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How do I register on Propertyfriends?

Registration is very simple - just click on the 'Sign up' tab which is located in the top navigation or click here to be taken directly to this page.

How do I create a profile?

To create your profile, you must first sign in and then click on Profile at the top right of any page. The Profile section is divided into five separate tabs. When you are filling in your profile, remember to have some fun with it - some of the questions will require a little thinking but remember to fill in all of the fields to maximise your viewing potential. We recommend you upload photos as early as possible in your Profile creation process as we have found that those profiles with photos receive more hits by far, and its nice for people to put a name to a face.

What advice can you give me to help me create my profile?

Invest time in writing a good/complete profile and remember to be honest. Complete as many of the fields as are relevant to you - the more information people can see about you, the more chance you will have of your ideal propertyfriend finding you. When members search for other members they want to see as much information about each other as possible so we can't tell you how valuable it is that you fill in as many fields as you can...

About me: This part is all about you, are you a 9-5er, do you smoke, what is your star sign, do you talk to plants, what is your worst flatmate experience...

Interests: What's your favorite music, what do you do for fun, what does your ideal Friday night involve, whats your karaoke song...

Boring stuff: Do you have a deposit, have you acquired a credit report, have you sourced a solicitor, how long would you like to keep the property for...

Wishlist: What kind of property would you like to purchase, in what location, how many bedrooms, are you house trained...

Blurb: This is a short paragraph summing up who you are, what you want etc. which will feature on the search page in the profile box - its the first thing people will read about you so make it worth reading! Keep it short and to the point. This is also the area where you will add your photos: upload a good, clear and focused photo - profiles with a decent photo get a much better response.

Photo size: minimum of 70 x 70 pixels and a file size less than 2mb. Once your image is uploaded on to the website, they will automatically be resized - as long as your file size is less than 2mb you will be able to upload it to the website. Please also ensure your images are in GIF or JPEG format. For Windows users left click your image once in the folder on your pc, then right click, select properties, then left click. This will tell you the size and format of your image file. If you have any queries regarding your photo, please email enquiries@propertyfriends.co.uk If you don't have a good photo, invest in one - we highly recommend uploading one to your profile to increase traffic flow.

How do I update or change my profile once I've created it?

To amend your profile, you must first sign in and then click on the Profile icon at the top right of any page. The Profile section is separated into five different tabs with a number of questions on each page - to the right of each question you will see a pencil icon. Click on the pencil icon to edit the field and once done, click on save.

I just want to search for people. Why should I create a profile?

If you have a profile which people can look at, you're halving your work - instead of you doing all the looking, you will have people looking for you by viewing your profile. They will contact you and therefore you will hopefully find your ideal propertyfriend faster. You are here to meet people and a profile will help you do that. Life's too short - complete your profile now.

How do I keep my personal details private?

Propertyfriends.co.uk consider your privacy of the utmost importance and are committed to protecting the privacy of all personal information obtained from you during your visits to this website.

Our privacy policy explains what personal information we may collect from you and the purposes for which it will be used. All correspondence between Propertyfriends.co.uk members takes place through our secure email account (MailBox) or our Chat facility, thus ensuring your identity is protected until you decide to reveal it. Never include your surname, email address, home address, phone numbers, place of work or any other identifying information in your profile or initial messages. Do not continue communicating with anyone who pressures you for your personal information or attempts in any way to trick you into revealing it.

How do I search for people?

Click on the search tab which is located on the top navigation on all pages. Complete the fields you are interested in searching and click on search. Please note you can look for propertyfriends in more than one location - in the propertyfriends location box, click on the area field, selecting an area from the drop down box. It will appear in the Location box, click on it to select and then click on the right arrow to add it to your search box. All locations in the search box will be searched once you click on search at the very end.

Remember to be open-minded - don't be too specific on who you would consider. There is the chance you could meet a type of person you normally wouldn't associate with, someone you may think you may not have much in common with... there's no harm in chatting to explore whether or not, in fact, you could be a good match.

You know the saying; don't judge a book by its cover...

Take a long-term view - its likely you won't find someone straight away but we suggest you do not give up too easily. Some people may search for weeks or months before finding their propertyfriend. Take a break for a few weeks, people will contact you - you don’t have to do all the searching. And last but not least, please remember to take knock backs in your stride. Not everyone will want to meet you, just as you won't want to meet everyone that is interested in meeting you.

Emailing other members

All correspondence between Propertyfriends.co.uk members takes place through our secure email account (MailBox) or our Chat facility, thus ensuring your identity is protected until you decide to reveal it. The MailBox facility has the following functions:

• Ability to send one email to multiple members
• Save draft messages
• View your contacts
• Update your contacts (from your favorites)

Where do I receive emails from other members?

All emails from other members are sent to your MailBox. To access this area click on the icon to the right of the page, when you are logged in.

How do I stop someone from emailing me?

To block another member from emailing you, go to your MailBox and double-click the email you have received from the member whom you wish to block. Once you are viewing the email, you will see a link to the left of the MailBox surround titled 'Block Member' - click this link and you will receive no more emails from that particular member.

How does Chat work?

Chat is Propertyfriends' answer to MSN Messenger and works in a similar way. To use the Chat facility, simply find members you wish to chat with online, during your search. You may either add all those members you would like to chat with to your 'favourite' and initiate Chat when you have finished searching. Or simply click on the Chat icon below each member panel on the search page to initiate Chat.

