Portolio Property Market
Bringing investment opportunities together
Objective
Our objective was to create a brand and a digital platform to support landlords, letting agents and property investors. This platform had to facilitate the sale of tenanted property; either as a portal for use by letting agents or as an estate agent direct to property investors.
“it’s a property portal not unlike the ones offered by giants such as Rightmove and Zoopla. However, where Portolio differs is that they only feature tenanted properties that are up for sale.”
Property Road industry magazine
Strategy
Our research uncovered that selling an occupied property does not suit every situation. It’s generally accepted that selling after the tenant has vacated usually delivers a higher sale price but with greater costs to the landlord. Selling a tenanted property can however offer a cost-effective solution:
For property investors
Buying tenanted property makes sense for the property investor who, on day one of ownership, will expect to benefit from:
- instant rental income
- a property which fully complies with current legislation – a property that is fully furnished and equipped.
For landlords and tenants
- the process can be started without waiting for the tenants to vacate
- they get rental income right up to the point they no longer are the legal owners
- their property is sold by a letting agent they trust.
Our main audience findings led us to build and brand the platform as a “property market”, where we are “bringing investment opportunities together”.
“ Portolio offers a service which isn’t currently available anywhere else. Not every landlord is able to wait until a tenancy ends to sell their property. Therefore, being able to sell a property with a sitting tenant is a win-win situation for my client, the tenant and the investor.”
Jonathan Gordon, Managing Director, Clan Gordon
Execution
Launching a new property portal into a crowded market can be a daunting challenge - particularly with such a niche purpose - business to business.
The name Portolio is such a unique one that treating it as a marque in its own right was a strong proposition. Increasing the kerning in the word marque to add a reassuring weight, colour psychology, palate and typeface were all selected to be:
- approachable but not too expensive looking
- exemplify trust and security
- be vibrant and attractive to letting agents.
The web platform was designed in such a way to be a meeting place for letting agents to advertise and sell their products and for property investors to evaluate a potential investment.
At its core is a property engine similar to that found on many property sites. However, this engine was custom built and included vital investment information. For example, the yield on the property (based on current market value rent) and the current market value rent.
In addition to the front public-facing view of the site, a letting agent zone was built to allow agents to post and manage their own tenanted properties for sale. The Portolio Agent Zone is a bespoke management system which allows agents to edit the details of their own property listings on the Portolio website.
Effectiveness
We have evaluated the effectiveness of the platform by its welcome adoption into the industry. An initial launch in the Edinburgh market has seen almost 20 letting agents become Portolio partners. These partners are actively marketing and selling properties through the platform. Plans to scale the business across the UK are already underway.
“Michael and his team have the experience and creativity needed by a start-up like Portolio. They’re very much our business partner and have bought into our mission. All that said, what I like most about The Digital Age is the fact they get stuff done.”
Chris Wood, CEO & Founder, Portolio
Almost 20 letting agents have become Portolio partners
In addition, Portolio received a significant accolade as it was included in a list of Top 10 Best Tools for Property Investors in the UK by the highly respected property industry magazine, Property Road.
tda! was also delighted to receive a Commendation in the Business to Business Category by The Herald Scottish Digital Business Awards for our work in launching this brand.
TOP 10
Best Tools for Property
Investors in the UK
Property Road industry magazine
“You can benefit from immediate rental income as soon as the purchase has been completed. Beginners will also love the ease at which they can buy their first investment property without the uncertainty of whether they can find a tenant quickly.”
Property Road industry magazine