Estate Agency News & Solutions

End of the line for Rightmove & FindAProperty?

2009-07-25T14:03:00.003+01:00

Google has this week unveiled something which is being regarded as a free property portal accessible directly from its search engine (the most popular search engine in the world). There have been free property portals before but their success depended on traffic, a critical mass. A critical mass is not something which Google lacks!

Google has been experimenting in the U.S. for a while, showing properties on its interactive map, but Google Australia has just released a mapping service that enable estate and letting agents to directly list their properties on its maps in its search engine. With no charge!

Visitors simply go to the Australian Google site, enter their requirements and the properties are plotted on its interactive maps.

"We think people will really start to look at these listings a lot online within Google Maps and then click through to individual agency websites when they've found a property they're after. " Google product manager Andrew Foster said.

This improved functionality has been developed in Australia and is being copied to Google’s search engines in the U.S. Google Street View was first in the US then Australia and there is no reason to expect it won’t be rolled out in the UK just as Google Street View recently was.

Realestate.com.au (60 per cent owned by News Corp) and domain.com.au are the leading property portals in Australia and are playing down the search engine giant’s threat to their business.

What this means for the future of the property portals is debateable but they must be concerned that the services they provide might not seem quite so essential with one of the biggest companies in the world, known for offering technologically advanced business customer orientated services for free, moving into their space.

Recent offers

2009-04-10T09:53:00.000+01:00

Software you can use anywhere without the need for the internet.
Low monthly payments. Includes a leading edge website
or integration of the software into your website!

or

A cutting-edge website - for a low monthly fee.
You can have a website with all the functionality and look of a website costing thousands.
Up and running this week for a just a low monthly fee!

When office space is at a premium or when agents just need to access and amend their diaries, branch properties and contacts etc outside of the office then it used to be the case that the only option was a slow unreliable website based CRM system. Not any more. EstateCRM is a fast desktop software which uses the internet to synchronise instantly any changes made in or out of the office. Even without the internet, agents can do everything they could do in the office, and any changes simply synchronise automatically as soon as internet connection resumes. Synchronisation is seamless and in the background while you work.

EstateCRM is a fully functional single or multibranch system which is set up and operational in minutes. E-mail info@estatesolutions.co.uk for download instructions.

EstateSolutions are software providers and website developers for the UK estate and letting industry. Contact us on 020 7609 2800 for an informal chat or email us at info@estatesolutions.co.uk. More information is available at www.estatesolutions.co.uk

Google's Street View for Estate & Letting Agencies

2009-04-01T14:23:00.002+01:00

Estate Solutions are the first website developer in the UK to incorporate Google's new Street View technology in their estate and letting agency websites and software.

Click on the following to see an example of how properties can now be viewed online: http://www.gates.esuk.co.uk/propertydetails.aspx?id=35e25d15-272f-433b-ae78-605a26dd3a70&street=True

Some benefits of incorporating Street View into property websites are to impress vendors and landlords, gain instructions, reduce wasted viewings and bring buyers and sellers to the website.

Twenty-five British cities have been photo-mapped in three dimensions after the search engine giant spent a year touring 22,000 miles in cars with roof-mounted 360-degree cameras. Estate Solutions websites allow internet users to view all the agents properties in 3D, take a walk around the locale and even view the local points of interest such as parks, schools and transport links. Whilst FindAProperty has added this feature they have not been able to allow the agency to pinpoint the exact location of the property which has resulted in properties being wrongly located, even on the wrong street. With Estate Solutions, agencies can even choose the angle of view and zoom level of the property.

Call 020 7609 2800 and ask us how you can be the first to offer your website visitors this revolutionary service right in your website.

As an aside...

2009-02-14T13:39:00.003Z

Nothing whatsoever to do with the usual subject matter of this blog. Just a rant about some moronic celebrity: Bonehead, aka Bono, naka Paul Hewson, lead 'singer' with the bafflingly popular beat combo Youtoo (u2 in txt spk).

Apparently, this tuneless wally was present at the inauguration of Barrack Obarmy as the Leader of the Free World, although I didn't see it meself as I don't have a telly because I am convinced that cathode rays are harmful to the brain.

Why is this absurd poseur treated with such reverence? Who gives a flying witches' fart what a bejewelled and bewhiskered berk thinks about anything? If he is so worried about Africa why don't him and his ridiculous chums 'The Edge' 'Stingo' 'Bingo' and 'Bongo' buy the wretched gaff?

Of course Bonehead himself doesn't pay any tax, unlike the poor mugs who buy his dismal records. I'm sick of being preached at by a geezer in diamond earrings, a comedy hat and permanent sunglasses. Does he ever take them off? He looks like an identikit dickhead. I wonder if they all come off at the same time, like one of those grotesque masks with the nose attached to the glasses? Is his mrs. not embarrassed stepping out with such a popinjay? What does she call him? Paul? Nobo? Is she allowed to talk to him at all?

