thinkproperty.com

Thinkproperty.com is an independent website advertising UK and overseas properties for sale and rent from thousands of UK’s estate agencies. The site is owned by GMG Property Services who also own Vebra, the UK’s leading provider of software to independent estate agents. The emphasis for both the site look and feel and marketing is on simplicity and clarity.

Ownership | Market Position | Key Measurements | Market Coverage | Advertising Model | Financials | Site Sections | Technology | Key Management | History | Recent Press

Ownership

Thinkproperty.com Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). GMG is one of the UK’s leading multimedia companies whose portfolio includes Guardian News and Media, GMG Radio, Trader Media Group, GMG Property Services Group and GMG Regional Media.

Thinkproperty is currently 6th in the UK residential property portal market as per ComScore Mediametris (August 2008)

Key Measurements
(as at August 2008)

• Over 6000 agents are uploading stock to the site
• Over 600,000 properties in the UK and overseas including 40,000 for rent
• 414,000 unique visitors each month

Market Coverage

All of the UK (sales and lettings) and many other countries where properties for sale are held by UK agents (currently displaying properties from 28 other countries).

Advertising Model

It has just been reported (Oct 08) that Thinkproperty will move from a subscription model to free-to-list advertising for all estate agents – a first for any UK portal.

Financials

To be completed

Site Sections

The key sections of the website are:

• Buying
• Renting
• Find Agents
• Sold Prices
• Finance

Technology

Thinkproperty has a nice little ranking service for registered users to keep track of their properties. Once you have included properties in the shortlist, you are able to rate certain criteria, 1-5 stars, and then generate a ranking report which will include all your shortlisted properties. Your homepage can also be personalised with your shortlist and last saved search. The Sold Price database is well presented and includes a dinky graphing tool that displays local and English averages by house type and year.  Google Maps are a feature.

Key Management

The key management is:

• Mark Goddard – Managing Director

History

To be completed.

Recent Press

www.thinkproperty.com/press.htm (most of these releases are 12 months old however)

www1.propertyportalwatch.com/2008/10/real-time-news-for-thinkpropertycom/

www1.propertyportalwatch.com/2008/10/thinkpropertycom-rumored-to-be-going-free/

1. thinkproperty.com Rumored to be Going Free

   If reports in the property press are correct, thinkproperty.com is about to become free-to-list. The change couldn’t be more timely as agents protest high listing fees and free-to-list portals and search sites gain in number and popularity. Estate Agent Today broke the news on Friday, reporting that it is the first time a property portal has changed from pay-to-list, to become free. ...

2. Real Time News for thinkproperty.com

   One of the UK's consumer property portals, Thinkproperty.com, has added real time news to its website. Thinkproperty.com, wholly owned by GMG Property Services, a division within Guardian Media Group, places Web 2.0 methodology at the heart of its functionality, with Google mapping, property ranking, RSS and Video Tours being core features. ...

3. INEA Connects with thinkproperty.com

   UK portal inea.co.uk has announced plans to distribute its listings to thinkproperty.com from 24 July. ...

4. zoopla.co.uk Acquires thinkproperty.com

   Not only is zoopla.co.uk rumoured to be in negotiations to purchase REA Group owned propertyfinder.com, but the UK property portal and property information website has announced today that it has acquired thinkproperty.com from Guardian Media Group (GMG) for an undisclosed sum. ...

5. thinkproperty.com Free-to-List Growth

   Late last year thinkproperty.com changed to a free-to-list model and it already looks to be paying off for the UK portal, with the company reporting that the number of agents listing on the portal has risen....