BREAKING NEWS – top 5 stories 25/03/2021
MORE POSSIBLE PROPERTYMARK SPIN FROM INTERIM CEO NATHAN EMERSON
Apparently, the new CEO of Propertymark who is keeping the seat warm is trying to launch a charm offensive saying that Propertymark is transparent and losing 15% of the c-suite is normal churn.
My thoughts are we have now all entered the ‘twilight zone’ some more than others. A CEO leaves, no reason given, a new CEO is in harness with zero real estate credentials two months later, and resigns five months later with no explanation. That alone would raise questions of competency, add in all of the departures and the lack of transparency of the last year and you have a sinking ship.
In many ways it has a similar feel to Countrywide Plc, people in ivory towers believing they had a relevant business, and those they represented were 100% behind them, in reality they had become a Dinosaur.
2030 agency needs people who can fly spacecrafts, to keep up with the tech and pace of agency, not old stale pale men – getting nostalgic about a bygone age. And I speak as an old stale pale male, but I did something about it, got off my backside and engaged over the past five years with over 300 founders of proptech companies, over 100 real estate owners and hundreds of stakeholders, in the UK and globally, that takes time and effort, not words.
My best advice to Propertymark, stop pontificating and start talking at volume to ALL of your members – you will find it good for the soul, and you might consider dropping RoPA as your central plank, and instead look to nourish and train those fee-paying members.
BORIS, PUBS AND QR CODES
Not strictly a property related piece of news, but as many in the real estate sector are known to imbibe, it is important to learn that yesterday the Prime Minister was mumbling about the use of QR coding to prove to publicans that you have been jabbed with the vaccine.
It remains to be seen if this will be rolled out – if so to coin a phrase – we can all start rolling out the barrels of fun, if only.
HOUSING MARKET ONE YEAR ON
The government has been in a reflective mood with regard to the pandemic, for the housing market it has in fact been a bumper time, due to various levers. The SDLT holiday and further extension of that holiday, WFH – fuelling a changing need to get a home you can also work from, low interest rates, the return recently of 95% mortgages, and as we kick into Q2 soon, a rising housing market with a shortage of properties.
All of this with all branches closed/entry with strict guidelines on how to conduct face to face conversations with the masked general public.
TPFG HAS NOW BECOME A SUPER POWER IN THE RENTAL MARKETPLACE
Following its recent acquisition of Hunters, The Property Franchise Group, now is second to only the Connells group in terms of lettings with a combined portfolio across its brands of in excess of 70,000 properties let and managed.
Connells with its Countrywide buy in has now got over 90,000 properties let and managed, will these business be able to take advantage of these big numbers? Certainly TPFGs though large in scale is more fragmented as obviously it has franchisees, whereas Connells has a thoroughbred, mature and focused c-suite overseeing all corners of their over expanding empire.
85% of NEW INSTRUCTION SELLING WITHIN FIVE WEEKS
We were informed yesterday that at least one agency had recorded that it sold subject to contract 85% of its new instructions within five weeks. And the level of stock or inventory to sell was in line with scarcities seen during other boom markets.
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