Grant Shapps announced at the Tory conference yesterday that he would 'consign Home Information Packs to History' if the Tories were to win the next election.
Well, Boris Johnson promised that bendy buses would be replaced and guess what, yep, they are still out there. We all know you can't really believe a word that comes from a politicians mouth, but what if, they are actually telling the truth?! Unbelievable as it sounds, (the truth that is) would this open the way to a new approach in the modernisation of the house purchasing process? Indeed, HIPs in the original form did seek to help this process, but they were watered down and everyone moaned and whined until they were left with the dishcloth of a product that exists today.
I suspect the HIPs providers will be lobbying hard to keep them in some shape or form and we will be lobbying hard to modernise the entire process so perhaps there will be a home for a better product in the future?
By the way, the Tories are 1/4 to win the next election and the bookies don't normally get this wrong, (source William Hill)
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Lobbying government for a change in the house buying process
We need a lobby.
I don't mean a nice Italian marble one for the entrance of my house, no, I mean a professional lobby that will approach the government to change the law on house purchase.
This is the first step towards modernisation of this industry. Who can perform this role? Unfortunately, I don't have a great deal of confidence in the NAEA or any of the other bodies out there.
I believe the industry needs a professional group that is paid to lobby parliament, get a few MPs onside and grease the palms of the people who need greasing.
I, along with others, would be prepared to source and brief this group and perhaps I ought to arrange a research and intelligence gathering stage where I collate views from agents, mortgage companies, solicitors etc etc. So let's start that here. What do you think should change?
By the way, I would also like an Italian marble lobby, but not sure my flat would support the weight.
I don't mean a nice Italian marble one for the entrance of my house, no, I mean a professional lobby that will approach the government to change the law on house purchase.
This is the first step towards modernisation of this industry. Who can perform this role? Unfortunately, I don't have a great deal of confidence in the NAEA or any of the other bodies out there.
I believe the industry needs a professional group that is paid to lobby parliament, get a few MPs onside and grease the palms of the people who need greasing.
I, along with others, would be prepared to source and brief this group and perhaps I ought to arrange a research and intelligence gathering stage where I collate views from agents, mortgage companies, solicitors etc etc. So let's start that here. What do you think should change?
By the way, I would also like an Italian marble lobby, but not sure my flat would support the weight.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Look4aproperty £1 billion marketing drive
You will recall that James Caan and the guys at Look4aproperty made some ambitious claims a while back that they were going to single handed kick start the housing market.
They have now announced a £1 billion marketing offensive. Look4aproperty has tied up a deal with a finance company to provide interest free loans to first time buyers to cover fees and disbursements. Buyers can apparently borrow any amount from £500 and pay it back over 36 months interest free. Sadly, it doesn't include the deposit!
Speaking with the Negotiator, James Caan said '...The market has changed dramatically in terms of the deposit you need today versus what you may have needed a couple of years ago. In that environment, a few thousand pounds today is a material sum. First and second-time buyers don't have that level of liquidity; whatever cash they have, they need for the deposit, so I think this product can make a big difference.'
I like this idea, it has balls on the face of it. But dig deeper and is it all a little vague. Is this just a big £1 billion marketing exercise?
Indeed, if the average number of houses sold per month is currently 35,000 (Land Registry) and average fees were £1,000 then even if look4aproperty was involved on every transaction they would not come close to the £1 billion. So, if you have a billion why not offer deposit loans?! Now this really would have balls!
The devil will be in the detail and the terms and conditions are conspicuous by their absence.
Punters can only access this through agents who are signed up to the scheme. These agents must be signed up to look4aproperty, i.e. paying £200 per month. Agents get a healthy commission of £500 (apparently) per sign up and only two agents per region (no definition) are allowed to participate.
This has all the hallmarks of a clever PR stunt, but I can be persuaded otherwise if the guys at Look4aproperty send me the terms and conditions and fill in some of the blanks.
They have now announced a £1 billion marketing offensive. Look4aproperty has tied up a deal with a finance company to provide interest free loans to first time buyers to cover fees and disbursements. Buyers can apparently borrow any amount from £500 and pay it back over 36 months interest free. Sadly, it doesn't include the deposit!
Speaking with the Negotiator, James Caan said '...The market has changed dramatically in terms of the deposit you need today versus what you may have needed a couple of years ago. In that environment, a few thousand pounds today is a material sum. First and second-time buyers don't have that level of liquidity; whatever cash they have, they need for the deposit, so I think this product can make a big difference.'
