Estate Agent Talk
Employing Amateurs Can Kill Your Agency
This story is 100 per cent true but originally happened around this time last year. I’ve been reminded of it as I spent a large chunk of last week re-writing an agent’s website content where the copy had been written by a cheap ‘writer.’ The agency owner went with the cheapest quote and has ended…
Estate Agents – Would you sell your Granny?
I believe the vast majority of estate agents and letting agents are good decent professional people – who know their market – and even more importantly … who care… REALLY CARE Most of us agents are nothing like the ‘sell your own grandmother’ types the papers and the public like to think of us. I…
Christopher Watkin
Newspaper Advertising – Why its a waste of time for Estate and Letting Agents?
A short and sweet 3min 40 sec video on why newspaper advertising doesn’t work in estate and lettings agency. .. and more importantly … why it can work for you!
Christopher Watkin
My ethical stand to Value over Profit in social media
There has been something I have wanted to talk about for a while, a subject that may rustle a few feathers but I hope it gets people thinking. As a business we are here to make a profit but how we do it can define who we are. I believe that ethics is extremely important…
One agents take on Brexit for her town
Competitor Agents – When the going gets tough and when the stock dries up and it gets too competitive, the weak agents charge a lower management fees or sales fees. However, when you put all your efforts into being the best, there is no competition. You have to realise that it’s up to…
Christopher Watkin
Too hot to handle? The summer ‘sickies’ damaging your business
We’ve had a tantalizing glimpse of summer, with soaring temperatures, the smell of barbeques and a few burnt bits among those determined to make the most of the May sun. While blue skies bring out flip flops and ice cream vans, it also brings out absenteeism – a major workplace scourge that peaks in the…
ARPM
Will this be the end of the race to exchange?
We don’t think so. Reports on a potential government consultation with the industry on how to speed up the house buying process talked of the potential of a process similar to Scotland. In Scotland deals are binding once missives are exchanged, which rules out gazumping and gazundering. The managing director of the National Association of…
How to be a great sales or lettings negotiator
Arguably the most popular role in the property industry is the sales or lettings negotiator. Theirs is the job which is different every day, where they could be showing a property in the morning, speaking with a landlord in Melbourne in the afternoon and closing a deal before home time. Then there’s the pay and…
Why Manchester’s Young Population will set the City up for Years to Come
Manchester is a city with a very young population. Larger cities are always the places that attract young professionals and graduates, thanks to relatively large numbers of job opportunities and the presence of major companies. Even by these standards Manchester is a city that seems to hold great appeal for young people. Around 22% of…
Mark Burns
Making Estate Agents Loved Again
You are either an estate agent (or letting agent).. .. That is WHAT you do. .. But WHY do you do it? I especially ask this question of all the agents who own and run their own agencies. If it’s just to earn money and have a better life style because you are your own boss…
Christopher Watkin
What Estate Agents could learn from Leicester City
Leicester City – you did well this year beating the big boys of Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, and the two Manchester teams The behind the sofa tension on the brink of glory was awesome.. ….but don’t let it go to your head next season, don’t anticipate victory as an entitlement when you go to Old Trafford or…
Christopher Watkin
Infographic: Estate Agents Customer Survey
We surveyed 1000 UK homeowners to understand their preference for traditional high street or online estate agents. We also asked them how they felt about levels of customer service in the sector. See the results on our infographic below.
Which online estate agent is best?
For decades home owners have visited their local real estate agents to sell their properties; there were no other options. Now, a whole new method of property trading has been established in the online world. An influx of online estate agents have burst on to the real estate scene and as you can expect, the…
The Changing Face of Property Auctions: Part II.
AUCTION CONSULTANT, ANDY THOMPSON, TALKS ABOUT THE EVOLVING PROFILE OF THE TYPICAL AUCTION SELLER. Regular followers of my blog will know that I recently wrote about the “changing faces of property auctions”… and the weather. Well, unfortunately the sunshine didn’t hang around long, but I suppose some things never change. On the property front though,…
Being an Estate Agent is easy, isn’t it?
I thought I’d share this with you fine folk. Last month I became an estate agent …..for a day. It was for an article I wrote for an agency’s quarterly newsletter. I now have a lot more respect for you and your industry. Here’s the article in full. There’s a lot more to being an…