Who Are Boomin Estate Agents?

If you are looking to sell your house online, you have more than likely become familiar with many of the property portal giants out there. With Rightmove and Zoopla holding a monopoly on the world of online estate agents, it can be easy to miss the other players in the game. 

Boomin was an online estate agency launched in April 2021 by the co-founders of the online estate agency, Purplebricks. With a host of unique features aimed at both buyers and sellers, Boomin was set to challenge some of the biggest competitors in the UK before it went bust in 2022. 

So, what was Boomin? What made the company different from other property portals? And why did it go bust? 

In this blog post, we are going to look at Boomin, how it compares to competitors, and what set it apart. 

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Table of Contents

• What is Boomin?

• Who was the owner of Boomin?

• Why did Boomin go bust?

• Did Boomin get taken over?

• What made Boomin different from other property sites?

• Which companies are similar to Boomin?

• Boomin vs The Property Buying Company

• Frequently Asked Questions

Who are Boomin?

Launched in April 2021 at the height of a property boom by Michael and Kenny Bruce, the founders of Purplebricks, Boomin was a 'next-generation property site' designed to 'shake up' the property industry. 

The site offered unique features that users were not able to access when using competitor sites like Rightmove and Zoopla, such as the ability to view properties that were not yet on the open market. 

However, the property portal went into liquidation in October 2022 when it was announced that Boomin had been unable to secure the new funding it required.

Who was the owner of Boomin?

The founders of Boomin were Michael and Kenny Bruce, who also founded Purplebricks along with David Shepherd. The idea was to cut down on the cost of the traditional high street estate agent and instead replace it with a streamlined online version.  

Purplebricks ran into financial difficulty before being sold to its competitor, Strike, for £1, as reported by The Guardian at the time in 2023:

The two Bruce brothers then ventured on to create Boomin, a new type of property website designed to change the landscape. This was launched in April 2021, but they called in the liquidators to handle its insolvency after being unable to secure the necessary funding.

Why did Boomin go bust?

Whilst the official reason behind Boomin's liquidation is unknown, sources have said that the site’s demise was based on the UK housing market slowdown and the sudden scarcity of funding for early-stage companies.

Mr Bruce said in a statement to Sky News that timing had “not been our friend" and went on to say:

Did Boomin get taken over

No, Boomin was not taken over. The company was unable to secure new funding and went into liquidation in October 2022. Uncertainty in the housing market has been blamed for the portal's demise, and Mr Bruce was said to have invested a significant amount of his own money into the portal before its liquidation. 

It was reported after the liquidation that Bruce faced a loss of more than £4 million after Boomin’s collapse.

How did Boomin work?

If you were looking to purchase property on Boomin, you would find many features that you would if you went to any of Boomin's competitors. You could simply create an account and save properties you wanted to explore further. 

When browsing, you could search in the typical fashion of a property portal, e.g. location, number of rooms, price, etc, but, unlike its competitors, where you could search for specific postcodes and streets, Boomin housing options were more localised. 

What made Boomin different from other property sites?

Whilst Boomin estate agents had plenty of features that we have come to expect from your typical property website, it also brought some interesting features that had not been previously seen. Below, we take a look at some of the unique options that Boomin property brought with it: 

Newest first 

When you were searching on Boomin, the newest listings would be pushed to the top of the search results. This means instead of seeing the usual 'featured properties' or 'spotlight properties,' you would see the 'Platinum featured - new to market' section. 

This feature would scroll sideways and show you the newest properties in the selected area. Below this feature sat the rest of the search results to browse and filter as you wished. 

Sneak previews

Another feature that Boomin offered was sneak previews of properties before they went onto other portals. Once a Boomin estate agent was instructed by a seller, they could offer a 'sneak peek' to buyers on Boomin, a full 24 hours before the full details would be posted on other portals. 

Boomin Chainmaker Properties 

The most talked about feature on Boomin was the 'Chainmaker Properties' option. This was a feature that, when selected in the results section, would show properties that were Sold STC. This feature was interesting because if a user liked the property, they could register their interest and if the sale fell through, they could be contacted about it. 

At the time, this feature came under fire for potentially encouraging gazumping, but Boomin countered that it was clear that they could be contacted if the chain fell apart, not that they should make offers in the meantime. 

However, on the other hand, an estate agent is legally bound to pass on all offers right up until contracts are exchanged. So, in theory, if a user registered interest in a property and followed up with an offer, the estate agent would have to pass on that offer to the owner. 

Read more: Everything You Need to Know about Property Chains

Secret properties 

This was a feature that showed properties that had not yet gone to market. These listings included information about Boomin properties that had yet to be listed, but included vague details such as the street, number of bedrooms and a few important features. The exact address was not given. If you were thinking about selling your property with Boomin and got a valuation done, your property would be added to the secret properties list. 

This feature could be viewed as a little hit or miss. Whilst it had the potential to alert potential buyers of a property potentially coming to market, some users may have just been curious about how much their house was worth with no intention of selling. 

Buyer and seller matchmaker 

Boomin also offered a feature that aimed to connect buyers and sellers who were not yet on the market. If you were using the MatchMaker Seller, you would be a homeowner who was interested in selling. You would use the tool to gauge interest in your property by creating an advert for your home. If any buyers liked it, they could reach out for more information through your Boomin estate agent. 

