Advanced information released today about Boomin suggests it will seek a much closer relationship with agents than existing portals, with lifetime revenue potential.
In a briefing this afternoon the portal - expected to go live in the next few weeks, and free to agents until January 2022 - revealed a number of innovations not directly comparable with anything offered by Rightmove, Zoopla or other existing portals.
There will be a ‘sneak peek’ secret property element which means visitors to Boomin will not only see properties listed for sale, but also those instructed but not yet marketed, those in a chain and which may come back to the market if a deal falls through, and in some cases those currently being valued.
The aim is for prospective buyers not only to see properties that are on the market, but also those which have been on the market and are likely to come to the market.
There will also be a ‘matchmaker’ option for would-be buyers not only to search the town or neighbourhood they want to live in, but to nominate their chosen street.
By nominating a specific street, the Boomin portal wants to gather finer-grain detail than its rivals: once there is a critical mass of demand for a particular street, details of those potential buyers can be released to local agents who can either market their existing listings or have the information to encourage would-be sellers at those addresses to take the plunge.
Agents would not pay for those leads.
Prospective buyers will also be offered a so-called ’24-7’ service allowing them to book a viewing of a property on sale directly through the portal. It would not follow the established line of sending email leads from the portal to the agent, thus requiring the agent to then try to connect with the would-be purchaser the next working day.
Potential vendors will also be able to book valuations 24/7.
When customers whose properties have been listed on Boomin return to visit the portal at a later date, they will see their agent’s brand prominently. Boomin believes this provides the potential for those agents to have a continuing revenue-raising relationship with those consumers when they next buy.
A ‘Property Playground’ facility will allow prospective buyers or more casual visitors to Boomin who do not intend to buy, to look at other options - different utilities, lifestyle and design supplies, landscaping and other ancillary services.
Individual buyers who like an accessory in an image or a service shown in a video will be able to purchase it, with a form of referral fee for the agent if that customer is a registered buyer.
Promotion of Boomin is likely to major on TV, radio and street-based advertising, but with a lot of social media as well - there is likely to be substantial emphasis on YouTube in particular.
Boomin has been founded by Michael and Kenny Bruce, the brothers behind Purplebricks.
The new portal has so far revealed 30 agency backers including Humberts, Newman Property Experts, Hunters, Keatons, Hurford Salvi Carr, MyLondonHome, Venmores, Nock Deighton, Alexander & Co Group, and Linley & Simpson.
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Lifetime revenue has been offered by PropertyMutual, the only portal owned and controlled 100% by agents, not investors, since it was launched.
Anything which potentially has the chance of getting Rightmove to change their ludicrous fees is fine by me.... still like OTM though
"Prospective buyers will also be offered a so-called ’24-7’ service allowing them to book a viewing of a property on sale directly through the portal"
"Potential vendors will also be able to book valuations 24/7"
Many agents will understandably wonder if this is the trojan horse some of us have been concerned about? In other words, a portal being able to 'grab' the seller contact details which currently RM, ZPG etc generally cannot. Once a portal owns the sell side and the buy side, why do they need agents?
Does this end up being the UK's 'Zillow direct to the consumer' play whereby agents get used just for their data and then cast aside? Asking for a friend.
I think with TV and YouTube/social RM will have a competitor. Ive struggled to see how zoopla or on the market offer anything radically different and clearly the consumers (buyers and sellers) have struggled to as well.
At the end of the day and a bit like Purple Bricks and Rightmove, if the marketing budget is there, the public will get to know of it.
There are possibly eight portals out there firing leads and unique estate agent benefits that seem to be falling on deaf ears to a degree (marketing budget again).
A huge marketing budget does not mean you have the best product but it does mean more people will have the opportunity to try it.
Message, then platform, Mark
Doesn't matter how, many people see the portal offering if the message isn't crystal clear and radically different. Having deep pockets won't work if the strategy is default dead.
What's the betting Boomin won't be boomin' this time next year?
I had an agency with Paymentshield who promised the same 'lifetime revenue' until they changed the goal posts, there will probably be a clause that states you only get the revenue if you continue to subscribe and at what cost will that be?
DONT be fooled they are not your friends!
I think the model you describe is also called the "Drug Dealer Strategy". Free to join, all seems to good to be true, gets you addicted before the future repercussions are fully understood, after which the costs to feed that addiction go through the roof, and you end of wishing you had said no at the start.
The offering is novel and sounds innovative. All challenger portals have to be. Clearly funding is a big bonus too. However, transparency is required given how agents have been previously treated and I think all portals should declare where/how they make money and this may help the trust issue?
Simply do not trust them. No thanks. First they try to undermine estate agents value with 'commisery', and now they want your backing.
Tangibly different? It certainly doesn't look different; the graphics and design are as terribly naf as we are accustomed to, and the name is really silly (and missing an apostrophe, unless it's not meant to be 'booming'). The whole thing is lacking in quality.
Plus 'sneak peak' before marketing? Sneak peak at a property before the marketing material is ready, as in off market or pre-launch... sounds confusing to me. No matter how large the marketing budget may be, and I understand the owners are huge on quantity not quality as a business model, it still irks me that this is considered innovative.
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