Posts with tag: online estate agent

eMoov Sets New Crowdfunding Record

Published On: September 30, 2015 at 1:55 pm

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eMoov Sets New Crowdfunding Record

eMoov Sets New Crowdfunding Record

Online agent eMoov hit £2m in its crowdfunding campaign yesterday, making it the greatest raise for a property website.

The firm originally hoped to raise £1m by the end of September in exchange for 5% equity in the business, giving eMoov a valuation of £20m.

Yesterday afternoon, the pitch on Crowdcube hit £2,036,760 from 536 investors, equivalent to a 9.68% stake in the company.

Today is the last day of the campaign.

One analyst, Eddie Holmes, says that eMoov’s fundraising is among the top five for all business types on Crowdcube, and if the total reaches £2.5m, it will be in the top five in Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

easyProperty Hits 100 Sales Listings

Published On: September 18, 2015 at 9:53 am

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easyProperty Hits 100 Sales Listings

easyProperty Hits 100 Sales Listings

Online agent easyProperty has now reached 100 sales listings.

Part of the easyJet empire, the business was first launched as an online letting agency in September 2014.

Headed by Robert Ellice, the site branched out into sales last month, promising to save “home sellers across the UK thousands of pounds in hefty high street fees.”1

easyProperty’s upfront fees range from £475-£1,500. For the lowest fee, vendors host any viewings and deal with sales progression. For £825, sellers host the viewings, but the agent handles the sales progression. For the highest cost, vendors receive a full service, including premium listings on Rightmove and Zoopla.

In an attempt to attract sellers, easyProperty offered its first 200 vendors a fee-free service.

The agent currently lists 101 properties on Rightmove, ranging from a £46,500 two-bedroom flat in Liverpool to a £1.7m terrace house in London.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/easyproperty-reaches-100-listings/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eMoov Raises Half of Crowdfunding Target Within Hours

Published On: September 1, 2015 at 12:17 pm

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Online estate agent eMoov is marching towards its £1m crowdfunding target, hitting the halfway mark yesterday after its launch on Friday evening.

The fundraising effort had hit £507,380 yesterday afternoon, from 51 investors, with the highest single investment of £250,000.

eMoov will give 5% of equity in return for the £1m it is hoping for, valuing the firm at £20m.

eMoov Raises Half of Crowdfunding Target Within Hours

eMoov Raises Half of Crowdfunding Target Within Hours

Its business plan states that the company has the potential to be valued at £128m. However, it is currently losing money.

In its Crowdcube pitch, eMoov says that it made pre-tax losses last year of £751,941 and expects pre-tax losses this year of £2,003,377.

Next year, it is predicting pre-tax losses of £2,246,717, which will slow to losses of £442,909. In 2018, it forecasts pre-tax profits of £10,681,744.

The pitch states that eMoov was founded to “disrupt a broken, anti-consumer property industry” and expects online market share to hit 50% by 2020.

It says that in July, 341 properties received 533 offers, leading to 246 sales. It also claims that 48% of leads convert into listings.

The firm hopes to grow listings from a current 3,529 to 40,768 by 2018.

The business plan says that within the top 30 online agents, eMoov is a market leader, with a 16% share of all online listings.

It notes that Purplebricks has achieved five star ratings from 85% of its customers, but HouseSimple has poor customer reviews and weak technology.

It describes Tepilo as offering “poor customer service”. Estates Direct apparently has “very poor ranking and listing volumes, they have also priced themselves out of the market”.

Allegedly, Hatched has “problems with senior management, no SEO, very poor tech and lack of automation, mainly lettings focused”.1

In the pitch, eMoov reveals plans to expand into the lettings sector within the next two years, hoping to double the size of the business.

Its exit strategy states that the company will either float on the stock market or sell to a trade buyer within three to five years.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/money-rush-online-agent-emoov-raises-thousands-within-hours/

eMoov’s Crowdfunding Bid

Published On: August 28, 2015 at 2:39 pm

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eMoov's Crowdfunding Bid

eMoov’s Crowdfunding Bid

Online estate agent eMoov is hoping to raise £1m through crowdfunding and is welcoming investment from other estate agents.

Its founder, Russell Quirk, invited early interest in the fundraising yesterday, saying: “Even your most caustic of contributors are most welcome to invest.

“I’d even consider a special sleeping with the enemy discount. They know it makes sense.”1 

The firm values itself at £20m and hopes to have annual revenues of £60m by 2020, in which time Quirk expects online agency to have 20% market share.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/come-and-sleep-with-the-enemy-quirk-tells-estate-agents/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HouseSimple Changes Advert Following Complaint

Published On: August 27, 2015 at 8:50 am

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An advertisement on London Tube trains for an online estate agent featuring a savings claim has led to a complaint to the advertising regulator.

