An interesting report on Zooplas blog suggests that around 74% of Britain shows buying cheaper than renting. This comes from a chart that looked at the average asking price for a 2 bedroom flat against the average monthly rent.

The top 10 places across Britain where renting a property beats buying and vice-versa in current climate is shown below. While buying wins out over renting today, the impact of a rise in interest rates cannot be ignored. If interest rates were to increase by 1% and rents to remain the same, renting would become more cost-effective in 80% of the UK.

To buy or to rent

It was also found that it is still cheaper to buy than rent in London, despite high prices. London’s average rents on two-bed flats are currently at £2,155 per month with average asking prices at £446,345.

The top place where renting is a better option than buying currently is Huddersfield, where the average two-bed flat costs only £493 per month to rent versus £146,898 to buy. Renting is also cheaper than buying in a number of other places including Oldham, Brighton, Swansea and Edinburgh.

Related posts:

1. House Rentals
2. Borrowing is getting easier in 2010
3. Phil and Kirsty from Relocation Relocation

As we have been monitoring the rise of Tepilo we thought we would ask what we can expect over the coming weeks. It sounds like an avalanche of releases according to the feedback we received from Sarah.

Sarah tells Yourrightmove, “We’re just moving a few bits around as we have a few releases coming up very soon – hopefully this week. I will let you know when they’re good to go”.

A big few weeks for Tepilo

Sarah continues, “Just to explain what we’ve been working on recently:

• Properties wanted has a bit of a twist to it, and has been built now – just waiting on the search function to be relocated.
• Tempt me – will come, but maybe not this week.
• Re-ordering photos – now possible – just drag and drop
• Moving a property from rental to sale and vice versa – coming this week hopefully
• Portrait photo functionality – coming this week hopefully
• 6 new useful tools – coming this week/next week
• Improved search – coming this week/next week
• Export listing to pdf brochure – coming soon
• Development and Land search – to search for development opportunities or land – coming soon
• Apps – coming soon, with page(s) on site too.
• SEO update – bit of an SEO drive on at the moment – so lots of tidying up and browse by links
• Updated homepage – coming in next week or so
• Much more actually – some smaller things that probably won’t be immediately obvious, but responding to feedback we have had so far.”

Tepilo was set up just over a year ago. It’s tag line reveals its intention “The smarter way to buy, sell or let a property. Tepilo.com is a place where people can securely buy, sell or let their homes for free”.

It is on the verge of making it mainstream but as with all on-line companies, it needs to have a “tipping point” to achieve its true potential. Like a complex chicken and the egg situation…

Few Properties – Few Buyers
Few Buyers – Few Visitors
Few Visitors – Few Sellers
Few Sellers – Few Properties

What it’s already achieved to get this far in a year is quite remarkable. With Sarah’s previous success she may well make the tipping point. Meanwhile we look forward to seeing and supporting the progress of this great site.

Related posts:

1. Tepilo Temptation
2. Tepilo.com Reviewed
3. Tepilo the Napster to Estate Agents

The apps are just pocket store fronts to the main web site and company
If the app works great but all communication via the web site or estate agents fail then the app has served little purpose

So which web site and company have the greater stability? Which one claims the highest visitor traffic in the UK and thereby is most likely to have proportionately more buyers viewing?

the final round for the battle of the apps

Already the apps get their own ratings on itunes – current scores:

Zoopla
version 1.0
18 ratings 4.5 stars

Rightmove
version 1.1
17388 ratings 3.5 stars

We felt that this isn’t a true reflection as the numbers for Zoopla are minimal at this point.

So we decided the main site would serve as another good barometer.

According to Alexa
Zoopla.co.uk On line since 21-Feb-1997
Alexa traffic rank for Zoopla.co.uk: 197 in the UK

Rightmove.co.uk On line since 07-Sep-1999
Alexa traffic rank for Rightmove.co.uk: 29 in the UK

Verdict: Rightmove is likely to have more UK buyers using the app as it still has a large monopoly over the others in web traffic.

Final Result: Draw
3.5 Zoopla
3.5 Rightmove

FINAL CONCLUSION

The Rightmove app would of easily lost if it didn’t address the bugs in version 1.0. Since 1.1 the app is stable and still offers the most properties for sale and rent.
Zoopla however is a much easier app with some beautiful extras tucked away in the background.

Both apps in our test provided a faultless experience.

Tepilo are about to launch their version as another challenger to these apps

Meanwhile my suggestion is you use both apps when searching for a property as they both have strengths that make them worthy to use on your iphone

Please feel free to comment below if you disagree or agree with our verdict.

Related posts:

1. FindaProperty vs Rightmove App – Final Round 7
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 6
3. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 4

What sets it apart from the other apps?

