Settled aims to make the home buying process far smoother
While most people will start a home search these days on Rightmove or Zoopla, less of us are ready to ditch the traditional estate agent and go online, when it comes to the selling process.
And the reason why the online agents have failed to grab a larger market share so far is, according to Gemma Young of Settled, because the experience has yet to deliver a step change in the transaction experience. She’s focused on using technology to deliver a more enjoyable process – that also happens to be more efficient.
Gemma, and brother Paul, launched Settled last year. “We are fundamentally a property technology company – so it’s about building the tools,” she explains. She has previous experience with an online agency, after which she joined Google and was country marketing head. Paul’s early career was as a mortgage advisor for Halifax, before switching to brand marketing and tech startups.
“We think the online agents have done a brilliant job in switching people’s mindsets, and reducing the cost of selling,” says Young. She says Settled aims to be the next step in taking property sales online, doing all the agents do but “we just bolster it with technology”.
“The secret to really changing the sector, is empowering customers.” This starts, she says, by getting sellers to write their own property description: “You get a warmer, more characterful description – it’s an emotional process.”
The idea is not simply to offer a cut-price agency: “I guess the key thing is, this model is better – it may also be cheaper.”
Settled has attracted support from some big hitters. Its growth is being backed by Spark Ventures, whose chairman Tom Teichman is the UK’s most successful technology start-up investor. He tried the new venture to sell his own house, and was hooked: “From start to finish I felt in control; they helped me get the most from things…and this obviously fuelled my decision to become an investor.”
Proof that the Settled system is superior comes from sales success, says Young. Typically, one in three deals fail to complete – but with Settled, that statistic falls to one in 15.
There are still hold-ups along the way, with some solicitors unwilling to completely embrace online systems. But, she promises: “When somebody uses the systems we have built, we can guarantee it will be quicker.”
Proof that Settled works comes from the fact that it has so far helped to sell £38 million of homes, with 98 per centachieving their asking price or more, and a confirmed offer coming after an average 20 days on sale. And on average, customers home sellers spend £4,200 less than they would using the traditional house sale route.
Having established a system that works well, Settled is beginning its next funding round, to enable it to scale up – and tell the world of its existence. Settled’s tools could work internationally, but Young says for now, the team’s focus is on the UK market: “We’ve got a lot of work to do here.”