He is so far up his own posterior that he considers his ludicrous clobber to be 'iconic' (I'll wager he doesn't know what it means). He sued the silly cow who was hired as the group's 'image consultant' after she made off with his stetson, earrings, and a pair of his bins, on the grounds that they were 'icons of popular culture'. And he won! You couldn't make it up.

He also has a website that asks if we can 'make poverty history'. I've been making poverty history for ages, its not hard. Lets make Bonehead history instead. Not only is he a khunt, he's a khuntish khunty khunt khunt. And they are the worst kind. I must sign off now, as my keyboard is taking such a pounding that I fear it will break any minu

Best marketing tool is now available for estate and letting agents

2009-01-28T09:36:00.005Z

Estate Solutions, creators of estate agency software and estate agency websites, have completed changes to the marketing module of their innovative software. Users of estateCRM can now create, at the press of a button, elegant professional templates to send to applicants and vendors/landlords with attention grabbing email shots. Window cards, ads and any other type of marketing material can be created in seconds.

Contact Estate Solutions for details or call 020 7609 2800.

Update to estateCRM - Image order

2009-01-16T12:27:00.003Z

In some cases, such as when users of estateCRM are uploading to a portal such as FindAProperty or Rightmove, they may want to have the images displayed in order of how important they are. EstateCRM has just been updated so that a 'priority' can be set for any image. The image with the category 'main photo' will still show first in estateCRM and on the Glance tab but the remaining images categorised as 'photo' will display according to the priority order set in the portal uploads tab and in the portals themselves. Any questions do contact us as always.

MousePrice

2009-01-10T16:11:00.003Z

We're always trying to give our members as much free exposure for their properties as possible so estateCRM have just liaised wuth MousePrice to upload properties to their portal(www.mouseprice.com). The portal is free to list and we're not charging anything to any users of estateCRM wishing to take advantage of this. If we havent contacted you already then contact us asap and we'll add MousePrice in your portal uploads area. Another free upload portal we use aleady is ThinkProperty (if you dont have that enabled already).

Stephen Brennan

Hows your office looking?

2008-08-11T14:01:00.002+01:00

If sales are down it may be that your presence on the internet, where 90% of property searches begin, is turning off buyers. If instructions are down it may not just be the market - its also likely that your biggest office: your website, isn’t inspiring confidence.

In this market place there’s one way to improve the bottom line quickly: invest in a professional website.

What are the benefits?
A one off payment - far better value than printed advertising. Estate Solutions are even offering the ability to rebrand websites and charge small monthly payments to ease cash flow problems.
More exposure than traditional advertising - available where the customers are looking - whether they are at home, in the office or sat on the company loo with their iPhone!
Updateable at no cost instantaneously and automatically – anytime and anywhere.
More instructions, more sales.

Imagine: a vendor is deciding which agency to instruct. Where’s the first place they will look? Your website. If its not as good as the other agencies then you've lost the instruction.

Imagine: a visitor to one of the big portals like Rightmove finds your property and goes to your website for more details. There aren’t any. The site looks less than professional. If its listed on another agents site - that’s who they'll call. And a buyer, as you know, is a potential instruction so you may have lost both.

Things have changed. The internet is everywhere. That’s where customers are looking. Estate Solutions specialise in websites for estate and lettings agencies.

To contact Estate Solutions call 020 7609 2800 or view http://www.estatesolutions.co.uk/

Its a matter of survival

2008-08-10T09:03:00.003+01:00

Its a tough time in the market and there's little sign of an imminent upturn. One way to improve cash flow being more and more utilised is to take on self employed negotiators. No more basic salary, car, office space, IT equipment and other expenses. The negotiator already has a computer at home, space at home to work and this model allows agencies to have negotiators spread around the area which can be better for viewings and valuations.

The problem of course is communication. How do the remote agents see and show the properties to clients, view their diaries, check the shared contacts? How do you see their diaries? The old office based CRM systems dont help at all and are fast being replaced by website based systems. The problem is that websites are slow. Really slow. Click on something on a website and the whole page has to refresh. Even modern technologies cant speed the website up anywhere near enough to be able to compete with the regular type of software that runs on your computer/laptop. And what happens if the internet is down or running slow? The office is effectively down if you have a web based system. How do you show clients or applicants properties you are marketing on a laptop at their address without wifi?

The answer is estateCRM. A fast responsive software application that works anywhere and runs on your PCs and laptops. The data is available anywhere you are and synchronises with all your other agents' data whenever an internet connection is available. Automatically! If the internet is down it's not a problem. EstateCRM is still available to use offline so you can take all your properties and matches to the client even if they dont have wifi. Impress them with your technology and get the instruction. Edit the data and they'll synch with other agents data when you have an internet connection again.

