Agent tries to leave OnTheMarket after accusing it of spending budget on litigation

A small independent who signed up to Agents’ Mutual for five years says he is quitting OnTheMarket – despite initially having been a big supporter.

He has now put the accusation to Agents’ Mutual, saying: “You broke the contract first.”

Anthony Kerrigan, of Kerrigans in Doncaster, claims that Agents’ Mutual had said it would spend £30m a year on advertising and marketing its OnTheMarket portal.

Kerrigan claims to have been told by someone at OTM that “a portion of that money has been put in reserve to pay court and solicitor fees”.

Kerrigan, whose firm currently lists just two sales (both under offer/SSTC) and seven lettings properties on Rightmove, has been told that his Agents’ Mutual contract has no break or cancellation clause and is binding until 2020.

On Tuesday this week, Kerrigan told Agents’ Mutual that he had stripped the office of OTM advertising and was stopping uploading his properties.

Yesterday afternoon, no listings for his firm were showing on OTM.

Kerrigan says he has no problem with the actual site, and that at inception he organised two local meetings for OTM reps to attend and meet agents.

He says no one more than him wanted OTM to succeed.

His dispute began last month when he asked if OTM would have a presence at the NAEA and ARLA conferences, and raised the issue of marketing.

He said: “Kerrigans has paid over £8,000 in marketing costs. We are very frustrated to find out a good proportion of these marketing costs have been paid to lawyers, without my consent.

“When we study our feedback, from the few leads we have had, we have had two conversions only, sorry but that is rubbish and unsustainable.

“Such a shame – it is a lovely website and I’m sold on the idea of no advertising and growing fees and no control which is what we have with Rightmove. But I am paying you to market yourself and you are not.”

Asked about his inventory, Kerrigan said that his firm manages a couple of hundred properties, and would hope not to have too many to let at any one time.

A spokesperson for OTM said: “We do not comment on contractual relations with members.”

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30 Comments

  1. AgencyInsider

    The highest figure for marketing and promotion I have ever heard mentioned by any OTM mouthpiece is £12million p.a.

     

     

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    1. PeeBee

      Sounds about right – and that’s way higher than the original budget was announced at.

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  2. smile please

    Is it April already?

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  3. WillBrom7121

    £30million a year on advertising & marketing, yet still very few of my clients have heard of On The Market.

    RM & Z will continue to remain big players despite whether agents support it or not.

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    1. Woodentop

      Look in the mirror? It is all down to you!

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      1. WillBrom7121

        Now why would I promote a portal I don’t market my properties on? That would be madness!

        Never been a fan of being told how many places I can and cannot promote my stock.

        Although, you’re right. I’m the one to blame for OTM’s demise, I must be better behaved next time.

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  4. Robert May

    I really wish I could magically show everyone what I believe; with less that 10% of that £30 million/annum  I think it is possible to transform OTM into a product  sceptical agents are clamouring to join rather than attempting to abandon.

     

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    1. AgentV

      How far off in time are you from being able to show them or us Robert? Or is there another issue?

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      1. Robert May

        Remember that surfing Guinness advert; Tick follows Tock, he waits?

        There is a bit of a kerfuffle to attend to right now but  my shirt is ironed, my shoes polished

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    2. smile please

      Being privy to what you have produced (Amazing effort by the way, outstanding even)

      What use is it to OTM – Maybe twitter to talk or are you keeping your powder dry?

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  5. MissCharlotteP13

    The one thing portals can offer us as agents is a platform to put our properties in front of the most eyes. If OTM are not doing their job (which I am sorry but clearly they’re not) I am not surprised agents are leaving at such a pace.
    We’re glad we never left.

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  6. eyelet41

    I never trusted OTM from the beginning as I didn’t believe the one other portal to be a fair thing especially when OTM was new and unknown.  To date a lot out there don’t know OTM , what it is or what it does.  No money spent in marketing at all, at least in Scotland.

    I am just angry at Rightmove for dominating the market and increasing the prices scrupulously: Twice, once the end of 2016 and again now beg 2017. It’s just not right!

    Its very tough in scotland since the tenant fees have been removed and everyday we are straggling to survive.

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    1. Woodentop

      Again look in the mirror. If you think OTM is the golden goose with no input by agents, while they continue to support the competition that you all complain costs a fortune …. think again! Then try and recall why RM & Z got to where they are …. not from the TV which is pretty abysmal considering the charges. It was because agents promoted them on the high street and still do today. Shooting yourselves in the foot comes to mind and then placing blame on a web portal there to help you…. what have you been doing?

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      1. Trevor Mealham

        Spot on Woodentop. Agents promoted RM more than their own brand, which in the first 2 years being free really was something to push. Even the first 3-4-5 years it was low cost relative to return.

