Online agent Doorsteps has hinted that it could expand into America, and that it could float on the stock market.
The business, founded by Akshay Ruparelia when he was still a teenager, is currently fund-raising on Crowdcube.
Answering questions on the site, Ruparelia says: “We have been approached by several international bodies for international expansion, though we see the best opportunity here in the UK – by focusing on what we are doing best.
“Though, having said that, should we raise enough funds in this round (or following rounds, if applicable) – we have lined up trustworthy family members and experienced partners in California, to assist with foreign expansion.”
Ruparelia, still only 20, justifies the current £18m valuation of his 18-month-old business by saying that it is now listing 2,100 properties and that it is a business “due to grow exponentially in the next three years”.
It plans to “significantly” increase revenues next year and onwards from the sales of services such as mortgages, conveyancing and surveying.
Of the possibility of an IPO, he says: “We have discussed the prospects of listing with some AIM brokers also – and see this as a possibility.”
By yesterday evening Doorsteps had raised £657,130 from almost 400 investors – way over its target of £400,000.
It still has 19 days left on its fundraising campaign.
Comments (23)
Needs to come out of his pampers first
I too use Doorsteps at £99 just to access Rightmove for the odd property that I am selling; no complaints, but my discription and pics. I wouldnt leave that to them.
Maybe a possible recruit to add to the Emoov stable of onliners ?
They are not in the business of selling property. They are in the business of selling ancillaries, mortgages etc. Estate Agency is their loss leader vehicle to their market.
INVESTORS, PLEASE NOTE: It is illegal to ‘doorstep’ financial services.
Its simply a version of FSBO which has been strong in the US for quite a while. RM is the Holy Grail to a seller because for the last 20 years agents have provided a RM best price guide to sellers backing up advice given. Why are you all surprised that cheap agents have made a small impact? They are providing a service that some sellers want, direct access to RM and ZPL. The majority of sellers want the knowledge of experience though which is great for high Street. Also dont be fooled into running the numbers on £99 x 2100 this is a small reflection of turnover when you add in the value created downstream of the listing.
One developer I know is using this outfit purely to get exposure on rightmove & zoopla. Imagine his costs if he went direct to the portals. Pretty shrewd IMHO.
We’ve just taken one off “doorsteps”, can we now start a flotation? 😉
We have too.
He had been on the market for over a month with Doorstep and did not get a single viewing. What really annoyed him was that he phoned them pretending to be a prospective buyer wanting to view and he never heard back…
Doorsteps to the best of my knowledge don’t have LPE’s and rely entirely at the £99 rate on the seller providing photos and a description of the property.
One, I thought a visit to the property was a pre-requisite of advertising on RM and Z and two, in any event it leaves both Doorsteps and the seller wide open to breaches of description.
Yes, yes of course, that ladder up to the semi-boarded loft with a lilo on the floor really does make this a ‘substantially extended 4 bed family home’.
Joke of the day!!!
Doorsteps – “We have been approached by several international bodies for international expansion………………,,,,”
Elon Musk – 13 Aug 2018 · After days of speculation and conflicting reports, Elon Musk has broken his silence about his plan to take Tesla private. In a Monday morning blog post, Musk explained that he has been in talks for weeks with managers of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to finance the …………
With a little “originality training” both have agency potential
The Kremlin have approached him with a unique online offering and software that will open all sorts of doors for him…..could link it to the tourist destination market as well!
Lots of readers on here no the trials and tribulations of running a business right and most of you will know it takes a lifetime to become an overnight success, so what bugs me with doorsteps are stories of this young guys immediate success. It’s nonsense. He already comes from a pretty wealthy family to begin with. These investors are probably wealthy family friends and the only aim is to float on the stock market.
Look at most of the online agents they’ve had to adapt and increase their fees to start making money. This guy has done nothing. His fees are ridiculously cheap to the point that they don’t make sense but he is constantly crowdfunding. Wtf.
It’s a family run con.
Bearing in mind he charges £99 a pop and has 2100 properties (doubling that for a year) that would mean his turnover is roughly £400,000. Where does this £18m valuation come from. Delusional.
Precisely….complete fool with absolutely no experience.
Imagine how much he pays the portals as well.
Being an ‘onliner’ that equates to 42 memberships, GULP!
Unreal – is this a joke?!
They can’t even make money in the UK, let alone start looking at another country and as for floating….does he even know what that entails??? No worthy investor would touch it. It’s not making any money!
Trying to hard to copy purplebricks
I wonder if I start an onliner at £79 a pop… if I could raise £1M.
It seems the cheaper the fee the easier it is to raise dosh.
“Trustworthy family members….”
I’M OUT, as Duncan would say.
Delusional.
You know how over the years estate agents are constantly slagged off for “offering” mortgage advice and conveyancing…Now that these call centre types pretty much insist on it, where is the outcry? Can you imagine someone like Connells for example saying to their vendors, if you dont use our solicitors you must pay us £350?
Just so you can lose money in more countries? Go on then, will help to speed up the inevitable.