inea.co.uk

inea.co.uk stands for the Independent Network of Estate Agents, and offers a multiple listing service (MLS) for independent estate agents in the UK. inea.co.uk has signed up 150 agents to their portal.

Established in July 2008, the ethos behind the website is that for years agents have been working together behind the scenes on behalf of their valued clients. Now with inea.co.uk research and software they can access other members’ shared properties. The website is also linked to other international property networks.

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

Ownership

Trevor Mealham, INEA Co-ordinator.

Market Position

inea.co.uk say they are a portal with a difference, behind the scenes is a hi tech MLS designed specifically for the UK market for independent agents.

Key Measurements

inea.co.uk launched July 2008 with 30 trial agents. As of November 2008 they stand at over 150 agents, approximately 2 months ahead of target.

Market Coverage

inea.co.uk covers the UK, plus INEA offer properties to and through their members from Cyprus, Bulgaria and 12 other countries. France is joining soon which will mean members will have access to around 2,500 French listings, taking their overseas listings to over 10,000 overseas properties.

Advertising Model

inea.co.uk only allows agents to list properties (public advertisers are not allowed to). They have a membership fee of £40 pcm (plus VAT) for unlimited property uploads. Their categories include: residential sales, lettings, commercial, new developments and overseas and they also have around 13,000 holiday lets on the website.

Third party advertisers are present on banners.

Planned new innovations designed to make the agent’s job easier will bring in two other membership entry levels: around £20 extra each pcm. A standard INEA account will remain at £40 pcm.

INEA also have trade offers in their members area saving members money on associates goods and services eg: legal agreements, HIPs, conveyance etc. Members can also earn from removal leads.

Financials

Undisclosed, but the company say it has made substantial investment in setting up INEA over the last 3 years, and works closely with 3 software houses. As of November 2008 the website had 150 members signed up, paying approx £40 pcm.

Site Sections

The key sections of the website are:

For users property search

• residential sales
• lettings
• commercial
• new developments
• overseas
• holiday lets
• agent finder

For agent members:

• member forum
• job board
• news
• templates

Technology

Web 2.0 MLS for the UK market allowing agents to share their listings.

Key Management

The key management are:

• Trevor Mealham – INEA Co-ordinator

History

INEA stands for The Independent Network of Estate Agents and is based on a group run in the early 1990’s.

Established in July 2008, the ethos behind the inea.co.uk website is that for years agents have been working together behind the scenes on behalf of their valued clients. Now with inea.co.uk research and software they can access other members’ shared properties. The website is also linked to other international property networks.

inea.co.uk say they are working on building innovative and new market services for existing agents. They have underway prototype additions undergoing build and testing in readiness for launch early 2009. One innovation is hardware that does not exist in estate agency, so they will have a ‘first’ to launch.

Recent Press

inea.co.uk send out their own e-newsletter to around 8,000 plus agents each week. There is no press section on their website.

Information Sources

Management Interview
Site Review

1. INEA Connects with thinkproperty.com

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

2. INEA Link to home.co.uk and Develop RemoteAgent

   The Independent Network of Estate Agents (INEA) have partnered with home.co.uk to provide a live feed of their agent listings to the UK portal. They've also been busy developing a portable shop front video screen called RemoteAgent, which was showcased at Inman Connect....

3. propertylive.co.uk

   propertylive.co.uk is the free-to-list portal belonging to the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP) in the UK. It launched in beta form in October 2008. ...

4. 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....

5. primelocation.com

   primelocation.com is one of the UK's leading property websites, aimed largely at the top end of the market. ...