive than quoted No rush - Constantly had to chase for any updates Escalation to senior staff not much better FYI I will be reviewing PPL separately, putting this on google and other sites as a warning to other First Time Buyers

Matt · 30 September 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

We recently sold our house with Strike The whole process to get to market was very simple and straightforward, Adam Speed, our first contact was a delight, arrived on time and explained everything very clearly, allowing us to make our own choices re services to use. No hard sell at any time from any of Strike's staff We ended up in a chain with numerous issues from others which needed to be sorted out, meaning, though we sold in 2 days, we had to wait several months before we could actually move. During the whole, protracted, stressful time Strike were with us. Our sales progressor, Melanie Flack was brilliant, always available, easy to talk to, kept us up to date with progress, very professional and a joy to deal with. Mel contacted other parties' representatives on a minimum of a daily basis in the final few months for updates and progress on the numerous issues of others in the chain. Must also mention Chris Jackson in moving services, Beth-Anne Rowley, negotiator and Julia Volpe, Account Manager, who were also immensely helpful and supportive. Everyone I spoke with from Strike during the whole period prior to moving was professional and always went out of their way to support us. I seriously cannot understand why people would NOT use Strike !

Margaret · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I sold my house via Strike in 2022. I have to say I have thought for a long time about how to write this review. Ultimately the bottom line is that Strike did sell my house for free for a price I was happy with - a saving of several thousand pounds is basically impossible to not rate 5*, however that is where the positives end. I found the experience of using Strike appalling. The initial proposed valuation was over £100k less than the final sold price, and although Strike were happy for us to list at a price we chose I feel this was a somewhat negative start. We had our case manager randomly changed multiple times during the process. I have to say most Strike staff were completely disinterested - the experience of working in a central office vs working in a local office for commission I think probably reflects this difference vs a local agent. My biggest issue, by far, with Strike however is their recommended conveyancer, "Strike Conveyancing". This is a front for Premier Property, a firm with a terrible reputation who in our case did such incompetent and useless work that the sale was on the brink of falling through until the other side (we did not use Strike Conveyancing ourselves) changed solicitors. Overall I found it painful to progress the sale. I made over 100 phone calls to Strike in the course of the conveyancing, and only once I started talking directly to the other side did anything get moving. I also lodged a formal complaint - and this was mostly ignored. I couldn't even tell if it was ever addressed. In summary - a really awful experience, but one that ended with several thousand pounds saved. In reality I would probably be willing to use Strike again, because ultimately most people would accept some inconvenience for that level of saving. If however this is your first time buying or selling, or you lack the time and energy to progress the sale yourself, I would steer well clear of Strike.

Oliver · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

A 1* review is too generous in my opinion! I recently completed on a property purchase which was being sold through Strike. Initially Strike were fine, and once my offer was accepted I was bombarded with phone calls, some of which were incredibly pushy, to the point of being rude when I called the salesman out for having lied to me on two different points. Once I made it clear that I would not be using any of their services (i.e. Conveyancer, surveyor, mortgage broker etc.), the problems continued to the point that they refused to provide any information to my mortgage broker which delayed me getting my mortgage secured. As the sale progressed, I found it increasingly difficult to get hold of my sales progressor. If ever I did manage to get hold of her, I was told that she would reach out to the vendors for an update which then never happened. It took me 2 months to find out what the length of the chain was which ended up being chain free! I can't even count how many phone calls and emails went unanswered. What is the point in being assigned someone who doesn't have a clue what is going on with the sale, and is impossible to get hold of?! Strike did absolutely nothing to make the process any easier and if anything added additional stress that could have been easily avoided if my appointed sales progressor had just been in touch with me. I would actively discourage anyone from selling their house via Strike, and would definitely think twice if I were to purchase another property being sold by them.

Grace · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Our sale was extremely difficult with 1 buyer exiting the transaction last minute and 2 solicitors dropping our mandate. Our sales progressors at Strike changed frequently, which didn't make the situation easier. However, our last sales progressor was JODY. He did an amazing job and definitely deserves 5 stars for his efforts during the last months of the transaction. Jody was very responsive and chased up everyone to ensure that we would complete the sale before the buyers mortgage would expire. He was professional and friendly. Thank you Jody! Ps. What ever you do, DO NOT use Strikes conveyancer Premier Property Lawyers.

Lisa · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I have found the people at Strike more than helpful & professional in my dealings with them. You get absolutely the same service from them that you do from Estate agents on the high street charging thousands of pounds, which I have hated as I felt they did very little for their charges. So this new concept is affordable for all & they treat you exactly the same as if you were spending thousands. You have professional photos, done, an agent assigned to you, they listen, discuss & help. They arrange viewings, your property is on Rightmove & Zoopla, what's not to like for £699.00. You could choose to do your own photos & just go on Zoopla & it's FREE, I was going to do that but I chose to have better photo's done in the end, I am pleased I did. I would highly recommend Strike, give them a try, you have nothing to very little to lose whichever way you choose to go, thats the thing it's YOUR choice.

Carol · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

As first time buyers, my girlfriend and I were going in without the first idea of how to purchase a house or get a mortgage. From start to finish Jon Welling our advisor was clear and transparent. He explained everything amazingly and nothing was too much for him. He made us feel at ease in a task which seemed extremely daunting. We would recommend Strike and Jon to anyone looking to purchase a property. Thank you Jon and the Strike mortgage team, we will certainly be sticking with you when the time comes to look for re-mortgage.

