The recent claim from challenger portal, Homesearch, that they have 10,000 agency branches committed to listing, was met with scepticism in some quarters.
The news stories carried on EYE attracted comments that called into question the validity of the figure.
We therefore asked Homesearch for the specific details of the actual level of opted-in commitment from agencies.
Late yesterday evening Homesearch responded with this statement:
“We have 10,483 branches who have provided us with their details, of which 6,718 provided us with their CRM provider to set up their feeds, which are working through now.
“We are continuing to contact the other branches as a matter of course to get their CRM details so that we can set them up as soon as possible.”
EYE understands that initially on its website Homesearch asked agents simply to express an interest in receiving further details about the project.
Some 3,500 expressed that interest.
Homesearch later changed the message and asked agents registering for further information from that point on to also give the details of their CRM provider and confirm that they wish to list their properties.
It is mainly those that are the 6,718 branches referred to in the statement. The previous approx 3,500 had not given their CRM details or consent to list.
Whilst it may well get there, for the time being Homesearch cannot sustain its claim that 10,000 branches are already signed up to list their properties.
10,000th agency branch has committed to list with Homesearch
Comments (109)
your misonformed or just mishevious Property Pundit , we sacked an MD becuase he wasnt upto the job we needed and have never faced any compulsory srtike off in any buisness. The recruitment business is in fact flying high and the team is expanding nicley.
suggest you reserch a little better
always makes me laugh that the bullshitters have to hide their identity
What’s all this about HS data being sold and used for touting by other agents!? Your ‘data’ is out there for agents to tout anyway. It’s on the portals, it’s also in Spectre and Sprift and Acaboom etc. So, if we, or my competitors want to tout other agents stock then we can do it now anyway, no problem. And, if you truly know your patch, you know what’s on the market with other agents anyway, surely?! You drive by their boards everyday, you look at their RM listings every day….
my point is, it’s happening every day anyway, so get over it
It becoming pretty clear who are agents that have not got their heads buried in the sand with genuine concerns and those who are not.
Not one pro Homesearch supporter has answered any of the agents concerns, not even Homesearch.
Robert May what is your problem with this meeting , I am not offended by you , more amused to be honest .
i left the people on it to further discussions not sure if they have or haven’t done that and if they did or didn’t bring others into the discussion . My interest was in seeing if a sign to one to sign to all strategy would be of benefit to all and of interest to agents as a simply click here approach . They chose to also talk about standards etc I have no idea where that led to afterwards .
i invited those who had reached out to me and those I already knew , are you really suggesting I should invite everyone to every meeting I have to avoid falling foul of some weird Robert May ethical code.
I think collaboration between these companies could provide a really strong benefit to agents , consumers and the companies themselves , I fail to see your problem. If you wish to know if they Progressed it further ask Sam
If you are calling RICS Practice notes for Estate agents/ RICS Blue book a weird ethical code that’s quite amusing. RICS set the standard long before I became and learned agency. Being guided by an established code of professional conduct isn’t something I’m ashamed of.
You have finally explained the post I questioned. All isn’t all and it wasn’t a meeting about standards and ethics it was seeing whether it made sense for a selected group could work together.
I am talking about your ridiculous obsession that should in some way ensure every possible person who might be interested in a meeting I have put together be invited and then as someone not invited want to know who was on it.
I asked a simple question, that’s all. It was claimed ALL of the challengers had been summoned to a meeting to agree standards an ethics but it turned out it was a handful of blokes discussing sharing their listings.
I didn’t say All ?
I am under no obligation to have invited All , I don’t have contact with All The portals. Not sure your problem but it’s really boring now . Move on Robert .
i have loads of meetings today with various suppliers does that concern you that you as well , if not why not ?
“i personally brought them all together on a call a few weeks ago to collaborate on standards and ethics”
That is why I simply asked; “All?
I don’t have a problem, I asked you a simple question based on something YOU posted.
The way a discussion forum works is to encourage discussion. If you want a place where you can post at will and not be questioned, grab a corner of the internet and set up something where no-one asks you questions based on what you claim.
That statement is quite clear but it turns out all wasn’t all and they discussed sharing feeds rather than standards and ethics.
Are you still chuntering onthis meeting . All as in all I know or was in contact with or thought relevant.
this meeting is causing you way much too concern
no it isn’t, it isn’t, wasn’t about the meeting most people can use the telephone or zoom to discuss collaboration and all manner of things.
The problem is (and most people picked up) the irony of your post I was highlighting, you still haven’t.
I dont see the irony .
Homesearch were diengentious with marketing messages , I had a meeting with a somechallenger portals about collabiarting to a common purposre , where is the irony and as it happens i didnt see anyione else have an issue with the meeting only you.
