A new platform promises to offer a shared live view of a property transaction to every party involved, including conveyancers, home movers and estate agents.
Co-founded by practising solicitor Gordon Sewell, with Jen Sewell and Wayne Quinn, CentreMove aims to replace phone calls, forwarded emails and the “second hand updates” its creators say define the property transaction with one single live view.
Sewell says he has seen first-hand how a lack of transparency can create “unnecessary delays, confusion and costly disputes” during the home buying process, with buyers and sellers “forced to rely on fragmented information” rather than having direct access to the information they need.
“Important questions about a property can take days to answer, while simple misunderstandings can quickly escalate into failed transactions, financial loss and avoidable disputes”, the three co-founders explained. “CentreMove was created to tackle these challenges by putting accurate, real-time information directly into the hands of everyone involved.”
Sewell added: “Buyers and sellers can run searches themselves, access the information directly, or contact the seller before making an offer, let alone paying a deposit. Instead of relying on information passed between others, buyers and sellers can see the same informationfor themselves and make informed decisions with confidence.”
The platform includes a six-step chain tracker with alerts if required information isn’t received, identify and HMLR checks that are carried out before a property is listed, the ability for sellers to prepare legal paperwork and run searches from the day of listing, and direct messaging between buyer and seller.
The principle behind the platform is “replacing uncertainty with transparency”, its co-founders say. But they’re also careful to point out it is not intended to replace the role of conveyancers.
“CentreMove’s aim isn’t to replace the professionals, but to close the silence between them”, they explained. The ambition, they concluded, is to become “another Rightmove, another Zoopla” and become a standard adopted throughout the home moving industry.