If you were using MatchMaker Buyer, you would be someone looking to purchase. You would create an advert describing the area, property type, amenities, and other relevant information that you were looking for and if a potential seller saw this and matched the description, they would be able to ask their estate agent to reach out.

Which companies are similar to Boomin?

Thankfully, there are plenty of other companies that do a similar job to Boomin available on the market today. Whilst they may not have an exact type-for-type match when it comes to features, they all play a similar role on the open market. 

Let’s take a look at some of Boomin's competitors and where they fit into the property market: 

Rightmove 

First on our list is the original property portal, Rightmove. Set up in 2000, Rightmove calls itself the UK's number one property website for those who are looking to sell or rent. 

Rightmove covers all bases when it comes to property, whether you are looking to sell, rent, or buy, Rightmove has it all. It gets a consistently high number of weekly visitors, so properties posted there have a good chance of being looked at by a lot of users. 

They provide users with a rudimentary property search feature that allows users to search for postcodes, areas, or town names that they wish to explore further. Rightmove also has plenty of tools that allow users to draw searches on different areas around the country, looking for schools, travel links and more. 

They also have a feature that allows users to enter their budget and the amenities they are looking for to see recommended properties.

However, Rightmove is expensive to list on, so many smaller estate agents may not post on there. Furthermore, you must be an estate agent to post on the site, so those looking to sell their home without the help of an agent will have to look elsewhere. 

Rightmove also does not offer an automated valuation tool, unlike the majority of other property portals out there. 

Zoopla

Often mentioned in the same breath as Rightmove is Zoopla. Established in 2008, Zoopla is one of the UK's largest property portals and claims to have over a million properties for users to browse. 

Zoopla’s parent company owns an umbrella of other well-known brands, such as Uswitch, Money.co.uk, and Confused.com. 

Its main selling point is users' ability to get a home valuation through its online house valuation tool. It offers a wide range of property options, such as new homes for sale, commercial properties for sale, overseas properties for sale and different rental options. 

Much like Rightmove, Zoopla allows users to search for areas and postcodes they are interested in and supplies plenty of filters to help narrow down the search. 

However, it does not receive as much traffic as Rightmove and does not have as many listings available. As well as this, the online tool has been met with criticism for both over- and under-valuing properties, so it is one to be used with caution. 

OnTheMarket 

The next property portal we will be looking at is OnTheMarket, which was launched in 2015 as a competitor to Rightmove and Zoopla. By 2024, it claimed to be the fastest-growing residential property portal in the UK, according to website traffic figures: 

Source: CoStar.com

When a property is launched on the site, it comes with full-service estate agents or letting agents. The site offers two types of valuation, namely either an instant online valuation or a 'more accurate' estate agent valuation. 

Furthermore, OnTheMarket offers a wide range of properties with dedicated sections for the different types that users may be searching for, such as retirement homes, student accommodation, estates, land, and more. It also offers buyers information on properties 24 hours before publication on Rightmove and Zoopla, as well as a host of other search tools. 

However, the company is still not as well-known as its direct competition and so still generates less traffic. As a result, many home sellers may not think to list their property on the site, and home buyers may not know to check. 

PrimeLocation 

Last on the list is PrimeLocation, a site that is an extension of Zoopla. It’s a smaller, niche property portal that specialises in properties targeted at those on the upper tier of the property ladder. According to PrimeLocation, the site attracts five million monthly visitors and advertises for over 16,000 estate agents. 

They offer a fairly simple search tool, but as the properties are primarily aimed at those on the upper rungs, it’s not the most inclusive site and isn’t for everyone looking to buy or sell a property.

Boomin vs The Property Buying Company

Boomin provided users with a slightly different route to selling their homes, thanks to its wide range of unique features, but when users put their properties on the open market with Boomin, they were not guaranteed a sale. Sellers could be left waiting months to sell their property without any luck. 

When you sell with The Property Buying Company, you are guaranteed a sale in a timeframe that suits you. This means whether you are looking to sell in as little as seven days or as far in advance as four months, we can tailor our service to suit you. 

Unlike Boomin, we are not an online estate agent. We are a cash buyer, which means that we have the funds readily available to purchase a property without the need for a loan or a mortgage. So, as soon as you are ready to sell, we are ready to buy. 

Furthermore, when you get a free, no-obligation valuation from us, we do not post information about your property on our website. 

On top of this, Boomin had varying reviews on Trustpilot. With a 3.9-star rating overall, 28% of its reviews were three stars or less, with one-star reviews making up a fifth (20%) of all reviews. A total of 72% of its reviews were four stars or more, giving it a decent overall score. 

Here at The Property Buying Company, we pride ourselves on our excellent customer service, with 93% of our reviews being four stars or above. We also have an average rating of 4.6 and an overall mark of excellent. 

We have over 50 years of combined experience and will buy any house, in any location, and in any condition, helping to take all the stress out of your house sale. 

Want to sell your house fast and for free without the fuss? Then simply give us a call or, alternatively, you can fill out one of our free online forms to receive a no-obligation cash offer. You could have the money in your bank in as little as seven days…

Frequently Asked Questions