The Property Sharing Experts, an 80-strong network of independent agents in the west country, has decided to back Agents’ Mutual.
The network, formerly part of Team, had looked at both Radarhomes – whose heartland is in the west country – and at Agents’ Mutual.
Steve Moir, (pictured), of Hennings Moir, who is chairman of Property Sharing Experts, said of Radarhomes that “their business model is unlikely to offer a national portal on the scale that Agents’ Mutual intend”.
Moir said: “Our board has considered the Agents’ Mutual plans carefully and believes it to be in the best interests of our members that it succeeds in its aim of creating a major agent-owned and controlled portal which can challenge the current duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla.
“We will encourage all firms in our network to become members of Agents’ Mutual and will give it all the support we can as it grows in strength in our region.”
He went on: “Property Sharing Experts looked very closely at the offering from Agents’ Mutual and held meetings with them.
“Agents’ Mutual have a costed structured business plan to offer an agent-owned portal that over time will compete with the larger portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. In addition they have the knowledge and expertise available to them in running a national portal.
“A number of our agents have supported Radarhomes and some continue to do so, so it is not the case that we haven’t supported Radarhomes, but their business model is unlikely to offer a national portal on the scale that Agents’ Mutual intend.
“As a network of independent agents we welcome any agent-owned portal but it is incumbent upon the estate agency industry to support these initiatives, which are after all in the best interests of all agents.
“Sites such as Rightmove and Zoopla, whilst offering a good product, exist purely for profit and the benefit of their shareholders, but can be easily replicated and we believe Agents’ Mutual have the business plan to achieve this.”
Ian Springett, who has been appointed to lead the Agents’ Mutual venture, said: “We are delighted to have the backing of the Property Sharing Experts.
“There is a good fit between the principles on which our organisations are based and we are determined to deliver a full national portal serving all agents which will complement and protect their individual agency businesses and their network.”
Comments
1.6% fee!!!
Blimey, where are you Mr A Vendor, I'm going to open up in your High Street next week!
@A Vendor,
Don't vanish off just yet, and before you use one of my competitors because they are on Zoopla and RM consider the fact my sold signs are all over your area, Im a local firm / character that knows lots of people you know and lots of people think highly of us, my branch is the one with parking at the front and the big screens showcasing vendors houses, my staff are really good and when you were looking for the place you're in one you had great service and the people you dealt with are still here, our sales details are superb, and you remember I sponsored your kids school fete in the summer
.........but I'm not on Zoopla like the tatty corporate full of kids next door but one, are you sure I can't be of service?
Jonnie
The reason why the agency business is not great and agents moan, is that they concentrate on the wrong things.instead of doing things that will benefit their business. They will spend hours writing the same posts over and over and moaning over and over. I waited for 19.10 to post ;)
I am a Right move and Zoopla man as they are proven to have worked for me. Not cheap but quality never is.
What are you talking about wattle and daub cow shed, it was valued by an agent when I bought it, the same agent now values it higher due to help to buy and house price inflation. He says he can get the price in a reasonable time at a 1.6% fee and advertises on RM and Z. All I am saying is why would I use someone that charges the same but doesn't advertise on one of them.
And in the business I work in I would never be able to tell my customers they cant use the competition if they use me the OFT would stop me.
Your attitude is why estate agents are despised so much I thought I might get a reasonable answer I wont post anymore.
Triple the price, use a few words like rare opportunity, character and grand design project. Print off the Zoopla estimate of value and Bob's you uncle. Slam dunk, exchange by Friday to a punter from the smoke looking for a weekend get away and a chance to ham it up with Kevin McCloud.
Don't laugh we have a local agent doing just that, the latest one just spent £100,000 on windows to keep the sea out in the winter.
I had a bit of a moment there...sorry!
Yes Mr Vendor, my fee should undoubtedly go down.