I like this idea, it has balls on the face of it. But dig deeper and is it all a little vague. Is this just a big £1 billion marketing exercise?
Indeed, if the average number of houses sold per month is currently 35,000 (Land Registry) and average fees were £1,000 then even if look4aproperty was involved on every transaction they would not come close to the £1 billion. So, if you have a billion why not offer deposit loans?! Now this really would have balls!
The devil will be in the detail and the terms and conditions are conspicuous by their absence.
Punters can only access this through agents who are signed up to the scheme. These agents must be signed up to look4aproperty, i.e. paying £200 per month. Agents get a healthy commission of £500 (apparently) per sign up and only two agents per region (no definition) are allowed to participate.
This has all the hallmarks of a clever PR stunt, but I can be persuaded otherwise if the guys at Look4aproperty send me the terms and conditions and fill in some of the blanks.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Real estate was never our cup fo tea
FOREM says this comment is straight from the founder of dothomes.co.uk which is now up for sale by way of auction.
How many more entrepreneurs with portals feel a bit like this at the moment I wonder? I must admit I have had similar thoughts from time to time. Why? A hundred and one reasons, but fundamentally we are dealing with a very mundane act (a house purchase, house rental) and the market is well served with established players providing a reasonable customer service.
Many new portals have sought to shake up the industry concentrating on the b2b elements (i.e. free for agents to list) and indeed have improved the market and probably the customer experience. But buying a house is still a function the average human being will do only three to four times in their life and won't start until they are on average 31 years of age. Yes, there are millions of us, but the whole process is nothing to get excited about and whichever way you cut it, it has a finite point.
From an entrepreneurs point of view many have immersed themselves within the industry and maybe it just isn't exciting enough to keep their fires burning. That said, the industry is not short of new entrepreneurs who want to give it a go (Zoopla and a host of other new portals), but I suspect a few others may prefer the taste of coffee very soon. For me, I still like tea and will continue to try a few different flavours and this industry won't get rid of me just yet.
The dothomes Auction closes on 1 October 2009, but no information on how to bid, where to go etc etc?
How many more entrepreneurs with portals feel a bit like this at the moment I wonder? I must admit I have had similar thoughts from time to time. Why? A hundred and one reasons, but fundamentally we are dealing with a very mundane act (a house purchase, house rental) and the market is well served with established players providing a reasonable customer service.
Many new portals have sought to shake up the industry concentrating on the b2b elements (i.e. free for agents to list) and indeed have improved the market and probably the customer experience. But buying a house is still a function the average human being will do only three to four times in their life and won't start until they are on average 31 years of age. Yes, there are millions of us, but the whole process is nothing to get excited about and whichever way you cut it, it has a finite point.
From an entrepreneurs point of view many have immersed themselves within the industry and maybe it just isn't exciting enough to keep their fires burning. That said, the industry is not short of new entrepreneurs who want to give it a go (Zoopla and a host of other new portals), but I suspect a few others may prefer the taste of coffee very soon. For me, I still like tea and will continue to try a few different flavours and this industry won't get rid of me just yet.
The dothomes Auction closes on 1 October 2009, but no information on how to bid, where to go etc etc?
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Property Owl Blog is back, long live the blog
Apologies for the lack of posts, I have been .... well, fed up!
If I am honest, and I usually am, I had grown a little disheartened with certain areas of the property industry (i know, we are in a recession). I saw portals opening daily, more software providers giving away their products for free, more agents doing the same things or less. It felt to me that so many were not listening and missing the point. It was all too much, too crowded, too claustrophobic.
So instead of falling into a well of despair I asked myself, what does this industry need?
Apart from less of everything, I concluded we need an entirely new model! And I don't mean sell it yourself websites, tinkering with new pricing models based on leads, clicks, views, subscriptions, free hosting etc etc and I certainly don't mean more portals. I mean a completely new approach. One that turns the industry on its head. Out with the old and in with the new. It is mid life crisis time!
So where to start?
- The law regarding house sale/purchase needs to change (i.e. the Scottish approach)
- Agents, if they remain, need to be regulated
- The entire industry needs to be rebranded
- Should we go communist and let the government control house sales
- Surely one feed and one portal is enough
- How about every house sale is auctioned on one portal (the land registry)
I think we should discuss this, preferably over a pint or two.
