One of Britain's longest-standing and most exclusive buying agencies has given cautious support to the Agents' Mutual challenger portal.
Property Vision, which handles clients buying chiefly in London and southern England with budgets of £5m and above - sometimes far above - says that it is unclear what Agents' Mutual offers that is different to its two long-established rivals, Zoopla and Rightmove, aside from its structure of being owned by some estate agents.
The business logic for estate agents is clear - better to subscribe to a portal that is not for profit and that you control. But what's in it for the buyer Not much on the face of it says the latest PV blog.
It says the (unspecified) shortcomings that make Rightmove and Zoopla disappointing will almost certainly be replicated with Agents' Mutual except for one specific element - the agents won't have any reason not to put on all their instructions as opposed to those they can't flog any other way.
As a result, PV believes, the quality of Agents' Mutual's content will almost certainly be superior.
It goes on to say that Agents' Mutual's decision not to work with any existing or new online agencies such as Easyproperty.com will probably not do it any damage.
Although Property Vision operates only at the stellar-expensive top of the market, its support for Agents' Mutual, which is expected to launch early next year, is important. The portal's founding companies, including Savills, Knight Frank and Strutt & Parker, have high-end clientele who are similar to those who use the buying agency.
Comments
It seems like Property Vision are right to give only cautious support. There are no major differences for buyers between the big two and Agents Mutual, therefore I can't see AM getting the page views that make it worth having a portal. I suppose only time will tell if they are 'almost certainly superior or not' ...