Today, I believe we have a chance to pull together as an industry, and I also believe it is a chance that will not come again: to draw a line in the sand over property portal charges.
This could be a seminal moment for the industry, if we seize the initiative and launch – or relaunch – PropertyLive as our own portal.
Agents should not hold back in the belief that it is not possible. It is not only possible, but it has been done before when circumstances were not dissimilar.
Back in pre-internet days, when colour magazines were the advertising medium of choice in London, one of the publications tried to hike its page rate by an absurd amount.
The result was the formation of CLEA (Central London Estate Agents) Ltd and the creation of the London Magazine, owned by the member agents. It charged its owner agents a cost-price page rate while non-shareholders paid commercial rates – and it was an overnight success. Most importantly, it set the limit on how much third party companies could charge for advertising, and agents could no longer be held to ransom.
Later on, Primelocation came from a CLEA initiative. The concept had immediate credibility because of the immense success of the London Magazine venture and Primelocation in its original form was ‘by the agents, for the agents’.
Today, there is an opportunity to adapt PropertyLive into a version of the London Magazine/ Primelocation models and to make it the ‘line in the sand’ for portal listing charges. There is potential to save the estate agency industry enormous amounts of money that currently goes into the pockets of the two major portals.
In the recent past I have given NFoPP the basic information on how to make PropertyLive a similar bastion against the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla overcharging us, and I offered to expand on that information so that the portal would become a viable and profitable commercial enterprise that would be available to ALL agents. Sadly, NFoPP has chosen instead to close the portal.
I believe that the NFoPP decision is not in the best interests of members, nor the wider industry.
If PropertyLive is discarded, it is inconceivable that such an opportunity will come again to put a brake on the inexorable price rises of the major portals. To throw PropertyLive away just because the original model was flawed would be a tragedy.
This is not about knocking Rightmove or Zoopla which, as commercial enterprises, will, quite rightly, continue to exploit their positions to the maximum. It is not about pulling off them in favour of PropertyLive. It is about quickly creating a credible alternative that gives agents the ability to say ‘No’ when Rightmove or Zoopla come knocking with yet another way-above-inflation price rise.
I would like to be able to urge NFoPP to reconsider their decision and to engage with those of us who believe that PropertyLive could relatively easily and inexpensively be altered so that it becomes viable. It could quickly prove to be an invaluable asset to agents.
But to get NFoPP to listen there will have to be a serious groundswell of support from the industry – and it needs to come right now!
I would be very pleased to hear from any firms – whether they are NAEA/ARLA members or not – that would be willing to consider a proposal to make PropertyLive a properly commercial enterprise owned by agent shareholders (to include NFoPP) and who are willing to subscribe for shares and to pay a monthly subscription. This would enable me to take the expressions of interest to NFoPP and explore the possibility of saving PropertyLive for the common good.
If enough say ‘yes’, NFoPP might just listen.
Comments
I all for a not for profit site, keeping our costs low and not turning into another RM or Zoopla, the latter have just put up my price by 40%. We need everyone to move especially the big boys out there like Wards, Connells, Seekers, Martin & Co, if we all go then it will finish the greedy RM & Zoopla and we can all advertise on one website, makes things a lot easier.
@ national homes network
I see you have a lot of influence over your members lol
The National Homes Network as a membership body representing independent estate agents, would be in favour of such an initiative.
We urge our members to individually show their support here.
@Express Property Services on 2013-01-21 10:26:47
" To my mind, the simplest, cheapest, AND VERY BEST THING NEEDED TO MAKE PROPERTYLIVE A SUCCESS is to give it the exposure we all gave Rightmove. In our windows, on our stationary, on our websites, everywhere. AND REMOVE THE RIGHTMOVE/ZOOPLA EQUIVALENTS. If Joe Public sees a substancial number of agents doing this, they will inevitably start looking on PropertyLive....
As estate and letting agents, we have clout. If the public sees us promoting Propertylive, and NOT RM / Z, they will not ignore it no matter how many TV adverts the big portals put out"
This is so right! It is one of (if not the most) important parts of the recognition process. It what made RM at the start - long before they made the £millions to spend on promotion?.
This is of course a great idea, but how much investment will it need to get started & thrive?
Isn't this the same model as www.radarhomes.co.uk are already offering and they are up & running. I was impressed with what they offer (essentially agents buy in as shareholders, I forget the exact business model) but even so, I haven't yet bought into them.
It is even more confusing for the public than for the agents where so many sites are on offer. Couldn't Nick contact RadarHomes & consider expanding on one that has already started along the same lines ?
There is another option, I hear of a new concept which has been in the making for 5 years. The system works on full cooperation of all who take part. The results make rightmove and Zoopla look very insignificant. And could quite easily revolutionise the industry. This is genuine. Listen out within the next six months you should be hearing much more about it. I cannot comment to much as I am under a NDA agreement.
May I thank everyone for their comments to date. Please keep them coming. Thanks also for staying mostly on-topic. It does make reading so much easier.
My inbox is working overtime and I am already sure that there is an appetite for what is proposed in the article. Clearly there are many questions to be answered but the basic proposition of making Property Live an agent owned portal on a commercial footing is sound.
