Another two weeks have flown by without me managing a posting. I even missed an opportunity to wish the Modern Estate Agent a happy first birthday on Saturday just gone. For 2011, we're going to have to drop the "daily" from "daily brain food" - and just keep it as regular as we can I think!
For today, I just want to mention a growing trend I am a big fan of - adding a 'Vendor Comments' section to property details. This adds a nice personal touch to the marketing, perhaps helping buyers picture themselves in the current owner's shoes a few years previously - or taking the opportunity to subtly clarify why the vendors are looking to move (always to be near family one assumes!).
It's something one of our oldest customers, Inspire Estates (congratulations on the Crawley Letting Agent of the Year award!), have been doing on and off for some time.
Take a look at these examples I found on Rightmove by Googling for rightmove "for sale" "vendor comments": (click the images for larger versions)
How many other agents out there use this technique?
Personally I think agents are right to be wary of Tepilo, a site that allows them to be cut out of the loop.
You can still provide your customers with excellent service and have their best interests at heart without putting yourself out of business! :o)
But as for copying - this isn't a Rightmove function directly. It's just agents trying to add qualitative feel to the facts.
Appreciate the comment though Trevor!
Martin
To run scared of Tepilo is tantamount to admitting that all there is to Estate Agency is a RM listing.
The vendors choice, is do I want to sell the property myself, or do I want somebody to represent me?
Not, do I want a RM listing or a Tepilo listing.
As Ben quite rightly said "Each to their own"
If you help to build Tepilo up as a recognised brand, it will make it easier for people to choose to sell their own property.
We deal with quite a few start-up estate agents at PropertyADD and for them, Rightmove is often a real stretch, but there's plenty of other portals who don't allow private seller listings that you can use instead.
Personally the only reason I would encourage agents to use Tepilo is to try and identify potential leads who are not having any luck selling privately.
Like you say though, we're all entitled to opinions - that's the wonder of blogs for you!
Martin