Estate Agent Talk
Good news for first time buyers under 40.
A scheme offering 100,000 first-time buyers new homes with a discount of 20% to help people onto the property ladder will be launched by David Cameron later. Those under 40 who have never owned their own home can register their interest in buying via the Starter Home Initiative from the start of 2015 – six…
Allen Walkey
Property language: time to think again?
You might have noticed recently that one of the UK’s most unmistakable properties has been put on the rental market. Relatively unassuming until you see the roof, the three-bedroom cottage in Oxford has a 7.5 metre fibreglass shark embedded in the tiles, installed to mark the 41st anniversary of the Nagasaki atomic bombing. It fell to…
ARPM
Stamp duty – masterstroke or policitcal electioneering?
Chancellor George Osborne yesterday in his Autumn statement was either entering into the seasonal spirit by providing hard pressed home buyers with an early Christmas present, with a long overdue overhaul of Stamp Duty or it was a smart political manoeuvre with one eye on the forthcoming general election in May 2015! As it is…
Alex Evans
Stamp Duty Reform 2014.
Stamp Duty Reform 2014 Last week, George Osbourne surprised us all by creating a huge shake-up to the way Stamp Duty works in the UK. As an estate agent I have been lobbying for a change in the stamp duty rules for some time so we’re thrilled about the changes. However, this pesky property tax…
Alex Evans
The financial advantages of a professional cleaning service.
Whether you’re working your estate agency from home or at the office, small or big, there is undoubtedly rubbish and dust littered around your premises that goes unnoticed to the untrained eye. Hiring a commercial cleaning service can help you to keep up with your daily office cleaning. You may not have time to worry…
Alex Evans
London’s Mayfair Becoming Top Prime Market, Again!
The rare air of Mayfair has inspired wonder for many generations, mainly thanks to its position on the Monopoly board. However, since World War II, the real world has left Mayfair failing to meet the prestige inherent in its name. The great news is that Mayfair is fast recovering its status as one of the…
Alex Evans
Online agents – Big savings or, paying up-front for failure?
As an agent who has always embraced new technology and working practices, I have no problem with online agents, in fact, I have often looked at diversifying into that area myself on occasions. However; what I do find unsettling, is when agents of any camp (online or high-street), make bold claims about being better than…
Alex Evans
Estate Agents Collaborate To Revolutionise The Luxury Home Marketplace.
Maurice Kilbride Residential Sales Limited, one of South Manchester’s leading and most innovative Estate and Letting agents, has joined forces with Britain’s Best Home who are a fast growing luxury property portal. This new partnership will create one of the premier estate agency and luxury property marketing companies initially in South Manchester but plan to…
Alex Evans
What the Real Estate Pundit is doing next.
When I started writing under the Real Estate Pundit pseudonym, I was in mourning. My start-up was in a coma. I needed a solid break from it. There could be no lingering feelings. I had to let go and move on. But I didn’t want my mind (and contact book) to atrophy. So I started…
Alex Evans
Suits you sir! Is your dress code your undoing?
The Apprentice is back on our screens and I’m sure many of you will be following Lord Sugar’s candidates as they make fundamental business errors on a weekly basis. Of course, with a top-rating TV show come reviews and the irrepressible Jim Shelley writing for the Daily Mail wrote of week one: “Yes it was…
ARPM
Making Valuations Count.
“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart Property management should be a source of recurring revenue for your business, a stabiliser against market turbulence that affects the transactional sides of…
Alex Evans
2015: What’s your prediction?
In the past couple of months, several articles have been published, predicting how the housing market will change when we reach 2015. Keeping account of all these predictions can be quite difficult and confusing for many property professionals. Therefore, we’ve summarised all of these predictions. Daily Mail Recently, the Daily Mail predicted a fall in…
Alex Evans
3 Ways Estate Agents can Appeal to the Bridget Jones Market
According to recently revised forecasts by Savills, UK house prices will exceed a 9.5% rise this year, with London prices expecting to see a 15% increase. Great news for estate agents, however, prices in the capital are expected to slow in 2015, with no increase predicted for 2016. Countrywide’s research shows that first-time buyers in…
Alex Evans
What do you expect, profit or loss?
Whatever industry you’re in, making a profit or loss is a crucial aspect of keeping your business afloat, as well as proving a potential factor in the growth of your company. As per a recent article in the Letting Agent Today, a survey of 759 landlords were questioned about what their letting process was like…
Alex Evans
Generation gaps in the workplace
Because we are an ageing population, by 2020 there could be up to five different age groups working together in the work environment. If offices are going to be able to accommodate the vastly different approaches to working, businesses are going to have to change. The generations are as follows: The silent generation otherwise known as…
Alex Evans