Equally if I sell your home in 24 hours and get you more than your asking price or if the sale drags on for an onerous length of time, through no fault of mine, but because you are selling a wattle & daub cow shed next to a mine within a flood plain, I should reduce my commission by at least 50% and be grateful for that.
Phew, normal service is resumed!
@ Mr A vendor
Despite incredible rises in marketing costs attracted by the use of sites like Rightmove, my fees have not gone up and so would it not be churlish to assume that were I not to market your home on said site my fee should go down?
As a Gold member with a vote please give me your opinion of my suggestion that rather than blow at least 1/3rd of our collective Gold on re-writing the equivalent Homeflow part of Radar Homes to end up with something no better and un-tested in 12 months (Yeah right) time what is wrong with Asking Mr Springett to at least look at the technology base which is definitely far superior to anything in existance.
The Rightmove code is headed for 15 years old now the Zoopla set has at least 6 portal amalgamations embeded within it. I am sure Mr Springett will explain the problems of legacy coding which is why he wants to start a fresh. There isn't any legacy code with the homeflow code and it springboards the 5 year plan by at least 20% of the timescale and at the very least saves 33% of the budget.
I fully agree the the marketing of Radar homes has been woeful and it has not helped that they were not on best terms with EAT.
My whole point is that the Agents and marketing strengths of AM combined with the Technology side of Radar with each member set sharing a common goal there has to be common sense in talking to each other.
@Hound
'unless Agents Mutual spend hugely on brand awareness, how will the public know it's there?'
Exactly. You can have 1 property and 1 agent, you could have 1 million properties and 10's of thousands of agents but if the public dont know you exist, they wont use you.
The public give the portals power by visiting them in their millions and they do this because everywhere they look, there is an advert for RM & Z.
AM have really got to pull something out of the hat to compete. And to do that they need serious amounts of investment.
The agent i am going with told me he goes with Zoopla and Rightmove, as part of his justification for charging more than the online agents.
I want a traditional local agent with local knowledge who can do accompanied viewings because i work long hours but my price is non negotiable.(mortgage to clear)
So If you were in my area, you would be on Rightmove only how could you justify charging the same or more than another agent if your marketing costs are lower and the exposure of my property to buyers is lower?
I cant believe Agents Mutual can get away with competition restrictive practices has no Agent or the other portals challenged this?
@Mr A Vendor,
Clearly you are a 100% genuine vendor, I’ve no doubt about that and you have added the same post to two stories and neither have received the response such cut n paste, genuine, and carefully thought out posts deserve so ill change that by responding.
A Vendor, like you has a great deal of choice when it comes to selling, online agents are very cheap, high street ones are expensive at first glance but you will not be short of choice.
Whatever you do don’t decide based on what portal they are on you will get the wrong agent for you, especially as agents are not short on buyers or tenants there are hundreds of them and the lazy ones send emails requesting info from their ipad late at night and join a massive heap of ‘web enquiries’ every day, the good buyers are well known to the agents and often use a thing called ‘the phone’ or call in to a building called ‘the branch’ and its this lot that hear about the good stuff that’s just come on the market, is about to come on or has just been reduced or re available.
If it was a case of just putting a picture on the web I would be very rich by now, not have a premises or staff and spend more time with Mrs Jonnie…………..sadly there’s more to it so im just an average chap without a yatch or Bentley but I would provide you excellent value for money and be a trusted service provider that you’d recommend your friends to, even if im not on Zoopla.
Jonnie
Paul
"again brand loyalty means nothing"
A property portal does not build 'brand loyalty' but it is about brand AWARENESS, and knowing where to look.
Of course you are absolutely correct that if nothing was listed on Rightmove or Zoopla, then no-one would use that site, and I'll say again, unless Agents Mutual spend hugely on brand awareness, how will the public know it's there? that is, as I pointed out earlier, precisely why other portals have failed, Joe Public didn't know they existed!
It is only the portal themselves that can drive that brand awareness, we as agents can only have a limited impact on that, as with the best will in the world, we can't talk to everyone.
