Would you use this?

GAH

People that are searching the internet are pretty savvy, yes the odd person may typle in' Houses in .......' but the majority will go to Rightmove, Zoopla, Findaproperty.

Why, because they are the main three search engines, and people know and expect all properties to marketed there, plus these portals have huge marketing budgets.

Im not trying to destroy your idea here OP, but the ultimate most vendors look to do is 'actually get there house sold' and the majority of vendors are going to want to want to see their home marketed in the best way possible, and if that means paying an agent a bit more money then so be it.

I think you would be a bit optimistic with your numbers as well, 200 properties, i think you would be lucky to get a quarter of that

seemore

jjlandlord wrote: »

You're comparing your fee for online ads only (as far as I understand)

Correct

jjlandlord wrote: »

to the fee estate agents charge to market the property, conduct visits, deal with offers, etc. That's not the same.

Agents in my area do not 'conduct visits' unless the property is empty. Most visits/viewing are conducted by the vendor. The agents simply make the appointment.

jjlandlord wrote: »

Contract for what, cancellation of what?

This proposed site versus a sale via an agent. An agent has a contract with cancellation clauses... what I am proposing doesnt.

jjlandlord wrote: »

If they are with an agent, their property is already displayed on the major websites (Rightmove and co.). Why would they pay £250 (which is a lot) to have it on one (currently unknown) extra site?

I realise I didnt state this at the beginng but it is quite simple to list property of the portals... other than a subscription fee there's nothing stopping us listing property from our proposed site on the portals too.

seemore

evoke wrote: »

What about EPC certificates and photography? You would be legally bound to display the EPC summary graph. This is a service that EAs provide,

No problem & in-hand - already thought about that Oh and its not a necessarily an estate agent who produces the EPC cert.

evoke wrote: »

and a good photographer ain't cheap.

Correct.. but we already have a pro photographer involved in this concept business, so no problem.

evoke wrote: »

What about floorplans? Who's going to measure up accurately?

Floorplan software is out there and can be aqcuired quite cheaply - no problem. Also, if you look at most agents property info which includes FP's, they always carry a disclaimer as to the accuracy. I dont think I'd want to include them anyway.. but if overruled, a small programme and a digital meter wont break the bank.

lazer

I think you may actually be onto something, but it would take a lot of setting up, and for it to be of anyuse, you would need to get listings for the region, you need to be a big enought presence that Agents will also market the property on your site.

NI has its own property website - Propertynews and Propertypal, which we use instead of rightmove usually, so i don't see why this couldn't work in other areas of the UK.

I think you will find that google search such as "property to rent in xxx" are used mainly for rental, otherwise people do tend to go straight to the property websites

Good luck

DannyboyMidlands

seemore wrote: »

Yes.

How else would you get to know which agents operated in your area if you didnt start with a search like "Property for sale in..."?



...and if within those results there was a listing for 'the proposed site', why wouldnt you look at it?

For the same reason that I don't click on any of the other 20 or so listings that come up on the first page of search results. There is no point. Why look at them all individually when rightmove has alll of the same information in one place?

DannyboyMidlands

http://www.gumtree.com/cgi-bin/list_postings.pl?advertiser_type_1=Y&search_location=Dorset&ubercat=2520

http://www.gumtree.com/flats-and-houses-for-rent-offered/dorset

This is free.

evoke

seemore wrote: »

No problem & in-hand - already thought about that Oh and its not a necessarily an estate agent who produces the EPC cert.



Correct.. but we already have a pro photographer involved in this concept business, so no problem.



Floorplan software is out there and can be aqcuired quite cheaply - no problem. Also, if you look at most agents property info which includes FP's, they always carry a disclaimer as to the accuracy. I dont think I'd want to include them anyway.. but if overruled, a small programme and a digital meter wont break the bank.

So you think it's a simple thing to produce floorplan software and take excellent pictures for marketing a property? How much of the £250 is going to be taken up in paying someone to to an EPC, the photographs and the floorplan?

I'd say at least £200, which leaves you with £50 for everything else.

Give it a go if you've done your market research and have chosen to ignore it.

seemore

GAH wrote: »

People that are searching the internet are pretty savvy, yes the odd person may typle in' Houses in .......' but the majority will go to Rightmove, Zoopla, Findaproperty.

Perhaps you are right? I however know how these sites work, and therefore know that they only list property from agents who subscribe to them. For me that means I might not get to see all the property available in the area I want to search... and thats why I'd search the individual sites.

GAH wrote: »

I think you would be a bit optimistic with your numbers as well, 200 properties, i think you would be lucky to get a quarter of that

200 isnt a particular target.. it was just to illustrate how you dont need thousands to have generated a good small business. Getting it going would definately be the toughest thing to do!

seemore

evoke wrote: »

So you think it's a simple thing to produce floorplan software and take excellent pictures for marketing a property? How much of the £250 is going to be taken up in paying someone to to an EPC, the photographs and the floorplan?

I'd say at least £200, which leaves you with £50 for everything else.

Give it a go if you've done your market research and have chosen to ignore it.

You're a negative bunch ;-)

Floorplan software is free. Google "EPC Software"

EPC Certs are £39.99 at rrp.Less still if you do the training or negotiate with a local EPC provider.

Another way to look at this would be - if as you suggest we would stand to only make £50 (which is wrong) then surely such a service represents exceptional good value to anyone using it - doesnt it?

As for ignoring the market research - I'm not. I'm listening to what you guys have to say and have tried, where I can, to respond with more detail etc.

I am surprised, especially given the title of this website, that more of you arent up for a way to advertise property for sale/to let without having to pay the huge fees of an estate agent.

seemore

googler wrote: »

Would this website be defined as acting as an Estate Agency for the purposes of the Property Misdescriptions Act?

Perhaps, but as long as you give accurate information I dont see any problems here.