You made a claim that you had bought ALL of the challenger portals together to instigate standards and ethics which wasn’t the case.
You were being as liberal with the truth as they were. It is OK for you to make false and exaggerated claim but when they do it, they’re deceitful.
The irony was your double standards.
I don’t have a problem with any of the meetings you organise, you could openly organise a boycott rummage4 meeting and I would thank you for it.
ok me saying “ALL” was a lie just as big and as contrived as claiming to have 10000 plus members signed up when i didnt , advertising the same lie repeatledly through media press ti deeive estate agents.
hands up i didnt mean “ALL” i meant some and the some in my view are the likely ones to surface as a genuine proposition worth including in the discussion , i am niot aware if the 20 or so you claim but if those not in the call i thuink they are nothing more than noise (my oopinion if thats ok with you)
it was just a wrong choice of words Robert , your digging with the wrong guy, i am clean no dirt here Robert.
now onwards to more covert sinsiter meetings
I’m not sure what you’re getting at, I’ve seen your insinuation above, it seems someone you know is digging at you, it isn’t me.
I asked a 3 letter question that’s all. 9 (unavoidable pun)
Anyway thanks for confirming it was a few agent and it wasn’t the *** portal challenger (Again it isn’t my claim but someone who seems to know more about your past than I do or care to find out)
apologies Robert i replied withiut reading properly whio had replied , typical me rushing it
How’s the jobs agency going Ian? Heard you’d lost an MD and faced a compulsory strike-off, all sorted now?
from what I know, might have got this wrong but when I had a chat with our BDM at HS (very nice chap).. You don’t have to sign up to HS. Your properties will appear as it data scrapes.. a bit like how Spectre and other tout tools work. If you sign up with a data feed this will be cleaner and more up to date data. I just thought it was worth mentioning as from the comments above it seems you are not aware of this.
Yes, I think you’re right, that’s how it works, but, if I’m understanding things correctly, just like Spectre, your data is then “sold” to the other agents in your town so that they can prospect against you to your vendors. That just doesn’t feel very “honest” to me.
Perhaps Sam Hunter could help us out here with some clarity on that point?
Some Portals and softwares have been doing this for years, agents might want to look closer at their contracts and if/when found ask what is passed on and about “secret commissions” and any tie up with banks and their specialist commercial divisions.
Data is big bucks. Just look at what PSG sold to a portal for for £10s millions more based on its main commodity being access to agents data
Completely agree, agent’s data represents big bucks, so why do we think we’re getting a good deal when someone agrees to “take it off our hands” for free? Or worst still, charges us for the privilege??
I did suggest to Sam that they should speak with OTM and work with them, they could produce an unbelievable product by combining efforts!
Blimey! What the hell?? I really can’t believe all the negative drivel being spouted in these comments by people in the industry that I love! You really are your own worst enemies!
”it’s free” – so I don’t like it.
“it costs something” – so I don’t like it.
jeez! If you don’t like it then just do one will you! Why are you spending so much time writing comments here when you could be selling houses instead?! Move on. Get a life. Do a deal. Just get out of my face on here. I’m sick and tired of reading this drivel.
Because people like you dont stop and think of the damage to the indutsry that could result. If its so good, answers the concerns many agents have raised, as a non-challenging protal which it said it would be and now found ISN’T.
Lets start with the lead story:
Homesearch admits it does not have 10,000 branches committed to listing
then:
The recent claim from challenger portal, Homesearch, ………
To be fair, I think it’s us agents and the press who have stated that Homesearch is a ‘challenger portal’, not Homesearch themselves. I’ve seen them take great pains to say they are different, not a portal, or not the same kind of portal as the big 3.
Their business model is different. You can subscribe to other services they offer and get the ‘portal’ side of things for free, if that’s how you want it. OR, you can pay for this ‘Network’ platform thing that gives you a kind of ‘portal +’ type system with so much more functionality and benefits than just a simple portal like the big 3 offer….
I think a lot of the ‘haters’ on here really haven’t investigated it fully, as it’s obvious they don’t understand how it all hangs together….
It’s a slippery slope when the lying starts this early
Robert May….
” Any agent who expects the new generation of #PSP property search platform to deliver viewing ready, offer ready applicants to their desktop should stick to the high cost portals that charge a lot and are good value simply because they are doing the agents job for them”.
Having worked my @ss off again today, and delivered in spades for my clients I know this ……portals remain no more than a grossly overpriced digital property ad. In the real world, fit only for wiping ar**s.
If you want your property sold, use a decent estate agent – one that knows the value that a real estate agent brings.
Bravo.
