Both will link house buyers directly with sellers. Prospective buyers can search a database of properties and, if they are interested, contact the seller by e-mail to arrange a viewing. If they want to proceed further, they bid online. All buyers can see exactly what other interested parties are offering, which gives them the opportunity to put in a higher bid at a later date. Their valuations, however well informed, are in the end just guesswork.
Closer inspection reveals a few flaws.
For a start, there is nothing to stop a seller artificially inflating the price of a property by getting a friend to join in the bidding in the hope that real buyers will raise their offers. Secondly, a seller could choose to take the highest bid for his property without knowing that it is well below the true market value. It remains to be seen whether the public is ready to start doing property deals online. Hugh Dunsmore-Hardy, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, says the web is simply a communications tool and will not result in thousands of estate agents losing their jobs. However, despite Mr Dunsmore-Hardy's comments, the internet remains a fantastic resource for those looking to buy or sell property.