See you all at the Windmill Pub next week.
If I am honest, and I usually am, I had grown a little disheartened with certain areas of the property industry (i know, we are in a recession). I saw portals opening daily, more software providers giving away their products for free, more agents doing the same things or less. It felt to me that so many were not listening and missing the point. It was all too much, too crowded, too claustrophobic.
So instead of falling into a well of despair I asked myself, what does this industry need?
Apart from less of everything, I concluded we need an entirely new model! And I don't mean sell it yourself websites, tinkering with new pricing models based on leads, clicks, views, subscriptions, free hosting etc etc and I certainly don't mean more portals. I mean a completely new approach. One that turns the industry on its head. Out with the old and in with the new. It is mid life crisis time!
So where to start?
- The law regarding house sale/purchase needs to change (i.e. the Scottish approach)
- Agents, if they remain, need to be regulated
- The entire industry needs to be rebranded
- Should we go communist and let the government control house sales
- Surely one feed and one portal is enough
- How about every house sale is auctioned on one portal (the land registry)
I think we should discuss this, preferably over a pint or two.
See you all at the Windmill Pub next week.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Iphone apps for the UK real estate market
The rush to get an iphone app into the UK market has now been joined by Rightmove, who yesterday announced their iphone app.
This all follows Nestoria’s first foray and then Globrix. With others sure to follow I thought I would actually take a look at them and see how they compared. In order of launch:
Nestoria – iproperty
Don’t search on your iphone for nestoria, search for iproperty. Nestoria created an api that worked on the iphone and then let the world see what they could create. An excellent idea in principle and as always Nestoria are at the cutting edge of innovation.
Unfortunately, as with many front runners I feel the product needs a little attention. The opening graphics are good, but the search page doesn’t quite resemble anything the user may be familiar with. To be fair, it is not that bad once you get the hang of it, but for some reason my search on Clapham to rent didn’t produce any results. Now I know Clapham is a bit of a dump, but there must be a few places for rent.
The search from my gps location was hard to find, but works well once found and was quick. This function is so, well ... iphonish it needs to stand out more.
The property results page is not particularly attractive, no pictures and it feels as if the property listings are too far apart and not in any particular order. For more information I must click on preview and photo, which is too small and some properties deliver scant information. At first I really didn't like this, but I am getting used to it.
At least I can go directly to the agent’s website quickly and easily and it does feel as if there is no fuss with this application. Being first in innovation is always a challenge and more often than not one needs to revisit and update the product once the rest of the pack have caught up. They have caught up already (see below).
As the only one to charge (£1.79) for the app I fear the uptake will be slow.
App store was showing only 2 reviews, one good, one bad.
Globrix
Globrix is not an app per se, so you have to use it in your browser on the iphone. Not a problem there and no download (not that this is really an issue). What Globrix have done is to update their mobile site to allow iphone users to search from their gps location (a function that is just made for the iphone). It is a clean and easily identifiable button on the home page which takes one directly to property listing page.
The property listings page is well laid out and I know where I am and what I am doing, good usability with good clear buttons make it easy for me to find my way around. Good information and map details give me all the information I really need.
Drilling further into a property I get a nice large picture and more information along with the button that takes me to the agent.
The site works well and whilst it is not an iphone app in the true sense of the phrase, I like the idea of making it work from the mobile website. Indeed, forethought, as one can allow other technology platforms to benefit from the gps search functionality as when it is available. That said, I like having the app button that I just hit once and there it is.
Rightmove
Rightmove is often overlooked for credit in technology and many agents of course enjoy bashing RM at every opportunity, but the truth is that their back end agent technology is actually very good and their iphone app is very nice indeed (ok, their website isn’t great, but the public still use it above all others).
Anyway, with 30 ratings already, the majority of which are positive, I am expecting good things.
From the opening screen, I am impressed. Good graphics, great use of colour and lovely big buttons. I am in familiar ground and left with little doubt what I am to do.
The property listings page is cleanly presented and again I am in familiar territory. Drilling down to a property reveals a lovely feel good screen with a range of menu options providing all the information I need. A wonderful call the agent button reveals, yes, the telephone number in iphone fashion so you can just press the call button, excellent!
Pictures are well presented and I am also shown a moving gallery of property images. Again, very slick. The search filters work well.
