Estate Agent Talk
Investing in Central London property? Why a Property Manager should be top of your list.
Press Release * SANDFORD The rush to invest in property is understandable. Take a recent headline from The Independent: ‘Buy-to-lets top investments, with returns of up to 1,400%’. It will have caught the eye of savers whose nest eggs may be languishing in cash accounts and ISAs, where the rate of interest is probably hovering…
Christopher Walkey
Property in the North West is highly investable.
Recent findings by HSBC reveal that Manchester has the 7th fastest growing rental yields in the UK and Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool all made it onto the top 10 list of buy-to-let hotspots according to rental yield. Blackpool was found to be the seaside town with the best rental yields in the UK (7.81% before…
What a Conservative win means for the property sector.
As I write this blog, the Conservatives have won a majority seating in Parliament. As a recruiter entrenched in this sector I have followed the election campaign trying to build a view of what will happen to the sector after the 7th May. Housing policy was definitely used in the ground war to secure seats…
VIDEO: Is there a housing capacity issue in London?
Will you drop your fee Mr(s) Agent ?
“We really like you and what your agency has to offer us, but your fee is much higher than what we are paying now.” If your prospective vendor or landlord is dissatisfied enough to move agents, they are dissatisfied enough to pay more for the better result that you are offering. The difference between your…
Christopher Watkin
Online only… Can they be called ‘Estate Agents’?
Managing a few Estate Agency groups I get to see a lot of debates and opinions shared on varied industry topics. One of the popular discussions is to whether or not online estate agents, a growing popularity currently, should be classified as actual ‘Estate Agents’. As per usual, I will have no real opinion on…
Christopher Walkey
JUST WHAT IS PRIME IN CENTRAL LONDON?
While the exact boundaries defining “Prime Central London” are unclear, isn’t it time we recognised the likes of Hackney, Stratford and Woolwich as some of London’s real “prime” locations? We’ve launched a number of London property developments so far this year, and as is so often the case when we turn our attention to this…
VIDEO: What are your views on the Right To Buy?
We spoke with National Award Winner Jessica Dowdy and she shared with us her views on the Right To Buy and highlights of her career.
Making the most of your property data?
This year’s buzz words…”BIG DATA” but what does that really mean for the humble (I use this term loosely) estate agent? Property companies up and down the land will be capturing geographical or location based data on a daily basis from vendors address details, valuation data, Land Registry title documents etc. They will also use…
Customer Service … can help you stand out from the crowd.
We live in a world that gives customers almost limitless choice. In every town there are often 20, 25, even 30 or more agents. And online there’s yet more competition, some of it being very inexpensive. So how do you stand out from the crowd? How do you make yourself distinctive? What will make your…
The Property Ombudsman’s annual report reveals growing membership and record number of referrals.
The latest report released by The Property Ombudsman reveals a continuing upward trend in new referrals, 42% against the previous year. This is indicative of both the general trend in the consumer world to challenge when something does not give satisfaction, as well as the growing number of agents (28% more than at the start…
Christopher Walkey
Knowledge is Power, or is it?
One of the reasons people wish to sell a house through an estate agent is because they have the knowledge. We know about their product, the market and in their eyes we are the experts. It’s just like if you were buying an expensive car, you wouldn’t just buy from anyone, you would want to…
Stephen Brown
If I match the fee, will you stay with my agency?
You have managed to land that landlord and he or she is going to swap letting agents to you, then it all to goes t*ts up and he/she changes her mind and stays put? Ring a bell? Let me tell you a story which might ring true. Jason (he of the Shiny Suit and Senior…
Christopher Watkin
VIDEO: The benefits of joining an SME in the Property industry.
Company Director Kevin Redman shares his advice for graduates and the benefits of joining an SME in the property industry.
The trouble with moving office for your Agency.
Why office movers are often their own worst enemy Working in office fit-out I spend my days chatting with two types of people, those in the know and those on the outside. Those in the know are almost exclusively other functionaries in the world of commercial property be they agents, surveyors, legal eagles, networkers, other fit-out…