Background

This group mini research project is to do a research on an e-business model - transaction broker. In this project, we focus our model research on www.Iproperty.com.sg, a transaction broker which involved in online housing transactions. Basically, transaction broker is an intermediary who matches buyers and sellers then charges commission fees from the successful transactions.


Purposes

Iproperty.com.sg is a property website in Singapore. it has listings in various properties: hdb flats, private apartments, condominiums, landed properties, commercial properties, newly launched projects and international properties. It is a platform provided for agents that subscribed with the site to find their own customers; it matches whoever interested in selling, buying or renting the properties. The subscribed real estate agents are third parties who help to navigate customers in the real estate market.

Features

Iproperty.com.sg is a Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) operational type, which provides a platform for selling, buying, renting properties as well as finding development of new properties for its customers. Agents who subscribed with Iproperty.com.sg are the third parties who help to match between consumers. Either consumer who wants to sell or rent out their properties; or consumers who want to buy or rent properties can be found in this site. Iproperty.com.sg is an intermediary for both parties.

Design

The layout of the site is well categorized with homepage, buy property, rent property, new properties, condominium directory, property resources and advertiser's corner. Search engine are set up for conveniences in home page.

There are listings at the bottom of the home page:

Strengths

The website provides comprehensive searches for users looking for flats of their preferred choices as it helps to filter specific information which the users are looking out for when finding flats. For instances, it allows users to find properties according to the MRT, a school of their choices and flats in certain precincts which are up for rental. Apart from property searches, the website also provides resources for users such as finding a property agent, market news for investors and home searchers alike and even guides for users. One unique feature of the website which separates it from the others is its short messaging service (SMS) feature. This feature allows users to communicate with the agent via SMS through the feature in the website. Furthermore, it also allows users to calculate how they can earn the property with the latest loan offer from their partnering bank, DBS.

Weaknesses

For first-time users entering into the website, might have troubles navigating around the website. For example, the advertisements placed by businesses on the website are cramped up on both sides of the home page and certain animated advertisements are quite an eyesore as one would get distracted by the moving objects in the advertisement from time to time. Sometimes, too many of a good may become a bad thing. This is in the case of the number of options (side menu and tabs) that the website had laid out for its users. Although some may argue that the website provides comprehensive information and resources, but it’s definitely not quite for users looking for information without wanting to spend too much time on the website.

Security and Privacy

Iproperty.com.sg only provided for informational purposes only, and no content included in the service (such as any financial or calculation tools) is intended for trading or investing purposes nor shall it constitute any specific advice given to every person. All provided information by the people meant that they agreed to let the third party like agent to access their Registration Data/information. Thus there are no special security and privacy.