Who do you think will win the instruction from a potential vendor, when your competitor tells them that they will be listing their property on Rightmove and Zoopla, and you tell them that you'll be listing it on a site they only heard of when you mentioned it?
Do a little test now, on your next valuation, tell the potential vendor that you're NOT going to put their property on Rightmove, and see what their reaction is!
The real secret is that it is the Agents who control RM & Z!
Always have but they do not use that control. If they join AM in sufficient numbers AM will have the maximum exposure!
This is your chance - come on - do it. It will be your site.
I assume advertising with Agents mutual will be cheaper than a portal so will the bunch who have dumped either RM or Z for agents mutual be reducing fees in line with the reduction in costs.
NO, it will cost me the same won't it, so I will be demading my agent uses as many portals as possible to maximise the exposure of my property.
If AM have restrictive practices perhaps I should take them to the OFT under competition law.
@Hound
"RM continually spend to maintain the profile they now have@"
That money comes from us and that profile really only kicks in when someone is looking for a property, again brand loyalty means nothing. The consumer will only be interested in using a portal with the most properties and will no doubt check all portals.
"With respect, I think it is you that are missing the point, To be a success, Agents Mutual will need to have an immediate impact, not with us, but with the public! With the on-going costs of building AND MAINTAINING that public profile to make Agents Mutual effective competition to RM & Zoopla it will become a huge drain on members finances if it is to succeed."
No, no and no again...As already stated the consumer uses RM and Zoopla as it lists all the properties if another portal came along that lists the properties then the consumer will use that portal without a seconds thoughts, why would they show any loyalty to rightmove or Zoopla, it's not as though they have any personal interaction with the people at rightmove!
Why would there need to be a big ad spend to push a portal that lists all properties when there are no other portals to search on?!
What would happen if every single agent switched from RM to AM tomorrow, no one will use RM and theremillions of ad spend will mean nothing if everyone is on AM. It is about a switch of power not spending power.
Paul
"They are only 'incumbents' due to the fact that agents CURRENTLY list properties with them."
Putting the cart before the horse here, the portals don't exist because we list with them, it's the other way round, we list with them because they exist. They continually spend to maintain the profile they now have, and that's why Rightmove is the 25th most visited site in the UK and are the most effective advertising we have available.
"You really are missing the point.
This is a long term project."
With respect, I think it is you that are missing the point, To be a success, Agents Mutual will need to have an immediate impact, not with us, but with the public! With the on-going costs of building AND MAINTAINING that public profile to make Agents Mutual effective competition to RM & Zoopla it will become a huge drain on members finances if it is to succeed.
Every agent remove their stock from Zoopla for a week, the value will drop to what the stock market call 'not much'
Turnip said...."and then you're assuming that a site that you've never seen, without a name, without even a software team is going to take down incumbents?"
They are only 'incumbents' due to the fact that agents CURRENTLY list properties with them.
There is no such thing as 'brand loyalty' with property portals, it's who has the properties.
Do you have shares in Zoopla by chance?
If Radar homes had put their proposal to me I would probably have signed up and backed it....fact is I was never contacted by them - and have a small chain of 6 branches!.
AM contacted me and and I backed it with all my branches (Gold) immediately.
Radar obviosly couldn't even get the 1st part right ie contacting agents with the proposal!...other posters appear not to have had heard of them also so it's not just me.
"so where are the viewings going to come from in the short and medium term?"
There you go again, yet more conclusive proof that you have absoloutely no reason why this portal is being launched. Your just after the quick buck!
long term project? ha ha....right!
so where are the viewings going to come from in the short and medium term?
....and then you're assuming that a site that you've never seen, without a name, without even a software team is going to take down incumbents?
seems a bit school boy to bet you business on
long term project? ha ha....right!
so where are the viewings going to come from in the short and medium term?
....and then you're assuming that a site that you've never seen, without a name, without even a software team is going to take down incumbents?
seems a bit school boy to bet you business on
Hound said...
