Posts by Andrew Stanton
BREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 04/02/2021
BARRATT HOMEBUILDER REVENUE INCREASES BY 10% IN LAST SIX MONTHS The head of the national housebuilders chief, David Thomas has reported growth in the past six months, and foresees that by June their year end completions will be at a comfortable level, ‘I would like to say a huge thank you to all of our…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 03/02/2021
IS THE HOUSING MARKET STALLING? New analysis by a major lender is suggesting that the Propertymark in residential sales could be hitting the buffers, the economic advisor Robert Gardner for Nationwide building society has been quoted as saying that the muted January market, ‘reflects a tapering of demand ahead of the end of the stamp…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 02/02/2021
GOVERNMENT DEBATE EXTENSION OF SDLT HOLIDAY There was a general consensus by those giving evidence, at the live debate yesterday that constituents and MP’s were generally in favour of an extension or tapering of stamp duty, though having watched the debate it again reminded me that the most informed individuals, people who are reading this…
Read MoreWhat does Connells strategic partnership with ZPG mean?
It has just been announced that Connells, which may double in size if it absorbs Countrywide has created a deeper tie with the Zoopla portal owned by ZPG, with a tie up for the next five years. In what looks to be a mutually beneficial collaboration, the agency group will get the benefit of the…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 01/02/2021
SDLT HOLIDAY EXTENSION DEBATED TODAY At 4.30 pm today the government will debate an extension to the ‘stamp duty’ holiday, the petition seeks to extend the present non-payment of the tax in its present form until the 31st of September. With Lockdown 3.0 and a large number of properties set to miss the present deadline, many…
Read MoreCountrywide PLC can this financially wounded Dinosaur be saved?
A year ago I was quoted in the Daily Telegraph about my views on the travel and direction of real estate, and specifically the then aborted LSL assault on Countrywide Plc. At present Skipton building society through its Connells agency arm is looking to purchase Countrywide plc. The question though is can the Dinosaur be…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 29/01/2021
NEW INSTRUCTIONS AT A SEASONAL LOW Typically instructions start to come to the market from the second week of January, this trend has not occurred in 2021. Many agents are now scratching around for inventory to let and sell. One agent contacted today confirmed that fees were under huge pressure as the local agents were…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 28/01/2021
ZPG LOOKS TO PIVOT ZOOPLA PORTAL MODEL In what has been widely signalled Zoopla is looking to refine its business model, with a bigger focus on nurturing prospective vendors looking to move, building in functionality around sales control and provide agents with a marketing suite. This move very much takes it into CRM territory and…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 27/01/2021
MONDAY 1ST FEBRUARY WATCH SDLT HOLIDAY DEBATE LIVE After immense pressure, the government is now allowing a debate on the extension of the SDLT holiday until the September, for those who are keen to see how it plays out, tune in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0420gQEA9Hs&feature=youtu.be. THE RELOCATION NETWORK CHANGES HANDS Richard Tucker who headed (RAN) is stepping down and the…
Read MoreWill it be Amazon Estate Agents soon?
This is not a news flash that Amazon has formerly started up a chain of estate agents in the UK, more thoughts that with the demise of Debenhams, and its purchase by Boohoo, but without the physical stores, has buying and selling now entered a new phase for good? And where does that leave estate…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 26/01/2021
CAN AGENTS SMOKE ON A ZOOM CALL IN THEIR OWN HOME? It is not clear what if any fallout can come from smoking in your own property, but if you are undertaking company business on a video conference call and you light up, will you fall foul of company procedures and be reprimanded? An owner…
Read MoreA-B-C Always be closing, but maybe just today take a day off
A-B-C Always be closing, but maybe just today take a day off. In Glen Garry Glen Ross an exceptional play by David Mamet, re-worked and expanded with the inclusion of Alec Baldwin as Blake in the 1992 film version, we hear the immortal lines, ‘A-B-C. A, always; B, be; C, closing. Always be closing! Always…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 25/01/2021
COUNTRYWIDE PLC – THREE WEEKS AND COUNTING It is just three weeks before the shareholders of Countrywide Plc vote on whether or not to accept the Skipton building society (they own Connells) cash acquisition to purchase them. If the deal happens, the new owner has said that it will not look to make huge closures…
Read MoreMillennials and Generation-Z property buyers, are they just too demanding?
Over a year ago I penned my thoughts on this, but with the pandemic, if anything the speed of digital adoption, and the appetite of digital users seems to have leapt forward x 10. So, so I thought it worthy of sharing. Obviously, some of the referenced companies are also in slightly different positions to…
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS – 5 top stories 22/01/2021
RICS AT LAST IS FORCED TO ACCOUNT FOR ITSELF As we have been reporting for some time RICS has been torn apart by allegations that its governance has been opaque and there are big questions over its handling of financial matters, which as yet unproved may be a serious breach. There is now to be…
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