Estate agency founder Lee Pendleton has bucked the trend for agents to criticise Rightmove and has urged fellow agents to remember how the portal has transformed the industry over the past 20 years for the better, and that it’s far too powerful to be challenged now.
He says Rightmove should be supported for its fees suspension policy during lockdown and that someone “needs to be on their side”.
“They are a massive powerhouse for leads for most agents and we’ve worked very successfully with them for many years.”
Pendleton (left) had a well-publicised run-in with OnTheMarket last year which resulted in his agency, James Pendleton, being kicked off the portal. As well as Rightmove, he agency also lists with Zoopla.
“Rightmove have so much power that they will do whatever it takes to keep agents on side, so all the criticism coming from these anti-Rightmove haters is misplaced, I believe.”
Yesterday the portal revealed that it will end its fees discount at the end of July but then extend the scheme for a further two months, albeit at a lower discounted rate of between 75% and 40% depending on which part of the UK agents trade within.
“I’ve seen all the excitement around the challenger portals and been approached by several of them but I don’t really understand what they’re up to because, unless they’ve got £40 million to spend on marketing, they haven’t got a hope in hell of seriously challenging Rightmove or Zoopla,” he adds.
“You might think it’s cheaper to use these kinds of portals, but is it cost effective to do it?”.
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