Estate Agent Talk
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
Could starting up your own agency be the worst decision of your life?
How many times have you thought, I could do this better, I could run my own estate and lettings agency, but I haven’t the money to get me going .. fine I say. That’s a big risk .. but you are only here once in this theme park called life. So why not play the…
Christopher Watkin
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…
Cheap Fee’s or Great Fee’s .. just become your town’s PROPERTY GURU.
Influence is a funny thing. Thirty years in Grantham, there were three big estate/lettings/surveying practices, William H. Brown, Goldings and Escritt and Barrell. People thought all the Directors all walked on water and the unclean of Grantham dothed their cap as they drove by in their fancy cars. They were Grantham Property Glitterati, charged full…
Christopher Watkin
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…
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…
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
Just how do you get called out as one of the three agents for a FREE VALUATION?
The biggest headache, problem, issue in estate agency is being asked out for the free valuation, first time round, as one of the three. If you aren’t on that list of three, you will end up having to pick up second hand scraps at the end of the sole agency .. but if you are…
Christopher Watkin
Is your agency as good as Savills and Knight Frank?
Last week I was talking to a client in South London. He (along with a couple of agents up and down the UK) are going to be piloting something that will help our Estate Agency brothers and sisters. The biggest issue in estate agency is being asked out for the free valuation, first time round,…
Christopher Watkin
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…
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…
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…