‘eBay for property’ launches to help estate agents withsales and rental listings

LetsBid Property, a websitethat enables estate agents to add an auction element to both sales and lettings, has launched.

Registered buyers and renters can bid for property they’re interested in.

Milton Rodosthenous, LetsBid’s founder and chief executive, said: “The whole idea of LetsBid is that estate agents can offer online auction services as an extension to their business whilst remaining in complete control of the process, particularly in regards to whom they accept bids from and at what price.

“In effect, we act like an estate agent’s virtual or remote auction department, enabling them to become an auctioneer overnight.”

“Ultimately, we hope to create a platform for property auctions that is as useful and successful for sellers and buyers as eBay is for everything else.”

Agents can set a guide and reserve price, the duration of the bidding process and can access the full details of anyone making bids or downloading relevant documentation about the property.

It’s completely free for buyers and renters to access the service, whilst agents simply pay a monthly fee – although the firm is offering a free 12-month subscription for the first 1,000 agents signing up. Both agents and the public can access LetsBid via a desktop website or mobile app, the latter having tailored versions for different agents.

LetsBid has teamed up with market-leading credit reference agency Lets Safe, to allow potential renters to be pre-referenced before making bids.

LetsBid is bucking a big trend in the proptech market, highlighted by the likes of Rentberry, which seek to remove traditional agents from the property process.

Rodosthenous added: “Lots of proptech seems intent on taking business away from agents but we believe they still have the biggest part to play in property so we’re backing them, which is why vetted agents are the only ones who can upload property to LetsBid.”