‘OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength’, says Knight Frank’s Noel Flint
The Board Directors of Agents’ Mutual have reaffirmed that they have every confidence in OnTheMarket.com as the portal approaches its one year anniversary on January 26, 2016.
In the first of a series of comments from the Directors representing estate agency firms on the Board, Noel Flint, Partner, Head of London Residential at Knight Frank, said he believed OnTheMarket.com had already created a significant change within the portals market in a way no other recent market entrant had done.
He said: “The reality is that the portal is working and we have every confidence that it will continue to grow. As more agents recognise the strategic importance of regaining control of their data and costs and as they see the strategic opportunity to serve their clients and property-seekers better with their own portal, we believe that OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength.”
He added: “In our view, as a mutual, the venture is uniquely placed to achieve a huge step forward for traditional estate agency. OnTheMarket.com is injecting some much needed competition into what had become a rather staid arena, dominated by two giants whose main focus was the creation of enormous profit margins.”
Knight Frank was one of the Board member firms which chose to retain Rightmove and removed its properties from Zoopla/PrimeLocation.
Mr Flint maintained that OnTheMarket.com was providing Knight Frank’s offices with high-quality leads and their volume was steadily growing.
“We chose to retain Rightmove rather than Zoopla/PrimeLocation as our ‘other portal’, a decision which was later echoed by most of the members and which has left Zoopla and PrimeLocation with much lower property stock, not least at the high end where Knight Frank operates,” he said.
“Our clients like the portal and I don’t believe we are experiencing any loss of business since removing our properties from Zoopla and PrimeLocation to join OnTheMarket.com,” he added.
The Board member firms of Agents’ Mutual are Chestertons, Douglas & Gordon, Glentree, Knight Frank, KFH, Savills, Strutt & Parker and Spicerhaart.
Every estate or letting agent firm which lists properties with it becomes a member of the company and has an equal interest in it. One firm = one member = one vote, irrespective of the number of offices a firm has.
Noel Flint’s comment can be read in full below.
Noel Flint, Partner, Head of London Residential, at Knight Frank and a Non-Executive Director of Agents’ Mutual
At Knight Frank we attach great importance to strategic long-term thinking and we are proud to have been one of the driving forces behind the formation of Agents’ Mutual and the creation of OnTheMarket.com.
In our view, as a mutual, the venture is uniquely placed to achieve a huge step forward for traditional estate agency. OnTheMarket.com is injecting some much needed competition into what had become a rather staid arena, dominated by two giants whose main focus was the creation of enormous profit margins. OnTheMarket.com has already caused a significant sea-change within the portals market in a way that no other recent market entrant has done. We chose to retain Rightmove rather than Zoopla/PrimeLocation as our “other portal”, a decision which was later echoed by most of the members and which has left Zoopla and PrimeLocation with much lower property stock, not least at the high end where Knight Frank operates.
Ian Springett’s team has delivered a fast and beautifully designed website for consumers where house-hunting is now a pleasure and where there are many new and exclusive properties. Knight Frank is one of many agents who put newly launched properties on OnTheMarket.com 24 to 48 hours in advance of advertising them on any other portal. We feel this gives the most motivated property-seekers an extra reason to search OnTheMarket.com and to create a property alert to be first to see these properties. We have been impressed by the traffic figures and by the healthy mix of new and returning visitors. There is no doubt OnTheMarket.com is a ‘must-view’ destination for serious property-seekers.
OnTheMarket.com is providing Knight Frank’s offices with high-quality leads and we have seen their volume steadily growing. Our clients like the portal and I don’t believe we are experiencing any loss of business since removing our properties from Zoopla and PrimeLocation to join OnTheMarket.com. It is of course frustrating to read the numerous inaccurate claims levelled against OnTheMarket.com, usually from people who have a vested interest in trying to halt its rise in the market place. In truth, the fact that they go to such lengths is a reflection of the strength of the threat that OnTheMarket.com presents to their portal or business. The reality is that the portal is working and we have every confidence that it will continue to grow. As more agents recognise the strategic importance of regaining control of their data and costs and as they see the strategic opportunity to serve their clients and property-seekers better with their own portal, we believe that OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength.
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