Harry · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 2/5

Google

Found a property in Jan 2022, initially strike were very helpful in sorting out mortgage through their broker and things seemed to be going fine. With a week to go until collection of keys in May we were told there was a delay on the property due to the vendor not able to find a property for themselves. We were understanding towards this and decided to give them a bit more time. We chased strike for weeks on end which turned into months to no avail, the customer service was absolutely horrendous. There was a constant turnover of new file handlers so whenever we’d ring we were explaining the whole story all over again and we’d then be passed around and almost always ended up with a voicemail. The only time Strike rang us to provide us with information or updates was when the seller wanted to sell us the house and then rent off us (to which we refused). We were then back to chasing and hearing nothing for weeks on end right up until September which was a week or so before our mortgage offer ran out. Strike rang us to advise the sale is ready however we’d already found a new house as we had no choice but to look as we had no idea whether this sale was actually going to go through in time or not. We were so disappointed by Strike on this occasion.. however that is not the end of the story… We found the new house and advised strike that we want to port our mortgage. At first strike was very helpful and even rang us on a Sunday (a day before interest rates were due to increase again) to lock in a mortgage deal which we did. After that we heard nothing as the file was passed on to another file handler. We were then back to doing weekly chasing to find out what was going on to no response or reply. We chased up strike and they kept saying it was with the bank or they needed more paperwork (paperwork which they already had been sent many times before). It got to the point where the new vendors had given us a deadline to get the mortgage sorted or they were pulling out. We rang the bank directly but they weren’t able to help us much as we were going through a broker but they managed to tell us what paper work was needed which was sent to strike within minutes. The bank also told us they had no correspondence from strike and were waiting on them. This was 3 months after our offer had been accepted. Only because we chased up daily due to the deadline we had been given did they manage to get the paperwork sent. We appreciate that it’s been difficult with interest rates and mortgage deals etc, so we can forgive some of what happened. However all the delays by strike were to our detriment, we almost had two houses fall through because of waiting for updates and actions. Be very wary if you go through strike, they are very slow and contacting them is a nightmare. The staff have too many files and are too busy to be able to give customers the attention they need. We don’t blame the staff, we blame the business model!

HS · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 4/5

Google

The intial sales service was good , no doubt helped by payment of an additional fee to the upgrade to the premier service (i.e. for additional professional photos, premium listings and the like) and once our property was sold the follow up was intially good. However our case dragged on somewhat (in total 9 months!) before reaching completion which was not down to Strike themselves but due to delays with solicitors (our buyer used the Strike suggested solcitor which she was not too enamoured with). However Jacqui Felton of the Sales Progression Team at Strike was very helpful over the period and did help ease our frustration at the delays.

Nigel · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Thank you Strike for helping me sell my house. Especially Percy Ngubane, he has kept me informed every step of the way. From the agent calling, through to selling my property was easy and quick. I had never sold a property before, but it was made simple and stress free. The Conveyancer and the team in the office were very professional and efficient. From the agent calling, through to selling my property was easy and quick. William Townsend was my Conveyancer, he was extremely professional and polite. He kept me informed and helped me to make the right decisions. Thanks

Lilian · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

We were extremely disappointed with the service. To be fair the initial stages were good, the valuation was fast, the photographs were of good quality, putting the house on the market and getting the house on all the online platforms was easy and quick. The online diary tool for booking in viewings was also good. We also quite enjoyed showing people around our house rather then paying for the estate agents to do this. We put our house on the market when the market was extremely buoyant and accepted an offer in 3 days and were over the moon. And then the service took a nosedive. As soon as we moved to the team that needed to check the source of funds and issue us with the memorandum of sale it was a disaster. It took 6 weeks to issue the memorandum of sale when there was only us and our buyers involved no chain, and they were cash buyers. Our buyers were also in rented accommodation with a tenancy agreement about the expire so they were in a hurry. Both myself and our buyers called strike 40-50 times over 6 weeks, we both made formal complaints, I tried to escalate our complaints. Whenever we rang we always spoke to a different person. There was never any clarity over why the delay. In the end to get the memorandum of sale in took 6 weeks, caused all involved delays and an unnecessary amount of additional stress. I would never use Strike again which is a shame because we think free online estate agents are a good idea in general but getting the memorandum of sale was traumatic. Also, we got duped into using ‘their’ solicitors Strike Solicitors are actually Premier Property Lawyers under a different banner, they were terrible. Do not use!!! Find your own solicitor.

Annabel · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I found out about Strike from my dad, he explained that the estate agents would charge no fee if you were willing to do bits of the sale yourself. (pictures, viewings etc.) I was provided with a meeting through video chat and spoke to a lovely gentleman who asked me to show him via video call around the property. He gave me an estimate for the sale. He offered me paid alternatives like an agent to do the viewings or a professional picture package and so forth, but put no pressure on me to do so. The "hub" feature of the company is amazing. You can manage your own viewings, change the times, respond to messages from viewers and accepted/decline offers. Strike kept me upto date throughout my sale and updated me about communications they had had with the buyers solicitors. I received a highly professional service, with first class communication. I highly recommend strike to everyone!

James · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I cannot recommend Strike enough. I have moved house several times and used various estate agents. By far Strike has been the best service. I have already and will continue to recommend them to friends and family. Wouldn’t use any other estate agent again. To say Isis has been helpful and informative is a total understatement, the sale would not have happened without her outstanding professionalism and service, she’s been there every step of the way, excellent communication, constant updates and emails. Thank you!!

Kate · 26 August 2023