Your Right Move » Rightmove

Rightmove could be knocked off top spot by Zoopla

Zanet — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:10:45 +0000

Its been on Zoopla’s mind for a long time, but Zoopla wont stop until its number one amongst the property search portals.

The merge of Zoopla, Primelocation.com and FindaProperty.com

It seems they have announced the largest step forward yet by merging all the other big names to take on Right Move. Zoopla Ltd and Digital Property Group, a subsidiary of A&N Media Ltd which operates property websites Primelocation.com and FindaProperty.com, have announced plans to merge.

This has been seen as an excelent move as it will provide the first serious challenge to compete against Rightmove since the internet provided property searches as a useful way of searching. Opinion is a merger such as the one announced is set to be a big win for estate agents and housebuilders across the UK, creating a clear alternative in a market that has had a single dominant player for a number of years.

Rightmove could be knocked off top spot by Zoopla

The combined business will be in a position to offer a superior value proposition and wider exposure and is expected to result in an audience to rival Rightmove, delivering at least as many enquiries to its members.

And for consumers either searching for property to buy or rent or doing market research, the combination will deliver a number of benefits including significantly greater coverage of property listings and enhanced features to help empower them with the resources that they need to make better-informed decisions in the UK residential property market.

Zoopla has become even stonger as they have put a huge budget into advertising in 2012. With London cabbies going purple and TV adverts like Kerching, Zoopla are insistent on moving to the top spot

Rightmove could be knocked off top spot by Zoopla - Zoopla’s Alex Chesterman gives his view:

“This deal will be transformational for both businesses allowing us to compete effectively in a market where it takes significant investment to challenge the current market leader. But more importantly, the deal will deliver real value for UK estate agents and developers and we will be in a position to provide them with the widest possible exposure and be their most cost-efficient marketing partner.”

So what do you think, can Zoopla with the merger of Primelocation.com and FindaProperty.com really prove to be an even alternative to Right Move?

Current property

Zanet — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:39:34 +0000

There are things some will love about your your current property and other things that some won’t. But putting that into a few words is a challenge.

For me I love our house and would probably describe my current property as
Spacious, Authentic, Home

A couple of days back Right move asked its followers : If you had to describe your current property in three words, which three words would you use?

Describe your current property in 3 words

This is how followers responded to there current property question

Best in world
Way too small
Portland Stone Cottage
On the market
Falling into disrepair
Stunning, sea views
Need loft room
Still not finished
Beautiful Dartmoor home
Move right in
Council own it
Not sold yet
Stunning Snowdonia views

You can see the full article on rightmove’s facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/rightmove.co.uk/posts/10150561696732162

Claire Sweeney was asked to describe her current property. but she wasn’t limited to 3 words

“I live in a very beautiful five storey town house in Pimlico in London. It has the traditional white frontage in a very lovely, quiet street and has a terrace at the back. I love interior design and I’ve made this house quite quirky, so it has my own individual stamp on it. I like having lots of light, so the sitting room is mainly white and silver with splashes of turquoise. I chose a Cole & Son silver wallpaper and added lots of turquoise glass vases and ornaments that reflect the light really well and give the room a wonderful glow. My bedroom is again decorated in white and silver with splashes of shocking pink. I treated myself to an amazing antique silver bed and accessorised with lots of bright pink cushions. I have mirrored furniture because, again, this reflects the light. When I moved in three years ago.”

“The house was a little dark. I wanted to make it brighter, so I did small things like adding mirrors to the back of the shelves. Otherwise, it only needed decorating. I do miss the views of a river, but it’s a very happy, rather special house and I think I’ll stay here for quite a long while. It may sound like it’s a large house and I do like space but, funnily enough, it’s very cosy and, because I have the room, friends and family can come to stay, which is fun.”

So how would you describe your current property? It doesn’t have to be in three words.

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High Search Low Rightmove Results

Zanet — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:38:22 +0000

Where have all the properties gone? We are seeing Zoopla and Rightmove report unusual changes in 2012. With high search and yet low Rightmove results it’s clear that properties are not entering the market quickly.

The opening weeks of 2012 have revealed a remarkable need for finding property but very little to be found in the search results.

The January 2012 report says search activity is up 27%. Yet it’s the lowest ever number of new sellers.

Rightmove Blog Reports – Rightmove’s early indicators of housing market activity in 2012 show that interest in buying is strong despite the lack of mortgage finance. The willingness or ability of new sellers to come to market remains weak.

Search activity on Rightmove during the first 10 days of 2012 reached new record heights, up by 27% on the same period in 2011, as prospective movers intensively research the market.

