Yahoo Finance East London bungalow could be the first UK property sold via Facebook Live streaming
Homeowner Shanty Helim is aiming to become the first vendor in the UK to sell her property via Facebook Live.
Helim will be live streaming a viewing of the £475,000 semi-detached bungalow to potential buyers at lunchtime on Thursday, as she looks to use technology to speed up a sale.
The three-bedroom home in Rainham, east London, will be showcased through estate agent Housesimple’s Facebook page from 1pm.
Viewers will be able to make an offer on the home via the Facebook Messenger application during and following the live stream event.
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Helim said: “I took part in Housesimple’s live streaming service because I wanted to sell my home as simply as possible.
“Arranging a viewing over Facebook Live seemed to me the perfect way to allow potential purchasers to ask me questions, look around the house, and make an offer, in a much more convenient way.”
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Shanty, 60, has four daughters who have left home and is looking to downsize in the same area. She feels that a family would be more suited for the property.
Housesimple data shows that technology is having a large impact on the speed of sale. Currently, 50 minutes is the fastest time between a home being registered with Housesimple and the property being sold.
Sophie Gosling, co-founder of Housesimple said organising a viewing live using social media was a good way to make something that can be difficult to attend more convenient.
“We advised Shanty to live stream the viewing at 1pm so that people would be able to see her lovely house during their lunch break, which is one of the busiest times for our site,” she said. “We’ve got our fingers crossed that she will even sell her home during the live stream.”
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The UK housing market has been hit by headwinds for the past year following the Brexit vote.
Recent figures from Rightmove show asking prices fell in June, the first time such a trend has been identified since 2009.
The average property value in the UK now stands at £220,094, according to the Office for National Statistics.