Some of the comments on here! Wowsers! I’m not sure if PIE had announced a love child between PB & RQ it would have generated as many vitriolic comments. Just one question- if you are so passionately adamant HS is the wrong horse to back- why not just keep quiet and don’t join it? Also- a free portal is dodgy but a portal that would pay us wouldn’t be? Interesting logic. I personally can’t think of a more genuine and honest endangerment than Sam has taken with our industry over the last year or so. As agents some of our biggest complaints about suppliers are- they don’t listen, they don’t engage, they aren’t open about what they are doing, they don’t innovate enough or fast enough. Sam and his team have done an incredible job at broaching all of those issues- you have my support buddy and of so many others. Who knows if you’ll succeed but ultimately it’s about trying- and you’re trying harder than anyone I’ve ever met.
Either you’re paid by HS or you’ve been completely blown over by them – no other way you’d write this, but either way it’s a slippery slope to be on What kind of nonsense is this, honestly – “A+ for effort Sam and this is why I support you” This kind of emotional response to a purely business decision is precisely why we as an industry keep getting screwed over and it’s why so many punters keep trying to make easy money from us HS is on its way to succeeding and the only people who will reap the rewards are the owners of the company – no EA will reap the rewards, and most won’t even get leads from them Will you be saying: “they put in a lot of effort and used all the data we, Estate Agents, gave them for free to make a valuable company at our expense without us getting anything in return, but they’re nice people so it was worth it..” – shocking… A lot of the goodwill on here and other places is coming across quite suspect
Seek help.
why not just keep quiet
If people did keep quiet, knowledge would not circulate that they may be getting into bed with someone they were under impression was a good idea and later regret.
If KByfield04 you think it is a great idea, please explain why, how it will benefit my business that is worth getting into bed with? So far I have only heard praise about the directors, not the product which has to be the main priority for agents to get involved. ‘Free fee’ is totally irrelevant, its not a bargain if I don’t need their service, my customers do not need their service, likely to cause me loss and risk death of a thousand cuts. So many agents were under the impression it would take on the web portals and as we are discovering …. NO IT WON’T and recommendation is to stay put with RM, Z and OTM as Homesearch are not a challenger.
I’m not in the habit of making another company a success if it likely to kill me off.
A PB RQ love child? EEK! O fortuna!
All Estate Agents must read this
1. Homesearch are doing very well in launching their business – keyword here is ‘business’
2. This platform will list EAs properties for free and they say they will never “(ever)” charge for listing – is this promise enshrined in a legally binding contract?
3. They don’t claim to be a portal, but want to list EAs properties on their platform – the only reason is so the public can find properties on their website i.e. they are trying to be a portal, regardless of their claim
4. Their current business model is to sell other services to EAs on a monthly subscription – each to their own if this is value for money
5. But, why list properties and invest so much in becoming a portal?
6. This is a business and there is no doubt their business model will shift focus on the portal side
7. Now, they may have other plans such as being acquired by giant competitor without needing to charge EAs – good luck to them
8. But, why on earth are EAs even considering in supporting a private enterprise who is trying to become their next fixed costs burden?
9. There is no logical reason for this – it’s not a social enterprise, or a charity, or a mutual, it’s owned by private shareholders who want to maximise profit – this is the bottom line
10. Their loyalty is not to EAs, regardless of their PR strategy
11. Of course, competition for RM may force them to reduce prices – Homesearch owners want to make money, they are not listing EAs properties to ‘help’ EAs or to be ‘nice’ to EAs – why support yet another portal that will, without a shadow of a doubt, take the most profitable route available when opportunities arise – at the expense of EAs of course
12. OTM have had issues and have moved goalposts, but EAs can still be shareholders of this company and pay them for listing
13. OTM should be supported, not more and more private enterprise
14. This will not go down well – but why are EAs always the target of entrepreneurs – why is EAs hard earned cash always the target of aspiring startups – think about this one!
15. RM’s market cap is about £5bn – OTM is at £50m – maybe it’s time to invest in OTM shares and list with them and support them to grow and simultaneously watch your shareholdings grow in value too?
16. 6000+ EAs supporting yet another private company to eventually become their marketing overlord is industrial suicide, yet again
17. Homesearch will not make millions from their current paid for services like home reports, but they will make millions from EAs if their portal plan succeeds
18. They may be looking for an exit – but even then if someone pays millions to buy Homesearch, from whom will this investment be recouped? EAs of course
May it’s another EA-owned portal that’s required, but OTM is the best bet at the moment
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with OTM whatsoever
This would suggest agents should not work with any suppliers new or old ?
if the supllier is a fixed cost but solves a pinch point creates efficiencies elsewhere cost wise , improves customer experience and provides a genuine ROI then in my view agents need suppliers as much as suppliers need agents.
the key is to be of value and have TRUST
OTM most certianly was not transparent in its intentions from the outset, it may well be now to be fair but it certainly wouildnt be my first choice as a supplier.
