Property data firm Homesearch has launched a ‘game-changing’ prospecting tool that enables agents to show buyers more potential properties to buy than traditional platforms such as Zoopla or Rightmove.

It uses the firm’s own data to reveal properties that match a buyer’s criteria but that are not yet on the market, enabling the agent to then prospect each property’s owners with a ‘live’ potential purchaser.

“As many agents will know, this approach is a valuable and proven tool when prospecting potential instructions but we’ve taken it to the next level,” says co-founder Sam Hunter.

The platform can be white labelled for any agent and has the potential to increase the number of sales instructions within the housing market and increase revenue, as well as helping would-be sellers, landlords and buyers find their next home.

Homesearch has spent three years and a sizeable chunk of its recent £5 million investor funding to develop the tech which, Hunters tells The Neg, is a logical step in his firm’s attempt to help agents reconnect more directly with their clients.

“For so many years now the public have experienced searching for a property as a ‘Rightmove-first’ experience but we believe our portal will change that,” he adds.

Giles Ellwood, Homesearch CEO (main pic), says: “Every seller and landlord start as a buyer.

“By focusing on that early part of their journey, agents will start relationships, win instructions and ward off competition earlier.”

Homesearch says the ‘win-win’ solution for buyer, seller and agent alike, frustrated by the lack of housing stock available, is underpinned by off-portal selling being on the rise.

Trend to continue

Many properties that transacted over the last year never made it to portals, with the upward trend only set to continue, he says.

“Every estate agent in the country is confronted by potential buyers and sellers who hold off coming to market because they are frustrated by the small fraction of properties available on portals. Sellers won’t sell because they believe they won’t be able to buy, whilst many buyers have given up all hope of ever finding their dream home in the current climate.

“This is the biggest challenge currently facing the housing market and we’ve developed a proptech solution that not only addresses the problem but transforms the way a property is prospected, bought and sold, with agents right at the heart of it.”

Find out more about the new portal.