A new network of high street agents is being launched today at EA Masters.
It is called Movenation – its working title so far has been UHA – and has been co-founded by industry consultants Iain White and Mal McCallion.
Its aim is to educate members of the public about estate agents, in particular getting over positive messages about high street firms.
The network will consist of traditional estate agents, who own the licence to exclusively service postcodes in their area.
Movenation will give customers the choice of both fixed-fee and commission-based models. Following a nationwide advertising campaign, vendor leads will be driven to the relevant member agent, who is then given the opportunity to explain the differences between the two models, helping the vendor to choose the best one for them.
While the brand goes live today, the actual business will not start operations until the first quarter of next year.
Comments (5)
If this is genuinely about educating – members of the public about estate agents, in particular getting over positive messages about high street firms – Then all other high street agents can sit back, relax and enjoy the positive messages that one agent per postcode district pays for.
“After you, Alphonse.”, “No, you first, my dear Gaston!”
Education of vendors seems to be an accepted topic. I disagree.
Does anyone go into their local garage and want or need education on the car repair they are about to authorise? How the clutch will be repaired? Why it’s important to have the lights checked regularly? The process of the service?
Vendors need an agency they can trust. Positioning oneself as a local ‘expert’ doesn’t lead to trust. Shining a light on who you are, what you believe and what matters most to your agency ticks that box. Agencies should be looking to create affinity. Not positioning themselves as educators.
Love the idea of more education. However it may be a little academic given consumers don’t tend to be that obsessed by agent choice. Also, to help aid credibility, might want to get the website proof-read for grammatical and spelling mistakes before launch …
Looking forward to hearing more. Education for consumers about choices available to them in the estate agency market has been sadly lacking – if this helps advance that then it has to be a good thing for sellers and landlords.
By limiting this to one agent per postcode, it’s blatantly about generating revenue from agents by playing the FOMO card, than it was ever about providing consumers with a genuine, impartial educational piece.
As such, it feels like yet another firm trying to leech off the back of the industry a la getagent etc.