That’s precisely what I’m arguing.
A supplier’s revenue base are EAs – why would you support a new supplier to enter the market that is seeking to profit from you?
No other industry has businesses gathering together to create a new monstrous supplier that will bleed them dry in the long run – can you think of any other industry?
Homesearch offering their other services like home reports is fine – if you need it, you buy it
But, giving your hard-earned and valuable data to them for free, so they can grow into a monster will only end up increasing your costs burden in the long run…
Do you really think a £5bn company like RM will let a small company like Homesearch disrupt their business? It’s possible and has happened in other industries, but EAs will lose out regardless of how it works out for these private profit seeking companies
An agent-owned portal is the best possible solution for the RM problem
Homesearch may have a better offering, may offer better value for money, may end upbeing the best portal to list on – but they’re not going to offer this to you for free
Why would they miss out on £100m+ net profit each year if manage to take out RM? It’s bonkers to think otherwise…
The public won’t pay to view properties, and if they EAs aren’t paying to list them – then how does this business work?
EAs will almost certainly lose in the medium term (2-5 years) by creating another portal – I would bet on it
Drop Zoopla, list on OTM, buy OTM shares, drop RM when the time is right
yes i can just eat all the hotel comparison sites money supermarket flight comaprison money exchange sites the list is endless suppliers are allowed to make a profit . yes pick them carefully , yes lets be cautious but dont be parlaysed either. collaboartion betweeen agents is crucial but so is collaboartion between agent and suppliers. these agrregartors are so convieneient for the end user , they are always going to be here , just pick the ones who are with you not against you who will share the profit and innovate along with your needs if they charge to much, become arrogant stop innovating or just get greedy ditch them
I’ve seen this argument on here several times now: “it’s our choice, if we don’t like it, don’t use it, if they become arrogant just leave…” So, if it’s as simple as that, why are most of us still listing on RM?? The reality is that when a portal becomes so ubiquitous with consumers, and specifically vendors, as an agent, your choice about whether to continue to list with them becomes very precarious. I agree with the comments of others that HS seem like a genuine bunch of guys, but what happens when the big boys come knocking with their cash? Are they going to turn that down? If not and they sell out, are the rules of engagement bound in a contract that means the new owners can’t treat us like dirt? An agent-owned solution has to be the best option for all of us.
Resonse:
just eat – commissionall the hotel comparison sites – commission money supermarket – commissionflight comaprison – commissionmoney exchange sites – commission
None are fixed costs!
If portals were also commission based, EAs could list with a million portals and create a million monsters as the bottom line is they only get paid, when EAs get paid
See the difference? The EA industry is a bit unique in this sense…
if they charge to much, become arrogant stop innovating or just get greedy . ditch them – No sorry, RM has become precisely this, but have become indispensible so you can’t ditch them…
RM’s net profit is so high, every competitor will eventually aspire to this
Homesearch being a supplier of home reports and other backoffice services is great – supporting them to become another portal though is asking for trouble
can’t ?
can’t ?
and and those i mentioned are commission and fixed cost
agents can chose they just chose not to do anythng . which is why these new breed of portals are worh a look at they could provide a solution and a way out
your advocating no new suplliers stand still and do nothing, that isnot a winning stratehy for me
I’m advocating agent-owned portals or portals who offer legally binding contracts about their future pricing
Or – maybe – pay per listing or pay on completion pricing models – who knows
Anything else is asking for higher fixed costs
Supporting private enterprises to take yet another piece of the pie is a precarious move
I’ve read through your posts smithyy – not all private enterprise is as you believe it to be or is about maximising revenues or profits.
Achievement and respect have a far greater value than money and that’s what some people thrive on.
Hi Robert,
Sorry, but pull the other one mate
I’m embarrassed for the people you know, work for and are related to that you don’t know a single person you consider decent and worthy of your respect.
I really can’t comprehend you not knowing a single person who has achieved anything in their lifetime.
Hi Rob,
You getting personal only exposes your insincerity and insecurity on this topic.
Homesearch have said they’ve invested £3m into their service – a lot of money – nobody invests £3m without expecting a larger return!
They’ll be looking to recoup every penny of that £3m plus many millions from the not so deep pockets of Estate Agents
I think….without having a Portal, it is harder to deliver the back end valuation tool service…
RM have RM+
Z have Z-Pro
OTM have (I actually dont know never used it LOL)
HS will have HSPro
HS back office tool for Valuations is brilliant, but if they don’t get the portal bit right, they will not collect the majority of property and RM+ will remain king for valuable EA data.
Whatever else they are deciding to bolt on and sell, I have no idea, but the portal is needed to give them more control over the Valuation Tool.
