South African startup BidProp247 has launched its online property auction portal for agents and auctioneers, aimed at making bidding on real estate simple and easy.
Launched in November, BidProp247 claims to make it “effortless” to bid on real estate online in a secure and transparent way, giving real estate professionals total control over their auctions on the portal.
“This is the new way to buy property on auction,” co-founder Sithembele Sidzumo told Disrupt Africa. “We are the only property auction portal that puts together all real estate professionals and makes it effortless to buy property on auction. We only work with professionals.”
The startup has been founded by agents, who have noted the trends in the space and seen the growing interest in online auctions. BidProp247 is looking to fill a gap in this regard.
“There was no online auction website that puts together all auctioneers and makes it simple for the buyer to bid on real estate in a safe environment. We found a lot of auctioneers would like to be part of this website, as it would draw more buyers if there are lots of auctioneers on one portal,” Sidzumo said.
The self-funded startup has seen lots of initial interest from auctioneers, and will be posting its first properties soon. Once it gets off the ground in South Africa, it hopes to swiftly expand to Israel and the United States (US).
“Our business model allows us to be in any country that has real estate agents and auctioneers. We are pushing to be the leader in online real estate auctions worldwide,” said Sidzumo, adding that BidProp247 will make money from monthly subscription fees from agents.