It just looks and feels better! It is also free. From the brand point of view, my property searching habits have grown up with RM and this app just cements my feelings further that if I ever do search on the iphone for a property I will probably hit the RM app button.
It is the only one of the three to truly marry up with the iphone and make use of iphone capability and functionality.
Summary
Many agents will still question the large sums they give to Rightmove, but if they continue to develop and innovate in this style I would want to be with them. Before agents poo poo the iphone app as a frivolous foray with their money, one ought to consider for a moment how many of your current clients have iphones. Then consider your future clients.
As an agent I would be working out how to best optimize my pages so my client’s property stands out on the iphone. Heard it before, take good pictures, write real descriptions!!
For the moment, the RM app is staying on my iphone.
This all follows Nestoria’s first foray and then Globrix. With others sure to follow I thought I would actually take a look at them and see how they compared. In order of launch:
Nestoria – iproperty
Don’t search on your iphone for nestoria, search for iproperty. Nestoria created an api that worked on the iphone and then let the world see what they could create. An excellent idea in principle and as always Nestoria are at the cutting edge of innovation.
Unfortunately, as with many front runners I feel the product needs a little attention. The opening graphics are good, but the search page doesn’t quite resemble anything the user may be familiar with. To be fair, it is not that bad once you get the hang of it, but for some reason my search on Clapham to rent didn’t produce any results. Now I know Clapham is a bit of a dump, but there must be a few places for rent.
The search from my gps location was hard to find, but works well once found and was quick. This function is so, well ... iphonish it needs to stand out more.
The property results page is not particularly attractive, no pictures and it feels as if the property listings are too far apart and not in any particular order. For more information I must click on preview and photo, which is too small and some properties deliver scant information. At first I really didn't like this, but I am getting used to it.
At least I can go directly to the agent’s website quickly and easily and it does feel as if there is no fuss with this application. Being first in innovation is always a challenge and more often than not one needs to revisit and update the product once the rest of the pack have caught up. They have caught up already (see below).
As the only one to charge (£1.79) for the app I fear the uptake will be slow.
App store was showing only 2 reviews, one good, one bad.
Globrix
Globrix is not an app per se, so you have to use it in your browser on the iphone. Not a problem there and no download (not that this is really an issue). What Globrix have done is to update their mobile site to allow iphone users to search from their gps location (a function that is just made for the iphone). It is a clean and easily identifiable button on the home page which takes one directly to property listing page.
The property listings page is well laid out and I know where I am and what I am doing, good usability with good clear buttons make it easy for me to find my way around. Good information and map details give me all the information I really need.
Drilling further into a property I get a nice large picture and more information along with the button that takes me to the agent.
The site works well and whilst it is not an iphone app in the true sense of the phrase, I like the idea of making it work from the mobile website. Indeed, forethought, as one can allow other technology platforms to benefit from the gps search functionality as when it is available. That said, I like having the app button that I just hit once and there it is.
Rightmove
Rightmove is often overlooked for credit in technology and many agents of course enjoy bashing RM at every opportunity, but the truth is that their back end agent technology is actually very good and their iphone app is very nice indeed (ok, their website isn’t great, but the public still use it above all others).
Anyway, with 30 ratings already, the majority of which are positive, I am expecting good things.
From the opening screen, I am impressed. Good graphics, great use of colour and lovely big buttons. I am in familiar ground and left with little doubt what I am to do.
The property listings page is cleanly presented and again I am in familiar territory. Drilling down to a property reveals a lovely feel good screen with a range of menu options providing all the information I need. A wonderful call the agent button reveals, yes, the telephone number in iphone fashion so you can just press the call button, excellent!
Pictures are well presented and I am also shown a moving gallery of property images. Again, very slick. The search filters work well.
It just looks and feels better! It is also free. From the brand point of view, my property searching habits have grown up with RM and this app just cements my feelings further that if I ever do search on the iphone for a property I will probably hit the RM app button.
It is the only one of the three to truly marry up with the iphone and make use of iphone capability and functionality.
Summary
Many agents will still question the large sums they give to Rightmove, but if they continue to develop and innovate in this style I would want to be with them. Before agents poo poo the iphone app as a frivolous foray with their money, one ought to consider for a moment how many of your current clients have iphones. Then consider your future clients.
As an agent I would be working out how to best optimize my pages so my client’s property stands out on the iphone. Heard it before, take good pictures, write real descriptions!!
For the moment, the RM app is staying on my iphone.
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