BT Propnet — A Commercial Property Trading Service for the Internet

Abstract

The UK commercial property market is largely conventional in nature, where the successful matching of buyer to vendor can be a tricky process involving many commercial contacts and a variety of lengthy information searches. Key information is distributed among a large number of stakeholders, hindering both identification and suitability analysis of available properties. The Internet has the potential to enhance and simplify the property trading process substantially. Latest Internet technology allows instant, accurate matching of buyers to vendors across large property portfolios, and rapid provision of a wide range of property related information to the desktop. Advanced features such as automated electronic agents maximize the chance of a sale, whereas new Internet visualization technology, such as interactive ‘virtual reality’ property tours, significantly enhance publicity material.