Regarding these Low Rightmove Results

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove comments on the Low Rightmove Results.
Old records are being shattered as search activity is up by a staggering 27% on this time compared to 2011. Potential buyers and sellers are looking more often and researching more thoroughly. In areas where there is a lot of property up for sale, buyers are looking hard for properties that tempt them. Potential buyers are wanting something really special in terms of value, potential, location or quality of finish.

The increased market fragmentation caused by the credit crunch means that success in selling now requires a very careful and complex micro-market analysis. Rather than a wishful price-punt to see what happens, care is being taken. There can be hotspots and blackspots by property type within the same geographic location depending on local buyer confidence. Other demographics and the ability to obtain a mortgage is effecting potential sellers. More than ever do your research and take expert advice.

Zoopla havent reported there findings officially on Low property results, but they and have focused on the purple cab advertising campaign along with the findings that buying beats renting in 94% of UK towns.

7 Homes Never Seen on Rightmove

Zanet — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:03:14 +0000

Chances are these homes will never be seen on Rightmove. Ok they are all based in America and Rightmove is UK based, but even so. Could you really afford these Hollywood homes?

So we present 7 homes you can’t afford

1. Bill Gates home

Bill Gates Home

He has the finest home technology. Apparently has an automated human dwelling. I bet it has windows too.The hillside is in an earthquake zone, so the foundation sits on concrete piers and uses tiebacks and steel reinforcements several times stronger than the minimums set by the building code. Massive retaining walls, several feet thick in places, created a drainage problem, solved by collecting runoff in buried pipes that feed into the estuary.

2.Eddie Murphy’s House

Eddie Murphy’s House

The Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-, Screen Actors Guild Award- and Golden Raspberry-winning actor and comedian lives here. Murphy’s all-brick, gated and walled 32-room property is in the East Hill section of Englewood and sits high on a 4-acre knoll. It is star-studded estate with a full-size racquetball court, an indoor pool with a glass roof, a two-lane bowling alley, professional recording music studio, elevator, and carriage house with gym.

3. Oprah Winfrey’s House

Oprah Winfrey - Montecito, California

Oprah Winfrey paid $50 million in 2001 for the 23,000-square-foot Georgian-style home she calls the “Promised Land.” Last year the spread was appraised at just under $85 million. For such a public persona, Winfrey ferociously guards the privacy of her home, situated on 43 acres. At a Barack Obama fund raiser last year, guests were strictly prohibited from entering the house, and cameras were forbidden.

4. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s House

Lopez House - Los Angeles, CA

Good thing J.Lo and March Anthony have all this space what with their twins and all. Marc Anthony probably requested a house of this magnitude so he can hide from his wife’s diva demands. J.Lo lives in a seven bedroom and fourteen bathroom, 12,217 sq. ft home

5. John Travoltas House

John Travoltas House Ocala, Florida

John Travolta is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor, dancer, and singer, best known for his leading roles in films such as Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Pulp Fiction, John Travolta is aviation-mad and has lived with planes outside his door for a while now, previously living in a fly-in community near Daytona but had to move after other residents said his jet’s were too big for their facility. Now he lives in his current house in Ocala, Florida and he has a airstrip where most people have a driveway.

6. Halle Berry House

Hale Berry House in Malibu, CA

Halle Berry’s owns an $8 million estate in Malibu, CA. Nearly every room has a coastline view. Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model and beauty queen. Berry has received Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in Monster’s Ball, becoming the first and still only woman of African-American descent to have won the award for Best Actress.

7. Ryan Seacrest House

Ryan Seacrests - Los Angeles, CA

This 10,000 square foot crib once belonged to Kevin Costner. The house boasts five bedrooms, a media room, billiards room, tennis court, gym, pool, spa and staff quarters. Los Angeles, CA – Ryan Seacrest recently purchased Kevin Costner’s Los Angeles home for $11.5 million.

Now please let us know if you find any of these on Rightmove or Zoopla
We are convinced that these are never seen on Rightmove and never will be!

Do you know of any other Houses in this league?

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Rightmove rental properties

Zanet — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:33:31 +0000

What do you expect to see on Rightmove rental properties ? Recently Rightmove asked its followers that question.

It’s good they are taking feedback from Facebook followers. The full questions was “If you were looking for a rental property on Rightmove, what information would you want/expect to be included from the agent advertising it?” It seems that floorplans and photos are providing the biggest feedback. So we hope these will be considered on the next site update.

Rightmove has over 300,000 properties to rent throughout the UK.

