Zoopla Property Group says it delivered record levels of appraisal leads to its agent members over the first half of 2015 via a tool which allows home owners to contact local agents for a valuation with a view to instructing them.
Since January, prospective vendors and landlords have already sent over 135,000 enquiries to Zoopla member agents requesting appraisals, up 40% on the same period last year, and potentially worth £100m in fees.
Jon Notley, commercial director at ZPG, said: “Home movers are increasingly using our websites to identify and select local agents for valuation purposes.
“Any agent not on our platform and therefore not visible in our unique appraisal tool will be losing out on these valuable leads and instructions as well as missing out on insight into those in their local market who are looking to move.
“The record level of appraisal leads and instructions we are delivering once again highlights the exceptional value we offer our members.”
Separately, OnTheMarket has re-affirmed that it has not dropped its ‘one other portal’ rule.
A new letter of intent is inviting prospective members to show their support once OTM has 7,500 members. An email says that by showing their intention now, they would not have to drop a portal or make any financial commitment “at present”.
Ian Springett, chief executive of OTM, said: “In less than five months, OnTheMarket.com has significantly changed the portals market and continues to grow in size and momentum with 4.4m visits to the website in June.
“The email quoted simply refers to a new option for agents to show their support for OnTheMarket.com by signing a letter of intent.
“This approach was used to great effect in successive pre-launch phases.
“The letters of intent represent a commitment to join Agents’ Mutual when overall support for its OnTheMarket.com portal reaches 7,500 offices. The one other portal rule remains in place.”
Springett also said that Hitwise data for OTM traffic in May was inaccurate, and that OTM achieved 4.1m visits.
Comments (22)
Wouldn’t be hard Zoopla! When I used to use you, they were virtually non existent and when they did come through, most of them hadn’t realised they had requested one!
WELL DONE ZOOPLA… CAN I KNOW HAVE QUOTE FOR INSURANCE!
Z say that all these leads got sent equalling £100m in fees.
Z think we are all stupid. I’m pretty sure that some of these homeowners may have sent the same request to more than 1 agent. If on average they send 3-5 per property then that takes the properties from 135,000 to somewhere between 27,000 – 45,000. Some will already have their house up on the market too.
45,000 is not that impressive for 6 months, 7,500 a month between, should we say, 7,500 Z agents. We all get 1 each per month. To be honest I don’t know any agency that can survive on 1 per month that you will be fighting with 3 or more other agents. Last year we were getting less than this. Please Zoopla concentrate less stupid figures and useless tools and sack those people that think this makes sense and reduce my fees please
They should really be targeting their market a little better, Estate agents aren’t stupid and when you look into all these figures and to what is actually saying they really aren’t helping themselves as Zoopla is not a property valuations portal it is a shop window for me to advertise my housing stock to everyone in the country and abroad. this is where they should target their marketing not valuations
My local Z agents must have an email problem then!
Around me: RM still No.1, OTM still no.2 and Z yep Z even further behind again. Well done though on the leads though, it would be nice to hear what the conversion rate of leads to instruction are.
Meanwhile, in ‘the other pub’…
Our friendly contributor Ms Henderson is of the opinion “The corporates can cash out at any point and join OTM – they would be welcomed with open arms and be given the best deal available.”
You REALLY don’t understand OTM – do you?
“… and those of us who stuck away from it are winning as customers are far more willing to believe that a bunch of crooked agents have got together to save a few quid than they are on some righteous cause – especially when I point out it only costs about £30 to advertise their property on Z and £60 to advertise it on RM.”
Well… if, as you state, you have to resort to perpetuating fallacies in order to win instructions that speaks volumes, Ms Henderson.
And if your entire sales pitch is portal driven, as it appears above, then in my opinion your entire ‘sales’ offering will be the same and in that event your ‘win’ is most likely your clients’ loss.
But then – in your opinion I’m a moron.
Not seen her full comment but she is not wrong in “The corporates can cash out at any point and join OTM – they would be welcomed with open arms and be given the best deal available.”
OTM would take them and they would be given the best available deal to them.
Am i missing something?
Hi smile please – I would suggest that Ms Henderson is intimating the Corps would be given big volume discount rates in the same way they get them from the other portals. This quite simply would not be the case.
The rest of her comment beggars belief – to the effect that when taken to task on that site by another poster she followed up with “I am not saying that you ARE crooked, I am just saying that customers are prepared to believe that you are. Especially with docs like last night’s.”
Erm… sorry m’dear but YOU are in exactly the same boat as the rest of us there – WHEREVER you or the company decision-maker chooses to advertise your stock. Thinking that your choice of portal will make a halfpenny’s worth of difference to the public perception of whether your morals are righteous or not is… well… a tad silly to be frank.
More of a failing coffee shop than the other pub PeeBee but she was funny. I think she then went on a rant, calling him Greek.
I cannot even look at the failing coffee shop, makes my eyes hurt with all the advertising, colours and fonts!
Also seem to be more extremists over there (although this site does also) just looking to shout any new idea down.