Please will you all now send a link to this article to everyone you know in the industry and ask them to express their support. Those of you who remember where Splinta started will know how powerful this can be.
More news in due course but in the meantime, have no doubt - WE CAN DO THIS.
This is a great idea but it needs funding. If we all subscribe and pay monthly fees they will have to be high enough to afford national, television advertising campaigns. I'd definitely be interested in subscribing.
With any luck we can change from "Pink" !
I'm In. I have at least two dozen pink pens to get rid of!
I 100% support this. Agents should own, partly or fully, their own portal. If that stands outside the NAEA, then so much the better really.
Agents spending and investing their own money will do a much better job of protecting their own interests, they understand that flat fees are unfair for a tiny office versus a well-established high-volume operation.
Issuing shares for purchase is ideal, but please don't favour corporates above independents.
This is a very entrepreneurial suggestion, brave and relevant, just what our industry needs. The way things are done today do not need to define how things can be done tomorrow. I am very supportive of Nick and will help in any way that I can.
Nick
Definitely with you on this one!
Glenn
I think this will work but with the caveat that from day one it is agreed that the website is a non for profit portal that will not be turned into a Rightmove and Zoopla at some point down the line, as this would defeat the object of the exercise.
But I am interested in hearing how this can be done!
I'm in, well done Nick.
Nick,
Great plan.... count us in!
Kind Regards
Jay
Great idea Nick and I agree with the 'not for profit' comment. Maybe a junior partner such a Sainsbury's or Virgin would add clout.
Thanks for all the positive comments. My email inbox is bursting.
May I ask that if you have time you kindly repeat your postings on the EAT website (estateagenttoday.co.uk) as well. It would help to form a coherent picture of the responses.
Nick
Way to go Nick!
I am with you and believe it is very important that this is “owned” by the agents so we wrestle control of the market back from Rightmove and Zoopla!
Where do we sign???
To my mind, the simplest, cheapest, AND VERY BEST THING NEEDED TO MAKE PROPERTYLIVE A SUCCESS is to give it the exposure we all gave Rightmove. In our windows, on our stationary, on our websites, everywhere. AND REMOVE THE RIGHTMOVE/ZOOPLA EQUIVALENTS. If Joe Public sees a substancial number of agents doing this, they will inevitably start looking on PropertyLive....
As estate and letting agents, we have clout. If the public sees us promoting Propertylive, and NOT RM / Z, they will not ignore it no matter how many TV adverts the big portals put out.
We i`m in, Go for it Nick
We are a Chartered Surveyor and myself, with about 10 properties at any one time on our books. We had to leave R/m they were charging over £500/mo, went to Zoopla who gave us an intro of £150/mo (plus VAT) for 6 months. If that goes up we are in trouble. We haven't other branches to justify higher costs and the market is in the doldrums so income stream affected. Would be interested in a non-profit site without all the bells and whistles that cost money: the draw-a-line zones, the regional graphs, the if-you-like-this-you-will-like-that.
I had an email exchange last week with Mark Hayward regarding the scrapping of the site and the lost opportunity.
Succinctly I believe that there is an opportunity to use PropertyLive effectively by opening it to non NFOPP members at a low cost whilst keeping it free to members (?) - that would encourage both use and NAEA and ARLA membership (Something perhaps everyone would not wholly support?) - I would have hoped Mark would have appreciated the benefits both ways.
If those using the site promote it to clients and other agents then it would build market penetration and provide a cost effective alternative that we would all benefit from.
If the operation were cash neutral then everyone would win? Mark seems either not be interested in options or does not see a future in this direction.
YES, YES, YES!
Here, here. All for that. Can't wait for the day I can tell Rightmove and it's other doomed competitor where to stick their price rise.
Dear Nick
Given the amount of money which has been invested in the portal it seems somewhat short sighted not to investigate all possible avenues for its continued existence in some form where it can be of use to agents & perhaps kerb the ever increasing costs of the other portals.
I am in !
Dear Nick,
This is a great idea and I can see no reason why this should not work.
Most of the agents advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla are already members of one or more of the professional associations. We should be pooling our buying power and doing it for ourselves rather than paying inflated prices to media conglomerates.
Not for profit would be great, but I have no objection to people making a reasonable profit (as long as it is reasonable) perhaps being controlled by the member associations.
With the recent merger of Zoopla, Find-a-Property etc. we have even less choice and prices are already on the increase as a result.
Good luck and count me in.
We're ARLA
we're NAEA
we're IN
Nick, I am 100% behind a "by agent for agent" portal, my own feeling however is that the model should operate as a not for profit proposition, setting charges at a level sufficient to cover operating costs and inject serious capital into consumer advertising. Making it for profit will eventually lead to the same position we find ourselves in now with RM and Zoopla.
The reason that their are no serious contenders for the big two is not us as an industry; it is that no one has the ability to raise public awareness of a contender. People talk about Rightmove as the Hoover of the vacuum world. It's brand is bigger than the portal concept itself. For there to be a credible alternative, millions will need to be spent on advertising to the general public, reeducating them daily on where to look.
It is certainly possible if there is enough support and I for one would love to see it happen.
Brave move Nick, I'll speak to our directors today.