Exactly, they need it – not Estate Agents
But, what happens when this side venture portal of theirs becomes too popular? It may become indispensible and EAs will eventually have to pay list on a portal only they helped create
It’s industrial suicide – what other industry has small businesses paying £1,500 a month to list their products and then supports other business to do hit them in the exact the same way
Most other small businesses who have these large tech companies driving business their way pay pittance compared to RM fees or just pay for leads or just for a commission on the transactions
RM’s net profit margin is something disgusting like 75%, meaning they could charge £300 a month and probably still be profitable
A private enterprise will do whatever it can to maxmise profit – Homesearch if it continues being supported by such a large portion of the market will get acquired or become too necessary and start charging to list and EAs may feel compelled
I give up personally.
look after number 1 seems to be the best option.
I think it is starting to set in. Agents do not need Homesearch. It offers little to no value as it will NOT replace or even compete with RM, Z or OTM, which I think most agents thought it was going to.
Homesasearch need agents. They should be paying agents for their listings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The RISK is the future with cross selling services that agents already rely on directly or indirectly with their business arrangements and building a social media platform that could easily turn into a Private Sellers competitor to agents that they helped create.
On a side note, has anyone taken the trouble to see how many companies use Homesearch as their brand!
ITS A BIG NO FROM ME.
Yay! dislkes, divided opinion, anger! … and Ros is missing out!
The launch has to be said is not inspiring and the numbers do not add up for being viable?
So what are Homesearch actually offering agents .… many were (are) under the impression they were to be a challenge to the big three portals to dive customers to their properties! Robert May seems to suggest this is not the case. Any agent who expects the new generation of #PSP property search platform to deliver viewing ready, offer ready applicants to their desktop should stick to the high cost portals …….
What is the advantage to the agent if they cannot drive customers to them. If you are going to cross sell, will this be damaging to my business? Are you just building a platform with no profitable return for me? I and other agents have been asking these question for a long time and still goes unanswered with clarrity.
How can Homesearch do it in any sizeable return to compete with the big three property portals used by the public today and the marketing you are promising that will effectively switch the public. Hence the cynic in me (seems seconded by GPL) ……. “Directors shares and “Bruce”, who is working for who?”
Robert May: The #PSP won’t ever deliver traffic volumes in the quantity the portals will and there is no defence against that, but PSP is about a closer more intimate relationship between agents vendors, landlords and applicants.
If it is a more intimate relationship, how does that help agents? I think this needs to be made very clear because Homesearch certainly are not as to the advantage of being on Homesearch.
What is clear is they are using agents data to build their business. Once established what is to stop them turning into a private sellers outlet. Agents have been shafted by many portals “we will never” but did. Will this one come back to bite them to?
Seems most back HS, I certainly like what I had seen, but I am so confused how agents do not think the HS site, is a bit of a Zoopla type site. To much focus on “the buyer”. (Hate saying RM have got the display side right in my opinion..)
All about stats, facts, figures and similar property.
I personally HATE with a passion that when I click on one of my properties, I am faced with 3 other agents “similar properties” on MY CLIENTS property page.
If my stock earned the “Click through” (or click in) whatever it is called… then I expect 100% attention to that property, as would my client…
They clicked about that property not others. A simple back button allows them to “Return to results” or a “Return to results” button should be enough for if they are no longer wanting to stay on the page.
To me, this is like my staff giving out other agents property brochures on a viewing…
Okay, unless i am wrong HS never said 10,000 agents were advertising on their platform. They said they had support from 10,000 agents.
6.7k agents wanting to list just 1 day into a BETA launch is mind blowing! – Yes not all are showing (my firm is one, we said yes but yet to appear).
This is why they are having a soft launch ahead of the 15th to work out the niggles.
Took OTM almost 3 years from their first day going live to get this number of agents.
Some knockers are to be expected, but the community of agents online elsewhere are showing MASSIVE support for this company. 6.7k BRANCHES IN A DAY!!!!!
Disgruntled employees / advocates of OneDome, OTM, Zoopla and Rightmove are the ones taking potshots, not even the client base which will benefit from HS!
*Wow, strange feel backing something for a change instead of running it down 😉
From Homesearch twitter:
June 25th. With 6 days until our public site goes live, 10,000 branches have registered to list their stock for free on Homesearch. Thank you for your support.
June 24th. Over half the industry has chosen to list their properties for free on Homesearch.
in case my support of OneDome is concerning you or anyone else i am very pro Homesearch and the other challenger portals for that matter (sorry if they are not all portals Robert May) , i personally brought them all together on a call a few weeks ago to collaborate on standards and ethics among other things and left them to move that discussion forward..
however the marketing language does need questioning as it was deliberately misleading and disingenuous no different to PBs campaigns in all honesty.
the industry needs honesty and transparency and respect from suppliers on the model and traction etc.
even the 6k figures are not a reflection of committed and signed up agents. a Manager filling an expression of interest form online and entering who their CRM is not a commitment to list on Homesearch
just be honest and clear with your communications as others who have not been clear before have reaped untold damage in the industry
All?
