The Best Property Portal for buyers and sellers: Rightmove, Zoopla or On The Market?
When looking for a website to find you a home, it’s hard to know which to choose. Are they all the same or do you need to search to find your perfect app? With technology offering us a million choices, deciding on just one or a few seems impossible. Though with some facts and user feedback, cutting through the noise and finding your dream site has never been so easy…
The Numbers
Rightmove is undeniably the frontrunner in most categories based on figures alone. It receives a huge 127.5 million visits per month. Zoopla, in comparison, says all its websites and mobile apps attract over 60 million visits per month. This is understandable, as Rightmove is also the oldest, created in 2000 by a collection of the largest estate agencies at the time. They clearly had the time to build up the audience they have!
So, if you’re looking to sell, it seems you have a clear winner. For buyers however, Rightmove attracts more listings to be made due to the high number of buyers looking on the site. However, you clearly have more competition, if you’re looking for something to cater to your acquired property tastes a multi portal approach should be considered.
Essential information for buyers shows you the unexpected underdog. On The Market, the newest addition to the property portal frontrunners has a very useful feature. Properties will first appear on On The Market up to 24 hours before other sites. That, coupled with less viewer traffic, makes for the perfect opportunity to snap up your new ideal home. If you know that you’re looking in a particularly busy place- or one with a reputation for listings to disappear before you can even open your laptop- then getting friendly with On The Market may be a useful thing on the to-do list.
User Experience
How the users find the app is a hugely personal experience, and so two people are likely to have two widely different experiences with the apps and will come out with their own preferences and issues.
Generally, Rightmove is said to have a slightly more user-friendly interface, but all three are easy to use and pleasing to the eye, it only comes down to opinion.
Unsurprisingly to everyone, all three providers offer apps to download and search on. When all tools and features are weighed up for both buyers and sellers, many agree that Zoopla just has the edge.
One of the great features Zoopla has, to hold it above the rest is the key word search function. It’s particularly useful to those less experienced in house hunting, who want to cut through jargon like "tenanted", "no chain", "refurbishment", "cash buyers only". If you’re looking to sell, Zoopla will offer you an instant valuation estimate of your property, all while you look for your next place!
Zoopla also lets you define your search area by drawing on a map, rather than simply using a radius from a point. This is just a little tool that makes the experience as customisable as they could manage. As well as this, the time travel tool lets you see how long it will take you to travel to saved locations like work or the gym, or to the nearest shops. Another helpful tool to go into your search a little better equipped.
Overall, there’s no definitive answer to which portal will serve you the best. If you’re looking for the most listings, or the most user-friendly experience, or for the quickest results, all involve a different
path. They all offer something slightly different, so it may be good idea to hedge your bets and download more than one…