But the listings don’t always have a all the details needed for rightmove rental properties.

Here are the top 10 missing items on Rightmove rental properties

As many photos as possible including interior and exterior photos.
Room dimensions and a floor-plan.
Specific details on fees and special terms of contract
Whether pets are allowed or not in the property
Council tax band on every property
Who will be responsible for maintenance of the property
Whether there are any restrictions on the property.
Information about accessibility.
Reference check fee and registration fee if applicable
Local broadband speed available – Could Rightmove link up with BT and Virgin to document the available broadband speeds?

Rightmove have the widest range of property types and styles, from studio apartments to detached family homes.

Whether you are a student, young professional or a family, Rightmove is the tool of choice.

Have you found rightmove rental properties have some details missing?

Rightmove Android App

Zanet — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:27:39 +0000

I can’t believe that the Rightmove Android App doesn’t exist. This week I moved from an iPhone to the excellent Samsung Galaxy S2 and started filling the phone up with all the standard Apps. But why on earth haven’t Rightmove released the Android version of its great mobile app for the other 13m smartphone users in the UK?

Even a Freelance Programmer, Damon Skelhorn had a go at building one. He got to the stage where he felt he should seek permission to release the app using the data supplied from Rightmove before continuing. Unfortunately property search website Rightmove refused to give Damon permission.

Rightmove Android App Exists – Just

So what are Rightmoves plans to support the millions of Android mobiles out there in the UK?
It seems they have already made up there mind that they will cater for Android rather than design an App for the Android. Having already launched apps for iPhone and iPad, they will cover other devices with a new mobile website.

The new site is built in HTML5, and replicates the GPS and mapping features of the app, and extends Rightmove’s reach to the rest of the users in the UK.

Developer Stephen Mellish said “With the increasing reach of operating systems such as Android and the ever growing number of alternative options, mobile sites create a more inclusive way to target users. HTML5 is also allowing brands to replicate the feel of an ‘app’ through an mobile site which is increasing its appeal to marketers.”

If you are an iPhone user, then take a look at the app with its smart new QR Reader. Over a million properties in your pocket. You can also see properties for sale or rent around you using GPS functionality. But I do think they are missing a trick by not having a Rightmove Android App ! http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-you/iphone-application

Rightmove improves property listings

Zanet — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:46:46 +0000

Rightmove is already the UK’s largetst property listings website, but now things have become even better for the huge listing site.

A recent survey revealed that potential property buyers complained that often the properties viewed in the search results were often out of date. So a team of developers have now improved the quality of the results.

Rightmove now provides an improved property listing

Rightmove claim this new update will improve the data quality and involves the removal of out-dated sales and lettings properties using a range of new filters and detection controls. The data quality programme has been introduced following consultation with estate agents. The aim was to establish what would represent a fair period of time for certain properties to be left on the site.

Quality and accurate property listings

Rightmove comments regarding the property listings : “The data quality measures we have introduced emphasise Rightmove’s commitment to maintaining an accurate property search facility for home-hunters and a fair and highly effective advertising environment for our member agents.Given the frustration that inaccurate or misleading advertising causes for home-hunters, we felt it right to introduce measures which restrict the amount of stock left on the site when it’s no longer available. This activity is equally frustrating for the majority of Rightmove member agents who keep their advertised properties in order and up-to-date.”

Rightmove started the data quality programme in January with the removal of over 50,000 ‘for sale’ properties, which had been cross-referenced with the Land Registry to reveal they had already been sold. So its been quite a clean up on the listings.

The data quality measures were widened this week to target properties indicated as being unavailable for excessively long periods of time such as resale properties listed as ‘Sold Subject to Contract’ and lettings properties listed as ‘Let Agreed’. Over 80,000 properties will be removed under this new measure.

All Rightmove member agents have since been kept informed of each new data quality measures. The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

Update: It’s worth noting that this was a change in the property listings which is hidden data, not the actual presentation of the listings themselves, so little differences will be seen.

How to sell your house on Rightmove

Zanet — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:46:59 +0000

Selling your house on the Rightmove web site is certainly a great way to be seen and find many more potential purchasers. But how do you get on there? Most good estate agents are experts in selling properties and will know that a web prescence is essential for capturing the market of people moving into the area. So the next question follows: how do you choose a reliable Estate agent in the UK market with a good Rightmove presence?

You won't see a RightMove estate agents in your road

As 25% of buyers found their property on the Rightmove web site, it is a priority to make sure your agent can advertise your home on Right move. You may find it is worth paying more to choose a proactive agent who will
ultimately achieve a better price for your property.

