PropertyLive on course for consumer launch

Hello Paul (AKA Aaron Turner) I'm afraid your rather unique prose style gives you away - again! I do believe this proves my point.

• 08 January 2009 22:16 PM

JAMES P - Actaully I know Aaron Turner having met him several times and I have to say he is one of the most honourable decent guys I have met - he is a very determined person and no doubt James Caan see this in him - as I did!

As for watching his antics - to be FAIR there are none - he is trying to take on the beast that is rightmove and now with James Caan support may even do it.

I take it James P that if they suceed that you will not use look4aproperty.com if it is much much cheaper and brings you in more quality leads than rightmove......?

That's right James P - you are a rightmove fan then - you want to carry on paying rightmove £650 a month per office.

Anything Turner and Caan do to help us agents out by toppling rightmove will be good for us ALL and I suggest we ALL get behind them. Enough Said!

• 07 January 2009 20:54 PM

Very touchy...The relevevance as I see it is there are comments as to private sales on Rightmove & look4property on this story and mousesale as I know it are a very small step from being just this. Companies like this are potentially a massive threat to traditional agents (98% of the martetplace) with there fee structure etc and for this site to promote them just made me think.

• 07 January 2009 17:14 PM

melc, what relevance does your comment have with this topic. Stop worrying about what other agents do and concentrate on your own.

• 07 January 2009 16:56 PM

Just wondered what peoples thoughts are on Estate Agents Today taking money to line there pockets from the likes of mousesale.co.uk. An internet agent who sells homes for £400 a time and who are trying to recruit more Franchises????

• 07 January 2009 10:28 AM

Anyone who has watched the antics of Mr Turner over the last three years must surely wonder why a man of Mr Caan's experience and business accumen would wish to be associated with him in any way. As far as investing any serious money - that beggers belief!

• 07 January 2009 00:39 AM

FAO: MonkeyMagic.

In all FAIRNESS, if Caan and Turner with look4aproperty.com take on rightmove and win then this will benefit us all.

One comment I would make is this: i get almost all my leads from internet portals despite having prominent high street branch locations - BUT, if we want to use the services of an online newspaper to advertise OUR VENDORS Properties - who after all are paying us - why should we expect it to be FREE? Do our Vendors expect our services to be FREE i ask? No. Whilst i also agree rightmove's charges are too high, I do think that agents need to stop all this nonsense and accept that if we want to use an online newspaper aka a property portal, that is a brand name and has national recognition with both vendors and buyers then the money for it to advertise on TV and elsewhere needs to come from somewhere - why are there so many agents who expect to use a portal that spends millions a year on tv advertising to drive its brand, drive volumes of leads to agents - but it cannot charge agents any money for providing leads and business to the agent? Why is that?

If this is the case, the surely why should vendors not expect us to sell their houses and introduce buyers for FREE - why should anyone pay anyone!!

Now back down to earth - the FACT remains that i don't mind paying a reasonable and fair monthly fee for advertising, why would I? Advertising my Vendors properties is what I get paid for and I am supposed to be doing this!!

What I don't like is paying rightmove's high fees jsut to feed their greedy institutional shareholders.

I think having James Caan backing look4aproperty is a breath of fresh air to be frank and I will watch with much interest to see what happens - if anyone can do it, Turner and Caan can!

• 06 January 2009 20:00 PM

You're kidding yourselves if you think that Caan is going to risk anything but a tiny percentage of his fortune in this market.

Why would he, at best the future is precarious and uncertain and at worst the paid model doesn't have a future.

Like his Dragon Den investments it'll be tens of thousands and know how he'll add to the equation.

• 06 January 2009 17:38 PM

Simon understand some of your points but how much is Cain going to put in??? Going along the lines of Dragons Den is he not going to want his money back and see a profit in 3 years??? So if he invests £100 million how is this to recouped, I would guess by increased rates to fall in line with Rightmove etc. Or maybe Look4 will go the private sellers route.

• 06 January 2009 12:43 PM

DREW. The problem with Murdoch and DPG (Find a Property & Prime Location) is that they don't have more more to spend than James Caan ACTAULLY - Seriously, Caan has £400m+ CASH. DPG (FAP & PL) have cash hungry shareholders and £2bn of bank debt if you look at their recent accounts!

I'm looking forwards as a 4 branch agent to see what Aaron Turner, James Caan and LOOK4APROPERTY.COM do to take on the beast that is rightmove.

Worth noting is that rightmove recently claimed that is has cost them £102m over 8 years in people and marketing costs to get to where they are now - clearly Caan can EASILY afford this - certainly if he gets a £500m+ exit valuation.

Rightmove's £650 a month a branch charges are about to die a slow death - as a PLC company they are in deep deep trouble as without agents paying ever higher listings fees - where else are they going to earn any money from now that they have exited the HIPS market??

I tell you where, rightmove will have NO CHOICE BUT TO, start allowing joe public to list their properties privately cutting out the agent - SERIOUSLY, already they have announced they are about to start doing exactly that for Overseas Property listings - and why was that? Because Overseas agents have not danced to their tune and rolled over and coughed up - so rightmove is now playing them at their own game and cutting the Overseas Agent out and allowing private overseas listsings..... Agents are simply kidding themselves if they think that rightmove won't do the same to the UK market when a large number of agents start to pull off rightmove - they'll have no choice but to as a PLC Company - the CITY will demand it!

Watch this space and GO LOOK4APROPERTY.COM.

• 05 January 2009 19:51 PM

Would someone please explain as to the where the previous post on this subject has gone???? I wanted to make honest people aware of facts and get some answers. If someone would like to contact me I would be grateful. I do have the information to support my points. I am begining to think there is some strange love in between this site, the NAEA and Property Live. There seems to do so much incorrect info and claims on here I don't see it too far of where this site is the laughing stock of the Estate Agency Market place.

• 05 January 2009 14:52 PM

Simon, haven't the likes of DPS, Murdoch got barrow loads more £££'s than James Cain?????

• 05 January 2009 14:31 PM

Agree with Karen....none of our properties are listed either but put it down to incompetance rather than a pre thought out strategy!

• 05 January 2009 14:02 PM

Having heard that James Caan is now Chairman of LOOK4APROPERTY.COM, and he is worth over £400m - it will be interesting to see what happens now that "significant" backing of a portal has emerged.

The point I would like to make is Property Live and all the other freebie portals - well whats the point of them if the dont have the millions of pounds needed to create a brand name to rival rightmove - James Caan and his substantive wealth clearly have the money to take on rightmove and leave everyone else standing.

• 05 January 2009 12:35 PM

I agree this is great news although I hope that all member agents have their properties listed on the site by the launch date. Despite chasing on several occasions our properties are still not listed. The larger agents in our area seem to have be given preference it seems. Or am I wrong?
Come on Propertylive give the smaller independants some priority please.......

• 05 January 2009 12:33 PM

What great news! Why anyone would want to pay hundreds of pounds per branch (in this market)to advertise houses that they probably won't sell is beyond me. Good luck to Propertylive.

• 05 January 2009 11:12 AM