Buyers: Find your next property using this web site & help the vendor to save fees in the process.

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Reasons for Property Match (UK):

Why is Property-Match offering direct property marketing?

Because people need the housing market to become a less stressful, less volatile place.   We want to help achieve that by making house-moving an easier and more enjoyable experience.  With Property-Match you could also save the cost of hiring an estate agent, thats several thousand pounds these days.

The main advantages we offer are, genuine sellers advertising with the intention of getting a sale, because they are prepared to pay a small sum to advertise their houses direct with us.

As a result, Property Match viewers are not bombarded with emails from prospecting estate agents or the other promotional revenue streams usually tied in with free-listing sites.

By using Property-Match plus a signboard (recommended), you can get genuine buyers viewing your property and be in full control of the whole marketing process.

Property-Match provides both specialist computer technology and as importantly, human assistance when needed, to help maximise your house-advertising and marketing potential.

No free sites will ever be able to offer this.

We're a fast loading low graphics site, designed for use with both on-desk and mobile computer devices.

Our market research indicates that house-price booms, followed by slumps on a cyclical basis, are caused by estate agents competing with each other to win instructions by over-exaggerating asking prices to clients.

This causes estate agents to slowly inflate house prices!  Large and unregulated asset bubbles, occurring cyclicly then cause massive damage to the UK economy.  It is now clear that such price bubbles have to be deflated if we are ever to achieve economic stability.

We don't claim to have more knowledge than The Government, of course, but we believe that if nothing is done to correct these apparent house pricing anomalies, then house-owners themselves must begin self-regulating the market.  To do this we suggest that owners should carry out their own, more diligent, market appraisals to check that the price which estate agents are quoting is genuinely attainable. It is, of course, easy to do this from this web site.

Most people we speak to want to move away from house price booms and busts, occurring in repeating cycles.  We do.

We currently believe the first thing to do to achieve this would be to stop using estate agents and instead, move to selling houses direct online.

Questions and answers:

Doesn’t everyone have to use an estate agent by law?

No, you have the choice to market your house direct.

Many people don’t realise they have always had the right to sell or let their property direct.  Despite this, estate agents have had a virtual monopoly of house sales and lettings over the past 50 or so years.  Things need to change!

With the coming of age of the Internet, people now have the perfect opportunity to market their own property direct and in a more realistic way too.

Unlike estate agents, Property-Match (UK) has no need to monopolize dealings or try and increase its market share.  It’s not about how many houses we have on our register at any time.

We are simply offering an economically priced alternative for use by all house-owners and/or landlords.

Unlike most estate agencies, which have traditionally been shop based, this new service will work right across the whole UK - from one web site.

Another advantage of using us instead of an agent is that you won't have to release the key to your house until it is sold or let.

Can I do a better job without estate agents?

Yes, if you are prepared to do your own property marketing by writing the details, organising viewings, doing the negotiations and instructing solicitors.  You can sell or let without needing an estate agent. There is no reason at all why you couldn't do a better job of this yourself.

Property negotiations themselves are, in fact, really just frank discussions between a buyer and a seller.

Understanding this, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot do these yourself.  After all, you know your own property better than the agent.  This is a considerable advantage in any negotiations.

Kirstie and Phil - and the human side of home search:

Watching these two on TV, it seems that even in a market downturn, buyers need good negotiating skills to get sellers and their agents to see when they are overpricing a property for sale.  However, you can now do all this yourself using the database links we provide.

As long as you always do your price comparisons based on actual sales (try this link), you should be fine but you could, if you wanted to, also get a buying agent, like them, to confirm whether you are doing it right.

Property-Match does not aim to offer a full home-finder, or a buying agent service.  We  simply unite buyers and sellers, whom are looking online, with well-matched self-selected properties.

The human side of things is done by buyers meeting sellers, face-to-face of course.

What if I am already with a sole agent?

Even if you are already with a high street estate agent you can use us in addition.  It is, after all, your property and you are therefore entitled to sell it yourself if you wish to, even if you already have an agent working for you on this.

NOTE: By using this web site, any arrangements you may already have with your estate agent would remain unaffected.  You should make sure you have retained your right to sell or let your property yourself (in the agent contract).  Check the wording to be absolutely certain.

You can then use our site for direct marketing and agent's commission would only become chargeable in the event that they introduced the purchaser (or tenant) first.

If there is doubt, we would suggest that you insert an additional clause in your agent's selling contract to the effect that "No agent's fees shall become payable if the property is sold through any avenues separately commissioned by myself".

We should also suggest that you to check to see you have not signed an exclusive selling contract with your agent.  This would be extremely unusual and you should, in such a case, have been made fully aware of this at the time.

How can I find out if my existing agent is doing a good job?

If you are not confident they are, the way to go is to stage a viewing using a discreet friend.  That way you will gain first-hand knowledge about how helpful (or otherwise) your agent is being, when showing people around your property.

If the result is poor, you will have a perfect reason to tell your agent what you found out about their service.

What if I am not getting enough viewings after marketing with Property-match?

More that 80% of people looking for houses look online these days.  There is no reason why you should not get the same number of genuine viewers through Property-Match (UK).

To make absolutely certain of maximum market exposure however, we can, if you like, also set up a Page One pay-per-click campaign for your property advert on Google (and other participating search engines). That way, people will be sure to see your advert, right from Google etc., simply by typing in the relevant key words and without having to trawl any of the property portals.

All markets work in similar ways and if viewers do not become interested in your property having seen it, you should ask them for their thoughts and, of course, listen carefully to what they may say.

If several viewers give similar reasons for not finding your property suitable, you should change e.g. the price, or whatever aspect of the property is causing the lack of interest.

