Property expert and TV market commentator Kate Faulkner has told Estate Agent Today that all portals - existing and future - should be increasingly consumer-focussed, helping buyers and sellers and not just members of the industry.
Faulkner - a businesswoman who set up a portal herself in the 1990s, launched the National Self Build and Renovation Centre, authored several books about property including guides for the Which Consumer Association - now runs www.designsonproperty.co.uk website and says the challenger portal OnTheMarket must be outward-looking.
In any other market you'd consider setting up a portal to rival two dominant portals to be a good thing. But here we have to wait and see. Will this actually help consumers she asks.
Faulkner told Estate Agent Today that she understands the motivation of estate agents to have greater control of content, and is particularly critical of Zoopla's valuation tools which she says sounds useful to the consumer but actually can be misleading with valuations.
Faulkner believes portals are well-placed to educate consumers to become more informed and to behave as discerning buyers and sellers - for example, to understand the reasons behind stock shortages and to understand what price indices do and do not tell the public.
She does not believe that the public having to look at three portals rather than two, in order to assess the full breadth of the market, will be off-putting, but nor will it be helpful if there is no significant information given to help buyers and sellers, rather than agents.
All portals should use their profits or allocate some agents' fees towards including features which are of benefit to consumers she says.
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Comments
Property portals "must be more consumer friendly"
That is the subject matter on this 'Breaking News'
It would seem that the 'comments' today have not dealt with the subject
But people will turn to them to browse for houses like it's second nature. Agents' Mutual need to find that recipe and replicate it if they are going to have any chance of bringing Rightmove or Zoopla down.
Outside of the property industry, if you asked a bunch of people on the street about OTM/AM I think you'd be met with blank and querying faces. On the other hand, I'd expect most people, especially those of the younger generation, to know full well what Rightmove and Zoopla offer. This is the biggest challenge that faces OTM, getting their name out their enough to really compete with the Big Two.
Don't believe the hype. This casual dismissal of online agents by AM/OTM supporters is arrogant in the extreme. I'm no advocate of online estate agency - I think it has some very obvious flaws - but I'm not so naive to assume that there is no place for them on the market. In an increasingly technological world, people are turning to the internet more and more for their needs.
Online agencies aren't going to take over the world or make traditional agencies redundant in ten years time, but they shouldn't just be dismissed out of hand.
Yep, the consumer should always be the focus. Without them, the whole estate agency industry would crumble. If no-one's buying or letting houses through estate and letting agents, they become obsolete.
Agents' Mutual do sometimes come across as a tad self-serving, looking out for themselves more than the consumers.
Back in my country (Spain) we have no problem like this, people can sell house with freedom, its much easier, don't know how the UK got in this situation. I think that it is not very democratic. I like competition but this is not a game where everyone can play. What ever happens, yes, the market needs to focus on the people. It is the people who sell the property, with no people, there is no property. What ever happens with Z, RM and AM, I hope thing become better because being a small agent here is not friendly.
Agents' Mutual are exactly what it says on the tin - a portal for estate agents - not a portal for consumers. They are forcing member agents to restrict the exposure and marketing of their clients properties. They've become so wrapped up in playing the Zoopla/Rightmove victim card that they have forgotten the crux of the estate agency business - the buyers and sellers. Good on Kate Faulkner for calling out an exclusive cartel with no interest in giving the consumer a better deal.
Simon, you make a lot of sense but I think the model now is the way to go. All this faffing around, change and new entrant is rubbish, things work well the way they are, no one is going to change anything. Somehow I think the people deciding to leave one of the 2 majors because of AM's silly disruptive attempt should be sanctioned and not allowed to go back. They should pay for their lack of loyalty.
Does anyone actually still listen to Mr Shinerock
Unusual name but 'All that glitters is not gold'
The current paid basic subscriber portal model is clumsy and out of date. Agents have the data, property data attracts traffic, traffic generates money, simples. The fremium model is much better suited to estate agecy where agents don't get charged for basic listings and pay for extras if they want to. Agents Mutual could easily have used a fremium model without their ridiculous and embarrassing exclusivity rule, or the banning of non high St agents and actually achieved their stated goal, to rest control away from the duopoly. As it is, how ever many branches they sign up, AM is a PR disaster and one that will lead to much wailing and gnashing of teeth by the participants. The good news is those agents who have not signed up will have the moral and practical high ground and will be able to benefit from the madness
I (also) wholeheartedly agree with most of what has been said here.
There is clearly a need for a better service both from those offering advice to buyers and those marketing houses for sale online.
There is a big gap in the marketplace waiting to be filled here.
It seems Kate Faulkner has singled out the problem.
At last some common sense.
This is the thing that worries me most about the OnTheMarket.com / Agents Mutual brigade. All the hype has surrounded benefits for agents and primary focus has been the agent, if it doesn't work for consumers then you can forget it!
All we really, really need is a strong, Portal who won't be looking to take 70% profits out of the system. Now where would that come from I wonder Better still, the clever new Portal will not have advertising on the site to reduce the consumers' experience and not have loads of added extras to clutter the site. Better still, there won't be any internet only, part time, agents. Heaven for both the public and the agents. :-)
Strongly agree with 'GUEST PH' on this one. Its difficult to design a portal that is beneficial to both the vendor and potential purchaser in equal measure. Some features of Rightmove and Zoopla, as I have already mentioned in other posts, are incredibly unhelpful to vendors.
People need to remember who the Estate Agent's consumer/client is. Lots of industry commentators haven't done the job and don't understand.
All businesses should be helpful to their consumers BUT it must still be at a measurable profit!