At this point we normally ask about cost. But it appears that all these big property apps are free and rightly so. So we have changed this round to enable us to look at any features that set it apart from the competition

What extra features can Zoopla boast over Rightmove?

• The map is integrated with Google and provides 3 views Map, hybrid and list
• Search from within the map view
• The app has a database of 27m homes
• Local market data including average home values by area

There is a depth to this app that Rightmove can only match on its web site

A grueling contest continues

What extra features can Rightmove boast over Zoopla?

• Rightmove is still the daddy when it comes to current property for sale and rent
• It has more properties and estate agents than any other app

Verdict: Zoopla won. It just has so many more features and isnt a million properties behind in database terms, so though Rightmove has the greatest amount of estate agents, Zoopla has a depth of extra features.

3.5 Zoopla
2.5 Rightmove

Please feel free to comment below if you disagree or agree with our verdict.

Tomorrow is the final round of the apps – Can Rightmove pull it back and get a draw, or will Zoopla become crowned the king of property apps?

Related posts:

1. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 4
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 3
3. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 5

Which property iphone app has the greatest intelligence?

If you are out and about viewing property then the Iphone GPS functionality is a useful tool, not only does it tell you how to get there, but once your there it may even reveal other properties around the corner of the very location you love.

So we know Rightmove uses GPS intelligence but does the Zoopla app use it?

Zoopla Vs Rightmove

Yes, Zoopla app utilised the iPhone’s GPS functionality and gave me property for sale and rent in and around my current location incredibly quickly and intelligently as is seen in previous rounds.

What about market value? Or trends in the market.

This is where Zoopla seems to go ballistic!

• It knows the average property price of a postcode area.
• It takes into account the rise and fall of property locally
• It even estimates any property, though its estimates are pretty broad.
• It gives prices of property that has sold in recent years.

Its true that Rightmove have this information at hand on the web site, but this intelligence is missing on the rightmove app

Verdict: Zoopla won. Although they both use the built in GPS location, Zoopla has a great ability to predict the worth of any property and give its last selling price. That’s a fair bit of intelligence for a small app.

2.5 Zoopla
2.5 Rightmove

Please feel free to comment below if you disagree or agree with our verdict.

Tune in tomorrow for round 6 where we look at the new features on iphone app

Related posts:

1. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 4
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 3
3. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 2

Which one has the larger number of properties for rent in a given area?

Last time Rightmove crashed out. Version 1.1 feels a lot more stable, so lets see how it performs on this test.

Zoopla Results
Town: 50 of 667 Reading properties for rent
City : 50 of 1610 Birmingham properties for rent

Rightmove Results
Town: 100 Reading properties for rent
City: 100 Birmingham properties for rent

Iphone battle : Zoopla versus Rightmove

Once a gain it a similar situation to round 1. Both provide a lot of results that need filtering down. So we will try using my GPS location alone to see how many are served up

Zoopla Results for properties to rent
2 within my location

Rightmove Results for properties to rent
42 within my location

Verdict: Rightmove won. Since Rightmove released a stable version it still seems to have the largest database of properties.

1.5 Zoopla
2.5 Rightmove

Please feel free to comment below if you disagree or agree with our verdict.

Tune in tomorrow for round 5 on app intelligence

Related posts:

1. Zoopla Vs Rightmove Apps
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Final Round
3. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 3

Which has the greatest usability?

As with all iphone apps they must be easy to use or they won’t get used. With both these apps the interface is immediately intuitive and it felt just as easy using the app as it would visiting their main site.

Rightmove had predictable text when entering a town or city. This made it easy to enter without misspelling. Apart from this feature it was overall good. The app just felt a little dated after using Zoopla’s app.

Iphone battle : Round 3

Zoopla had a lot more features while remaining simple to use. The map integration along with the buttons and ease of use was noticeable on Zoopla’s app. I love the way the app takes you straight to your location and the pins appear right from the start of the app. The Google integration on the map with the pins felt so right. This for me is a step forward in usability.

Verdict: Zoopla has an advantage as its learnt from the other apps and produce a very smart and usable application. The map integration with pins as a way to view property is very well executed. Rightmove app is solid, but feels a little like a conversion of the web site search.

1.5 Zoopla
1.5 Rightmove

Please feel free to comment below if you disagree or agree with our verdict.

Tune in tomorrow for round 4 where we test renting on the iphone app

Related posts:

1. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 2
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Final Round
3. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 5

Which gave the best viewing experience of property photos and details?

A picture speaks a thousand words and that’s true when it comes to viewing the details of a chosen property. For a small device the iphone gives a very good viewing experience. so do the apps take full advantage of these capabilities.

Both Rightmove and Zoopla were very easy to use and had good quality photos on all the properties we looked at. Each detail had a full description of each property, the ability to save the ones for further reference or star them as favorite properties and the ability to email them to friends and arrange a viewing.