And because we dont need to send out staff to install the software (it can be downloaded over the internet), because there's no need for a network or office server, upgrades are instant, backups are not required at the office: it means that estateCRM is delivered at low cost compared with the other solutions available. EstateCRM improves cashflow and allows your negotiators to be more efficient, making more sales and securing more instructions.

Call us to learn more or email info@estatesolutions.co.uk

Map your properties - make the most of what you have!

2007-12-04T15:06:00.004Z

The most important criterion when buying or renting a property is location. And the second: location! So why present your properties in a static list when you can display them in an interactive map embedded in your own site?

The map can be zoomed in or out and panned around effortlessly as your buyers view the streets where you have sales and rentals and check out the details by hovering over the properties. They will be able to evaluate the position of a property in relation to main roads, underground stations, railway stations, parks and other areas of interest.They'll be impressed and so will your potential vendors and landlords - turning potential instructions into instructions. You are suddenly leading the pack in e-marketing your properties.

It really needs to be seen to understand how leading edge this technology is. It requires no extra work for your team as the properties are dynamically located on the map whenever you add them as you normally do. To view how this works on an example site go to Estate Solution's Xample website: http://www.xample.co.uk/result.aspx?tab=map/

To contact Estate Solutions call 020 7609 2800 and ask about esMapping or view http://www.estatesolutions.co.uk/

Rightmove has just launched a new mobile website

2007-08-15T20:41:00.002+01:00

Rightmove has just launched a new mobile website allowing you to 'search for property to buy or rent in the UK from almost any mobile phone'.

Hardly any wonder with 90% of property searches initiated online and 48 percent of mobile phone users using their mobile phones for internet access at workplaces alone (1). And with an estimated 58 million PDAs to be sold worldwide in 2008 (2) the trend for mobile property search is only going one way.

Estate Solutions (www.estatesolutions.co.uk) offer the same capabilities to regular estate agencies but at a fraction of the price. esMobile is a revolutionary new way to display your properties and full property details on a mobile phone. Now your properties can be viewed by potential buyers on the bus, on holiday, or even standing beside an your sale or lettings board outside one of your properties.

Your clients can view full property details, photos, floor plans, descriptions and location maps all on their mobile phone.

Your vendors and landlords will be impressed that you are using leading edge technologies and your website will boast that 'you can search from anywhere, 24/7, for the latest properties right from your mobile phone or PDA!'

To contact Estate Solutions call 020 7609 2800 or view http://www.estatesolutions.co.uk/

references:
1 - http://motorola.engadgetmobile.com/2007/05/31/15-percent-of-brits-polled-admit-using-mobile-internet-in-toilet/
2 - eTForecast

Upload properties from FAP Editor to your own website

2007-08-15T13:07:00.003+01:00

Find A Property is one of the leading portals for property search in the UK and undoubtedly is vital for ensuring your property listings are available to the increasingly internet savvy band of property hunters.

Problem: You use FAP Editor to manage your applicants and properties and then just upload easily from within the software. The problem, as you know, is that to include the properties in your own bespoke website you have to use FAP listings within your website. That doesnt look good, doesnt fit in with your branding and can easily lead to your visitor wandering off onto another agencies properties and forgetting about you entirely. The alternative is to use the software or online control panel that your website development company gave you to upload your properties again. So now you have to upload and amend everything twice - once to FAP Editor and then to your website.

Solution: Having been inundated with requests from frustrated estate agencies, Estate Solutions have come up with ESUploader. Quite simply it sits in the background and automatically uploads properties from the FAP Editor database directly to your own website. Nothing is required from you - just use FAP Editor as you were previously. Simple as that.

For information call Estate Solutions on 020 7609 2800 or visit www.estatesolutions.co.uk

News for Estate Agents websites

2007-08-15T11:46:00.004+01:00

Estate agents looking to retain visitors to their websites need to look at more than just a pretty design. Most property hunters these days look at the big portals such as Rightmove or Primelocation and one property might be listed by several estate agents. So typically the buyer will visit each of the estate agent websites which are listing the property before deciding which to call.

What makes them decide on you?

First a professional looking website of course. Then extra information that other sites dont have - floorplans, more complete descriptions, more photos - anything which shows that this estate agent is the one to deal with.

What makes them hang around on your website - maybe checking out the rest of your properties in that area?

If a site makes an impression, gives extras such as live mapping of properties and things of interest then not only will they hang around longer, they'll come back. Estate Solutions have always offered all the above but now they offer a News Aggregation Service for property buyers, vendors, tenants and landlords. This area of your site will have up-to-the-hour news sourced constantly from all the major news agencies with interesting and relevant information. This might be the latest news on property prices, selling advice, HIPs etc. This is branded to your website - you appear the expert and someone to be consulted and trusted. They can even email their friends with news articles of interest.

To contact Estate Solutions call 020 7609 2800

If you're an estate agent then you may well be interested in bookmarking news of interest to you at http://www.estatesolutions.co.uk/news.aspx - what happening in the world of HIPs, Buy-to-let, Property trends etc etc