Do I need a street sign, or pavement board?

We recommend one because it is a very prominent marketing tool but the choice, of course, is yours. Our full size professionally made boards have modern distinctive colours and will also bear your Unique Property Ref.

After seeing this, people will be able to log into the web site, easily find your advert and request a viewing.

Mounting posts are available too if required.

What sort of photos can I upload?

You upload your images in jpg or gif format and these are re-sized by us to the correct display size, automatically i.e. 300 pixels landscape width.

The last of the 5 extra photos will be displayed in extra large 700 pixels landscape width.  We suggest you should use this slot for your best feature photo.

Once you have done this you are also permitted to send us iPod or Podcast movies for display in place of any individual photos if you prefer.  These could be 360 degree views if wished.  We accommodate wide-bandwidth formats currently used on the web.

Send these by email attachment and we will substitute them for an existing photo if requested.

Can my advert also be placed on:

Primelocation, Propertyfinder, Rightmove, Globtrix etc.?

The answer at present is no, because these sites have declared that they will only show properties marketed by estate agents.

Obviously, they would only be able to charge estate agents the substantial fees which they do, for placing agent’s adverts online if they guaranteed them exclusivity and that may well be the real reason for the refusal.

We should mention here that since these platforms won't carry private web adverts, any direct property marketing sites that claim to be able to show an advert on them, would either appear to be mis-selling, or may in fact be estate agents themselves.

Having said all that, we have now developed a similarly powerful platform for house advertising, Property Match (UK).  This is an even better work-around (and much more cost-effective).

At Property Match we have no wish to discriminate against Rightmove etc., as regards not accepting paid-for adverts. Our web site may therefore be used by estate agents, if they should wish to do so. However, our search filters are very much ‘price’ orientated!

Can I edit my property advert once it is live online?

You can certainly do this but because we are a live site, to edit your final copy (once live), please email us with any required updates so that we can first approve the new material before editing your advert for you.

We trust you'll understand there is a need for us to perform fundamental checks as to the appropriateness of changes to be made to content being posted online.  Please allow for a slight delay, whilst your changes are incorporated into your advert.

How long should it take for my advert to appear on the main search engines?

A link to your advert should normally appear on the natural listings easily within a month of filing it with us. Times can vary depending on the spidering schedules of individual search engines.

Pay-Per-Click however, is usually active during the same week you place it with us.

How is payment made when advertising on Property-Match?

There are two ways.

We have a secure online system set up through WorldPay, a company operated by The Royal Bank of Scotland. OR

You can pay by cheque, sent by post if you prefer.

In either case our systems will calculate the cost of your order, as you place your advert.  For more information about this please see our Charges page.

What do I get if I decide to buy Pay-Per-Click too?

The answer: Advertise a house.

Why pay to advertise at all, when some sites are offering it free?

The answer: Why Pay.

How do I arrange my own viewings?

When arranging for viewers to visit your property we suggest, if you prefer to, that you get a friend to help with showing the viewers around, or that in any event, they accompany you.

They can then follow up a viewing by asking what each viewer thought about the house, either at the time or a short while later.

Doing this will not only help to keep the viewing experience relaxed but it is also the safest method to conduct house viewings.

You'll also get more accurate feedback about what you're selling or letting, including information about the price etc. Offers from viewers could easily be made to your friend too, if you prefer this.

Be relaxed about showing people around and don't, for example, lead them into each room saying "And this is the ... !"

Who is behind Property-Match (UK)?

The people who've developed this web service are a team, led by a property surveyor (now retired) but with extensive sales experience.  The team believes there are important changes needed to the selling and letting processes and that the Internet is the way forward to facilitate these changes.

Are these pages viewable on mobile devices?

Yes.  We use the latest web software and continue to test different networks to ensure live compatibility for these. People can see full property details whilst on the move.  This site is optimised for Apple iPhones / iPads etc..

How do we compare with Zoopla, Propertyhat, etc.?

These are free to use media-led web sites full of estate agent’s adverts as well as private ones.  The difficulty is, asking prices are often not indicative of current value on these sites.

We offer better facilities, both for this and for the placement of successful private house advertisements direct by owners.  For us to do this however, we need to charge a small amount for providing the improved service that we do for our clients.

What are IPRs, Internet Property Retailers?

They are web sites, like this one, offering online publicity to those wishing to market property for themselves. They are really Internet sales platforms.

The term IPR was coined by the Office of Fair Trading to distinguish such web sites from those that offer full estate agency services, usually taking a commission in the process.

Unfortunately, as with many things, it is important to make sure that you are dealing with a genuine IPR and not one that is, in fact, an estate agency hiding as an IPR - so please beware.  Do check who you are about to trust your house marketing to, before you start.

Data Protection:

We are registered under the Data Protection Act for your security and will not part with the information we hold on your behalf without your prior permission.  We will permanently delete your information when it is no longer required to be held. Your private data is not available to our office staff.

The pattern-match search buttons don't work on my computer?

These are special scripted buttons that may not work on older browsers (even Internet Explorer 7).  However, you will find text links above them which can be used instead.  To get them to work properly you currently need to download a Firefox or Safari web browser.

Browser type to use:

This web site displays best in the Firefox, or Safari browsers.  Problems can be experienced with colour rendition, when using older Internet Explorer browsers.

Finally, do strange characters appear on your screen at the end of lines and around our copyright notice at the bottom of our pages?

This should not happen. These pages have been made using the character, or text encoding: Unicode (UTF-8).  To view these pages properly, please go to View, Text Encoding in your browser and set this to Unicode UTF-8.  This should resolve the problem, without interfering with the viewing of pages from most other web sites.

Property-Match (UK): the modern way to market houses