Why are Estate Agents running with OnTheMarket?
I have spent time to visit a few estate agents who have declared they are running with OnTheMarket, simple to spot many as they’ve crowded their window displays with, as consumers say, RAF logos! Infact, I spoke to one of two consumers who said, some actually went inside their local agency to ask, they thought the new logos were some kind of show of support to our RAF – I can see their point!
Speaking with one estate agency, who had very light reference to OnTheMarket in their windows, said that other agencies that are running with similar, are not sticking to the rules agreed, ie not an overkill on displaying banners until the website is launched on January 26th (they did have all the boxes ready in the corner of their office, to re-design their window displays – They had taken down though all reference to Zoopla whom they had dropped).
So, what did the estate agents say about them choosing to run with OnTheMarket:
“From what we see, it’s the independents who are championing OnTheMarket as it’s us who really suffer from the rates that Rightmove and Zoopla are charging. In all honesty, if I could drop both the major platforms then I would have done, I am now hoping our faith in OnTheMarket works out as if it does, we could very well see us not needing to bow down to the extortionate prices they we have been charged over the last few years.”
“We thought long and hard, but it’s more down to a common sense decision than anything really. We are paying for OnTheMarket as a property portal that will be run by us, ie estate agents, as opposed to independent property portals who do not listen to, or really care about our needs.”
“Many of the agents in this town have already gone with OnTheMarket so we know it’s the right thing to do. They (OnTheMarket) have been clear on how they see their portal working and how a collaborative effort from us, the estate agents across the country, can help us to lower monthly portal fees. We attended a recent local meeting and we like the way they work, we are looking forward to the television adverts and the consumers visiting our offices wanting to know more. We have paid into supporting OnTheMarket and we are pleased to know that we are seen as part of ‘the team’ going forward.”
“We had issues with Zoopla and this Smart price valuations on property. It makes our job harder trying to convince vendors that their house isn’t worth the value Zoopla’s software predicts them to be worth. At times, we have valued a property at one price and next door have approached us demanding twice the price simply because Zoopla says so. We are running with Rightmove who we feel are still charging too much and we are behind OnTheMarket – Happy to know that we are part of the team as the portal grows.”
“Let’s see how it goes. This is something coming along at the right time, a lot of agents were unhappy with the two major property portals, so OnTheMarket could be exactly what the industry needs.”
I hope to add to this blog, so come back and check for updates. I hope to be able to share some quotes that agents are happy to put their names to, currently out of respect, they prefer to remain uncredited on the above comments…
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