FAQs

What is this website and how does it work?

Hotproperty.com.mt is a fast, unique and above all a highly effective way searching for property on the market in Malta (90% direct from owners). To search for property, select whether you want to BUY or RENT, select the areas and click the search button. You will then have many other filtering options to reduce your results. If you would like to advertise, simply click the “Advertise” link in the Home Page or at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions. After you create an account, you will then have access to all the links of how to upload photos, enter map location and other details.

Where are you based?

www.hotproperty.com.mt is operated by Hot Property Co. Ltd. based in Malta, but the actual websites and contents might be hosted in different locations to provide the best speed to each individual market.

How are search results ordered?

Like most successful search engines, we have unique software that determines which adverts should be top listed. All search results are ordered giving priority to whether they contain photos, whether they have 100% completion of advert details and other variables. However this is only the case when the user has many results for the particular location, property type and any other search filters selected.

What are search filters?

Search filters appear in the search results page, and these allow users to narrow down the search results by Property or advertiser type, Tenure, location, form, number of bedrooms, freshness age of advert and keywords. Price can be adjusted by dragging the minimum and maximum bar.

How do I search/filter using Google maps?

Google Maps are used to help users locate where the property advertised is on the map, and also to let advertisers display such information to you. On the search results page you will see two tabs, Property list and Search via Map. If you select the search via map link, you can see the property in the list by location, and if you click on the logo, you will see a short description of that property, with a link for full details. You can also see the actual location on Google Maps on the full detailed description of a property advert. Please note that whatever filters you change will affect the results on the map.

How do I contact the owner/advertiser of a particular property I like?

Once you like a property and want to contact the owner, you can do so by using the numbers or details on the full description page of the advert. If the owner has chosen not to display his personal information, please fill in the form provided and we will forward your message automatically to his email. We do not allow advertisers to display emails as a security measure to prevent what is called “phishing”. Please note that an advertiser can only display an advert by confirming his email address so we make sure it is a real person!

I have a business and would like to advertise a banner on the side of your pages, how can I do that?

Kindly contact us using the contact us form. A link can be found at the bottom of each page. Please note that these are currently very limited and are offered on a first come first served basis.

What are Freehold, Ground rent (T) and Ground rent (P)?

By Maltese law, a property may have a ground rent and it can either be Freehold (no ground rent), Temporary Ground rent or Perpetual Ground rent.

How do I change my email address on the website?

You can change your email and all other personal information at anytime by logging in to the site with your Password then clicking "My Account" then "Personal Details ". For security purposes, you will need to verify the new email by receiving a new activation link.

I have forgotten my login details, how do I get them re-sent?

Your login details (Email and Password) will have been displayed on screen when you joined which you should have taken note of. You can have your password re-set but only if you remember the email address you have registered with. If you still cannot locate this, please contact us and we will see how we can help.

I am trying to log in but the system is saying "incorrect password"?

Please double check your password is the one you specified when joining, please also check your email is typed correctly. If in doubt you can have your password re-set by clicking the ‘Forgot password’ link.

Can I change my password?

Yes, we would advise you to change your password at regular intervals as well as if you think someone else may have had access to your password. To change your password please login then click on "Personal details" then "Change My Password".

What is password Strength?

A strong password is a password that is difficult for others to determine by guessing or by using automated programs. However we only recommend a strong password but do not enforce it as yet.

To be strong, a password must:

• Contain at least seven, but no more than 16, characters.
• Combine three of the four different types of characters:
  • Uppercase letters (for example: A, B, C).
  • Lowercase letters (for example: a, b, c).
  • Numerals (for example: 1, 2, 3).
  • Symbols (` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + - = { } | [ ] \ : " ; ' < > ? , . /).
  • Not be a common word or name, or a close variation.

I have placed an advert yesterday and the status of it was ONLINE, but today it seems offline and I cannot change this in ‘MyAccount’. Can you explain this please?

A Status of an advert can be ONLINE only after (i.e. Advert displaying to other users):

1. All mandatory* fields have been entered in the Edit advert sections
2. A map location has been selected
3. Advert is not expired
4. Advert is not set “offline” by advertiser
5. Advertiser has inputted the correct information:

Correct information is at the discretion of Hot Property Ltd. and if it feels:

• Map location is not matching the address of the property advertised
• Price doesn’t reflect the true value of the property
• You have entered foul language, your email address**, URLs or external links, IM handles or any other form of advertisement in the description of your advert
• The photos do not show the true image of such property
• Any other irregular activity that is not in line with our terms and conditions.

(**We think that for your own security and to prevent “phishing” of personal data from outside sources - your email address should be kept private and that is why we provide a contact form that redirects all communication to your email without disclosing it.) If you think this might be the problem, kindly email us and we will try to fix this for you. We may ask for an explanation for breaking the terms of use of our site.

I would like to reduce/increase the price of my advertised property. How can I do that?

