New estate agency comparison website to launch

Monday 31st October 2011

A new estate agency comparison website is getting set to launch to consumers. It will also feed listings leads to agents – but only ones that have achieved high customer ratings.

The site is currently ‘live’ in terms of recruiting agents. It is free to join, although agents will be charged for leads. The agent can decide what type of leads they want – for example, size of property – and can also decide whether to receive the lead exclusively.

Not a review site which ‘names and shames’, WhichPropertyAgent is aimed at landlords and sellers who are planning to instruct either an estate agent or letting agent within the next three months.

It allows them to identify the four most suitable agents to sell or let their particular property, based on ratings by landlords and sellers.

After over a year in development, which has included testing with users and agents, the site is now live.

Founder James Eardley, 28, said: “Our mission is to make it increasingly difficult for low-quality agents, who offer a poor service and cause damage to the reputation of the more professional operators, to attract new business from vendors and landlords.

“This new comparison service – which we believe is the first of its type anywhere in the world – will benefit all concerned by allowing property owners to find the best agent for a particular property, or property portfolio.

“It will help the UK’s top performing estate and lettings agents to maintain their reputation for high professional standards, grow their businesses and attract a substantial increase in new inquiries and referrals.”

Eardley said he spotted a gap in the market while working as general manager for property marketing company Artful Lodger in Sheffield.

He said: “It struck me that there are lots of websites which help people to find somewhere to live, but none which put property sellers or landlords in direct contact with the best agents in their area.”

WhichPropertyAgent uses a system of ratings based on key criteria and which are allocated for individual properties, to individual agents.

Eardley said: “It is clear that WhichPropertyAgent can help agents to improve their service offering, by highlighting areas of development fed back by vendors or landlords.

“They also benefit from qualified leads from a trusted source.

“The site is safe and secure and we have a robust security system in place to prevent any misuse of the site, such as fake inquiries or ratings.  

“For example there is a seven-day time delay after a rating is left before it is added to the agent’s account, so that the agent can verify they dealt with the property they have been rated for.”

Registration on the site is free for all agents, with no monthly fee. Instead, they are charged for leads. Agents can dispute any leads which were inappropriate to their operations, and refunds will be given within 48 hours.

The site works by allowing a consumer planning to instruct an agent to enter their property’s details. In return, the user is presented with the top four rated agents for that property type, for the service level required, in that particular property’s catchment area.

The user is then presented with ratings on each of the four agents, taking into account:

    •    Time taken to sell or let past properties
    •    Price achieved for past sales or rentals
    •    Fees charged
    •    Knowledge of market
    •    Customer service
    •    Quality of tenants provided to landlord (for rental properties)

The user selects up to three of the four agents recommended and sends an inquiry directly to them.

When they do so, they receive an auto email asking them to rate their experience, based on the same criteria.

Only vendors and landlords are allowed to rate agents – not tenants or buyers.

To ensure ratings are genuine, WhichPropertyAgent tracks IP and email addresses of ‘raters’ to monitor and check abnormal usage patterns and identify any potential problems. ‘Fake raters’ will be identified, blocked and their ratings removed.

When a rating is left the agent is informed and has seven days to alert WhichPropertyAgent if they did not deal with the rated property in question. At this point the agent does not know the rating score.

Eardley is ambitious, targeting a total number of 5,000 agents on the site by the end of the year. He claims 1,500 have already signed up.

For details of charging and more on how the site works, look here.