I was one of those leads!
3 weeks ago, as one of my portfolio became vacant I decided to put it up for sale, went on Zoopla for comparables, very few available for sale in the area, so then selected 4 agents to market appraise the house.
It was a Friday and I specifically stated that I was at the time overseas & back early on the following Tuesday, so no calls before then!
In less than 30 minutes I received what seems to be a standard email from the local office of one of the largest National chains stating they had tried calling me without success & could I call them blah, blah, blah.
It’s funny that, my phone had not left my side, no missed calls and no one else has a problem contacting me, especially the PPi claims companies!
Despite receiving a second identical copy email 4 days later, I haven’t called them, if they can’t be bothered to get my business, then why should I bother.
Shame really that their MD who was my area manager when I worked for the same company many years ago decided to retire from the business last December, I would have loved to converse with him on this matter.
Someone from the largest Regional chain that I had requested telephoned me on the Tuesday morning but as I was driving (the earwig had decided to go on strike) I asked them to call me back in 10 minutes as I could then park up and talk.
I’m still awaiting the call!
However, last week they did email (looks decidedly like another standard letter, but with a glaring error this time) thanking me for contacting them with regards to an appraisal to SELL, but I had not supplied them with enough information for them to match my requirements of the property I am looking for!!!!
Needless to say, I haven’t contacted them either.
Now, the final two,
A young negotiator from the smaller Regional, Franchise Partnership, turned up 15 minutes early, told me about the only other house they had for sale, no recent sales, within a half mile, a 2up/2down as opposed to my 3 bed/ 3 storey, then quoted me a guide price the same as the other property, telling me proudly that he could sell it within 2 weeks. I’m sure he could!
Then, a woman from the largest National turned up, 20 minutes late but tried to tell me she was 40 minutes early! Gave me her career history with the company, told me how she had sold many houses in the area and how all had exceeded the guide price.
She then quoted me a lowest suggested price that was 24% above the other agent’s top price and about 15% above my thoughts.
I know that I have rambled on here but having worked as an Estate Agent & property investor for almost 30 years, until retirement, including establishing my own Agency, I am amazed at the lack of dedication to providing a decent service to potential customers.
It’s no good moaning about a lack of business if you’re not prepared to go get it.
A great quote that I have stood by over the years, by the great & inspirational Barry Sheene was: “Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out and meet the bloody thing!”
Keith112 – the moral of this?
DON’T USE A ‘ZOOPLA AGENT’! What you see is what you get!
Do me a huge favour – do the same this time via OTM – let us know how you get on, please ;o)
Don’t use a Zoopla agent? Very nearly every Zoopla agent is a Rightmove agent. Odd comment.
I would read that as vendors & buyers take Zoopla seriously and send serious valuation requests through them. It appears agents ignore the leads wrongly thinking that theor world ends with Rightmove leads – valuation leads at that.
I sent some leads through Zoopla recently – I had to chase them. Embarrassing service levels.
I don’t quite follow that you sent some leads through Zoopla, what does that mean? what do you do that you have leads to send through Zoopla. Was it then Zoopla or agents you had to chase?
I sent several property enquiries through the website to a couple of different agents. Response – nil.
I had to chase the agents, and the service I got on the phone was diabolical (nothing to do with portals, but poor service is always a shock).
It would be interesting to find out whether the Agents were just not very good or whether the Agents have very little faith in the enquiries the come through.
The agents are ‘market leaders’, but if they have little faith in the enquiries they’re wrong.
The same quality of people and leads use both portals….wasn’t true a couple of years ago, but is now. Agents that miss that, miss a trick. Well, they missed my custom.
“Very nearly every Zoopla agent is a Rightmove agent. Odd comment.”
YOU said it.
“Separately, OnTheMarket has re-affirmed that it has not dropped its ‘one other portal’ rule.”
Innit funny what you read in the “news”? Clearly having a Jackanory Day… but that’s what you have to expect these days down at ‘the other pub’…;
If the leads are anything like rightmoves this actually means 134,500 people have clicked the “request a valuation” link expecting a desktop Val there and then, only to advise the agent they accidentally clicked the button and don’t require an actual market appraisal. But hey let’s not let the truth get in the way of some good PR for the big portals.
In rising market that’s currently below the average price trendline it is important not to be using comparables based valuation models; they don’t work. Using such methodology leads to vendors being short changed. No valuation algorithm, no matter how fancy a name you give it can predict demand push inflation. Using historic comparables data and guessing at the lead time increase is amateur nonsense that RICS and NAEA ought to be condemning rather than condoning by saying nothing.
I’m not selling property at the moment but do keep my hand in on local prices. I reckon online estimated values are about 17% behind the curve on valuations local to me, that is a bit like flogging everything off at forced sale – repossession levels.
Zoopla can claim agents are missing out but those missing out more are those vendors relying on flawed valuation advice and using agents who happily go along with achieving what the vendor is happy with because “that’s what the internet reckons too”