Sam's Word 9 - OTM and the Estate Agents Markets

Sam's Word

I feel compelled to write in direct response to an article published by Anna White of The Telegraph 
yesterday. A number of points riled me, but compelled because having read her articles previously, it would appear she is anti-Estate Agency in her writing. I'm not sure if this was to fire up house sellers given the headline in an attempt to batter estate agents, but I stopped short of writing to her directly and decided instead to pen this.

We got involved with Agents Mutual at the very outset 18 months ago in a meeting at Savills head office in the West End of London. Undoubtedly the time had arrived to restrict the two mainline portals from their charging policy, to protect us 'a consumer' in this context from exorbitant pricing. I am pleased Ian Springett, Savills, Douglas Gordon et al conjured up such a plan and proud to be a part of it. Zoopla to be fair were not primarily at fault. Rightmove's charges  however were increased annually and unfairly in my opinion. After the first meeting we held our own discussions and decided to join up with Agents Mutual. We also did some research choosing not to delay and banish one of the portals. Our research found we got more traffic and better quality leads from Zoopla, so we allowed the contract to expire. This has made no difference to our customers in achieving the best possible price, in the quickest possible time frame. We have been running with Rightmove as main portal now for about 12 months. Only one customer over this period has demanded we use Zoopla as well. A one bed flat where the value was dictated to us. Fortunately we have a good relationship with our competitiors locally and another independent who is not involved with OTM, but cannot afford to list with Rightmove listed the property for us on Zoopla. We have not received any leads from Zoopla against four from RM. So to suggest consumers property marketing 'will be halved' is totally incorrect. If you consider also consumers will look at both Rightmove and Zoopla and most of the time the listing is just duplicated. In fact buyers will go to any lengths to find the property that suits them. It therefore is not 'a rotten deal for consumers. In response to Angela Kerr's comments of the Homeowners Alliance it is not 'about protecting estate agents' market share and profits.' As high street Estate Agents we are already subject to ridiculous costs. How about the portals that are allowed to charge in effect what they like unfettered? It's about gaining control, which is what consumers want isn't it? No one body should be allowed to gain a monopoly and in this case a duopoly had to be stopped.

The reporter writes that the largest property and lettings agency Countrywide, including Connells and LSL has rejected OTM. Actually these large groups have links with RM and therefore are not allowed to join as there will be a conflict of interests. Actually from my experience and in my opinion these are the agencies who have a drive to fleece consumers unfairly. Fees at 1.25%+. Employing aggressive tactics to win instructions and to win mortgage business. The latter which is vital for their model. These offices in the area I have worked for 17 years have a high staff churn rate and they're only interested one thing. Profits for their share holders. This leads me to the consumer and online agencies. A good few years back we positioned ourselves as a cross between the traditional high street estate agent and an online estate agency. Recognising the charges consumers faced by Estate Agents as unfair, particularly at the high end, we introduced a modern pricing strategy, which was very well received by the consumer. Only now however are we beginning to establish ourselves amongst the sea of traditional High Street estate agents, who have enjoyed years of high fees from the days of print advertising. The introduction of the internet 15 years ago was the embryonic change to our industry, but for some reason it's taken a while to fully evolve.

Simon Hughes of Conran Estate Agents has done a seemingly admirable thing in allowing his advertising space of a page in a highly regarded local magazine to be used for OTM. Albeit at a small cost. Usually agents who compete with each other, will come together planting their brand logos on a back drop of OTM branding demonstrating their support for OTM. Simon's passionate support of OTM comes from his fear of online estate agencies, who have been barred from joining OTM. Whether we like it or not online agencies are here to stay. I do not believe barring them is of any benefit at all to OTM. In fact it could be detrimental. I do believe, from experience they are not able to deliver the same high quality services a High Street Estate Agency can. We've competed with these online agents before. It really is down to how you can demonstrate how you will achieve the best possible price for a consumer and most importantly what the consumer wants. If they choose to use an online agent purely based on low cost and suffer the low quality service then that's fine. Some consumers are robust characters and able to deal with the house selling process. I would say that most aren't and want the guarantee of a start to finish service, with a person they can connect with and are comfortable paying a fair price for that service. Property like most industries is about people and there is enough of the pie to go around for everyone.

