A sit down with Robert May, founder, rummage4property


* *Sitting down, separately, on the phone, social distancing by 260 miles!


The Yorkshire Property Guide has been following the progress of Robert May’s rummage4property project since we first spotted tweets about it over three years ago. We got it then and get it even more today especially now that property search websites are at the forefront of agents’ thinking due to the COVID-19 crisis. In our wide-ranging chat, we got an insight in to his extensive property career, how the site came about, what still drives him forward and what his plans are for the platform he’s created.


Here is Part Two of that conversation, repeated from last summer.


YPG: You’ve recently said that R4P is not a portal but a ‘Property Search Platform’, can you explain the difference to our readers?


RM:


A Portal, as we’ve seen with the likes of Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket, is a big data project which works against the data holders, the estate agents, who upload their listings. The portals use the data supplied to them to create the audience which allows them to monetise the agent’s data. Rummage4property was built to stop this beneficial use of agent data by third party companies. A ‘Property Search Platform’ centres on the data stakeholders; it is, by definition, a small data project. The control of agent data is kept locally and rummage4property was always designed to ensure traffic to the site was immediately directed onwards to the agent’s own website. I want people to come to the site, retrieve the information they seek, in a quick and efficient manner, and go off and view properties, direct from agent’s websites.


YPG: Unlike the property portals, R4P does not capture personal data and therefore cannot derive financially beneficial - for rummage - commercial relationships with third party companies, why have you chosen to set it up in this way?


RM:


It is important to me that revenues generated from opportunities created by the agent, should be wholly retained by that agent. The agent is the one that funds the acquisition of the listing; they also fund unsuccessful market appraisals as well. Why go to all this enormous cost and effort just to put it on a predatory and parasitical site that will exploit it to sell mortgages and conveyancing?Worse, agents are paying for the privilege of having their data hosted on a third party site that they have no financial interest in or control over. The role of rummage4property is to increase agent revenue by helping them win saleable and profitable instructions, convert mortgage/conveyancing leads and control costs.


YPG:We’ve been following your progress for some time and have noted that you’re continually innovating, most recently by converting your site to become a ‘ProgressiveWeb Application’ (PWA). Can you tell our readers what a PWA is and why it benefits their search for their next home?


RM:


A typical lifetime for tech is regarded as 10 years. The tech that runs Rightmove is two tech lifetimes old! Over a period of a just few months, we have taken the tech behind rummage4property to a different level. A ProgressiveWeb Application (PWA) allows the end user a seamless experience across all devices, platforms and software versions. With a PWA, you don’t need to develop and offer an App, they are optimised to run on smartphones. When something looks the same no matter what device you are on, there’s no confusion or uncertainty. Looking for a home can be compared to a robin looking for a nesting place in a hedge; there are numerous important factors (not too open, not too deep, etc) and there’s no element of ‘that’ll do’. The criteria for seeking a new home, similarly, goes beyond price/bedrooms. Use of a PWA promotes the uniqueness of every single factor about a property and ensures that these can be Google-optimised back links i.e. It makes the listing incredibly searchable. You can’t do this with the technology behind the current portals.


YPG: The Home Page for R4P bears the same characteristics as theWorld’s most popular web page, how has Google influenced and assisted your work over the years


RM:


Google has fascinated me for years. I figured out how Google works and then set out to use this knowledge for my own benefit and outperform them. I’ve done it, I just can’t tell you how!


YPG: R4P is very much smartphone/mobile focused, can you tell our readers why you have concentrated on this specific aspect?


RM:


The vast majority of property searches are now carried out while people are on their mobile phones. Research shows this number is set to increase further. It is imperative that smartphone users have the best search experience possible; page loading times should be minimised, rich data should be available.We recognised this early and this is why we recently moved to PWA.


YPG: What aspect of R4P makes you most proud? RM:


Proving what I said I could do, it turns out the people who told me it wasn't possible hadn't tried! When people understand R4P, they appreciate what I have overcome.


YPG: The reviews and feedback we’ve read from people who have taken the time to investigate R4P, have been overwhelmingly positive; are you excited to be finally live and open for business?


RM:


I identified the need for the site, designed it, dug the foundations, built the walls, cut the roof and tiled it. I've done all of the electrics and the plumbing and, right now, as we are talking, I’ve got the decorators in. It’s the final piece of the jigsaw.We’ve been live a short while, signing up and getting agents on-boarded and this has helped us refine the platform.


YPG: Estate agents signing up to R4P have the option to buy a ‘Membership’, why has R4P, unlike other challenger portals, gone down this route?


RM:


I ama firm believer that agents should always seek to control their own destiny as much as possible. In most aspects of the industry, there is choice which keeps the prices of the goods or service competitive and affordable. Not so much in the portal sector. Rampant cost increases on already high subscription rates, a situation further exacerbated by the current COVID-19 crisis, has finally forced the industry to look for means to bring the cost down. The ONLY way is for agents, and only agents, to be stakeholders in the business. Consider Rightmove’s worth of £4.5billion, each advertiser (single branch) is worth over £280,000 to them! This is MORE than what that office is worth to the actual owner! This ridiculous situation is not possible with R4P, as, collectively, I amoffering each of these advertisers the chance to own their digital marketplace for just £1000 + VAT per office.


YPG: The concern around the COVID pandemic is forcing agents to re-assess their portal costs, do you have a message for them?


RM:


Agents have to control their costs. They don’t actually need portals; all a portal does is introduce people to the agent who are not aware of them. It’s interesting to see that portal costs are finally coming under intense pressure. No portal should be able to generate 76p profit for every £1 received. Generation 5 property search platforms like R4P cost significantly less to run and maintain. They also enable the launch of geographically smaller platforms; you could have ‘Morley Properties’ or ‘Ryburn Valley Properties’ with these off-shoots being powered by the ‘parent’ site. R4P is a


hyperlocal


search site producing results from searches based on; a particular street/road, local landmark, buildings such supermarkets or churches, outdoor places such as parks and golf courses, even places know only locally by a nickname. If there is property available, R4P will find it!


YPG: What is the exit plan for Robert May and rummage4property?


RM: I have no plans to retire, that’s for sure! R4P is my number one lifetime achievement so I’ll be staying around as long as I amrequired. It’s not something I can ‘cash my chips in’ on anyway due to the unique way it is structured and owned, I have only one share in the business so, even as founder and creator, I have no more say than any other member (stakeholder). I built R4P to be always owned by the estate agents that support it.


YPG: Diverting from property-related matters for a minute here, what luxury item would you take to a deserted island?


RM: Hot water! YPG: What ambitions do you have left, if any?


RM: To do something so good that I would be invited on to ‘Desert Island Discs’! I would like to be part of the mechanism that solves the housing crisis. Part of the profit from R4P will fund social housing associations and housing-centred charities.


Thanks for taking the time to speak with us Robert, we hope our readers have been as fascinated as we were.We’d like to remind our readers to visit your property search platform atwww.rummage4property.co.uk.


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