‘Agent controlled’ portal gaining traction with first 200 properties
The Neg reported in June how Find Properties was hoping to destabilise the portal market by launching a portal that would be developed and controlled by agents.
Proptech entrepreneur Kae Travis says his new portal to rival the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla is slowly starting to gain traction and is now listing 200 properties for sale.
The Neg reported in June how Travis was hoping to destabilise the portal market by launching a portal that would be developed and cotrolled by agents.
Agents can list properties on the portal for free but ealier this month we revealed that only a handful had signed up to the initiative as the campaign stalled.
CHALLENGES
But Travis tells The Neg: “After a slow start the Find Properties platform now lists over 200 properties but it hasn’t been without challenges.”
Agents have long believed that it is only property portals that have a stranglehold on their industry, in terms of dictating costs and monetising agent data.
But Travis says: “It isn’t only pesky portals that control agent data. The conduit between an agent’s property listings and property portals is usually a CRM (customer relationship management). As such CRMs dictate where agents can upload their properties to, and this sometimes comes at a cost.
“You would think that in a modern, data-driven, interconnected web space that sharing small chunks of text representing your data that you already pay a subscription for would be absorbed as part of your subscription cost?
“For some CRMs this is indeed the case and we’ll be integrating their services as a priority if we have not already done so.”
SETUP FEES
The problem, Travis says, is that other CRMs charge one-off setup fees for portals (over £1,000), additional monthly costs for agents and one even charges portals over £3,500 per year just to read agent data
And in a warning to agents he adds : “I personally class this astronomical fee as monetising agent data. Be mindful when choosing a CRM of the feasibility and costs associated with integrating external web services.
“This might be integration with property portals such as Find Properties, or automation software suppliers like Zapier, compliance software like Credas or even file storage software like Dropbox or otherwise.
“Having freedom to share your data how you please should not come at a significant additional cost. If your CRM only feeds your data to “the big 3”, or if they charge additional fees to share your data, chances are they are part of the problem.”
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