Propertylive.co.uk to launch overseas with free-to-list model

Propertylive.co.uk, the portal set up by The National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP) is set to extend its free-to-list business model into the overseas portal market.  In keeping with their strategy of being the only portal that is “regulated, protected and run by a professional body”, only agents that belong to NFOPP or an international body they recognize will be allowed to list property.

To establish a “critical mass” of international property content, Propertylive.co.uk are feeding in properties from Worldproperties.com which is run by ICREA, a consortium of the world’s leading real estate associations.  When the overseas section goes live in the next few weeks, agents listing property directly on the site will see their listings appear at the top of the results.

Propertylive.co.uk will always remain free for member agents both in the UK and overseas says Peter Bolton-King, Chief Executive of the NFOPP.  “There have been comments from various people on forums saying we plan to charge eventually but this is not true.  We will never charge agents to list”

Bolton-King says they will look at other revenue generating strategies in future like charging third parties for banner advertising.  However the main commercial benefit to NFOPP is its potential to increase member subscriptions.  If the site gets consumer traction, it will be a significant additional benefit to association members.    

Marketing challenge

NFOPP are investing over £400,000 in developing and marketing Propertylive.co.uk.  Marketing packs are being sent out this month to over 10,000 UK agents as part of their marketing push.  One of the key promotional challenges will be to get agents to promote the portal in their windows, on their business cards and via word-of-mouth.  Bolton-King is confident members will promote the portal.  “Before committing to such a big investment, we surveyed our members extensively.  90% said they supported the portal and 88% said would promote it in their store windows.” he says.

Restricted access

NFOPP are restricting access to their employer members and will take listings from agents who belong to an international association they recognize.  This includes the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the US, members of European association, CEI as well as members of associations that fall under the ICREA umbrella.  This effectively means that many Eastern European, African and Asian agents will not be allowed to list as associations in these regions often to fail to have adequate complaints procedures and regulatory frameworks.   There will also be no place for MRI Overseas Property who recently “left” NFOPP after it accused the association of “being used as a platform for libelous comments against it”