"Love them or hate them, the simple fact is that they are the sites with public awareness."
You really are missing the point.
This is a long term project.
How much will Springet and co be paying themselves?
I agree with the poster that pointed out 'the buyers will go where the properties are'
We have the power to influence house hunters at the time that it is pertinent, whereas the TV campaigns run by RM and Zoopla are hitting a proportion of the buying public that at that time are not interested.
We are, are we not marketing companies and so marketing a new website to the many house hunters we deal with everyday should be relatively simple, if we have inclination.
Don't roll over to RM and Zoopla - no good can come from it!
(Oh hang on, I pay both of them !)
My point stands though. If we do nothing at all, fees will continue to soar and problems will ensue.
"You have demonstrated perfectly how well the propaganda from the portals has worked. Hits, page views blah blah blah, it is the King's new clothes and you are suckered into the notion that all enquiriies coming from RM and Zoopla started there."
Am I missing something here, surely the point of advertising is to use the most viewed medium?
I stand corrected on Radarhomes, it's not a site I've come across in my corner of England, but a google search seems to have a West Country bias, but the fact still remains, simple research on figures easily available reveal that Radarhomes is the 26090th most visited site in the UK.
"As for folk in the West Country most of them still start their serach for property with the local paper, for sale boards or direct with Agents"
Being a bit old fashioned, in some respects I'm pleased to hear that, but somehow I doubt the accuracy of the statement, I'm sure the West Country is not that far behind the rest of the world, and they've all got their computers at home and in the office!
"Other than the price Agents Mutual is a carbon copy of Radar Homes so to say the model is unsuccesful suggests that 1000 gold members have just wasted their money."
It is not a carbon copy though is it, firstly they enter the market with a position of strength(having to drop one other portal), secondly all the other big independents are coming on board.
"Being brutally honest the Homeflow bit of Radar is technically more advanced than either RIghtmove or Zoopla but technical expertise is simply not enough. they do not know how to communicate with Agents and don't have a clue about marketing."
Again one of the reasons why Radar will fail.
Other than the price Agents Mutual is a carbon copy of Radar Homes so to say the model is unsuccesful suggests that 1000 gold members have just wasted their money.
Being brutally honest the Homeflow bit of Radar is technically more advanced than either RIghtmove or Zoopla but technical expertise is simply not enough. they do not know how to communicate with Agents and don't have a clue about marketing.
With subscription levels raised to an economicly viable level (enough to buy a proper management and marketing team0 and a review of the Homeflow code to cross off the basic coding that do not need be coded again, there is an immediate £3,000,000 budget to be put to good use.
Radar Homes is a national portal with 5 regional boards allowing the regional members to have a say rather than everyone having to traipse up to London for meetings so it is wrong to describe it as a regional offering.
As for folk in the West Country most of them still start their serach for property with the local paper, for sale boards or direct with Agents.
You have demonstrated perfectly how well the propaganda from the portals has worked. Hits, page views blah blah blah, it is the King's new clothes and you are suckered into the notion that all enquiriies coming from RM and Zoopla started there.
Eric Walker is paid to know where his enquiries are originating from but I would bet my week's wages that neither he nor his franchises ever bother to find out how or why applicants actually arrived at their desktop via the portals.
Most Agents websites are simply appalling, cheap and nasty affairs that do not allow applicants to easily find properies they have little details of other than possibly an area. The big portals with their map searches allow applicants to indentify a propery they have seen from a commuter train window so seemingly an internet enquiry was actually a board introduction..
Radar Homes genuinely is a Microwaveable national Portal that just needs warming up and serving, but to do that Agents need not dismiss it with preconceived notions like yours.
Your option is, whilst although with good intentions, a very short term solution.
Why is there such a rush to launch immediately, this is a long term solution to a very big problem remember and Radar has already proven to be unsuccessful based on the model?!
