Careful when selecting your agency from 26th Jan.

Careful when selecting your agency from 26th January 2015.

You may or may not be aware that a new property portal is about to launch to compete with Rightmove and Zoopla. This portal is named “On The Market” (derived from the concept “Agents Mutual”) and will be launching in a few days time (26th January 2015).

This new portal has been established and invested in by some of the larger agents nationwide, and seeks to take back ownership for Estate Agents. There has been a growing gripe within the Estate Agency industry that Rightmove and Zoopla’s fees are becoming too expensive: a bit of a cartel some would argue?

On The Market portal offers the luring of “sign up now for cheap fixed rates” as enticement for Agents.

If you are a Landlord – who cares?

True.

Let’s talk about you:
The key aspect to the launching of this new portal is that there is an ultimatum. The ultimatum is that all agents joining On The Market must contractually give up advertising their properties on either Rightmove or Zoopla. Hard stuff hey?

So this does affect you as a Landlord. Whilst on the inside of the Estate Agency industry it sounds like a revolution could be embarking – which is lovely, however we as agents still have a duty to rent (and of course sell) your properties.

Many agencies have made the decision to join On The Market, and therefore have given up their right to advertise on at least one of the two most well-known and successful property portals in the UK.

Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists has taken the decision to remain advertising Landlords properties using the UK’s most well-known and established portals: Rightmove and Zoopla.

Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists thoughts:
We believe It is very noticeable that the over whelming amount of a Tenant’s property search begins on the internet and remains as the preference throughout. Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists do appreciate and welcome another portal entrant such as On The Market, however Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists do not feel at this stage that we can compromise the duty and good work that we strive to perform for our Landlord clients: namely executing the let of one’s property. Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists will be monitoring closely the development of On The Market as a portal, and should at any point we feel that it would be important to become a member of On The Market, then we have no problem to take steps to achieve this.

So…..
It will add an extra thought process when now selecting an agency to advertise your property. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea receive an extremely high influx of tenants from the expatriate community, and it needs to be considered how quickly On The Market could be established internationally.

Rightmove and Zoopla are very well known portals internationally.

Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists therefore advise Landlords to ensure that you are selecting an agent that enlists in advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla. Portal competitors have started and failed more than once.

Let’s watch this space together. Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists hope in the future that restrictions could be lifted, and that all agencies can advertise using all three portal brands.

Should the day come that Jeremy Jacob Letting Specialists need to change advertising to a new property portal, and should it be required that we pay a premium for being late to the party, we are quite happy to do this for our clients.