THIS YEAR IS already shaping up to be the busiest period in over a decade for home buying and selling.

Lending to first-time buyers hit the highest January level since 2011 last month, according to mortgage approval figures published by the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland. The volume of people remortgaging or switching was also at its highest January level in at least 11 years.

All that demand in an already crowded housing market can add huge pressure, as buyers seek to stay one step ahead of the pack and agents face the significant time cost of managing an excess of offers and bidders.

Saving time, adding clarity

Enter Offers by Daft, a brand new innovation from Ireland’s largest property search site. Buyers can now view existing offers on a property in real time, and can submit their own at any moment of the day or night, from any device.

Once approved by the selling agent, their offer will appear live on Daft. Offers by Daft creates industry-first transparency for bidders, and cuts out arduous admin on all sides.

Shutterstock / Dean Drobot Shutterstock / Dean Drobot / Dean Drobot

Daft has over 17m monthly visits, with over 1,000 property searches every single minute. Offers by Daft is a direct response to the needs of those using the site every day, says Jonathan Carter, General Manager at Daft: 

We know that purchasing a home can be both a very emotional and a very stressful journey for the buyer. And from our close relationship with agents, we know that the process involves huge amounts of admin and time, especially in managing offers and bidders. We wanted to build a product that would address those pain points.

Offers by Daft has been 18 months in the making, and from user research to launch, the company invested over 5,500 man hours in bringing the tool to life.

A welcome change

The tool has already been a success for buyers and agents: in a test phase, 49 properties received 296 offers from 116 bidders, with 12 closed sales by the end of the phase.

Daft’s aim in building this product was to improve the journey for everyone involved, says Carter. That includes bidders looking for more transparency, and agents working hard to ensure everything runs smoothly for their clients:

At Daft, we understand that nobody is better placed than the estate agent to provide the best experience for Ireland’s house buyers.We believe that Offers by Daft frees the agent up to focus on the client, and delivers a great experience for both the buyer and seller of a property. 

“For the house buyer, it offers complete transparency and flexibility – they can make an offer at any time, on any device. It saves all parties hours and hours of valuable time.”

Search thousands of properties for sale, all from leading estate agents, on Daft.ie.