The HouseSimple advert states: “Save £15,665 versus average Foxtons fee of 2.4%.”1 

The complainant went to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) saying that they believed the advert to be misleading because it did not make the basis of the savings claim clear.

HouseSimple Changes Advert Following Complaint

HouseSimple Changes Advert Following Complaint

It has now emerged that the complaint has been informally resolved.

An ASA spokesperson says: “We approached HouseSimple with the concerns that had been raised.

“It agreed to amend the ad to make clear that the savings claim is based on selling a property at their current average London asking price.

“On that basis, we considered the matter had been resolved and closed the case.”1

HouseSimple comments: “The complaint was relating to clarifying on an advert we are running on London Tubes and how we came to the savings figure of £15,665 versus average Foxtons fee of 2.4%.”1

HouseSimple reveals that its average London property costs £561,373 and its average vendor fee is £502.80. Foxtons’ fee on a home of the same value would be £16,167.51, based on its 2.4% + VAT fee.

HouseSimple used Foxtons’ current average asking price of £885,553 to calculate the potential savings that clients could make, a huge £25,001.

The agent also used Rightmove’s average listed asking price for a London house, £615,115, to calculate an average saving of £17,213.

Head of HouseSimple, Alex Gosling, adds that the London Evening Standard has banned a similar advert, as it mentioned Foxtons.

He says: “The Evening Standard disallowed a similar advert due to the fact Foxtons is a long standing advertiser with them.

“Whilst this may seem anti-competitive to some, we understood the position the Evening Standard were in and so agreed to suggested amendments without taking further action. Interestingly, when the advert was amended and subsequently published, guess who had an advert on the next-door page to HouseSimple… Foxtons!

“We have existed for over eight years now and the levels of anti-competitive behaviour have always been high in this industry. We have fought through numerous issues such as adverts being disallowed in numerous publications or websites, to being thrown off well-known portals and even more recently banned from portals such as OnTheMarket. It is all symptomatic of an industry fighting change and desperately trying to hang on to its high fees.

“We are proud to have started this industry renaissance and to still be spearheading the revolution.”1

Earlier this year, Carphone Warehouse founder, Sir Charles Dunstone and his business partner Roger Taylor, invested £5m into HouseSimple. They plan to invest in the firm further.

Recently, HouseSimple hired creative agency Wordley Production to create its first TV advert.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/online-agent-agrees-to-amend-money-saving-advert-after-complaint-to-watchdog/

High Street Agents Extinct, Says easyProperty Boss

Published On: August 26, 2015 at 12:43 pm

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Two branches of Hunters estate agents have moved onto the high street, but an online-only firm believes this isn’t necessary.

Both Hunters offices, in Tring and Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, are owned by franchisee Caroline Murgatroyd.

They were previously operated out of town, but Murgatroyd believes that a high street location raises the brand’s profile.

Hunters’ franchises are often started from the franchisee’s own home or in out-of-town offices.

But Robert Ellice, the Chief Executive of online agent easyProperty, insists online is the only way to go: “I don’t believe any estate agent starting today would believe they need a high street office.”

Murgatroyd opened the Tring office in the autumn of 2012 with just two staff members. The team has now grown to eight members of staff in the last three years.

She says: “We’ve experienced a massive difference since relocating to the high street and the branch is a lot busier now. So many people look into our display window, which is attracting more walk-in clients.

“The uplift in business was immediate and we’ve seen a 20% increase in activity, which is exactly what we were looking to achieve with the move.”1 

Hunters in Leighton Buzzard, opened by Murgatroyd six months ago, has also moved to the high street.

Its Branch Manager, David Lawrence, comments: “The business has really taken off and we’ve tripled our workforce in the short time we’ve been operating. Our new office makes us more accessible to our clients, which is very beneficial.

“I am very confident that displaying the Hunters brand on the high street will further raise the company’s profile.”1 

In a recent interview, Ellice states: “Being online, we don’t have to charge over-the-odds prices to cover expensive overheads. This makes us more agile and able to respond to what customers really need.

“When I started writing my business plan, I felt so excited because I was rewriting the rule book with easyProperty.

“High street agents are extinct, they just don’t realise it yet. More and more people are putting faith in online transactions, seeing online portals as the new norm.

“Having a shop-front no longer instils trust and credibility, especially for estate agents, so there is a significant tide of people turning to online agents, which are faring much better in terms of transparency.

“The marketplace is moving away from bricks and mortar, and easyProperty is determined to drag it into the digital age.”1

Yesterday, easyProperty had 24 properties listed for sale on Rightmove and 326 for rent.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/high-street-agents-extinct-but-just-dont-realise-it-yet-says-easyproperty-boss/