A new online conveyancing offering has entered the fray. When You Move, a UK, technology-led conveyancing service aimed at revolutionising the process of buying and selling property for agents, brokers and consumers, officially launches today (14 January).
Co-founded by serial technology entrepreneur Peter Goodman and former Thomson Reuters sales manager Simon Bath, When You Move’s proprietary cloud software platform and mobile app give estate agents, brokers and consumers full visibility of conveyancing status in real time on an accessible dashboard. The founders say their aim is to implement the industry’s best practice and weave in best-of-breed technology to deliver the quality customer service and rapid turnaround times expected by today’s generation of ‘mobile-first’ consumers.
Bath was a sales manager in Thomson Reuters’ governance, risk and compliance department before moving into retail intelligence with Planet Retail.
Goodman is a former founder and CEO of ad management company Brighter Option, which was acquired by Buddy Media – a company subsequently acquired by Salesforce and used to launch social advertising management app Social.com. Goodman became Vice President of Social.com between August 2012 and April 2014.
The move follows last year’s launch of the Legal Software Suppliers Association’s conveyancing portal Free2Convey, which provides both professional and consumer users with an overview of the progress of property sales and an online deal room. Its launch led to the demise of the Law Society’s rival offering Veyo before it had a chance to get off the ground.
When you Move’s launch also follows the landmark AIM-listing of online estate agent Purplebricks. Unlike listed conveyancers Zoopla and Rightmove, Purplebricks is a new breed of fixed fee estate agent offering customers a web-based service.
Speaking about that listing in a forecast for 2016, Maud Rousseau, SearchFlow’s group marketing and communications director said: “The emergence of online estate agents has been debated for years. Now, with Purplebricks listed on AIM in December 2015 with a valuation of around £240 million, the impact of online estate agents is set to be a major topic of debate this year. The conveyancing industry needs to be prepared to adapt quickly if online estate agents achieve their ambition of being ‘highly disruptive in the world of estate agency’.
In a statement today Bath continued that theme. “The conveyancing market is ripe for an overhaul. As an industry, we need to look at where we’re failing consumers and look at how technology can help solve those problems.
“Our innovative dashboard and consumer-facing mobile app ensure that conveyancing jobs are completed efficiently, with proactive status updates – for you and the customer – every step of the way. Our partners will never be in the dark over status or projected completion times again.”