AM will have roughly 1500-2000 gold members by the end of 2013 and then a year to build on that. Come the launch in Jan 2015 I would envisage at least 4000-5000 agents signed up for 5 years to this portal, that's 50% of agents dropping either RM or Z overnight.
RM or Z can spend as much money as they like on advertising but if they have less properties than AM(as it will in time) then people will use AM.
Take a quick walk outside your office, ask the first person you meet to name a property website.............
Done that?.... what did they say? Rightmove? Zoopla?
Love them or hate them, the simple fact is that they are the sites with public awareness. It will take an advertising campaign of gargantuan proportions for Agents Mutual to overcome that and become the portal that the public think of first, and I doubt they have the financial ability to do this.
Why have all the other portals mentioned in this thread failed, precisely that, they did not have the advertising budget, so the public awareness was not there!
More localised models like Radarhomes can work as they don't require the same advertising budget to build a local presence, but even with them, I suspect it's more useful as a 'listing tool' and the good folks of the West Country still start their search on Rightmove or Zoopla.
Rightmove is currently the 24th most visited website in the UK, with Zoopla at 57th, next property portal is Primelocation down at 305th! Where's Agents Mutual going to fit in?
It makes no sense at all to develop something that already exists.
Buy 1000 Radar Homes subscriptions and take control of Radar you dimwits.
Spend the surplus £350/ month on advertising and have something today rather than wait 2 years for a new site to be written.
How far up ones own back passage does one have to be to realise that clean sheeting a portal is utter stupidity and hyper-arrogance. Rightmove is still using data sets written in 1996/7! It isn't rocket science to work out that if Zoopla can merge 6 or 7 portals into 1 a basic property portal is a standard entity.
With effective control of Radar (1 agent 1 vote) and the incumbent 500 members all desperate for proper guidance, management and marketing AM becomes 1500 Agents strong and exists today.
Radar gets a management team, AM gets a portal and the only folk to miss out are a few pony tailed programmers.
@Nostradamus
AM is happening and already has the advantage of having most of it's members signed up for 5 years and all determined to make it work.
To ignore or continue to dismiss AM makes no sense. You only have to see a list of some of the companies on board to realise that.
Someone said....."It does not make sense to spend another £x million to build another facimile of RM and Zoopla unless one is the consultant or development team who will be paid to build it."
I genuinely do not care if someone is making a small amount of money to consult on or develop AM. The bigger picture is far more important.
Aren't you reading the posts that are saying that many have looked at AM and won't be bothering to support it, either because it is too london focused or because the single portal rule doesn't work for them?
Was it revealed who the expert was who determined the fate of Propertylive after 8 months consultancy? Did anyone care to ask that question? Does anyone know?
It does not make sense to spend another £x million to build another facimile of RM and Zoopla unless one is the consultant or development team who will be paid to build it.
Nostradamus....what is falling apart?
The only way to control the data feed is through a portal. Rightmove and Zoopla do not now work in best interests of their clients the agents(see Tepilo etc). Big change is now needed.
I think many will be amazed at how easy it will be for the consumer to switch from RM & Z. People will simply follow the property.
Based on that meeting yesterday it appears that nearly all ARlA & NAEA members in that room will join, perhaps not all as gold members but certainly silver.
It is hardly fair to pin the anonymity of Radar Homes all on Pete Henderson's shoulders, he is the Sales Manager that represents a series of executive boards.
Strangely enough those boards are made up of Estate Agents who share a dream of 'standing up to the duopoly', 'taking control of their data' and controlling portal fees... blah blah blah It seems to me that is where the plan falls apart. Everyone thinks an Agent owned portal is the way to go, everyone wants to be involved but everyone is too busy running their business to do anything about it. It is all well and good spending £100 to buy a share in Radar Homes it is fine parting with £45 each month, but £45 is not enough to pay a team of professionals to run a portal and buy the public awareness a portal requires. It isn't possible to pay nothing, do nothing and expect Pete Henderson and his micro team to magic a portal into existence.