All that I am aware of and would consider to be of genuine interest to estate agents and that had reasonable traction already. i am sure others would and should have been involved but where do you draw the line.
“i personally brought them all together on a call a few weeks ago”
“All that I am aware of and would consider to be of genuine interest to estate agents and that had reasonable traction already”
for the sake of balance who was on the call? Who are on the worthy list?
That’s fur them to say not me but we had 6 on the call I believe might have been 5
I am trying to understand this meeting of ALL the challenger portals being bought together by you to collaborate on standards and ethics. Was it a secret meeting that’s not a secret any more or is this collaborative new standard something only 6 possibly 5 firms are privy to?
Don’t let it worry you Robert, it was a positive meeting , off the cuff and certainly nothing secret about it.
It isn’t worry to me, the biggest thing Homesearch is being accused of here is a lack of transparency yet you are organising meetings with at least 4 other challenger portals, which isn’t all of them so it appears there is a double standard
Collaborative meetings that do not include all tends to be frowned upon. Its a different matter if everyone was invited and some declined but it isn’t anyones place to select a limited group of collaborators, that sort of thing starts to raise eyebrows.
Robert stop being such a big baby, i don’t have to justify to you every meeting i have who is invited and why. it was just a chat to see if collaboration could help progress the message from the challenger portals. Several of the portals had made contact with me just as an industry person and i instigated a conversation between them and then left them to continue discussions. I have hundreds of meetings about collaboration why would i seek to involve people i don’t know had no contact with or didn’t believe added any value to the conversation being had . Sam Hunter was on the call it was 20 mins long perhaps ask him if it was double standards or simply a quick chat among a few competing businesses.
I was simply doing to you what has been done to Homesearch in this story, I was digging a bit deeper into your claim about All of the challengers.
5 possibly 6 blokes on a 20 minute off the cuff chat is a bit different to the notable challengers being brought together to collaborate on standards and ethics
You can’t big something up in one post and take offence when you are ask a very simple question.
Who were the other 3 or 4 challengers? Onedome, Homesearch who else?
At last count there were over 20 challenger portals. The problem with only inviting ‘5 or 6’ firms is that it could be perceived by some as an attempt to set up some form of quorum or, in the worst case, a cartel.
Only someone with a problem would see it as such Robert . I dont know the 20 others and rest assured I dont care if you or anyine else perceives it as a cartel or similar, i am safe in the knwoldege that its all above board.
Move on and focus on you and your business Robert your fixiation on this is unhealthy for you.
We used to mix in the same circles Iain and it’s clear to me that nothing has changed.
Please ask PIE to confirm that I am not Robert May, you seem to have jumped ahead of yourself without engaging brain…as always.
I certianly did jump ahead of mylself , apologies Dick you obviously know me better than I know you
What if you’re just supporting another company to join the ranks of RM and ZPL? Think it through, employ foresight
what if one of these new entities is the thing that will free you from the RM style of supplier . what if they can help jet propell your busness growth?
Hi Iain,
That’s the thing – RM made £170m net profit in 2019 – anybody who knocks RM of its perch will only seek to replace it
Homesearch have invested £3m into their service – what do you think they’re expecting in return? To be ‘nice’ to people?
The best answer is an agent-owned portal, not another privately owned portal
The last thing you want is Homesearch becoming so popular that you feel compelled to add it to your list of portals without dropping others…
It’s safe to leave your basement, don’t be scared.
This is much better. It is always hard to accept wrongdoing, but it is better late than never.
I still question your figures though!
Let’s use clear language guys. Providing you details of CRM and giving you authorisation to list properties are two different things.
keep a clear language. Don’t try to hide behind VAGUE definitions. If you only have 500-1000 branches, there is nothing to be ashamed of. It is still a good outcome. And it is honest!
Send the real information to PIE and the industry. Avoid ambuiguity!
Clear language nothing hidden it’s essential
I commend HS for getting this far – plenty of people have tried before and failed. Further to Slinky’s comment though, I do think it would be well worth Sam and the team providing some clarity around how these other revenue-generating services are to be handled. These add-ons can contribute a huge amount to an agent’s overall income so it’s important that we understand up-front whether we’re going to retain or lose those opportunities if we join HS.
I also think it’s important for us to understand whether the data we provide them, in the form of our stock, fed from the CRMs, is going to be used by as part of the prospecting service HS are offering? This is an important point for me as I’m not sure why I’d want to agree to giving my data, only for it to be used to compete against me!
Some clarity would be appreciated before we commit.
