Estate Agent Talk
Lying cheating agents who do cheap fees…
When I was an agent, one of the worst bits was dealing with the competition ..most were good and mutual respect was given and received .. apart from the bar$***d agents, the ones who dropped fees to get the business, even worse, the agents who told lies to get the business. Let me tell you…
Christopher Watkin
Election Countdown
Well, just 40 more days to go and we should know which party or coalition of parties will be in government. This week we had our first televised “debate” between the two Davids, Cameron and Milliband, it didn’t really tell us much except that the polls immediately following gave Cameron the edge, then the next…
Allen Walkey
CITB says rise in number of workers reflects housing boom.
The Construction Industry Training Board says the industry must recruit more than 200,000 extra workers in the next 5 years to keep on top of rising demand. For the first time since the downturn, rising spending on housing, leisure and infrastructure will deliver growth in every region of the UK. To deal with the upswing…
Working with Local Government.
The local planning authority (LPA) – usually the district or borough council – is responsible for deciding whether a proposed development should be allowed to go ahead. This is called planning permission. Most new buildings, major alterations to existing buildings and significant changes to the use of a building or piece of land need this…
What Women in Property Think, of Women in Property!
A couple of months ago I published the first edition to our women in property campaign “Women in Construction”. This developed into a larger than originally anticipated campaign receiving a massive public response in relation to what women within the sector thought. As a company we carried out a number of Video Blogs from a…
Taking the stress out of performance appraisals.
Employees often regard appraisals as something dreadful, the kind of meeting that may lead to a bad mark on their employment record. The end goal of a staff appraisal is to help organisations make important decisions about an employee regarding their pay, their development, and their training. Giving a performance appraisal can often send managers…
Get more out of your business, get moving
Making the decision to relocate your office can be a sensitive subject for many business owners, it’s essential to get it right for the happiness and well-being of both your staff and your business. Regardless of whether your business is a large one or a small one, planning an office relocation is never an easy…
Alex Evans
Is the truth worth it?
We have all seen them, those nightmare estate agent photos that fill you with wonder on how someone can use them to market a property. But are you in the same league as these agents when it comes to telling the truth to your clients? Undertaking an appraisal is for the sole purpose of gaining…
Stephen Brown
Agencies Beware! The Light Is Shining On Commissions.
In the run-up to the General Election the property industry’s focus has been on the prospect of tenant fees being banned. There is a risk that with a deluge of commentary about this prospective change a recent case with significant effects on estate and letting agencies’ revenues has been overlooked. The Background Agencies may use…
Alex Evans
Countdown Election 2015
Just 47 days to go in the run up to The General Election 2015. This week we had the last budget before the all important Polling Day 7th May, those that listened and watched the budget on TV were probably scratching their heads at the end of it, later in the day reactions were very…
Allen Walkey
Are some Corporate Estate Agent bosses letting their staff down?
I used to work for a large Corporate Agent for over 15 years. I loved it, but every once in a while I thought, do the big bosses up on high (not the Area Managers as I have always found that level of management as the stalwarts of agency), but the Head office bods, the…
Christopher Watkin
Good enough to buy from – but not good enough to sell through…?
There can be no greater insult for an agent than finding out that a buyer who has had an offer accepted on a property through you, subject to the sale of their own, is considering the option of inviting another agent to sell it. It should, considering that they are buying through you, be a…
No one gives a **** about your Estate / Lettings Agency.
Do you know what every homeowner in your town lies awake at three in the morning worrying about? Endless sleepless nights, tossing and turning in cold sweats, for weeks, months and years every night, until they cry themselves into a cold tear soaked pillow just as the dawn chorus starts? …… Transparent agency fees …….
Christopher Watkin
Homeowners not fullfilling housing ladder aspirations.
According to the latest research from Lloyds Bank many homeowners are not progressing up the housing ladder as quickly as they had hoped, with one in three expecting to be further up the ladder than they are now. This proportion is even higher for first time buyers, with almost half (44%) expecting to have been…
Allen Walkey
Is equal pay still an issue in the property sector?
Kelly Fox from FirstPort shares her experiences: