estate agents
The true worth of your property
“Every agent has homes on their books that are overpriced, says Adam Walker. All the evidence says the house is worth £450,000 but the vendor wants £500,000. You can tell them again and again it’s too much, but they will just not listen to reason.” Well, if it’s any consolation, the same is true for…
Read MoreBrexit chaos is paralysing entire housing market including sales of agents themselves
Here are my thoughts on the Brexit chaos. Are they yours? During my 40 years in the property industry, I have never seen an event that has paralysed the market so totally as Brexit. I have clients in almost every market sector and almost every one of them is complaining about the devastating impact that…
Read MoreThe demise of the online estate agency sector
‘Happy New Year… As I sit down to write this article, the first one of 2019, the estate agency news magazines, websites, portals and indeed, Twitter, are full of stories about the demise of the online estate agency sector, says Adam Walker, I hate to say ‘I told you so,’ but…” Emoov has just collapsed…
Read MoreFight back or perish
Imagine that you owned a Michelin-starred restaurant that served delicious food at £100 per head. How would you react if a new McDonald’s restaurant opened right opposite you? Would you start serving burgers and chips at £2.99 per portion or would you work still harder to serve even more delicious food at a premium price?…
Read MoreWho Will Defend Us?
I have written about this subject before but it’s becoming ever more important so I make no apologies for writing about it again. Hardly a week goes by now without a negative article in the press about estate agents and landlords. Last weekend, a leading firm had their office besieged by a large crowd of…
Read MoreWill the online agents destroy us?
As I sit down to write this article, Purple Bricks has just been valued at £250 million! Personally, I would not dream of investing in the business at this level but an awful lot of estate agents are growing increasingly worried that the online agents will destroy them. So will they? Personally, I think that…
Read MoreRegulation – A Tenants Perspective
For thirty-five years, I have viewed the burden of increasing regulation from the agent’s perspective but I have just been forced to look at it from the perspective of the tenant. One of my daughters did her degree at Kings College London and made what turned out to be a rather unwise choice of student…
Read MoreShould Your Letting Fees be more transparent
I renewed my car breakdown policy the other day. It should have been a straightforward matter but it was not. I have been with one of the major breakdown services for many years and the renewal fee has crept up each year. However, this year it was £286 so I decided to shop around. To…
Read MoreYou Can’t Get the Staff
The shortage of experienced estate agency staff has reached a crisis point. One of the recruitment agencies has reported that there are currently 7 available jobs for every suitably qualified candidate and many of my clients are telling me similar. The inability to recruit the right staff is currently the number one challenge in this…
Read MoreAre you ready for the end of tenant fees?
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have been defeated and many of their ill-judged proposals for the housing market such as rent controls and mansion tax have been defeated with them. However, one of their proposals remains very much alive and could still pose a real threat to the profitability of estate agents. That proposal is…
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