This is my point
Part of Agents’ problems are that they own the data that powers these platforms.
Much of this data is then sold on to insurance companies and telemarketers without the agent really understanding what is happening behind the scenes.
It is this practise that generates the cash for websites and not just the subscriptions.
Clarity required.
When I asked the question yesterday this was Giles’ answer . Entirely grey
2) Id like a bit of clarification on this, please can you explain what you mean by ‘sell mortgage leads , financial , conveyancing etc’
The only thing we plan to do is present decent options for consumers, where the agent has stated that they do not offer them, themselves. i.e. not in competition with an agents in-house solution. We appreciate this is an important up-sell in the agency business model. We will respect that.
There is no way on gods green earth that Homesearch can keep up what estate agent do with cross selling opportunities. Also if someone indicated to homesearch, somehow, that they aren’t interested in mortgage provision and a client enquires on 6 agents properties , this answer seems to suggest that they would be “presented with decent options” i.e they would compete against the other 5 agents who would try sell a mortgage to that mover.
With the lack on consumer focussed spend to bring enquiries in it looks on the face of tt to generate money for homesearch but not for us .
My understanding is a tie in with Mortgage Advice Bureau but I may be incorrect
The only man who can provide clarity seems to busy at the moment. He was on here last night talking about his ICO97002 robust and correct data certification .
Good morning. Well done on achieving these numbers.which are remarkable.
My question would be :
“Do you intend to offer an opt in opt out approach to referring public users of the site to third party re-sellers; such as Mortgage, Insurance and Conveyancing solutions; potentially taking those visitors in a different direction to your subscribers”?
As I understand it, Homesearch is coming at this from a data angle, rather than solely as a portal offering. It would be good to know the plan.
Sam is a great chap and I wish him well.
Good luck to the agents and Home search.
Rocky times ahead as the big banks are bust again and the Lords voted last week to enable banks to convert COVID loans to SMEs into equity stakes.
This will bring further criminal asset stripping by the likes of big banks. Estimate 25% to 30% falls.
Whilst City of London politics are covering up property frauds, the market in these covid times means good agents need to think wise and collaborate to stand still, let alone move forward.
Good luck to all bold enough to strategies forward.
It’s a good job most people post under a moniker, their unawareness of how things have changed and the comments they make would embarrass them as individuals.
Homesearch is not a portal it is an aggregating property platform that works like a portal but it is different.
Any agent who expects the new generation of #PSP property search platform to deliver viewing ready, offer ready applicants to their desktop should stick to the high cost portals that charge a lot and are good value simply because they are doing the agents job for them. Passive intermediaries with offices need to steer well clear of #PSP’s, it will be a frustrating relationship for both agent and supplier. The #PSP won’t ever deliver traffic volumes in the quantity the portals will and there is no defence against that, but PSP is about a closer more intimate relationship between agents vendors, landlords and applicants.
6718 agents in 100 days IS a remarkable achievement, by far the most impressive thing I have seen in the industry in all the time I was an agent or a supplier.
Don’t knock what has been achieved with comments and arguments that were valid for the previous generation of technology, it says more about you than it does them.
Ask questions, that’s reasonable, but the aggression, nastiness and rudeness is unjustified and ill-mannered
It’s remarkable if true
Robert, I’m pretty sure you understand the tech better than anyone.
However, this is about trust. Many EA signed upto Agents Mutual with the genuine belief that it was the answer to their prayers (until the goalposts were moved, and it wasn’t).
To get basic numbers wrong, 10,000 is now 6,718, is not going to inspire confidence and will lead some to believe that this is just another “smoke and mirrors” outfit.
I tend to get a bit impolite if I think someone is giving out nonsense numbers – I am happy to be proved wrong when the 6718 EA offices appear in a few weeks time.
How long do you estimate for all the feeds to be live?
Will you respect me in the morning? Of course I will!
If all the agents who showed an interest in Homesearch signed up and all the agents who want their properties on Homeseach could get them from their CRM system onto Homesearch it would be possible for Sam and Giles to give cast iron numbers everyone could trust, but as not everyone who expressed an interest needs or wants Homesearch or is in a position to go live yet it is very easing to see how marketing people who are used to some licence over their claims made to other audiences could get tripped up marketing to agents who are sensitive following all that’s been pushed out since 2013.
The reality is that Homesearch is so good and so innovative it plugs a huge gap in the offerings of Rightmove Zoopla and OTM and being owned by Giles and Co it is easy to see an early offer being made from one or more of the portals they are challenging. If I were Charlie Bryant or ?name escapes me at OTM I’d be on the phone to Giles
That as I see it is the only reason to have any concerns about Homesearch It is apparently a good product ( I’ve not seen it) but the people are industry beating and nice with it!
