A For Sale board has appeared on a property which suggests that it is being sold by Rightmove itself – causing a flurry of concern among local agents.
The For Sale sign, on the property in Ferndown, Dorset, carries the Rightmove logo and mentions no agent.
It does, however, direct people to a telephone number. When we rung it, we found ourselves talking to the vendor.
The For Sale board also directs anyone interested to what appears to be a private website set up by the vendors www.290StationRd.co.uk
The board also advises: “Viewing by appointment only. Take a look at Rightmove.”
The property is listed on Rightmove through online agent Turtlehomes, and was added on April 13. The Turtlehomes listing specifically directs readers to the private website.
At the end of the listing is an agent’s note which says that the heating system and appliances “have not been tested by Hearnes Estate Agents”.
Clicking through to the ‘particulars’ and you are immediately on the website of 290 Station Road.
Turtlehomes, based in Gloucestershire, offers a service that starts at £195 which includes listing on Rightmove and Zoopla, but not a sales board. Turtlehomes sales boards come with the two more expensive packages at £395 and £550.
We did contact Turtlehomes and spoke to founder Richard Tuck, inviting him to comment if he wished.
A Rightmove spokesperson said: “As soon as this was brought to our attention we contacted the agent and asked them to speak with their vendor to remove the Rightmove branding from their own marketing materials, which they are in the process of doing.”
The spokesperson said that Rightmove had also asked Turtlehomes to remove the reference to the vendors’ own website, and said that the listing is now directing people to the agent’s brochure.
Below: The For Sale sign spotted outside the property
Below: A screengrab of the listing on Rightmove where online agent Turtlehomes directed people to the owners’ private website – this is now removed
Below: A screengrab of the now-removed link on Rightmove showing the owners’ private website
I love stuff like this, and I think it’s a great idea by the owner, and even if it has been to be changed or taken down, it’s already got people talking. That’s exactly what you want!
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“If” this has been sanctioned by RM then every agent should withdraw from them.
This is the start of sale by owner by RM (despite there being an on line agent involved) It makes a total mockery of the vast sums RM take from us to be on their site and is another move in the destruction of the high street agent. Something has to be done. It could of course be the online agent acting alone. If so we should expect a total condemnation of it immediately by RM.
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@ Typhoon,
I’d place a 1000 to 1 that big portals don’t do FSBO direct in the next 12-18 months.
The above is pretty close, but there’s a big flaw if RM or Z did allow FSBO direct !!!!!!!!!!!!
If RM or Z bypassed agents to allow a FSBO (passive intermediary) model at £199/£299/£25 or whatever £igure, it would upset toooooo many agents. Additionally for RM to keep upping their revenue (as they have agent saturation) their next sell to people is Joe Public to keep profits rising year on year.
If RM or Z provided a FS board and offered ancillary services such as pics, EPC’s, Virtual tours, etc etc, then the portal would become an agent and if vendors did their own details that RM or Z didnt check and there was omissions or wrong info, the potential fines could be £housands and down to the portal not checking information provided.If no other services are provided and the tel no takes the interested parties direct to the sellers and NO other services are offered, then the board/service provider would be seen as a passive intermediary, void from CPR’s, Omissions and BPRs and estate agency regulation and legislation and redress..
A portal is better to allow agents mug enough to do low cost charges for listing, as the mugs who claim ‘We £save you £billions’ would take the blame and fines for any errors that were not checked.As such budget agents are the firewall to consumer fines that mean RM and Z don’t have to class as agents.
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I love the jumpy in stuff … this is the start of fsbo by Rightmove , destruction of the high street… if you read the plain English words at the bottom Wrongmove have asked for the complete removal of everything including the website making it clear and obvious that they aren’t happy about it . Still , a chance to scream “were all doooomed captain mannering ” , never goes amiss
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In fairness, danny, you do have a point. You can’t beat a bit of ‘jumpy in stuff’ – and there’s always plenty of people like me to get the ball rolling.
Funny thing, though – when you look back over the years of ‘jumpy in stuff’, how much of it is warning of stuff that represents today’s industry problems.
And if it’s a problem for the industry, it can and will only manifest into a worse problem for those the industry serve.
Doooooom-mongering? Or merely forcasting tomorrow’s problems?
Surely “to be forewarned is to be forearmed”, and all that…
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Thanks Pee Bee
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It seems the work of a very clever seller.
In fairness, if RM were to launch such a spectacular initiative, they wouldn’t have chosen West Moors as the launch pad. No disrespect intendened as I grew up in Ferndown and worked there until moving to London 20 years ago.
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I agree, Mr W – one very clever seller indeed. Missed his vocation, I would suggest.
Where this falls down is where the “Agent” he has paid to list the property has clearly taken no steps whatsoever to ensure that material added to Rightmove is compliant in any way, shape or form.
For those wanting a prime example, here’s a cut’n’paste of one sentence from the Turtlehomes listing on Rightmove…
“AGENTS NOTES: The heating system, mains and appliances have not been tested by Hearnes Estate Agents.“
I say ‘…of one sentence…’ – but if you care to check, the entire wording has been lifted from the previous Agent’s description.
I rest my case…
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I live in West Moors; the area is lovely and the market very bouyant. I think the ‘idea’ was good and wonder what would have been the outcome (sale / no sale) if no complaints had been made? Love the board; I would certainly be drawn to read it
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Let’s not call black white when we all know it’s black. This was obviously the vendor being shrewd (nice board). It wasn’t sanctioned by Rightmove and it wasn’t Rightmove trying to dip their toe in the fsbo model. Rightmove gives us much to complain about but not this. It’s a non story…….at the moment.
Because nailed on, Rightmove will do it at some point. It’s discussed a lot at RM’s head office. For sale by owner will be their way of taking over the online sales crown as the market begins to get tougher, fees drop, agents start closing and the online agents rapidly increase their market share.
The ironic thing is that we’re all funding (with RM’s disgustingly high monthly fees) a company that will eventually see our demise.
Happy Friday everyone! x
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“For sale by owner will be their way of taking over the online sales crown as the market begins to get tougher… and the online agents rapidly increase their market share.”
Please explain the rationale behind the end bit of your crystal ball vision, FromTheHip64. My eyes see the complete opposite from my aspect of the shiny orb…
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Don’t expect a response today , he’s in Rightmove so head office listening to sensitive conversations ……
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Not answering for FromTheHip64. But my crystal ball tells me…
As more Estate Agents close down and brand recognition & trust increases for the online agents, the market share will increase. More ‘for sale’ and ‘sold’ boards will be on view.
It will be gradual but I’ve seen a big increase in the last 2 months. I expect more well known brands to enter the fray, increasing consumer trust even further.
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Is this the thin end of the wedge, groups such as ‘Turtle Homes’ who are not estate agents, providing a low cost platform for owners to get their properties listed on the main portals, whilst turning a small profit. Should this be raised, in this instance with Rightmove? as a back door into private sales.
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This vendor could teach plenty of estate agents how to professionally present a property. Top marks for skill, effort and execution.
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For many small independents selling say 40 to 50 properties a year (in the current climate) rightmove membership can be over £300 per property to list. Where does this work for ‘sell your property from £195’. Or do the online listers get a lower rate per unit? Does anyone know what they pay or how they are charged?
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Panic not guys, Turtle homes is based in and owned by a local independent, as named, their on line sideline if you will.
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This is not an uncommon practice. Click on any Openrent property and go to Property Details. Click on link and it takes you straight to their site to connect directly with Landlord. Brought to RMs attention on many occassions but they ignore complaint. see for example http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-59250430.html. Also Agents writing their contact details and web site address into their particulars….same uninterested response from RM
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