Ultimately our industry is changing and it has been a long time coming. I've always said it will sort out the men from the boys and put us on a level playing field. The consumer remains protected and will get a better deal as a result. A property being listed on one portal a couple of days before going on a main portal is unlikely to be detrimental to the consumer. OTM has to employ some sort of strategy to help their portal catch up to the years Z and RM have got away with fleecing agents. If you cannot adjust to the revolution then this industry is not for you.

Now that's off my chest I wish you all a good day and best wishes for 2015. It's going to be interesting!

Sam Samuel, MNAEA CRLM,  January 2015


You can view our earlier posts in our Index here.

Football that means something

Street Games Football Pools Champions 2013

“I never planned a single day of the St Matthews Project, but as my mum used to say, 'God works in mysterious ways.' It's a bit of redemption: I finally found a calling in life. It shows even if you've had negative experiences, you can use them. Some young men come back, bring their children. The other day an ex-coach brought in his new baby. Hopefully we'll see their kids play with us long-term! You may never know the difference you make, you may never see it. You may not be there to see the seed you planted blossom.”

We wrote about the St Matthews Project earlier this year when they won a major Football Association award.

The Project is celebrating its tenth anniversary, the FA award, and numerous other highs such as featuring on TV's Sky Sports. The Project started with one man and some casual kickabouts in a local park. We had a chat with this man, the founder of the St Matthews Project, Lee Dema. He gave us some background to the story of what has become an achievement that has positively touched the lives of many people. It is his words that start off this article.

Lee is a Londoner, born and bred. He grew up in Tulse Hill and Brixton, at one point being re-housed to the Loughborough Estate in East Brixton. He recalls leaving Strand Grammar School – now Elm Court School in Brixton Hill – with three 'O' levels and not a lot to do. Lee recalls, “There weren't a lot of jobs about, I lacked confidence, and I drifted into the wrong crowd. I'd given up footie in my teens. I'd draw a parallel between then and now, there's not the jobs and there are young people without a feeling of self-worth.”

Later on, it was when Lee was living on the St Matthews Estate in Brixton and he took his daughter to Brockwell Park for a kickabout with a football that things started to change. “Kids from the estate with nothing better to do, who had never left our block, and with their parents OK, tagged along, that was the seeds of the St Matthew Project.”

“I was a Parent Governor at Jubilee Primary School and introduced a ‘Friday Football’ after-school club. We ran an Easter tournament in 2004 and Lambeth Council and L&Q Housing got involved. A hundred kids turned up for a tournament in Jubilee playground! I was then asked to volunteer to run a summer holiday football kickabout. It was supposed to run for six weeks, but that was ten years ago and now here we are! Though my knees have gone. That happened during the early kickabouts.”

“In 2005, I got a little funding from the Football Foundation, a small grant and a football kit for a team. I started with two teams, U13's and U17's. In 2008, I got a big three year community grant from the Football Foundation, which was match-funded by the Walcot Foundation, which only gives out awards in Lambeth. Walcot have been really good to us, funding us ever since.”

“Then I went full-time as 'Football Development Officer', under the Football Foundation's advice, now I'm 'Project Manager'. I'd been working as a volunteer for four years and it had become unsustainable with the demands of the project and family. One of my daughters answered our phone one day and said, ‘He’s out with his other family!’ But the grant changed that."

Christmas 6-a-side winners 2007

“In 2008, I started a girls-only project. It was a turn-up-and-play approach,six-a-side and five-a-side. They won the Street Games Fives London finals two years running (2013-2014) and went onto play at St George's Park for the last two years of national finals.”

“The very first team I ran, U13's, used to play in the Tandridge League. That took them to fixtures as far away as Edenbridge and Tunbridge Wells. I was driving a mini bus around the home counties because we never had any parental involvement, but it was really rewarding."

