Agency toolkit: The services launched this month to help your business

Our inbox is regularly stuffed with exciting new industry developments and tools to help agents work better. 

Here are some of the new tools and services that have launched recently. 

OneDome  

OneDome, a property portal that supports the whole transaction process from helping buyers search for a home to securing finance and completing a purchase, has rolled out a new insurance product that can be offered by agents. 

Initially trialled last year, agents using OneDome’s HomeBuyer service will now be able to offer an insurance policy at no extra cost that offers all homebuyers protection against financial loss related to a failed transaction. 

It is called the OneDome Guarantee and the customer is covered for up to £2,250. 

The insurance policy is underwritten by a consortium of Lloyd’s syndicates. 

All the agents who become affiliates of OneDome’s HomeBuyer service receive marketing material allowing them to inform their buyers and vendor-buyers that they offer the guarantee. 

Currently, the service is limited to 100 transactions per year or £12,000 per branch. 

Babek Ismayil, founder of OneDome, said: “Our mission is to fix the broken property transaction process and differentiate ourselves from other portals.  

“We offer estate agent members an opportunity to stand out from the crowd by offering a faster and a more efficient homebuying and selling experience to their customers.  

“The OneDome Guarantee is a great way for our estate agents to stand out from their competition and offer that little extra something to win their clients hearts and minds. Failed transactions affect over 300,000 people per year and this is a good way to reassure your clients that they are in good hands.” 

Acaboom and NicheCom 

Agency marketing tools Acaboom and NicheCom have joined forces in a new collaboration that aims to provide agents with a more engaging proposal to convert more valuations. 

Under the agreement, agents using Acaboom software for marketing proposals and presentations to potential vendors will be able to embed NicheCom marketing material directly. 

This would include being able to highlight NicheCom’s services such as 3D viewings, professional photographs, accurate floorplans and energy performance certificates. 

Brian Farrell, chief executive of Acaboom, said: “This is a great new integration that adds something extra for agents already benefiting from the marketing tools provided by NicheCom.  

“We created the partnership in response to client demand and agents have been quick to make use of the integration. 

“The ability to further engage and visually compel clients to take notice is something no agent can afford to miss out on, so this is a new partnership we are delighted to enter into.”  

Peter Burnham, managing director of NicheCom, said: “While the battle for new instructions remains highly competitive, we know agents are having to work harder than ever to stand out from the crowd.  

“By incorporating a raft of information about property marketing and showcasing our portfolio, agents will benefit from an even more impressive proposal to send out post-valuation.” 

Spring 

Spring, a national home-buying and part exchange service has launched a property data platform for estate agents and their clients to find out how quickly new properties are selling. 

The free service, called MoveSmart, lets users compare up to three locations at once by the first three characters of a postcode. 

The data pulls together information from government sources including the Land Registry and from statistical technology firm Propalt 

The results also feature a breakdown of comparable properties for sale or sold within the area as well as average sale prices. 

Estate agents will also be able to find out the estimated costs of household bills, 

Cormac Henderson, chief executive of Spring, said: “MoveSmart is a game changer for the market place and we are excited to be launching a useful tool that will armour estate agents with more information by postcode that they can share with their clients when contemplating their next house move. 

“Estates agents will be also able to use our MoveSmart platform to also see how a Spring completion compares to their postcode and use it as a tool with their underwriting team to discuss offers with their clients.”