Merchant Internet

Freephone: 0800 980 5125

.....9 Leigh Street

.....London

.....WC1H 9EW

NAEA Internet Guidelines Review

The NAEA 's guidelines have just been released and are reproduced below. Though there seems to be a large number of areas and a lot of technical detail the solution to many of the problems it raises are far simpler than you might expect. Almost all sites currently fail the requirements so there is no better time to gain a competitive advantage and its accompanying PR.

We would be happy to explain our suggested solutions in more detail. These simple measures are designed to help:

1. Minimising your time and expenditure satsifying the requirements.

2. Leveraging extra value for your marketing from being responsive, secure and clear on your Internet site.

3. Demistifying security and Internet technologies to apply them to your property business.

Above all we offer easy, value for money solutions to all your Internet related problems whether NAEA compliance or the wider legal issues it raises.

Transparency in estate agency as a business

• The estate agent must have a physical business address at which it can be contacted.

• The estate agent must provide easy to find and clearly stated information on its legally registered name or the name of its proprietors or partners, all names under which it trades, its business address, an email address to which questions and complaints can be sent and a telephone number together with office hours during which that telephone line is open.
  

• The particulars of any accreditation to a professional body or an accreditation scheme such as the Ombudsman for Estate Agents and/or the National Approved Letting Scheme.
  

• If it is part of a franchise group
  

  • The details of any tied arrangements with a financial institution.

• The Estate Agent will ensure that, where it sub-contracts the performance of certain activities covered by these standards to a third party, sub-contracted work conforms to these standards.

Transparency Solution

• A clear "Contact Us" page with a link on every page of your website.

• Clear logos for all accreditations with links to the accompanying website.
  

• A "Partners" page with full contact details of partners such as Financial Services, Solicitors etc.
  

Honesty in obtaining property details

• All property adverts and details of sale will be on those properties on which the agent holds confirmed written instructions.
  

• Clients of properties displayed will have been notified in writing that their property is on the Internet.

Honesty Solutions

• A comprehensive business audit checking in and outgoing written material and your system for display/marketing of properties.

Quality in the conduct of its business

• Where a property is ‘under offer subject to contract’ sales information will be amended accordingly.
  

• Where a property is no longer available for sale the agent will ensure that it is removed from display.
  

• Following exchange of contracts sales information must be removed or amended as sold as soon as possible.
  

• When the sale has completed information must be removed from display unless it is part of collective information promoting properties sold by the agency.
  

• The agent will respond to enquiries and requests for relevant information received by e-mail promptly.

Quality Solution

• A flexible web database that displays sales status information.

• A web database system which changes instantly an instruction changes.

• An archiving system for properties.

• An automatic emailing system which matches clients to properties and can send standard letters and details while you work.

• A fast reliable connection to the Internet for easy emailing and instant incoming/outgoing email.
  

Accuracy of property information

• All displayed property information will be accurate and up to date.
  

• Property particulars will be prepared to comply with The Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 and accord with the Advertising Standards Code of Practice.
  

• The estate agent will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that all property particulars passed on to the property portal conform to the provisions of statutory regulations relating to the sale or letting of property as from time to time may be in effect.
  

• The estate agent will take reasonable steps to ensure that all content passed to the property portal and consumer is of a decent and inoffensive nature.
  

• The estate agent will take responsibility for all accuracy and compliance issues except where the property portal has indicated in writing otherwise or has failed to honour its obligations under other parts of these guidelines in a manner which has directly led to a failure to display accurate property information or be compliant.
  

• In dealings with property portals, the estate agent will take ownership for the accuracy of information sent to the property portal, whether it does so itself or via a third party such as a software company.

Accuracy Solution

Proper, printable property details online including your header and footer and the Property Misdescriptions Act disclaimers.

Respect for the privacy and security of estate agents’ property and other users data

• The estate agent will display on its web site its privacy policy which should include:
  

  • what information is collected
    

  • the specific purpose for which the information may be used
    

  • whether and for what purpose the information may be disclosed to other parties
    

  • a contact point for Data Protection Act enquires
    

• The estate agent will have available a data security policy signed by senior management describing how information is secured and procedures to ensure the policy is conformed to.
  

• The estate agent will ensure that information supplied by the user is stored securely, including physical security, control of access to systems, back up and recovery of information and use of virus checkers.
  

• The estate agent will ensure that the user is able to change their personal details and requirements on- line.
  

• The estate agent will put in place suitable authentication processes to secure the user’s access to data.
  

• The estate agent will ensure that the user can exclude themselves from direct mailings or other unsolicited contact by the estate agent or effected by the estate agent on behalf of others.
  

• The estate agent will ensure that all data is obtained, stored and managed in compliance with the Data Protection Act.
  

• The estate agent will undertake to keep any passwords supplied by the property portal secret and to change such passwords from time to time as requested by the property portal.
  

• The estate agent will ensure that all data passed to it from a property portal will be stored and managed in compliance with the Data Protection Act.
  

Privacy and Security Solution

• A cheap, effective Privacy and Data Protection policy written for your company and displayed prominently.

• A free test and audit of internal data security, antiviral protection and backup procedures.

• An effective web database which allows the public to login to a secure server to change and manage their requirements.

• Linking your web property and web registration databases together.

Taking of payments from users via an estate agent’s web site

• Where an estate agent’s web site accepts payment for goods or services via its web site it should conform to and be accredited to a recognised web accreditation service.

Payment Solutions

• Connecting your website to a bank approved Payment Solutions Provider such as Netbanx or Worldpay.

The bottom line is that if your properties, services or financial products are not available on the front page of search engines you may lose the sale or instruction, either to a competitor or because the buying impulse is lost.

Search engines exist to serve their customers the information they require.

If your Estate Agency is not listed, they can not help you.

Our service is based around getting as many pages related to property and your location on to the internet as possible.We make sure each of these pages is targeted to appear exactly where your prospective customers will be looking for providers of your services.

Take your existing logo and develop a graphical look for your website, buttons and banners

Take your existing copy and place it within the framework of the site.

We would hope to include your terms and conditions, property marketing schedule and any other information that you may feel appropriate.

Source and insert copy relevant to the sections and locations that you cover, Relocation, Residential Sales, Lettings, Property Management.

Keyword all pages individually to cover searches relevant to your location and industry.

Submit all pages on a regular basis to the major search engines and amend keywords to optimise positioning on the more competitive searches.