App: Tepilo

By: Tepilo/Ashley Bolser Agency

Price: Free

Available on: Nokia

What is it?

A property platform that lets you securely buy, sell or let homes for free.

Who is it by?

Tepilo was founded in July 2009 by property expert Sarah Beeny and named after a “fantastical palace called Tepilo” her father told her about in childhood stories. Beeny is well-known for her property TV show Property Ladder and the mysinglefriend dating website. The app was developed by the Ashley Bolser Agency.

What does it promise?

Users can search for properties for sale or to rent listed on the Tepilo website, from which the app sources content. The difference between this and the likes of Rightmove and FindaProperty is that Tepilo only includes properties listed for sale or rent privately. According to the marketing blurb, it “allows you to take independent control of buying, selling or letting your property – with no charges or commission”. The app also allows users to search for flatshares, which is powered by Spareroom.co.uk.

How does it work?

Type in a postcode to search for properties in your chosen area, or search in your current location using your phone’s GPS. Results are displayed reasonably coherently and interesting properties can be stored under a favourites list.

Is it easy to use?

Consumers who already have property apps should find it simple enough. It’s a basic search engine with photo galleries, an integrated map and buttons to contact the seller or save a property. To use the latter facility you need to register or log-in to a Tepilo account.

Is it fun?

This might depend on how you view estate agents. Many might be tickled by an irritation-free property search, given that Tepilo cuts out potentially unnecessary middle-men from property deals.

Is it pretty?

Considering the homepage features a large and prominent photo of Sarah Beeny, the answer is undoubtedly yes. But Beeny aside, the homepage is clean and simple and navigation is intuitive. However, I’m not a fan of the way text is displayed (this could be a limitation of the Nokia N8 rather than the app itself), and it uses a nasty font that appears pixellated – given that I was unable to zoom in using the N8 there was nothing I could do about it. Another mild complaint is the map is slow to respond and similarly nasty, looking nothing like a streamlined, integrated GoogleMap.

Should you download it?

If you’re looking for property and don’t wish to deal with estate agents, this is the app for you. Naturally, it doesn’t have the reach of the Rightmove or FindaProperty apps, which is apparent when just a handful of results appear after a postcode search – but this should improve in time, and serious property hunters might be missing a trick if they ignore private sales or rents.

Those looking to buy a home might have greater leverage to negotiate on the seller’s asking price given that the app only lists private sales – sellers will not be incurring estate agent fees so should have room to manouevre – which is worth thinking about.

Some slight drawbacks are the photo galleries, which are quite small on the Nokia N8 I tested it on – with no ability to make them larger – meaning the thumbnails pics aren’t enough to make a sensible decision about a property. Also, it’s a great shame that the app is only available on Nokia’s Ovi store at present. I can’t help but think it might look prettier and work more smoothly if it was running on an Android device or, of course, the iPhone.