Another online agent is going down the crowdfunding route in a bid to win investment.
Urban.co.uk - an online sales and letting agency now 10 years old - wants to raise £400,000 via Crowdcube.
Although its crowdfunding appeal has been online for two weeks, it has so far won only 20 per cent of its target, although it has succeeded in securing a £20,000 investment.
The Crowdcube site says it has received just 23 pledges of money to date for Urban although the agency itself says 150 of its landlords have pledged to invest - although clearly haven't yet found time to do so.
Urban claims it has sold over £400m worth of property since its inception and has a database of over 12,000 landlords. It says its staff are ARLA and NAEA qualified and has a 75 per cent repeat-business record.
It says it handles 3,000 to 5,000 lettings per year and achieving approximately 1,000 sales which, if true, would suggest it is more successful than almost any other online operator.
Alongside the online appeal for £400,000 the agency - which uses the same public relations firm as easyProperty, which successfully raised well over £1m via the same crowdfunding site - says it hopes to receive £700,000 from other sources.
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Comments
More successful than any other online operator It seems this website is virtually unheard of! I'm not surprised that it's begging for investment, or that few landlords seem keen on raising funds!
There are two properties listed for sale in our area with Urban. We did the epc and floor plans for them which, when they contacted us, was the first time I'd ever heard of them.
The staff that I spoke with were very friendly etc and I had no issue with them.
Both properties have been on the market since Christmas and are still available. Having seen and assessed both of them, they are both seriously over priced...
The internet and technology is going to become increasingly influential with regards to estate and letting agencies is what I meant. In other areas it's already hugely influential and in the property arena this influence is growing year-by-year.
In this case, I have to agree. I'm not as anti-online as some, and obviously the internet and technology is going to become increasingly influential in the coming years, but there does seem to be quite a lot of these half-baked, poorly backed ideas sprouting up from all corners of the web at the moment.
[quote]It says it handles 3,000 to 5,000 lettings per year and achieving approximately 1,000 sales which, if true, would suggest it is more successful than almost any other online operator. [/quote]
The above, in particular, makes me very dubious. If they're so successful why have I, a landlord with more than a passing interest in the property market, never heard of them before.
Another doomed venture, I fear. Although, having said that, they've been around for 10 years so why are they suddenly hankering for new investment and why have I never heard of them before. Urban.co.uk Anyone No, me neither.
What is with this crowdfunding craze I just can't get on board with it. More to the point, who exactly has invested 20,000 in Urban.co.uk If they've been around 10 years and they're still begging for investment, it doesn't exactly shout 'ringing endorsement'.
I somehow doubt they'll get to the magic 400,000 mark. I wait to be proved wrong (I think I'll be waiting quite a long time).
Oops, that's a bit naughty. Google is your friend, Real Agent.
It took all of 30 seconds to check what they had in an area I have offices and see they have a property listed as sold. Not unusual perhaps except that I ACTUALLY SOLD IT! So I wonder how many others of the 400m of property they claim to have sold they actually DID sell!
Phone number for the Advertising Standards Authority anyone
Excuse my explicit message earlier, there was an annoying 'try this stocks and shares' tip posted before mine. EAT must have removed it.
Just like landlords and vendors chancing it themselves on these DIY portals it seems that more and more ex-agents are now launching these mickey mouse DIY websites. Sure, HomeBase and B&Q do good business, but are they replacing proper tradesmen I thinketh not...
Aniela- F**K off please.
Urban sales and lettings, 10 years in business and one of the lowest stock levels of all the nationwide online agents. When will these people realise that there is only room for a few of the cheap guys