Just last month, property listings site PropertyGuru came under fire once again when TODAY published a report about agents in Singapore being “up in arms again” about fee increases on the platform.
Price increases were said to range from 11.3% to 26.6% across four different packages.
An example cited was for the ‘Advance’ package, where agents now pay $2,380 for 12 months.
Previously, the fees were $500 cheaper, at $1,880 for 12 months.
Though, if it’s any relief, new agents to PropertyGuru only need to pay $1,680 for a 12-month subscription.
In spite of their grievances, there was also a sense of resignation as agents felt that PropertyGuru was still the dominant player in the real estate market.
But just like how homebuyers have a choice in picking a property platform that suits their needs, property site EdgeProp also believes that agents deserve an alternative platform to promote their services.
Pay Only If You Get Leads
Launched in July 2015, EdgeProp’s value proposition is that it wants to help property seekers make better property decisions by “empowering them with the right research, data, and content”, as compared to just being a platform that displays listings.
The team’s approach to real estate has gotten them positive results, having grown from 50,000 users per month at launch to 900,000 today, and even securing themselves US$4 million (S$5.52 million) funding in 2017.
Beyond that, EdgeProp also runs on a different business model for property agents, where agents only pay if they receive an enquiry from buyers and/or tenants.
In fact, EdgeProp even takes its ‘pay-per-verified-lead’ model to the next level by ensuring users key in a One-Time Password (OTP) whenever they make an enquiry.
This, along with an in-built spam detection mechanism, verifies the quality of enquirers, meaning that agents and their clients won’t need to waste their time entertaining dead leads or non-serious buyers.
This also solves another problem – agent response rate.
According to a poll conducted by EdgeProp, 70% of agents don’t reply promptly to enquirers because of spam. Therefore, by verifying enquiries, agents will in turn be more willing and likely to respond to serious buyers, eventually resulting in more satisfied users.
But, you may ask, how much does an enquiry cost then?
This is where EdgeProp’s ‘Prop Points’ system comes in.
Prop Points, And How They Work
While EdgeProp’s free Basic plan lets agents post up to 30 listings and enjoy perks like access to research on market trends, latest transaction records, and real estate ‘hotspots’ in Singapore, every verified enquiry costs 30 to 50 Prop Points.
1,000 Prop Points costs $398, which works out to around $12 to $19 per verified lead – a reasonable price to pay, if you consider that these enquiries are from serious buyers and tenants.
Prop Points are even cheaper ($328), at $10 – $16 per verified lead if you’re a Pro Tools account holder:
A Pro Tools account costs $365/year (that’s $1/day!), but includes additional features like access to detailed home reports, condo floor plans, comparative market analysis and even government and private land sales information!
For the ambitious agent, a Pro Tools account also offers tools for prospecting new clients, like HDB MOPs and lease expiry, so you can offer your services to homeowners even before they think of finding an agent!
Money Back Guarantee If You’re Not Satisfied
Since the launch of Prop Points, EdgeProp has seen over a few thousand agents coming on board.
For example, Ben Huang, Group Director at Propnex, shared that he got a lead within the first 2 weeks through EdgeProp’s marketing activities.
Benson Leow, KEO of Your Estate Specialist LLP, added that the system has made it easy for him to “filter out quality leads from spam”, saving him a lot of precious time.
In fact, EdgeProp is so confident about its product that it even offers money back guarantee within the first 90 days of purchasing Prop Points if you feel like the platform’s not working out for you.
EdgeProp’s approach to real estate is definitely a breath of fresh air for property agents who no longer want to pay through their noses only to put up listings without guaranteed results.
- Find out more about EdgeProp’s plans here.
This article was written in collaboration with EdgeProp.