OTM and Homesearch did have a conversation, my understanding is HS wanted too much, fools should go back and renegotiate, the combination of HS tech and OTM portal experience would knock the other portals right out of the park!
How many of the 6718 that have provided CRM details to HomeSearch have then raised a request with their CRM provider to send HomeSearch their feed?
Over promising and under delivering isn’t a wining combination . I wish them success , I am all for a shake up with the portals but it has to be honest , clear real and sincere . Agents have had their fill of being conned or misled. Partner with the agents don’t treat them as a means to make your millions , put them 1st they will reward you with their custom.
still need convincing that even the new numbers are a true reflection of committed signed up ready to go agents.
So flipping what! It’s still an amazing achievement and I’m confident they will easily far exceed 10,000 before the year is out and prove to be a runaway success. Ok, they may have let their obvious passion and enthusiasm allow themselves to get over excited but that just shows them to be human. I can’t imagine that any of you detractors have ever “over emphasised” the number of applicants you have registered 🙂
I say, let’s get behind these guys and maybe, just maybe it will go some way to breaking the yoke we have placed around our necks.
Amen brother. I really don’t get the pi$$ on their chips, snarky positions from some of the posters I recognise as Agents on here sometimes, I can also recognise the reps, vested interests and trolls who I ignore.
We’ll go on, why not? Populate their site see what happens, doesn’t negatively impact on our core operations.
We’ll use their pay for service as well, we had the free trial and liked it, the only reason we’re not using it now is that we’re still on shiitemove and their plus products do the job as well and I’m HTSNOM and just haven’t got round to it, think it was 44pcm per user when I last looked and its slick which gives me confidence in the portals evolution.
At the moment people giving them the beans for the current offering is a bit like critiquing an eight year old for not being able to operate a Foxtons mini. 10 years time the 18 year old in the Foxtons mini will leave Foxtons, establish them-self under their own brand, not be a complete tw@t and great aunt shittemove will be in a padded cell somewhere dribbling about how beautiful she once was ( for shareholders of course ).
‘I really don’t get the pi$$ on their chips, snarky positions from some of the posters I recognise as Agents on here‘
Common traits of Rightmove-dependent agents.
We all love an underdog, particularly if they pit themselves against the likes of Rightmove. However, when that underdog starts to get a bit c0cky and showboats by spouting BS, they invite scrutiny.
These idiots have really pi$$ed on their own chips and it could now go pear-shaped for them.
So 6,718 EA branches will be visible by when?
End of July?
I commend Homesearch for “coming clean” so quickly and admitting their mistake.
I understand that they have also agreed to remove the listings for properties that they did not have permission ( from the respective agents ) to advertise.
What more can you ask?
I don’t know, how about not lie in press releases and steal other companies data? Maybe I’m too fussy.
Just curious, your proof that they are “stealing other companies data?” is what?
Hope they have some, libel’s a right bitch.
In fairness to me Mr Bradbury (fine man that he is) even headlines it in his post “I understand that they have also agreed to remove the listings for properties that they did not have permission ( from the respective agents ) to advertise.”
Last time I checked using/taking something without permission was stealing, sorry, fussy again.
Actually, according to the barrister I commissioned recently to give an opinion on just that point for an unconnected reason, it is not in the case of scraping from a public website provided it is attributed to the source which in this case it is.
Be careful stepping off your soap box.
If you don’t believe that they have been taking CRM feeds without consent then that is your opinion, I disagree, the fact that they have admitted to it and agreed to stop should be proof enough but some people can’t see the wood for the trees.
Firstly, I never said that I didn’t believe that they had scraped data, I simply asked you for your proof.
Secondly, your confirmation that, when asked to, they removed the data further reinforces my opinion that they are fundamentally decent guys as there is no legal obligation for them to do so.
As regards a “soapbox”, you instigated the discussion in this thread, I simply asked you for clarity. I will accept the title of heckler if you still feel the need to be personal.
Well, it’s going to be pretty obvious when agents don’t appear on the site in coming weeks. Had no choice but to come clean now.
What are the lottery numbers going to be this week 1TB? Please take a look in your crystal ball for us all.
Hi Giles ,
Just to carry over yesterday’s question . Which of these services do you intend on selling
1)mortgages
2) conveyancing
3) surveyors
4) removals
5) moving day services
6,700 agents awaiting an answer . Can you also clarify you plan for being able to ascertain which agents sell what . Seems a little muddy when you stir the water ?
To have got to the numbers they have got to and almost ready to launch to the general public in 100 days is incredible! The tide is changing…
More like 18 months
Hopefully PIE will be able to get Rightmove to provide evidence/confirmation of their ‘visits” stats – remind me, is it 100 Million a Day, or a Billion ……or was it a Trillion?
It’s more than that, GPL.
Things are a’booming!