Estate Agent Talk
PROFESSIONAL RISK ASSOCIATED WITH PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS
The following paper provides an update on the modern day risks associated with UK property professionals and how the current UK professional indemnity insurance (PI) market is responding. Business Closures And Run Off Cover Since our report of 12 months ago we have seen the industry press consumed with articles concerning stamp duty reform and…
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Investor Warning: What Happens To the “Disrupters” When They Lose Their Power to Disrupt?
I read an article quite recently titled “Purplebricks gets stock market commentator support – if strategy pays off” written in response to an article by columnist Ian Pierce on the investment website, Motley Fool. Sadly, there were no great revelations in Ian’s article, but he did quite rightly strike one or two notes of caution…
Peter Nicholls
Can your agent afford to give you time?
At the time of writing this, I have toothache. Real bad toothache. The sort where you can’t sleep and just don’t know what to do with yourself. I need a dentist. The internet can’t help me, googling toothache doesn’t help. I need the help of a professional. An expert in their field and somebody who…
Michelle Gallagher
Countrywide Group – The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?
I wonder if I am alone in my perception that over recent months it has become quite ‘fashionable’ for fellow estate agents and industry observers alike, to snipe and poke fun at the ‘comings and goings’ at Countrywide Group in the trade press and social media. Somewhat inevitable I suppose, but is such criticism fair?…
Peter Nicholls
WHEN CHEAP ISN’T VERY CHEERFUL
Estate agents’ fees are always a hot topic! And it is true they can vary wildly. In many parts of Stockport, fees can vary from 0.5% to 1.75% and there is considerable variation right across the country in every town or city. There are also online or low-cost agents offering headline-grabbing fees. Ignore their slick…
Maurice Kilbride
Residential Property Valuation: The End of The Beginning or the Beginning of The End?
Recently, Zoopla announced its latest acquisition, the capture of housing data firm Hometrack for a cool £120 million. For those that don’t know, Hometrack provides residential property insights, analytics, valuations, and data services to over 400 partners including mortgage lenders, developers, investors, housing associations and local authorities. Should we be concerned by what appears to…
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View My Chain Reduces Estate Agents’ Stress
A revolutionary new cloud-based software tool has shown that it can cut estate agents’ workloads and reduce their stress levels. That’s because View My Chain cuts back on the amount of telephone calls agents have to make chasing up conveyancers and other estate agents. It does this by allowing agents to view their own sales…
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First-time buyer’s increase to 36%
February saw the rate of first-time buyer’s increase to 36%, a demographic that currently accounts for just over one third of February’s property market activity, the largest proportion of first-time buyers since July 2011. It is suspected that the reason for this is twofold; near zero base rate mortgages, and the drop in buy to…
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Rant and Rave – What the heck is going on out there in property land?
Never mind ‘Lala Land’, what about ‘Lala Property Land’! What the heck is going on out there in property land? My rant: To our inner negative self-talk. Lack of properties, lack of buyers, sad people, worried people, all going around in a zombie-like trance. Muttering ‘oh poor me’, ‘oh this is really bad’, ‘I blame…
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Question: What is the worst kept secret in UK estate agency?
Answer: That things aren’t what they used to be? Reply: That’s right, but don’t tell anyone and we will all be fine. Am I the only one that is getting a little weary of this continual High Street versus Hybrid Model debate that seems to get avid readers of industry websites so exercised? I sincerely…
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Looking to Rent a Property? How an Estate Agent Can Simplify the Process
These days, renting a property isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. There are so many things you need to think about before you rent and the actual process can be a nightmare – especially if you go down the private route. If you’re looking to rent in the not too distant future, an…
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Conveyancers Want ID Property Portal Like “Border Control”
Estate agents are to be given back-up to help confirm the identity of property sellers – if the Conveyancing Association (CA) gets their way. In an attempt to cut back on property fraud the CA is to lobby the government for a centralised ID Verification process – one which includes the use of high-tech biometrics….
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Can UK Estate Agency learn to live with the Online Generation?
It has been said many times and in many different ways that success comes from looking forward, and not from looking backwards, and never has this sentiment been more true right now than in UK estate agency. For well over 50 years the estate agency fraternity in this country has relied on the same inflation…
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IGNORING BAD ONLINE REVIEWS CAN DAMAGE AGENTS’ REPUTATION AND LOSE POTENTIAL INSTRUCTIONS
Despite the massive growth on online reviews, agents are still handling bad reviews inappropriately, which is resulting in a damaged reputation and loss of potential instructions, according to Chatty Imp, specialists in delivering social media campaigns in the property market. According to recent research from search agency BrightLocal, more people are reading reviews on a…
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THE POWER OF WORD OF MOUTH
Going through my 2016 figures last weekend, to my amazement I found that 92% of my business came from word of mouth referrals. Not that I’m blowing my own trumpet (ok, perhaps I am!), but that figure even took me by surprise. And then it got me thinking: why was it so high? I was…
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