 |
Book a demoLet a friendly Gnomen expert answer all of your questions and take you through the system online in 15 minutes. Just choose a time that suits you. |
|
Book a demoLet a friendly Gnomen expert answer all of your questions and take you through the system online in 15 minutes. Just choose a time that suits you. |
 |
Montana HBusiness Development Director
|
There was of course the historic EU referendum in June – the result of which most people are still getting to grips with now – and another successful Olympic Games, taking place in Rio de Janeiro.
In the world of estate and letting agency it's been far from quiet. As we move in to autumn, here at Gnomen we've been reflecting on our industry and have put together a run-down of five of the most important estate agency news stories of the summer.
You may not agree, but here are the five events that took place over the last few months which we deem to be the most important and interesting to estate and letting agents...
Earlier this month, one of the UK's largest franchise agencies announced in its latest trading update that it had purchased a hybrid estate agency. MartinCo reported that it has acquired 90 branch franchise agency EweMove for £15 million.
Why is this important?
This is another sign that some of the industry's big boys believe that the hybrid model is here to stay. First Connells bought hatched, then Savills invested in YOPA, then Countrywide launched its own hybrid agency.
Technology is becoming an increasingly important part of our industry and it's vital that estate and letting agents now have an excellent website complemented by easy-to-use comprehensive property software.
Back in July, Rightmove revealed that it has an 81% share of the mobile home mover audience. At the same time, the portal reported that its mobile and desktop market share of audience was 77% and that it received a record 765 million visits in the first half of 2016.
Why is this important?
These impressive figures show once again that Rightmove is the UK's leading property portal and therefore the reason why the vast majority of estate and letting agents choose to advertise their properties on this website.
At the beginning of September, Estate Agent Today revealed that Countrywide would be closing 59 of its branches in the coming weeks. The Group says that these closures are part of its ongoing 'Building our Future' initiative.
Why is this important?
This announcement is another indicator of the huge restructuring which has been taking place at the UK's biggest estate agency group since Alison Platt was appointed as CEO.
It would suggest that the organisation is looking to put more onus on its fledgling hybrid service. Due to the high number of closures, there are many areas where a competitor will be disappearing, something which could have a positive effect on a high number of agents.
In August, the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) released a statement – backed by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and two of the redress schemes – warning agents not to take part in so-called 'portal juggling'. This practice is when agents deliberately remove and re-list property listings on the major portals.
Why is this important?
Since taking over from the Office of Fair Trading a few years ago, NTSEAT has been relatively quiet. Releasing this statement shows the organisation – as well as the NAEA and the redress schemes – are taking this portal gaming issue pretty seriously.
The statement confirms that 'portal juggling' is illegal and describes the practice as 'deliberately misleading'. It'll be interesting to see how this issue develops over the coming months.
During August an estate agency – Stephen Parry and Company Ltd – was fined just over £3,000 by the trading standards division of Warwickshire County Council.
The fine was levied on the firm for falsely claiming to be a member of both the National Association of Estate Agents and the National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers on its website. The company's director, Stephen Parry, has not been a member of either organisation since 2013.
Why is this important?
An agent's website is one of its key marketing tools and it's therefore important that all information and content is accurate and truthful.
This case shows that certain divisions of trading standards are cracking down on agents' claims, so it serves as a timely reminder for all firms to review their website content and the information they are providing to consumers.
Well there you have it, our five most important estate agency news stories of the summer. It will be interesting as always to see how our industry develops over the autumn.
Here at Gnomen, we provide a range of property software and website solutions for estate and letting agents.
Our software allows you to manage staff, offices, customers and multi-channel marketing through one cloud-based system.
All of our clients receive free training and are entitled to a free demo. For more information, get in touch with us on: 0208 123 9019.
As a letting agent, it will help your cause if you know what tenants want, as you can then offer advice to your landlords on where they might want to be focusing their attentions when sourcing new tenants – or trying to keep existing ones in place.
There has been much debate in recent years around classing high-speed broadband as a utility, given its importance to the modern world and the smooth functioning of the UK's increasingly tech-led, digitised economy.
With 2020 nearly upon us, and the recent emphatic win by the Conservatives expected to provide some stability and certainty after years of the opposite.
Thanks to a fast-moving world, how we now communicate in all parts of life is very different to how we communicated even a decade ago.
It was recently revealed that reservation agreements – locking buyers and sellers into a deal to prevent fall-throughs and chains from collapsing – are to be trialled by some agencies and conveyancers in early 2020.
In one of the most ground-breaking industry announcements for many a year, the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) working group finally released its 54-page document proposing root and branch reform of the agency industry in mid-July.
The recommendations of an independent review into selective licensing in the private rented sector were recently announced
The field of contenders to replace Theresa May as the next Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister is being whittled down
For a robust property market functioning at its peak, demand needs to be high, supply needs to be steady and sales need to be going through on a regular basis.
We've looked in the past at the importance of protecting data and complying with new data protection legislation, and why a secure system is vital for agents in preventing money laundering and other suspicious activities from taking place.
Its been a long time coming, and has provoked plenty of debate criticism since Philip Hammond first put the proposals forward to ban letting fees in his November 2016 Autumn Statement, but the Tenant Fees Act finally comes into play on June 1.
As an agent, you want to sell and let as many homes as possible to enhance your business, boost your reputation and improve your profit margins. Leads from the portals play a crucial role in finding the right buyers and tenants for your
For estate and letting agents across the UK, the next few months are set to be challenging thanks to the introduction of the ban on letting agent fees charged to tenants and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit
It was recently revealed that new guidance has been issued by the Property Ombudsman (TPO) over what it labels a growing issue namely that of dual fees.
Agents have been accused of doing 'not nearly enough' to report money laundering, according to a claim made by the government's anti-money laundering campaign.
The cost of moving has hit a record high but agents fees have remain unchanged in the past year. Thats the main take home from an annual study of transaction charges by home moving site reallymoving.com.
For a while now, the government has talked a lot about speeding up the house buying process to benefit both buyers and sellers.
There is traditionally a post Christmas boom in housing activity, hitting a peak in February and March as buyers and sellers seek to push deals over the line.
A new year is now upon us, and there are a number of reasons for letting agents to embrace 2019 with a sense of positivity and optimism.
The government recently announced a U-turn on its plans to cap tenant deposits at six weeks rent, with the amount tenants have to pay upfront to secure a home now set to be cut to five weeks for
Follow Gnomen for the latest news.