“In March 2011, the Project became a charity. The difference? It became run even more properly. I do fifty hour weeks now, I probably need more staff. I do have an Admin Officer for a couple of days a week, funded by Comic Relief. It is just as well, now we have to show evidence for all that we do, which is a huge strain on time and resources. The more successful we are, the more funding we need to draw in, as we're a free service. Obviously, it's difficult. Six of the current staff came through from when they were playing from ten years old.”

"Now the charity is based in the bowling green pavilion in Brockwell park, where there is a classroom for coaching and other courses we run. We play in a more local league nowadays, the London County Saturday, and the teams usually use public transport, sometimes hiring a bus for games in Rotherhithe or Brentford."

“In 2011 our under-13 team won the London Saturday League Cup, at Hackney Marshes. We won in extra time. We'd put a mini-bus on for parents. At the end everyone ran onto the pitch. That was quite something. This year, the girls team won a penalty shootout at the Street Games London Finals - that was quite dramatic.”

As it is Christmas, we asked Lee for his Christmas wish-list for the Project:

• “More coaching hours”
• “To get into local schools and to use their facilities”
• “Equipment, balls, the usual!”
• “We run a second hand boot scheme, some new ones donated would be nice”
• “A nice football pitch, full-size somewhere. I'm working on it”

Lee concluded, “It was never about football. It was about helping kids where I grew up. Doing it here means something to me. I see the same issues, the same problems – even the same addresses sometimes. ‘Same scene, different props.’”   

You can view our earlier posts in our Index here.

More, from the St Matthews Project website:

The St. Matthew’s Project started life in the summer of 2004 and has developed, literally, from a kick-about in the local park for young people from one estate in Brixton, St. Matthew’s. The origins of the project are linked to an even smaller ‘community’ – Springett House – a large L-shaped block on the southern edge of the estate, backing onto Brixton Water Lane. The young people from Springett House were initially extremely reluctant to interact with their peers from the rest of the estate but barriers were broken down by organising a series of friendly football matches and the creation of ‘Springett F.C’, the forerunner of today’s St. Matthew’s F.C.

The young people from Springett soon came to see themselves as part of the wider estate community and that they had many shared interests and experiences with other young people from around the estate. Using the same approach, the young people from St. Matthew’s came to interact with their peers from the nearby Tulse Hill Estate and surrounding streets, overcoming long-standing hostilities and coming together under the SMP banner.
The Project now regularly engages with over 150 young people every week, has secured grant funding since 2004 from a variety of agencies, developed over 100 F.A qualified coaches from level 1 to 3, developed girls football in Lambeth and consistently provided free, fun football activities to young people living within one of the most deprived 10% SOAs in the country. In addition to football specific activities we’ve arranged trips, encouraged youth volunteering, delivered accredited training courses and healthy lifestyle workshops, and provided one-to-one support to our young people wherever necessary.

Working closely with Lambeth Council and other local agencies, we have now established a recognised hub in Brockwell Park, continuing to attract young people from across the SW2 / SW9 area and providing them with new opportunities for personal development, in order to help them fulfil their potential.

Sam's Word 8 – Trick or Treat?

Sam's Word

As I write, it is Hallowe'en. Strictly Come Dancing has just aired its annual special and Eastender Jake Wood had an off night, while Frankie and her partner Kevin scored a ten.

We have had two trick or treaters at our (home) door last night, and we were ready with the Quality Street.

So no tricks were needed.

However, there are certainly both tricks and treats in the world of estate agency.

We're one of the treats. Edward Ashdale estate agents is now an established and respected name since two like-minded businesses came together to become Edward Ashdale and work across Lambeth and Bromley. We do good things. Some are exceptional. Such as consistently accompanying people on viewings. The safest thing to do and the best way for people to get all of our expertise, all of the time. Such as consistently using professional photography. We're trying to attract buyers to the homes we sell for people and only the best will do.

