Thinking of making a website like Rightmove etc

DefenderUK

Hi guys, after trying to list my property on rightmove or zoopla I was shocked to find that it's all a bit of a closed loop with estate agents, you can't actually list without paying an estate agent.

Since then i've been thinking about making a website for us normal people to post our properties without paying a ton of cash to do so, I'm just after your thoughts and ideas, I know it would be hard but what do you reckon... ?

MyRealNameToo

Creating the website won't be hard, getting anyone at all to post properties to it or look for properties on it will be the challenge with such market dominance of the likes of RightMove. 

Most have gone the other way and created the likes of OffAgent or IAmTheAgent which doesnt charge a commission for selling but a monthly fee for list the property on other sites plus some other tools to help you sell your own property. 

DefenderUK

Yes I thought getting people to sign up would be the hardest thing, I'm not too bad with the technical stuff but would struggle with promotion of the site I think, I had a look at purple bricks too but I just became outraged lol, these and the estate agents are just middlemen in my opinion, maybe make it free to sign up at first to get people in...

Albermarle

DefenderUK said:

Yes I thought getting people to sign up would be the hardest thing, I'm not too bad with the technical stuff but would struggle with promotion of the site I think, I had a look at purple bricks too but I just became outraged lol, these and the estate agents are just middlemen in my opinion, maybe make it free to sign up at first to get people in...

I am afraid it is not as simple as estate agents just advertise a property, then pocket a big fee.
Although they do not have a great reputation and some can be a PITA, they can perform many useful functions.
For example many members of the public find negotiating about money difficult, especially when it is for amounts they never have to deal with in their normal life. Then on top of that buying and selling houses can get people quite emotional, especially after a death or divorce and some people are just a bit strange/difficult to deal with anyway.
The estate agent can help to pull a deal together, and then help it along through all the usual obstacles of conveyancing, surveys etc.
Often they will do a lot of work, and then nothing happens and they get no fee.
Middlemen can be useful, sometimes anyway.

Section62

DefenderUK said:

Yes I thought getting people to sign up would be the hardest thing, I'm not too bad with the technical stuff but would struggle with promotion of the site I think, I had a look at purple bricks too but I just became outraged lol, these and the estate agents are just middlemen in my opinion, maybe make it free to sign up at first to get people in...

If you are looking at doing it to make money then you'll need to start out with lots.  And expect to finish up with not very much.

You are looking to join a crowded marketplace with some big players already established.  To get anywhere in that kind of situation you need to have a USP - and something that other people can't just copy.  Starting out offering the service for free is neither of those.

You also need to think about how big the market actually is... how many people per year sell their property to strangers without going through an EA?  I suspect EA negotiated sales plus sales to friends/family account for the vast majority of all sales.  Have you got any figures?

DefenderUK

Hmm, I thought allowing free signup would be a good usp as non of the big boys do that, have you any suggestions ?...

Albermarle

DefenderUK said:

Hmm, I thought allowing free signup would be a good usp as non of the big boys do that, have you any suggestions ?...

The usual problem with internet start ups ideas, is that there is a big cost in marketing a new product to a large audience. Then you can not charge very much ( or nothing) at the beginning to get it off the ground.
So in the first couple of years at least, you burn through cash at an alarming rate. You need to fund that, or get someone else to have faith and invest.

saajan_12

DefenderUK said:

Hmm, I thought allowing free signup would be a good usp as non of the big boys do that, have you any suggestions ?...

Sounds like your differentiator is that sellers can list a property themselves without needing an agent. So for your customers (sellers) the question is how much they pay the agent, not how much Rightmove get. The agent's fee for online, zero service is generally £100-1000? So yes that is a USP if the seller can avoid that cost. Its already free for buyers so no difference there. 

However against that is the fact that barely any buyers would see the website because you don't have most properties there. The loss from a £500k property languishing on the market for an extra 6 months because there were very few people looking at the advertising portal I used, and hence getting a lower sale price, is likely more than the £1000 fee. 

Plus you only really capture the selllers who want to DIY the rest of it eg viewings, negotiation, sales progression etc. Those that want those services would just go to a traditional agent who would give the Rightmove listing for free. 

DefenderUK

Hi saajan, I think you are right about the site not having visibility to begin with and so people would not list there, but I thought that my angle to overcome this would be to promote the site as an additional free ad space in addition to their chosen portal rightmove/zoopla etc sort of an extra freebie

user1977

Do you have any experience in setting up and running a website as a profitable enterprise, never mind setting your ambitions as high as competing with Rightmove?

DefenderUK

Hi user1977, yes i've run a profitable website for about 12 years now, do you have any good ideas or suggestions for my new idea ?....