Estate Agent Talk
10 Tips for Building Trust with your Clients.
Trust is a huge factor with our business. As estate agents we want vendors and landlords to trust us to sell/let their properties but also conduct viewings when they are not around. You may remember the story a couple of weeks ago of the agent who was filmed stealing a bar of galaxy from a…
Stephen Brown
Be a lifesaver, understand your customer
Understanding your customers can be a difficult process no matter what industry you’re in. There are several things you should consider before approaching your customers, these range from knowing your customers’ needs, the industry you’re working in, your company’s products and what you provide as a company. In this case, if you’re working in the…
Alex Evans
How To Build Instant Rapport At Market Appraisals.
Imagine you’re one of the three agents called out to do market appraisal of home ready to go to market. Let’s assume your fees are the same. You’ve been out to do the appraisal and confident you can find a buyer for Mr. & Mrs. Matthews property fairly quickly , and from your perspective…
Alex Evans
VTUK’s guide to getting licensed: The Housing (Wales) Act 2014
We aim to assist every agent in Wales as the introduction of the Housing (Wales) Act is introduced. From last Friday (19th September 2014) every agent in Wales must know be licensed. The legislation requires agents to register with an approved body such as ARLA or NALS. The agent and the landlords must commit to…
Alex Evans
Kerb Appeal – Making a good first impression
You don’t – or at least shouldn’t – judge a book by its front cover, or so they say, but property is a different matter entirely. Buyers today make large decisions about a property in a very short amount of time, with recent research from Halifax suggesting that the average buyer spends just 33 minutes…
Alex Evans
How can you sell when you don’t know the Product?
How can you sell when you don’t know the Product? I was having a conversation with a friend the other day, and they asked me “How can my agent sell my house, when they don’t know anything about it?” On further questioning she informed me that the agent never asked any questions about her home…
Stephen Brown
Prevent your properties from being at risk!
At VTUK, we want to eliminate the risk of fraud to your properties. There are several steps you should take, when it comes to protecting your property from fraud and we’ve outlined these in further detail below. As an agent, you’re more at risk of fraud if your identities been stolen, you live overseas, your…
Alex Evans
Why is the property industry not consolidating faster?
The Real Estate Pundit writes primarily about Property Technology: https://twitter.com/realpundit Seriously, in a massively fragmented industry, few companies make big money and none come close to dominating in any sphere. What is it about estate agency that perpetuates an incredibly long tail of same-same service providers. There’s very little difference between one agent and another, consumers…
Alex Evans
Are online-only agents just FSBO in disguise?
The Real Estate Pundit writes primarily about Property Technology: https://twitter.com/realpundit And there it is: the deafening chorus of traditional estate agents screaming “Yes!”. For years high street agents have been crying foul that Rightmove allows For-Sale-By-Owner sites to sneak listings next to theirs. But with the barrier to entry for a new estate agent so low,…
Alex Evans
Agents: Don’t risk a £5,000 fine…
We want to express to every letting and property management agent, how vital it is to sign up to one of three government authorised consumer redress schemes. It’s already a legal requirement for estate agents to be signed up with these redress schemes, but it’s soon to be for many letting agents. From October 1st,…
Alex Evans
A new campaign for innovation
As we continue into recovery it’s useful to refer to the economic clock which describes four recovery steps. So far we’ve been moving through ‘hesitant and uneven’ recovery where we typically experience one step back for every two forward. As a result, most of us have been noticing the good news/bad news mix in the…
Alex Evans
Agents: Are you under threat?
During the last few months, many online agents have started to grow in the current property industry. For example, agents such as Hatched.co.uk, Purplebricks and OpenRent have been in the media spotlight, as potential leading online estate agents. OpenRent recently launched its televised campaign on Channel 5, as well as holding campaigns in the Express…
Alex Evans
Make the Grade
Getting your staff qualified will not only set your agency apart from the crowd, but will also demonstrate commitment to your employees. Rachel Escott talks to two Scotland-based managers who discuss the impact that qualifications have had on their own careers, why it is imperative to find the time for training, and the importance of investing…
Alex Evans
Vendors are not your sales team
It always amazes me the number of agents that do not offer the most important service you can give – accompanied viewings. Why? What is it about this crucial part of selling a home that makes you think you have to remain absent? How will you really know what the buyer thought of the home?…
Stephen Brown
Can you describe your Estate Agency in 3 words?
Do you find it hard to find the right words to describe your business? You are not alone; many estate agents find it difficult to express their passion and service. But when we think about writing about our business we want to ensure amongst other things that: We write for our audience It has a…
Alex Evans