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…

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Allen Walkey

I can’t convert my FREE VALS to LISTINGS… I am rubbish!

 

There will be difficult landlords and vendors, aloof to your best sugary pitch on the free valuation or market appraisal. Listen to me ..try not to take it personally. You are in property game, selling your services to landlords and vendors and like all salespeople, you have to develop a little bit of a thick…

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Christopher Watkin

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…

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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…

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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…

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YOUNG, BRASH and C*CKY … the problem with some younger Neg’s in agency.

 

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing so they say.    How many times have you seen a young whippersnapper Neg or Valuer/Lister make the same mistakes you did? You see, I have always thought that this saying was one of empowerment in that, if you have even a little knowledge, you could be competent…

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Christopher Watkin

Don’t try and out-fox Foxtons.

 

If you are an agent, planning to open an new office, you have a number of ways of launching, but let me tell you one thing .. don’t try and outfox the masters of a new office opening .. Foxton’s. You can’t copy what Foxton’s do .. you haven’t got their budget, you haven’t got…

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Christopher Watkin

All Estate/Letting Agents are sharks and liars.

 

The typical stereotype of an estate/letting agent …… and they can restrain our ability to network, grow and work well. Stereotypes, however, are not inherently bad—rather, they give someone a reference point to inform them during a new situation. Holding too tightly to a stereotype is the problem. Much of the public continue to view…

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Christopher Watkin

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…

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Alex Evans

mayfair london

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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Christopher Watkin

rapport building skills for estate agents

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…

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ARPM