@paul you might well have heard a rousing pro AM speech extolling the virtues of AM, that is to be expected from an organisation on the board. In simple terms Agents have got to work together to control the big two portals but only an expert with a financial vested interest would suggest that re-writing, beta releasing and rolling out a facsimile portal is the way to do it.
The collective desire and finances being put into each of the Agent owned portals would be better spent coming up considered plan that is properly thought through and which is not starting to fall apart almost as soon as the analysts start working on the spec (dusting off the work done 14 years ago in Brighton).
"Steve Moir, (pictured)" that is not Mr Springett but it is Mr Moir
There really is no need for stupid sniping especially when it backfires quite so spec tactually.
Property portals are getting as bad as politicians. They keep telling pork pies. Forget about what they ' will do' and all the empty promises of all these pretenders to the throne such as Radarhomes. Propertini, needaproperty and Property Property Property. No members of the public have heard of them. Z and RM are the only ones getting their names in front of the public - blimin eck....it's not exactly rocket science. Here in the midlands, it's pretty much level, but RM charge us more ! Will agents mutual work... Who knows? I doubt it, but I won't be buying in to empty promises just yet.
Having attended an naea/arla presentation today I've concluded that Agents Mutual is the only way forward and that the backing of those organisations spell the writing on the wall for RM & Zoopla. The party's over.
If you've not been already then I suggest you all get yourself along to a presentation and pay attention to the numbers ..RM's maintenance costs versus income and profit over the last 5 years should make your decision a fairly straight forward one.
I predict Agents Mutual will have a surge of support then be suffocated by RM & Zoopla before relaxing it restrictions and become another also ran eventually bought out.
Even the Google property idea was withdrawn. Tesco failed with spicer Haart (there is a link). Teplio is funny. Radar Homes is as prominent as Lord Lucan.
Then there was Pure Property, Property Live, Think Property each of whom had the staying power of a Dodo.
This is what they face - and how many of the top 10 do YOU visit?
http://www.propertyportalwatch.com/2012/03/top-10-uk-property-portals
My guess..... if AM is successful, us mugs will have three portals with a tight grip on our bo110x.
Does anyone else think Mr Springett looks like an National Express coach driver in that outfit?
Maybe that;s the marketing plan - Zoopla have taxis....
@FAO P HENDERSON
"RADAR HOMES HAS 5 YEARS DEVELOPMENT WORK ALREADY COMPLETED, TESTED AND LIVE".
Wow - fair play. I had no idea - But I still haven't heard of them. Maybe another 5 years is needed.....
SORRY FOR SHOUTING BUT JON BOWERS HAS MADE A VERY VALID POINT. WHILE YOU ARE BUSY TRYING TO SEO AGENT'S WEBSITES YOU ARE NEGLECTING THE WHOLE POINT OF A PROPERTY PORTAL.
IF EVER THERE WAS A DAY WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL OVER A COMMENT STREAM IT IS TODAY.
ERIC WALKER HAS MADE POINTS THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE PICKED UP ON TO PROMOTE THE BENEFITS RADAR HOMES OFFERS TO NON LONDON NICHE AGENTS.
YOU SHOULD BE MAKING THE POINT THAT YOU CAN OFFER THEM AN IDENTICAL FEE STRUCTURE AS AM BUT SPEND EVERY PENNY ON ADVERTISING AND MARKETING BECAUSE UNLIKE AM RADAR HOMES HAS 5 YEARS DEVELOPMENT WORK ALREADY COMPLETED, TESTED AND LIVE.
I think the choice between Rightmove and Zoopla will vary greatly between different locations. Zoopla is an also ran in my part of the world and I'd drop them in a heartbeat.
The poster suggesting support for Radar Homes has a fair point BUT...what the hell is Radar Homes. I don't trawl the trade publications with any great gusto, but I constantly hear about AM. I have never heard of Radar and, given that publicity is the entire principle behind using any of the many sites around, I find it hard to muster up any support for them at all.