Kindly email us or contact us through the website. The link can be found at the bottom of each page. We will endeavour to update this for you within 24-48 hours.

(Please note that if we think you are using unfair tactics to gain positions in search results by giving a ‘far from real’ price, which in our opinion doesn’t reflect the true market value of the property advertised, we might without notice, remove the advert from appearing in search results. You can only fix this in your account by emailing us.)

I would like to change the address of the advertised property. How can I do that?

Kindly email us or contact us through the website. The link can be found at the bottom of each page. We will endeavour to update this for you within 24-48 hours.

I would like to edit the map location of my advert?

We only allow advertisers to enter this information once, as we believe property is immovable! We also do this as a security measure to prevent people entering the wrong location of a property, thus misguiding the users by doing so. If you have entered the wrong information, kindly email us to edit this feature by clicking contact us at the bottom link on our site.

Can I hide my advert for a few days?

Yes you can do so by placing the advert “offline” as either “SOLD” or “LET”. Please note you cannot pause or prolong the expiry of the advert by doing this. This can be managed in your advert section of ‘MyAccount Home’.

What are the statistics displaying in My Account?

As part of the service we offer advertisers, we also let advertisers know:

Appeared in search results: How many times a particular advert has appeared in a search listing

Unique visits: How many times users have seen the full details of an advert

This also helps advertisers understand why are people not contacting them, whether the price is close to the market value and if they should change or improve the wording or images etc.

What is Advert completion 0-100%?

This is guidance for advertisers to understand if they have filled in all the information to make a “complete advert”. It is calculated by the following:

• Registration of a new account
• Photos uploaded
• Map location
• Description
• Keywords

Can you tell me the instructions for uploading photos?

First save your photo in JPEG, GIF or PNG format.

• In ‘MyAccount’ section, ‘edit Photos’ click BROWSE, select file location and click UPLOAD.
• Each photo file must not exceed 5Mb in size.
• Make sure the photo clearly shows the property advertised, ideally a recent photo (A vague view of the area may not be accepted)

Can I choose which of my photos should display as the Search Results Thumbnail?

Yes you can choose this in the “Edit Photos” section. Please note that for this function to work you must have uploaded at least two photos.

How do I close my Account?

You can close your account at any time by logging in to your account and click the ‘Preferences’ section. If you have forgotten your Password you can have this reset by clicking the "Forgotten Password" link in the Log in area.

Please note that if you just want the advert to stop displaying, you can just change the status of the advert (Hide advert from other users), and keep the account for any future needs.

Does it cost anything to advertise?

As from 1st December 2009, Hotproperty.com.mt is now FREE to advertise and free to search and contact owners. This is due to increases in revenue from banner advertising and also because many advertisers were put off with the idea of paying for placing an advert online. Our mission is to be the number 1 place for property sellers/buyers landlords/tenants, not just to make money!

I have more than 1 property that I want to advertise, how do I go about it?

As from 1st December 2009, both Private owner accounts and Sole Agents accounts can advertise up to 100 adverts in each. We have closed the developers account.

To create more adverts (whether for sale or to let), simply log in and in the “My Ads” section, there’s a link “Create New Advert” which in turn will create a new “Ad box” for you to complete. Please note, that for each advert you will have to provide the address and map location of such property.

Can I place an advert without uploading photos?

Yes you can but experience taught us that adverts with photos tend to get more response/enquiries!

I like your website and can see a lot of people use it. Can I advertise my car, caravan, boat etc?

No. This website is totally dedicated to providing buyers and tenants with accurate property information only.

I am a developer and have a block of 20 apartments. Can I advertise all of them in one advert?

We believe in providing fair competition between our advertisers and think this is unfair thus we have noted this in our terms and conditions, and we will make sure advertisers do not attempt to advertise in such manner. This would make it easier for our users browsing adverts displaying descriptions and images of one particular ‘apartment’ (in this case). If, however, you are an advertiser and plan to sell the whole block to one buyer, it will be a different matter, although the price must reflect this. In this case, we will also make sure it is listed as a ‘Block of flats’ and not as an ‘apartment’!

Why do you make it mandatory to enter the address and map location of the property I’d like to advertise?

This is what makes us unique and why we are popular with buyers and tenants as it saves them time by knowing where the property is located. This could also mean you do not need to pay any agency’s commission by finding buyers or tenants directly.

I do not have a problem by giving the address of the property I have on the market, but I would not want to give my Home numbers or display it on the internet. Is there a way to do this?

Yes. When you enter all the advert details in your ‘MyAccount’ section, choose what personal details you would like to display on the advert in ‘Preferences’. You can check this before “placing” the advert online by clicking “Preview Advert” in the Home page of “MyAccount”.

I decided to let out my property instead of keeping it for sale, how do I go about changing this?

The easiest way to do this is to create a new advert To Let with the same details. You can even ask our customer support to copy your details, description and photos for you.