Is Facebook the Rightmove killer?

As I type, Rightmove are no-doubt sending out their perpetual price hikes to thousands of loyal member agents with increases that could be as high as 17.5%.

Now, the anti-Rightmove movement has gone a little bit quiet during the pandemic and to be fair to them, they did allow (after backtracking) agents some concessions but there's nothing like a good old double-digit price increase to fan the flames of the 'say no' brigade and who can blame them?

Personally speaking there was a moment last year when I thought the mass RM walk-out might actually happen but when it came to pressing the button and waking away from the best lead source available to most agents, many just couldn't bring themselves to do it and again, who can blame them!?

During the past 12 months agents have been forced to adapt, forced to re-think, forced to build a more robust model that's future-proof. They're building the foundations of a business that takes back control of its data, leads and ultimately controls its own destiny.

There are some smart, no very smart, agents out there. I'm fortunate to speak with many of them on a regular basis and a subject that really excites them is Facebook. Nothing new about Facebook (Rightmove are only 4 years older) except that the very smart agents are now beginning to learn how to use it and by that I don't mean posting a funny GIF or meme on a Friday night, they've actually learned how to sell property on Facebook and in turn drive leads, capture data and create meaningful engagement.

Selling property and driving leads, it almost sounds like a portal doesn't it? Of course the big difference is that it costs nothing, zero. Agents are now genuinely and frequently transacting via FB, one agent who is a member of the FIA recently sold 6 properties in 3 weeks using FB before even listing the properties on Rightmove. This is serious, this is actually working.

Another example of an agent who only launched their business 12 months ago, as soon as they leave an instruction they are outside the property filming a FB live, a recent buyer was found there and then before the agent had even made it back to the car (let alone the office!), another one that Rightmove didn't get their hands on (or any other portal for that matter).

I could go on, there are many agents now using Facebook to sell properties 'off market' and in a number of different ways, there's a science to it (luckily not rocket science) but you have to be prepared to build your local audience first. If you put the effort in this can be achieved within 12 months as many have proven.

The added benefit is that most vendors understand Facebook, they appreciate the extra effort that agents are going to in order to secure the right buyer for their home rather than just putting on the portals, there's so much more now and agents should always earn greater fees with a broader marketing approach.

Even with the recent noisy launch of Boomin it seemed to bring about one too many sighs of 'oh no, not another portal' closely followed by 'the Bruce brothers, really!?'. There could still be another portal launch (yawn!) but it never seems to be anything really that new, particularly to the weary agents that have had twenty years of portals coming and going, with Rightmove being the one that just won't go away hence the hostage situation many agents find themselves in.

At this stage I have to credit OTM & Zoopla who are generally considered the other two main players both of whom seem to be more on the side of the agent with a less arrogant approach but playing second or third fiddle to RM in many parts of the country. Jason Tebb in particular has been a shrewd appointment and someone that I have a lot of time for.

So the threat to Rightmove may not actually be another portal, it might just be the Zuckerberg juggernaut thats been right there since 2004 but is now becoming a serious weapon in estate agents' armoury, and it's free. Fast-forward five years and I wonder how many properties will be sold via Facebook, the momentum is building that's for sure. Enough to kill Rightmove? More chance than anything else out there right now.