findaproperty.com

findaproperty.com is one of the major players in the UK market. It has a traditional search facility for properties for sale and let in both the UK and some overseas markets but its main differentiator is its inclusion of comprehensive editorial. There’s information on the housing market and guides on all different aspects of the buying, selling and renting process as well as very good local information such as crime rates, school tables, tax rates and comments from locals.

The findaproperty.com audience is house hunters in early life stages – renters and first time buyers through to those working their way up the ladder.

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

Ownership

findaproperty.com is owned by Associated Newspapers, the publishers of The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, The Evening Standard and Metro, offering additional marketing opportunities for member agents. findaproperty.com runs independently of Associated Newspapers however, from its offices in Brighton.

The Digital Property Group are actively keeping each of their four portals separate from (in addition to findaproperty.com they also own primelocation.com, homesandproperty.co.uk and findanewhome.com) in an attempt to retain the differentiated market segments.

Market Position

findaproperty.com is currently the 2nd ranked site in the UK market by Unique Browsers.

Key Measurements
(as at August 2008)
The company say on their website that findaproperty.com “publishes the details of over 626,614 properties to buy or rent from over 8,779 different agent offices” and “attracts in excess of 2 million unique users and 80 million page impressions a month.”

According to ComScore:

• 1.3m unique visitors per month (ComScore Mediametrix)
• 33m page impressions (ComScore Mediametrix)

Market Coverage

All of the UK plus additional overseas markets where member agents have properties for sale. Currently there are properties for sale across all continents.

Advertising Model

findaproperty.com proudly offers ‘cost-effective advertising and no long-term contracts to sign’. Estate agents pay based on the number of properties they advertise, for the time they are on the site. They are free to cancel their ‘contract’ at any time with 30 days written notice. There is an Enhanced Scheme for agents who wish to stand out from the crowd; corporate colours are added to property details and company information pages and a logo is shown in the property listings page, along with a colour border around the property photos. All members are also offered free software to upload properties to the site if they do not already have one of the other leading estate agency software packages that are compatible with the site. 

findaproperty.com only accepts advertising from estate and lettings agents and property developers, and does not accept private advertising 

Financials

Unknown.

Site Sections

The key sections of the website are:

• Buy
• Rent
• New Homes
• Overseas
• Estate Agents

The ability to search by tube station for London properties is a fantastic feature.

Technology

Unknown.

Key Management

The key management are:

Mark Milner – Chief Executive of The Digital Property Group

History

Launched in 1997, findaproperty.com was one of the first property portals in the UK market. It has grown to be one of the big 4 property websites in the UK attracting ~1.5 million visitors a month. findaproperty.com was acquired in November 2004 by Associated Press and now powers the property search facility for all 60+ of Northcliffe Media’s local and regional newspaper websites. 

Recent Press

Press releases are published on the Press Centre or issued through PR company TTA.

Information Sources

Site Review

1. More Good News From findaproperty.com?

   The Digital Property Group owned UK portal, findaproperty.com, has released a statement saying that after record numbers of visitors to its website during July 2009, this month is also showing signs of yet more activity. ...

2. findaproperty.com in the UK Launches New Blog

   Earlier this month, findaproperty.co.uk, a leading property portal in the UK, launched a new blog called Winging It. Read on to find out more ... ...

3. Notes Tool For findaproperty.com

   UK property portal findaproperty.com has added a "notes" tool to every property detail page on the website, making it easier for site users to remember what they liked or disliked about a property listing....

4. iPhone App from findaproperty.com

   A free iPhone application has just been released by findaproperty.com. The portal is promoting the new app as the best in the UK market. The new iPhone app allows users to display all sales and rental property listings on a map and browse directions to each property. It also syncs with a user’s findaproperty.com online account so searches on both the iPhone and computer are saved for later reference. The app remembers recent searches and viewed properties, and has an auto-complete function for location names....

5. findaproperty.com Deal With McDonald’s

   Digital Property Group owned UK portal, findaproperty.com, has been revealed as the lead partner in the McDonald’s Best Chance Monopoly nationwide promotion. This marketing deal is a real coup for the portal and likely to bring it increased web traffic and huge exposure....