A platform which allows “landlords and tenants to directly engage with each other” is raising funds.
An email sent out to potential investors on its behalf by Angel Investment Network claims that Propoly has already had a £600,000 investment from Countrywide, which it describes as the “market leader in UK rental/management”.
The pitch says that Propoly cuts out letting agents.
Asked about Countrywide’s investment, Ed Ghazal, one of the co-founders of Propoly, said it was correct.
He described Propoly as “a one-stop rental platform for landlords and tenants, due to launch later this year”.
Propoly, based in east London, is currently offering landlords a free trial – its website says the normal charge is £59.99 – and is also listing three properties on Zoopla.
However, Zoopla said: “We have strict eligibility criteria for those advertising with us and the levels of service that they must provide. We are currently reviewing this business.
“Any new agency looking to advertise with us needs to meet our criteria and comply with our member terms and conditions.”
Although the email to potential investors says “Propoly have created a platform that allows landlords to list their property on portals (Zoopla, Rightmove)”, there are no listings on the latter.
A spokesperson said: “They are not a Rightmove customer. If they did want to become a Rightmove customer they would need to apply and go through our usual vetting process.”
According to the Propoly website, tenants are charged £49.99 for referencing.
We asked Ghazal how the ban on letting agent fees would affect his business.
He told us: “We get most of our spend from landlords. We aren’t sure how the tenant ban will come into force yet, we do however charge much less to tenants than estate agents at present (probably one of the lowest on the market) and we put tenants in direct control of their letting, no more waiting around for responses and miscommunications from third parties.”
He added: “The primary customers that Propoly is looking to attract are DIY landlords that do not currently use high street letting agents – which is over 40% of the market. We do not aim to compete with high street letting agents such as Countrywide Plc.”
We have asked Countrywide as to an investment in Propoly and will carry their statement as soon as we are able.
The screengrab is from the email sent by Angel Investment Network to prospective investors.
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/find-agents/branch/propoly-london-77887/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-ghazal
CW, its share price tanking, invests £600K in an operation that cuts out letting agents. Is this the Retail equivalent of hara kiri?
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Love it!
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looking for to hearing about all the horror stories and dodgy landlords this site will attract!
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Forward**
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From a company that is turrning into a retail entity, it seems like panic buying of anything that moves ……in case someone else gets there before it. However I fail to understand how this can possibly benefit anyone except Ghazal.
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OMG insanity reigns supreme. We’ve heard it all now. Sadly any day now Zoopla and or RM will do the same. Bight the hand that feeds !!!!
This is exactly why OTM, poor as it is currently, has to survive .
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Rightmove have a 74% profit margin as they have a relatively low staff base and product and marketing cost . Zoopla has been buying up companies that sell stuff to estate agents . To suggest one of them is going to enter our market place shows huge business nievity ….why would they ?
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1.They have already damaged our industry by allowing on line agents with cheap fees to gain huge traction
2. partly because of this, when the public’s appetite to pay the least they possibly can for a service developed. RM and Zoppla may very well see an emerging private sale/rent market develop.
3. An estate agent, CW, has already done it
If you think our world will stay the same and our profit margins are safe for the future Danny, I think that is naive sadly.
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1) They didn’t allow online agents to gain traction ….we did every time we didnt explain what we do in the front room and went for another me too . I once my Rightmove rep about PB and why they where allowed to advertise , they said that they met all the criteria to advertise and therefore weren’t able to stop them. You cant just make up the rules in a market , its like saying your allowed to advertise unless you have a colour in your business title
2) If you cannot distinguish what you do and what they do your in trouble.
3) An estate agent is not a portal and doesn’t collect any money from other estate agents… don’t get your point.
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There is too many laws and regulations to cut out lettings agents.
Are these guys ARLA qualified for the landlord so the landlord can claim a buy to let mortgage?
who will check the valid gas cert, fire alarms etc…. I can’t seeing this working… they will need a lot more than £600 to get this going….
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consent to let from their mortgage company, not buy to let**
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For such a big player in the game you’re really struggling to type today, aren’t you.
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Ha ha
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Like to be the fly on the wall when Countrywide Lettings regional managers next get their teams together (if they have any RSMs by then).
“Good morning everyone. I’ll make this quick so you can get back to your branches before they close . . . permanently.
“I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
“I’ll get the bad news out of the way first. Your employers have decided to back a business aiming to put you out of a job. Oh sorry, we’re already doing that we.
“The good news is you’ll have to find work elsewhere which almost certainly be with a company that cares about you, is run by people who know how to run an estate agency business, invest in it and most of all make money which means you’ll earn well and have a future”.
“Right, those of you that still have branches, let’s get out there and show everyone what Countrywide Lettings is all about . . . “.
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I think there is logic in a DIY landlord platform. Where there isn’t is giving £600 large to people for something that you can get up and and running for about 10% of that amount as you already have the resources in house. What you absolutely must have is people of the requisite quality and vision to facilitate something without ‘burning down’ what you already have. There in lies the problem!
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A very reasoned argument that echos my thoughts exactly….have you ever though about going into philosophy?
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thought not though
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I have thought about it a lot but came to realise I simply do not have the intellect. Thanks for the compliment nonetheless; assuming it was one?
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Yes it was a compliment (I don’t do sarcasm in public…only in private… like to my cat who, as I tried to move her head out of the way the other morning to put food in her bowl,…hissed at me!!!). I also love your ‘handle name’….the thought of having a philosopher in our industry is just brilliant. It needs someone to write a script and make a film.
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no starring role for me; I fear I have a face only my mother could love!
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Hmmmmm…me too
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“Countrywide is a fundamentally a tech company, that sells houses”
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An interesting point however; I actually don’t think they know what they are at the moment.
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Have they got £600k to go splashing about or are they looking to burn the oil wells as they retreat?
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This is only my way of looking at it but who in their right mind doesn’t use an good agent to manage their property investment? 10% tax deductible is 6%
6% of the average rent is £50. £50 to have a 24/7 servant answer the phones, write letters, serve notices, track everything, organise everything, put up with a tenant’s thoughts and opinions and all of the potential problems and conflicts?
I simply can’t contemplate any genius thought process that wants to save 7p per hour but less can I understand anyone deliberately targeting such naive clients. Madness!
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ultimately it is targeting a market that do not currently use letting agents – hardly taking their own business it is just further diversifying to the untapped 40%
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