Initiating Chat

Once you have initiated the Chat, a chat request will be sent to the member you wish to Chat with. You will then receive an acceptance notification if online, or an email if offline. Once your Chat request has been accepted, click the Chat icon to the right of the site and enter the Chat area. Here you will find the new member added to your contact list and if the member is online you may Chat with them.

What is the status of my subscription?

You can view the status of your subscription at any time by visiting the Account page, located on the tab navigation at the top of the site.

Membership cost?

Register now and you will receive FREE full membership for a limited time. Once the free membership period is coming to an end, we will contact you with pricing information.

Propertyfriends.co.uk does work, and I found my ideal propertyfriend!

Congratulations! That means we're doing our job. To cancel your subscription, just visit the 'Account' page using the tab navigation at the top of the page. We, of course, wish you the best, but if things don't work out, you know where to find us.

We would be very interested in hearing about your propertyfriend experience and would like to find out how the process worked for you so get in touch at enquries@propertyfriends.co.uk

I would like to recommend Propertyfriends.co.uk to a friend. How do I do that?

Recommendations from existing members proves our website is worth taking a look at so thank you from the Propertyfriends.co.uk team and for taking the time to tell your friends about us.

We are developing a 'Recommend a Friend' link but in the meantime please forward on our website address - www.propertyfriends.co.uk and inform them they can join for free, for a limited time.

Are you just UK based?

For now, we are UK based as most of our members live in the UK and are therefore looking to purchase property with someone in the UK. However, as more people become aware of the co-buyer concept at Propertyfriends.co.uk we plan to expand across the globe. If you would like to help others get on the property ladder through co-buying please pass on our details today.

Where do your members come from?

Propertyfriends.co.uk advertise with a large number of online advertising sources including Google, Yahoo, plus some offline advertising. However, we are very pleased to say that our largest single source of members is recommendations from existing members... so a big thank you to all our current members. We also have an affiliate scheme - if you advertise us on your website, we'll advertise you on ours. Subject to approval. If you are interested in advertising on Propertyfriends.co.uk please contact enquiries@propertyfriends.co.uk

When did Propertyfriends begin?

Co-founded by Stuart Hopkins and Leonie Sloan in early 2006, Propertyfriends.co.uk was one of the first co-buying networks to appear. Both Stuart and Leonie had dreamed of stepping on to the property ladder but until they met each other, had not had the opportunity to do so. Neither of them had known anyone who was in the position to buy or were even close to affording a deposit and so Propertyfriends.co.uk was born.

"In recent years we have been so moved by the lack of opportunities to buy and the overburden of debt in the UK, that we set about devising a solution. We believe that our product is a no-nonsense, progressive solution for first-time buyers and also caters for portfolio investors" says Leonie.

Is co-buying the answer to affordable home ownership?

Rising property prices throughout the country, especially in the Southeast have meant that many first-time buyers are finding themselves priced out of the market. The deposit and monthly payments are simply out of the price range that will allow many people to cover them on their own.

Co-buying is the only viable alternative to renting for a large number of people and Propertyfriends was born to assist. Co-buying is a fast emerging trend in property ownership. Programmes such as the BBC's series 'Would You Buy A House With A Stranger?' and 'Where Best To Invest' on Channel 4, amongst others have popularised this approach and have explained how it works.

The newspapers have been full of co-buying articles of late. At Propertyfriends.co.uk we get you up the learning curve FAST - there is everything you need to know on our web-site - and we put you in touch with likeminded people. Benefits of co-buying are featured on our Buy Together page and includes splitting costs, purchasing a bigger property and in a nicer area and our favourite one - buy today, not one day!

Homes will usually increase in value over a period of time and if you own your own home this leaves you with 'equity' in the property. In the future you could use this equity towards your next step up the property ladder or perhaps to make some home improvements. If you rent its your landlord who will benefit from any increased value!

What precautions do you take to protect members' interests?

Propertyfriends.co.uk consider your privacy of the utmost importance and are committed to protecting the privacy of all personal information obtained from you during your visits to this website. We use leading technologies and security measures to safeguard your information and keep strict security standards to prevent any unauthorised access to it. We use industry-standard SSL encryption software when processing sensitive information such as usernames and passwords. We comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and are registered with the Information Commissioner. This states that personal information must be kept secure, up to date and processed lawfully and fairly.

What can I do to protect my own interests?

We all know the saying 'too good to be true' - so listen to your instincts. Start by communicating solely via Propertyfriends secure email account (MailBox) or our Chat facility - do not give out personal details until you feel comfortable doing so. If you feel uncomfortable at any stage, remember you can always terminate the relationship.

Guard your anonymity, exercise caution and common sense, research your potential propertyfriend by logging on to www.google.co.uk or www.ask.com, ask for character references and proof of no criminal record or financial debts and always watch for red flags... are they giving you inconsistent information, are they failing to answer all of your questions? Utilise your solicitor and speak to them about all legalities involved in co-buying. See our Safety Tips article for more on this subject.

How do I know the other person is financially solvent?

You can't but we recommend all our members, including yourself, acquire a copy of their credit report which can be requested online from www.creditexpert.co.uk. On request, you should supply this to interested parties and vice versa to prove you are not a credit risk.

Can I check someone's police history?

Legally you are unable to check a persons police history but you can purchase a report for yourself @ www.met.police.uk/dataprotection/faq.htm. The report will cost £10 and can take up to 40 days for you to receive so request this early on. You can give a copy of your report to potential co-buyers, requesting the same from them.

How do I end the co-ownership arrangement?

Ensure you have all your legal paperwork written up correctly during the property buying process. It is wise to have a Deed of Trust created with the major benefit being that it helps clarify what each owner is entitled to upon sale.

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