What I do believe is that we should all only embrace one of the big two. Now that they are about level pegging in the publics eyes at least, let one go. See how they react to actually trying to win your business from the other, that's how we can squeeze them on the outrageous fees they extort from us!
This is How will it compete;
The new site (with agents covering all of the country) will run an advertising campaign along the lines of "see 1,000s of new to market properties 7 DAYS BEFORE they are advertised on Rightmove and Zoopla" Public will love the fact that proffessional agents will put new instructions on their owned website exclusively before "general release" as they will not want to miss out on new instructions .That along with the fact that probably Zoopla will be dropped by around 1200 estate agent branches "overnight" will make it quite quick and easy for AM to move into a major postion. Customers will always go where the properties are, they don't care.And vendors won't want to miss out on any exclusive marketing portal.
As Highlander would say; in the end there will be but one.
2014 see's more fragmenting of the portals. At the end of 2014 and 2015 I think RM & Z simply through having big purses will still be ahead. but damage will be done as a single place to search will become less obvious.
But there will be casulties
As Highlander would say; in the end there will be but one.
2014 see's more fragmenting of the portals. At the end of 2014 and 2015 I think RM & Z simply through having big purses will still be ahead. but damage will be done as a single place to search will become less obvious.
But there will be casulties
clarification please??
If you sign up for five year and it flops, then are you left hanging paying five years of fees and still being banned from advertising?
If I were RM or Zoopla, I would double prices for all renewals unless signing up for a minimum term of 3 years and force the issue.
Then, if agents want to rejoin if AM didn't succeed, would enjoy offering a 'new' special rate - higher than that of the loyal members
"The portal has the medium term aim of setting listing fees at the minimum level consistent with developing and maintaining itself as one of the leading portals in the UK. It will focus on providing the best possible service to member agents, their customers and the wider, property-seeking public."
How will better service to the public manifest itself?
All they want to know what it is, where it is & how much it is and have the widest possible choice.
I just can't see what they can offer to drive trafic that RM, PL, Z & FAP dont - and if they do, it will be copied within hours.
The agents who have thrown weight behind it from the start are Savills, Knight Frank, Strutt & Parker, Chesterton Humberts, Douglas & Gordon & Glentree (?)
They all have a 'niche' market and are huge players. Good luck to them - but smaller agents cant take the risk.
I agree with much of what EW says and in the unlikely event of AM pinching some market share, then RM and Zoopla wont just take it lying down.
If AM succeeds, then we may consider joining - I just cant see it. We got stung with PL so will wait and see.
I don't get the one portal policy.
If you advertise on Zoopla, you pay for Primelocation and the others in their stable - do these count as ONE portal or as several?
@EW
A really good objective view. The real issue is indeed the buyers and tenants - why would they flock to a site which offers part of the market from a select few?
Its like agents offering cheap fees - buyers dont care - its why Foxtons do so well - huge market share,.
No doubt there is now going to be a bout of comments stating that AM wont work and RM and Z are too big to challenge.
But what is the answer in challenging the big 2 other than having Richard Bransons credit card details?
I deal with numerous agents daily and none appreciate the hold that these 2 have over them. So how can this be changed if nothing can ever compete.
It has been said many times, if all agents came off of RM & Z, would that mean no properties would ever be sold again? No, properties would be sold.
AM will find their 1 other portal policy hard to enforce and make attractive to a large number of agents, agents that they will need to ever put in a challenge.
This is the story which just keeps giving,
I think this is a very difficult decision for agents. One stat I have always been fascinated with is the high number of people who visit either Rightmove or Zoopla, yet don't visit both. This forms part of both portals sales pitches.
Considering the number of leads both provide, I would be very hard pushed to choose which to forgo in favour of an as yet untested alternative. I am also mindful of the calibre of those supporting it, however I recall those who supported the original Primelocation business model which demanded exclusivity a requirement which was subsequently dropped. This was Ian Springett's baby as well.
