Estate Agent Talk
Student Accommodation in Europe is attracting overseas investors
For overseas investors, finding the right property which offers great returns is often hard to find. The budget of small investors often does not stretch far enough so that they can purchase non-residential commercial property. However, overseas investors have not really explored the possibility of investing in student accommodation which comes with lower risks and…
Mark Burns
Secrets of the Trade – what makes property value go up?
Investing in your home is a sure recipe for success, especially if you want to sell it soon. Experts agree that capitalizing on the value of real estate is possible, as long as you pay attention to what is good to improve and what not to touch. A lot of projects have been tested over…
Run your property business like clockwork
Property management involves many tasks and can be overwhelming. Keeping on top of the right information and being able to action quickly off that data, is imperative to a good service to landlords. Software can help organise that data for you, but the underlying business processes will determine the effectiveness of your management. We all…
NAPIT & NES Partner to Improve Electrical Safety in the Home
NAPIT and SAVA, the residential property surveyor organisation and part of National Energy Services Ltd (NES) have announced they are working together on a brand new electrical training course and membership scheme. The training course and membership offering has been designed to provide Surveyors and Energy Assessors in the UK with the training and certification…
Christopher Walkey
‘Rumble with the Agents’ raises £22k for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice
On Thursday 26th May 2016, ‘Rumble with the Agents’, the white collar charity boxing event held at The Holiday Inn Finchley Central in association with Landlord Action, raised £22,000 for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. Noah’s Ark is a North London community based hospice, providing support for children and young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions,…
Christopher Walkey
Can Video Make an Estate Agency Star?
I’ve spent a lot of time recently watching videos. All in the name of professional research (that old chestnut I hear you cry). But genuinely it is. You see I do a lot of reviews on agency websites and that of their nearest and dearest rivals. It’s interesting work and I feel strongly that the…
Foxton’s and £1.32bn in fees
What is the lifetime value of a landlord to your lettings agency? … then ask yourself, how much does it cost to get a landlord to use your lettings agency? Most letting agents will say each property will earn them between £900 a year in North all the way down to £3,000 a year in…
Christopher Watkin
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…