Posts by Alex Evans
Design Week Chelsea Harbour
Spring has finally sprung and what better way to get inspired by the new colourful interior trends for Spring than to visit Design Week at Chelsea Harbour. For anyone who has never been to the Design Centre its a mecca for beautiful fabrics and high end exquisite furniture. All this week and next the centre’s…
Read MoreHow much time should you be spending on post-sale?
Imagine you’ve just tied up a sale. As an estate agent, you want that sale to get to completion as soon as possible because until then, in the majority of cases, you won’t be receiving your income. So how much time do you put in to making that happen vs time spent winning the next…
Read MoreANDALUCÍA, CHOICE FOR 3.51 MILLION TOURISTS IN JANUARY 2015/RENTAL PRICES SURGE.
British holidaymakers on average account for more than one in five tourists visiting Spain. In January 2016, tourist figures shot up by 11 per cent. Blessed with mild winters and over 300 days of sunshine per year, the region of Andalucía benefits from an intricate infrastructure with excellent national and international transport links and a…
Read MoreMobile is everything…what will be your next mobile device?
Planning your next mobile device purchase? It’s that time when all of the tech and device manufacturers start to make their product announcements for the forthcoming year. For those of us that love tech, we can find out what to expect from new mobile devices and how they might help us in our everyday lives. Many new announcements were…
Read MoreJapanese Knotweed – Difference between a Building Survey & a Knotweed Survey
RICS building surveyors are not expected to be fully trained in the management and treatment of Japanese Knotweed, however many RICS building surveyors do receive training often under CPD so that they have the ability to identify Japanese Knotweed at any time of the year. The RICS building surveyors also have the RICS information paper…
Read MoreEU tells accidental landlords they “can’t afford” cheaper mortgages.
A little-known piece of EU legislation could see so-called accidental landlords refused cheaper mortgages – because they can’t afford them! The EU Mortgage Credit Directive, which comes into effect in the UK this month, is designed to prevent ‘risky’ mortgage lending and redefines landlord mortgages as “consumer lending”, making them subject to stricter lending criteria.…
Read MoreGet a grip on property maintenance.
Experienced property managers understand that there are many aspects of the job that takes too much time, way more than required. Today’s health and safety requirements have driven this industry to save time and invest in multiple, non-related systems to overcome the burden of the required administration; for example, reminder lists, on-line forms, website guides,…
Read MoreBuild To Rent – At Scale or At Risk?
It would be pretty difficult to have missed the meteoric rise of the PRS Build to Rent sector in the last 12 months. But in a country which places such huge emphasis on home ownership, is this new tenure model already doomed before it’s really begun? This was the topic at hand at the PRS…
Read More‘Yes it’s moving day!’ or ‘help it’s moving day’ – which one do you want to be?
Moving house is not something the vast majority of us do very often, so the learning from your mistakes mantra, unlike with most things in life, is actually very difficult to apply here. It is also not a prescriptive process, it is very individual and can have many different nuances. There is however one very…
Read MoreHave you considered the outsourcing option?
With fees increasingly being squeezed, a rising number of online estate agents and the ever present fight to win valuations ahead of all competitors, it’s a tough market out there. The list of skills you need to succeed just keeps growing – sales, negotiation, administration, customer service, marketing, etc and then added to that you…
Read MoreDon’t let ivy drive you up a wall.
While ivy is the bane of many estate agents, kept under tight control ivy can be a real asset to a garden. It is one of the few evergreen climbers that is self supporting. None is as hardy as ivy. Now is the time of year to give it a bold haircut because you want…
Read MoreHow to become a Property Manager.
One of the more hidden roles within the property industry is that of the property manager. Everyone wants to be a negotiator, showing luxury apartments and driving fancy cars, but without the support of a residential property manager, none of that is possible.A residential property management company looks after property portfolios on behalf of its…
Read MoreLegionella Risk Assessments – WHY BOTHER?
Ok; so lets tackle the all important question: as a landlord do you have to carry out a legionella risk assessment on your property? Answer: Yes If you are a landlord and rent out your property (or even a room within your own home) then you have legal responsibilities to ensure the Health and Safety…
Read MoreThe Cornerstones of any House Sale
Whether it’s the television, magazines, property portals, online forums, search engines, friends or family, there is an abundance of readily available free advice out there when it comes to selling your home. However if you are looking to sell, it can often be completely overwhelming with all this information, putting your head in a spin…
Read MoreHow to swerve boring guests and turn ‘sold in your area’ to GOLD in your area.
We had guests round on Saturday for lunch. They were friends of my wife and I was pretty bored if I’m being honest. I’m more of a fish and chips and football sort of bloke and they were more artisan bread and film noir. So when the letterbox went it was my excuse to get…
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