One Call Estates

Becoming an affiliated real estate agent ?

WHO ARE ONE CALL ESTATES?

O.C.E.A.N. (One Call Estate Agency Network) is a subsidiary of the Where On Earth Group of companies which facilitates the network of independent estate agents that will eventually cover the whole of France.

WHY BECOME AN O.C.E.A.N. ASSOCIATE?

Of the many advantages to join as an associate, let us just name two:

1. Increased income potential
How much commission do you earn when someone buys a property through another agent in another department or region? If the answer is nothing in all or most cases, you are losing out on an extremely profitable side of your business. You will be receiving vistors to your website who will never buy in your area and as such you are losing out on a huge potential income without having to do anything.

2. Professional website design, maintenance and functionality
Whether you have your own website or not, we can greatly improve the functionality and ease of maintenance at very low cost. You would be sharing our pool of knowledge and IT personel without having to re-invent the wheel again. Our process is based on the straightforward notion that input should be done once, and once only. Adding/modifying/deleting information is all done online, without any need for special skills. One of the more interesting features is our client matching system. The client matching system aims at making a match between all actively searching clients we have in our databases with all the properties that we carry. This is the very core of our central database philosophy.

HOW DO WE OPERATE?

T.I.D.E.S. (The Instant Directory Estates System) was developed to enable our agents to profit from all enquiries generated through their Internet sites. One needs only to wonder how many visitors go through a web site and never buy a property or make an enquiry because their criteria cannot be matched .. the client goes elsewhere, and you will not even know that he was there.

T.I.D.E.S. is a centralised database holding all our associates property details. Their Internet sites (or parts thereof) are stored on our server and managed by our IT staff. When an associate puts a new property on their own Internet site it automatically appears on all our associates web sites. This is in fact the centralised database. It means that you are automatically expanding your markets.

The potential buyer can make enquiries regarding a property through all our associates web sites without knowing who the selling agent or owner is. The client is logged through T.I.DE.S. as belonging to the web site through which they first made contact. This logging process is essential. If the client buys this or any other property through an associate member the agent who made the introduction receives 15% of the commission generated by the sale. O.C.E.A.N receives 10% by way of a management charge.

Associates are therefore able to generate income from visitors to their Internet sites who are not looking for properties in their area or who do not have a suitable property.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who are the Where On Earth Group?
Probably the most influential independant group of companies specialising in travel, holidays and property for sale in Europe. They also own tour operators, travel agents, travel clubs and agencies. Their software, internet design and IT development companies have provided some of the most innovative systems that have become the industry standards in recent years.

How are commissions paid?
O.C.E.A.N. will invoice the agent who makes the sale and pay the estate agent who initiated the introduction.

How are sales and commission tracked?
The first stage is that the associate agent advises us of all sales made to clients that originated from the network at the point that the contract is signed. If this is done then the selling agent will be liable for 25% commission upon completion of the transaction.

However, the property and buyer will be being tracked by T.I.D.E.S and a number of other datatbases related to O.C.E.A.N. and owned by the Where On Earth Group. We therefore expect to be aware of most sales both before and after the event. Should an agent not advise us in a timely fashion of any sales coming through O.C.E.A.N., a surcharge of 15% will be levied to cover administrative costs and the introducing associate will receive 20% commission as opposed to 15%.

Should an associate subsequently fail to advise us of any sales, O.C.E.A.N. will consider whether to take steps to remove them from the network.

Are there any costs involved?
It is a simple task for us to transfer and incorporate your existing Internet site into our centralised system so we make no or a minimal charge for this. You will currently be paying a hosting fee to your current website-provider. We have a standard fee of 150,- euros annually which would beat most other providers by at least 20%.

If you also wish us to act as your webmaster and deal with any external web problems we can provide an IT trouble shooting service. This is not obligatory if you are happy with your current webmaster or handle these problems yourself.

If you do not have a web site we can design one for you at rates that start as low as 500 euros. With the properties we already have in our databases you would even get a 'flying start'.

Do I need to have a website ?
Strictly speaking, you don't need your own website to become an associate member. If you would merely be looking at ways to expand the number of client-leads for your own properties, without having to share as much as 50 % of the fee, then all that is needed is an E-mail address. Not only would you be loosing out on the additional possibility to generate revenues from your clients, it would severely slowdown the rapid expansion of our network. And as we try not to have too much overlap in region between the associate members in order to avoid unnecessary competition, we would only accept members that are willing to have and maintain a website. And it goes almost without saying that promoting and improving your website is in our mutual interest !

How will my web site change?
If you are content with the current design, there will be no visible changes to your site. As far as visitors are concerned they will be looking at your internet site, looking at your properties for sale.

What would it do to my current business ?
As an agent you have clients and you have properties for sale. Becoming an associate member would in no way harm your current business, nor would you be liable to pay any commission on transactions that you conclude between your clients and your properties. A win-win situation will be created for any additional business that is generated. Instead of having to share 30-50 % of the agency fee to introductory agents, we expect you to pay no more than 25 % for any sale to an introduced client through the network. And you will receive money for introducing your clients through your website to other associate members.

What other benefits are there?
The obvious benefits like expanding your marketing without increasing your overheads, more sales through numerous other outlets and the potential to earn much more by increasing your database of properties, goes without saying.

You are also tapping into a large marketing organisation who have captured huge sectors of the markets that they have chosen to operate in. Where On Earth has the capabaility to access the markets as people first consider buying a property in France.
Many buyers start off as holidaymakers, then buy a property with the intention of generating an income. The Where On Earth Group owns companies operating in all sectors of the market and look after the clients from holidaymaker to buyer to landlord as well as dealing with their travel. O.C.E.A.N. and associate memebers therefore benefit from high volumes of traffic driven to their websites from all the publications and Internet sites owned by the group.

As an associate you could also benefit from subsidised advertising in all the groups publications and places at planned exhibitions.

Our team would be more than happy to discuss these matters in person. You can contact us at affiliates@onecallestates.com.