Zoopla Vs Rightmove Round 2

Disappointingly the photos, or maybe it is the app in general, didn’t take advantage of the landscape view when the iphone was turned 90%. Though maybe this isn’t an overly necessary feature, but it may of given one the edge over the other.

The only specific difference we could notice between the two were the ability to view the photos as a slide show on the Rightmove app. This didn’t appear to be available on the Zoopla app. A very small difference.

Rightmove app
Photos – yes
Slide show – Yes
Full description – yes
view on map – yes
email details – yes
on side – no

Zoopla app
Photos – yes
Slide show – no
Full description – yes
view on map – yes
email details – yes
on side – no

The Rightmove app had one feature more – though having a slide show isn’t enough to win a round on as the usability of Zooplas app felt great and a slide show alone is barely going to make a difference on whether you view a property.

Verdict: A draw. Close but Rightmove’s slide show wasn’t enough to give it the advantage over Zoopla.

0.5 Zoopla
1.5 Rightmove

Please feel free to comment below if you disagree or agree with our verdict.

Tune in tomorrow for round 3 on usability

Related posts:

1. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 5
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 3
3. FindaProperty vs Rightmove App – Round 5

In recent months we have analysed the current property apps for an iphone. Lets face it, if you are out and about viewing property having a good app on your iphone is worth its weight in gold. Zoopla have just released there app for the iphone and its looking a very mean machine.
So we will now put zoopla’s app through its paces to see if it’s a match for the main king of property Rightmove. (Rightmove could only draw with previous contender FindaProperty)

They are both free apps currently on iTunes. Both are easy to install.

So introducing our new challenger Zoopla

Alex Chesterman, Founder and CEO of Zoopla.co.uk said, “Much like the Zoopla.co.uk website, our iPhone app provides consumers with the information they need to make better-informed property decisions. As well as listing properties available to buy or rent, we provide useful information to help users make sense of the residential property market. And now our services will be easily and readily accessible whilst ‘on location’ via the new mobile app.”
They sound confident!

PROPERTY APPS ROUND 1
Which one has the larger number of properties for sale in a given area?

Zoopla Vs Rightmove Round 1

Last time Rightmove crashed so we will be interested to see if any recent updates in version 1.1 fixed the app.
It was also noted that last time one of the comments from a visitor of this site made the point that though Rightmove only showed 100 results their were many more. The thinking being that you would need to narrow the criteria if you were searching for more than 100 – point taken

We ran our test on a random town and a city

Zoopla Results
Town: showing 50 of 612 Reading properties for sale
City: showing 50 of 3673 Birmingham properties for sale

Rightmove Results
Town: 100 Reading properties for sale and encourages you to filter the result
City: 100 Birmingham properties for sale

Good to see no crashes this time round on version 1.1

As much as i really like Zoopla’s 50 results which tell me their are more if needed, others may say that Rightmoves approach is just as good, so i’ll give a fair verdict as they both had far more than you could ever need in a town or city

To get a definite result though i’m now going to narrow it down to a default view of properties for sale in my location

Zoopla Results for properties to buy
26 within my location

Rightmove Results for properties to buy
57 within my location

Verdict: Although the Cities and Towns provide a huge amount of property to view and both apps give a large number, when it comes to volume within a small area Rightmove seems to have the edge with over double the properties within my location

0 Zoopla
1 Rightmove

Please feel free to comment below if you disagree or agree with our verdict.

Tune in tomorrow for Round 2

Related posts:

1. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 4
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 3
3. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 5

You can now download Zoopla’s iPhone app for free and get all the property information you need instantly while on the move.

So Zoopla are now ready to take on the other previous contenders
See http://www.yourrightmove.co.uk/blog/findaproperty-app-vs-rightmove-app/

Will it become the champion of iphone apps?

Zoopla’s iPhone app is looking promising

The largest feature that may well hurt the main competitors Rightmove and Findaproperty apps is the ability for Zoopla to offer all the data it has on every UK home. The app has map-led search (map and hybrid options) as well as list view and Augmented Reality.

Zoopla's iPhone app looks very powerful

While Rightmove and Findaproperty apps only offer For Sale and To Rent searches, Zoopla can give value estimates for all 27 million UK homes, with 15 million+ house prices paid dating back to 1995.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

Other features include

He continues, “Here’s what’s different or unique, Every UK home is listed (all 27m) – eg in London there are 3,156,000 homes ,It Enables you to run a value estimate on any (27m) UK home – what’s your home / your neighbours worth? Are you a nosey neighbour? 15m sold prices – who paid what for what? Map-led search as well as list view and Augmented Reality…as well as market research, properties for sale and to rent…”

We are very excited to see how this works

So I’m off to download this app to my iphone and start to write my review.

Related posts:

1. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 6
2. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 2
3. Zoopla Vs Rightmove App Round 3