ASPC Background

Normally has around 4000 properties listed

Displayed in city centre shop
Listed in ASPC's free weekly paper

Paper produced by a printing company

Data supplied on floppy disk

Member solicitors can access ASPC's archive data
No IT staff, but uses local consultants

And in 1977, they had heard of the Web...

	Notes

In Scotland, most residential property is marketed not by estate agents, but by the seller's solicitors. In most of Scotland, solicitors have set up Property Centres for advertising property.

For many years the various Centres have publish weekly "newspapers" listings the properties for sale in their area. They have also operated one or more shops in city centre locations, where members of the public can browse the properties available and get particulars of those of interest. They now also operate web sites that allow members of the public to conveniently search the properties and immediately retrieve details of those of interest.

The shops, printed papers and, increasingly, the web sites, have helped the Centres become extremely effective advertising channels, and they typically list 80 to 90% of the properties for sale in their area.

ASPC is one of the longest established, and largest, of the Property Centres, with somewhere between 3000 and 5000 properties listed at any time. The great majority of these are residential properties for sale in Aberdeen City or Aberdeenshire.

ASPC has one shop, in central Aberdeen, with handful of clerical and administrative staff. The Centre has no specialist IT staff of its own, but uses an Aberdeen consultancy firm (Facilitators (UK)) for stragetic advice and day-to-day support.

In 1997, the profile of the Web had risen to the point where the Centre had realised that it could not be ignored, and decided to build a web site.

ASPC: Introduction II's Brief