No disrespect, but the great thing about the internet is freedom of choice and information.
In the battle of the portals, one has to also factor in the immense cost of SEO & marketing and it will be extremely interesting to see how a new entrant competes from a standing start without the resources of the industries two biggest players who have enjoyed years of organic placement across the UK. There are also the myriad of additional features available, such as RM plus and Zoopla's equivalent, especially after the acquisition of Vizzi Homes.
In the words of one of Zoopla's top people when asked what would be their next acquisition "There's nothing left to acquire"
A cynical side of me wonders whether AM will generate a critical mass and then become the target of acquisition themselves or whether they really can take on the might of the big two.
In order to achieve the latter, then the key issue will be what they offer consumers, not agents. In my opinion, consumers simply want a site that is easy to find, easy to navigate with whole market choice. To them, the politics of price and market share will be wholly immaterial.
Initially, the real winners in this will be the agent which don't 'de-list' from a major source of leads. As mentioned, it will become a marketing 'win' for many as sellers wnt their properties advertised on portals 'seen on TV' and at the top of the search rankings. It will be difficult for AM to overcome this even if RM & Z do nothing.
In the event Am start to make inroads, then as sure as anything, RM & Z will have a huge plan to counter already mapped out.
Nevertheless, I sincerely admire those who do something rather than just moan about the status quo.
Do you know anything about property portals.?
It seems to me that despite having a new site up and running and being the blueprint model for a one agent one vote, fair system for all agents. Radar Homes don't seem to be getting the support they deserve. I can well understand why London wouldn't support a carrot crunching idea from the West Country and can well understand a group of 3rd time fail to get along agents wanting nothing to do with their local competitors’ portal but why on earth aren't the rest of the country looking at Radar Homes and thinking this is Agents Mutual without the soppy portal restriction, let's get behind the Agents' site that is written and working now.
Personally I seriously doubt Agents Mutual will better the Homeflow engine powering Radar Homes even if they give themselves 3 years to do so. As for the business model , Mr Ainslie proved in the recent America Cup changing tactics in a series that seems hopelessly lost can have very dramatic effects.
is this news? isn't this just steve moir saying that the property sharing experts board support the idea?
how many of the property sharing agents have actually joined? as in put their hands in their pockets and shelled out the £3k per branch to join, the £50 branch for an indefinite period whilst they build a site and rightmove and zoopla move further ahead. then the how ever many hundred per month for 5 years.
that's the number that estate agent today should be investigating. the rest is chatter.
the real issue here is that AM's 'carefully thought out plan' does nothing to explain in a credible way how they will bring the public to the site in any real volumes. rightmove and zoopla both have marketing budgets alone, which are several times the size of AM's projected membership revenues. and they start from positions of very well known brands, AM will be totally drowned in comparison.
i for one will laugh from the sidelines, saying: 'we're on both rightmove and zoopla, you can't instruct that brave agent over there if you like, they're only on rightmove, you have heard of zoopla haven't you?' and the trouble is, i'm not alone. and i'm in the majority i'm afraid, the frank knight has it right.
i'll be spending the £5k or £10k i won't be losing on a few holidays in spain instead.
Thing is, with Zoopla brand catching up with Rightmove in customer perception, how to you choose from which site to 'de-list'?
With no one having heard of Agents Mutual, I foresee a mass of tout letters advising "Your property advertised on Zoopla AND Rightmove"
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds - however, remember, this is only one allowable portal away fro Prime Locations failed model a decade ago.
They have plugged it back in... it's working now.
Agents Mutual is a good proposition that all independent estate agents should support in my opinion.
(Maybe their website is not working this morning because the traffic volumes are so high that the site has crashed…?!).
Looks like this bunch could do with all the help they can get! Their own website doesn't even work this morning.
What exactly does "their [Radar] business model is unlikely to offer a national portal on the scale that Agents’ Mutual intend" mean?