        But when Joe Public 5-6 years on sw RM as more important than which agent, hen RM took the throne above the agents own brand. At that point agents quoting 2% who said your home will be on the UK’s No.1 opted for the agent at 1.75%, then 1.5%/1.25%/1%/0.75% – and potentially 15-20% in 2-3-4 years budget agents.

        OTM should have been a platform where agents could say we do sole at x%, we can even do sole cheaper than the budgets. But the best proposition is at 1.5% / 2.5% where by you bet us and all the other local broker agents.

        The rhetoric of OTM or a new platform should be – we agents can work together to bring more buyers to your sale. Not were lone agents on a main portal and the 3rd or 4th or 5th placed portal. As such we aim to achieve a sstc at a much much higher price than lone budget agents are limited from doing.

        We’ve just had a main agent complete a sale. He does RM and Z and achieved an offer of £200k, his sole fee would have been £2k. We insisted he sub out to 5-6 agents 10 miles around the home and offered 2% main agency. The property went U/O at £225k from a sub agent buyer.  The vendor was fine about paying £4,500

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      2. 1stTimeBuyer

        This isn’t factually true.  How many people do we all know who haven’t brought or sold a property in years, yet they know of RM and Zoopla.  Because of ongoing national advertising campaigns on all types of media.  There is a reason that the worlds most known brand Coke, still spends more or PR than any other company in the world.

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  7. Woodentop

    So he’s going to move to RM and their fee’s ……  bankruptcies looming! Sounds more like he can’t afford to advertise anywhere, its going to cost him more with the competition and he’s just having a winge.

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    1. smile please

      Bet he decides Z no way will he pay RM fees. Tight ar*e

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    2. 1stTimeBuyer

      Woodentop and smile… he is already with RM as stated in the article.  Facts please, facts…

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      1. smile please

        If that is the case i humbly eat my words.

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  8. Industry_Pro

    Perhaps the members of OTM should table a motion of “no confidence in the management” and change things from within. After all it is a membership of one member one vote, is it not?

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    1. smile please

      Been spoken about, no idea why this has not yet happened. Would get my vote.

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    2. 1stTimeBuyer

      Makes perfect sense, I hadn’t thought of that, interesting thought…

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  9. Industry_Pro

    The OTM model is fundamentally flawed.

    It cannot achieve a 100% penetration of listings simply because it excludes groups of agents by virtue of their operating model and/or membership of other portals. Tantamount to designing a log burning stove which is fuelled by soaking wet wood!!

    A true test of the OTM model would be to open up the service to all agent types with no other restrictions. It should then be allowed to live or die on its own merits and judged by its value to the end consumer.

    At this stage member agents can then independently decide on which portal they will use and support.

    An expensive strategy for the medium term.

     

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    1. smile please

      Only restriction is onliners.

      And i am all for that. They do not provide a full service.

      The point of OTM was to support the high street agent, flys in the face allowing the likes of PB on, especially at a time we should be doing all we can to stand up to them.

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      1. 1stTimeBuyer

        I suppose you still light your house using candles and heat with coal too?  Times change, move with it or get left behind.

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        1. smile please

          How is using an online agent moving with the times?

          If anything it is going backwards!

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    2. PeeBee

      “Tantamount to designing a log burning stove which is fuelled by soaking wet wood!!”

      Strange analogy – but think about it – surely such a stove should be capable of burning ANYTHING that is combustible if its’ design parameter is to be able to burn the normally incombustible?

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  10. Industry_Pro

    If the PB model works and wins, then the PB website may well become the GoTo property portal of choice for consumers simply because of the volume of listings it could offer.

    In this scenario it may well overtake OTM based on the market share measurement and it could be that PB no longer need the services of RM & Zoopla at some stage in the distant future..!!

    Imagine the scale of that achievement…….simply by providing a cost effective, reasonably priced transparent and adequate service to the motivated consumer, let alone the cost savings which will drop straight through to the bottom line.

    Alternatively, could PB raise enough cash/investor support to buy RM or Zoopla should their respective market values fall as a result of loss of market dominance due to the rise of market penetration by the onliners.

    Consider Hoover, once market dominant with 94% market share being upstaged by a new technology led entrant called Dyson. It’s all in the history books……

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    1. PeeBee

      “Consider Hoover, once market dominant with 94% market share being upstaged by a new technology led entrant called Dyson. It’s all in the history books……”

      But – here’s the thing – Hoover didn’t have anywhere near 94% of the market when Dyson came on the scene…

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  11. PeeBee

    “When we study our feedback, from the few leads we have had, we have had two conversions only, sorry but that is rubbish and unsustainable.”

    And it’s taken ‘Duh Management’ of Kerrigans TWENTY-FIVE MONTHS to come to that convenient conclusion to excuse themselves from the party – just when it’s all getting interesting?

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