The CEO and founder of CoStar Group, which owns OnTheMarket, says the UK property portal, which his firm acquired last year for £99m, could be rebranded ‘Homes.com’ and may sponsor the new Manchester Utd stadium.
Speaking at the Proptech and Portal Watch conference in Barcelona, the long-serving CEO told Online Marketplaces’ chairman Simon Baker that he is willing to be patient to take market share off of Rightmove via OnTheMarket.
The CoStar boss also said he is not interested in buying Rightmove or Zoopla, before asserting that OnTheMarket is now ahead of Zoopla by number of leads delivered to agents.
He said: “Rightmove is operating at a margin I would never be comfortable operating at, you’re super vulnerable by operating at 74% – it means you’re not working towards growth and you’re not building for the future.
“Agents in the United Kingdom express overwhelmingly to me that they are dissatisfied with the way the pricing works there.
“Rightmove has suggested it will increase prices by 35% in the next couple of years – what additional value are they offering for that increase? It’s questionable.
“We [CoStar] represent the competition.”
Florance also said in a hypothetical scenario that Manchester United could soon be playing at the “Homes.com stadium”.
Florance was highly critical of portals’ willingness to “step on the faces” of their customers without consequence, and said OnTheMarket will differentiate itself by having greater respect for agents.
“I am fascinated by the concept that intelligent people believe that market share can never shift in the portal world. If you don’t treat the customers well, the customers will seek another solution.
“There are a number of companies operating on the premise that you can do whatever you want to the customer, and they will take it and they will be your victim, and you can just step on their face.
“One of the first things we will do to differentiate ourselves from the other players is to treat the customers with respect. If you treat your customers with respect while your competitors are abusing them, that’s a competitive differentiator. We plan to provide choice to customers.”
Florance criticised Rightmove as well as US market leader Zillow for its strategy of consistently raising prices without adding extra value to its agent customers.
He continued: “Hypothetically: if we were to invest $300m-$400m into marketing OnTheMarket in the United Kingdom, and offered reasonable pricing to agents, superior software and more content, would we shift the game? Of course we would, I’ve done it a million times!
“I feel that to a little degree, Rightmove is a little complacent and arrogant. Hubris is a dangerous thing.
“Honestly, I’m fine with my customer saying ‘You’re not the cheapest solution’ – and by the way we’re not – but when our renewal rate percentage is in the high 90s, we are clearly providing value. Our pricing increases historically have mirrored inflation and we’ve grown through expanding the platform, not by milking the customer.”
Florance added that he has a long-term strategy to make OnTheMarket, or Home.com, the number one portal in Britain.
OnTheMarket reports surge in buyer leads
