A new property portal is set to go live in the first two weeks of next month.
It is the brainchild of Adam Pigott, formerly with the online agent Estates Direct.
It will be free to agents for the first three months and after that will be £100 per branch.
OpenBrix is currently in beta testing with agents. It is highly critical of Rightmove in a blog on its site, and has previously said that it will challenge OnTheMarket as an agent-owned portal.
Describing itself as “the world’s first decentralised property portal”, it says it is built on blockchain, and will offer visibility on every transaction.
A spokesperson yesterday said: “We really want to disrupt the market, especially when the big boys keep whacking up their costs.”
An article on the site says that agents will be able to earn “a few hundred pounds” from each tenancy, without having to do any upselling themselves.
The blog also suggests that the portal will be “merely caretakers”, working for agents, and operating like a big WhatsApp group.
The blog, Time for a Mass Migration, is by Pigott, who founded Surrey letting agent CHK Mountford, which he sold to Countrywide.
The entrepreneurial Pigott was formerly with online agent Estates Direct, known for its founder Steve Smith of Poundland. Pigott also founded online agent MakeurMove, and Credit Ladder.
While the new OpenBrix portal says it is for both sales and lettings, it appears to be very much built for the rental market.
It is integrated with Equifax and Experian via Credit Ladder, meaning that tenants can build their credit ratings by paying their rent on time.
We don’t need yet another portal, we’ve seen how long it took OTM to get where it is now. We all need to get behind ATM as that is our best chance of becoming the new number #1 property portal.
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Why is everyone trying to build a new portal as the next best thing? Customers – tenants and buyers – aren’t going to browse 8 different places for a property
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