Before you commit yourself to one agent, take narrow down your estate agent list to approximately three finalists who you want to invite to do a valuation. Make sure you ask them how they will invest in marketing on behalf of the vendor and should, at the very least, take photos of your property. Also ask how long it takes to go live on Rightmove as it could take up to a week and yet shouldn’t take longer than a day or two after approval.

Rightmove enhanced advertising options

You may want to speak to your chosen agents about the Rightmove enhanced advertising options, Showcase and Premium Display to help sell your home even faster. You may need to negotiate with each agent to get the best commission rate though the lowest rate doesn’t always mean the best service.

Check out the estate agents profile describing their business. Does your estate agent belong to Ombudsman for Estate Agents or the National Association of Estate Agents. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is also acceptable.

Don’t forget if the estate agents don’t impress you, it’s unlikely they’ll impress your Right move.co.uk visitors.

How to advertise on Rightmove

Zanet — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:15:53 +0000

Is it possible to advertise on Rightmove for free ?

Many seeking to sell their homes online, want to advertise on Rightmove. Rightmove is the biggest property websites in the UK. Understandable as more than 90% of all UK estate agents list on Rightmove.

It appears that sadly individuals selling their homes directly cannot list their property on Rightmove without an estate agent.

Should it be free to advertise on Rightmove

This is due to Rightmove’s advertising policy. All properties advertised on their site should comply with the “Property Misdescription Act of 1991″. This Act was designed to protect the public from estate agents that stretched the truth about a property. It was devised to provide protection to the general public making it illegal to make false or misleading statements.

So are there any other ways that an estate agent can offer access through there registration with Rightmove? Any way to supervise the statements made and thereby approve the submissions for a minimal cost?

It’s worth noting there used to be a few estate agents that did comply with the act. For a small fee they enabled you to advertise on Rightmove.

Good news!.

Well I thought so, until I contacted The Little House Company online estate agency
In the past, they were are able to list your property on Rightmove for a small fee, until Rightmove decided to block the idea.

I decided to contact The Little House Company to find out what had changed since they couldn’t now directly advertise on Rightmove.

Nick Marr founder of The Little House Company told us, “We offer an online estate agents service that does not include listing on Rightmove anymore. We were working with a number of agents but Rightmove sent us a legal notice asking us to stop. They felt we were amounting to reselling their service. We now simply recommend or refer our clients to this panel if they want a Rightmove listing”.

Nick continues, “We offer a full online agents service apart from Rightmove. Despite us being registered estate agency in the eyes of the law and the fact we produce compliant listings Rightmove are uncomfortable with us on their website as we promote private sales. They receive complaints from estate agents and we will never be on that website whilst we offer consumer choice with our services”.

“One of my main competitors www.mypropertyforsale.com has given up private listings so that he can have his properties on Rightmove. If we did the same it would be yet another private sale business squeezed out of the industry”.

Will you be able to advertise on Rightmove in the future for free?

Maybe we will see things change in 2012. But currently Nick Marr told us “We contributed to an OFT report last year which concluded: The OFT’s study into home buying and selling FEB 2010 found that the housing market remains dominated by traditional estate agents with weak competition between them on price. As property prices rise during housing booms, so too do estate agents’ fees. Overall satisfaction with estate agents, however, has improved in recent years, according to research conducted as part of the study. Where there are problems with transactions, consumers generally do not think the estate agent was at fault. The OFT believes that innovation in this sector, in particular through online services, could have a dramatic impact on the cost of buying and selling a home”.

So there we have the reasons why you can’t advertise directly on Rightmove, but there does seem to be some good alternatives to consider.

We will review some of these alternatives over the coming weeks. What do you think? Should you be able to directly advertise on Rightmove web site?

Rightmove report 4 year drop

Zanet — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:56:08 +0000

The largest drop for 4 years has been reported this week. The asking price of homes being put up for sale has fallen by 3.1% in the past month, according to the property website Rightmove.

As a result of the economic uncertainty and concerns about the state of the eurozone, asking prices are reflecting a dramatic fall. The worst fall since December 2007. It could be due to would- be sellers postponing their marketing until the new year. The weekly supply of homes put on the market is now at the lowest since the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008.

All 10 regions in England and Wales tracked by Rightmove showed falling asking prices in November, the first time in more than three years they have all declined together. Shipside said that it’s “no great surprise” that property owners looking for a sale “have had to accept a substantial haircut on their asking prices.” Nationally, values were up 1.2 percent from a year earlier in November.

It does provide a positive spin for those looking to pickup a property bargain.