There are also the tricks, or tricksters, out there. In our latest newsletter, I said that, “With property prices at strong levels the opportunities for buy-to-let investment are scarce, so if you are thinking about investing in property it’s more important than ever to choose carefully so as to maximise the yield and chance of capital growth. Properties with onerous maintenance and service charges are always likely to impact on yield and capital growth, so fully investigate any planned maintenance a building may have ahead. There are certain property management companies that have to be avoided, given their culture and practices. In an industry that is allowed to operate unregulated a poor leasehold management company or freeholder can make a Landlord’s investment a very unhappy experience.”

An article (here) from 2007 by a disenchanted former estate agent went further. He wrote before the The Property Ombudsman (TPO) came into being, which was a welcome development, though arguably even now one without enough legal teeth.

The list of horrors the agent came up with included:

1. Gazumping. When a deal has been agreed some agents still show people around the property hoping for a better offer.

2. Value a property at a low price - and then sell it to a friend or colleague.

3. Use scare tactics such as pretending to receive offers to get people to make a higher offer.

4. Neglect to pass on all offers to vendor in hope of achieving a higher one later on.

5. Refuse to reduce commission if the price is reduced.

6. Overvalue houses to secure business from sellers.

7. Supply customers with fake documents to help them secure a mortgage.

8. Make up a very low offer. This shocks the seller into accepting a genuine offer which is far lower 
than the original valuation.

9. Fake evidence that other properties in the area have sold for an overly high price.

10. Erect for sale/sold signs at homes the agent had nothing to do with to give a false impression.

Bringing things up to date, this year the Property Ombudsman reported a sharp increase in the number of consumer complaints for the residential lettings sector, ahead of the requirement that came into force on 1st October 2014 for every letting agent to register with an approved redress scheme.

The figures, published in The Property Ombudsman's 2014 Interim Report, show that 1,187 complaints were resolved in total about both sales and lettings issues between 1 January and 30 June 2014, with 721 complaints (61%) made against letting agents – a 37% increase on the same period last year.

The Ombudsman upheld 74% of the complaints made by landlords and tenants against letting agents.

Christopher Hamer, the Property Ombudsman, explained, "Up until now there has been no legal requirement for any letting agent to register with a redress scheme, which has left thousands of tenants and landlords unable to access our free, fair and independent dispute resolution service. That is shown by the fact that around 20% of the initial consumer enquiries we received in this period related to lettings agents that were not signed up to TPO. I am pleased to note that the new legislation will change that and we've already seen nearly 1,000 firms register this year, making us the largest redress scheme with 11,744 lettings offices under my jurisdiction and following our Code of Practice, which sets out what service consumers should receive from member firms.
'The sharp increase in the number of lettings agents registering for redress with TPO, combined with TPO's increased profile and the ever-growing number of households renting goes some way to explain why we've seen such a significant increase in the number of lettings complaints, with more than half of our total enquiries now coming from landlords and tenants that feel they have been treated unfairly. The new legislation will make it an offence for any ‘rogue' agent that has not registered to trade and they will a face of up to £5,000."

Key highlights from TPO's latest Interim Report reveal that:

• Registered agents (p7): more than 4,000 additional agents registered with TPO, with sales and lettings representing the biggest growth areas. A total of 30, 128 agents registered with TPO across all jurisdictions – a 15% increase on the same period last year

• Consumer enquiries (p8): More than 8,474 consumers contacted TPO regarding a property dispute (a 4.6% increase on the same period last year). More than half of all the enquiries received were regarding lettings disputes with 4,759 enquiries logged (56.1% of all enquiries)

• Complaints (p9): Complaints grew by 37% overall with 1,187 cases reviewed, of which 721 were against letting agents (up 37%) and 544 were against sales agents (up 42%). The Ombudsman upheld 74% of all lettings complaints while 61% of all sales complaints were upheld

• Consumer case studies (p10): The Ombudsman hand-picked a selection of case studies to highlight issues varying from death and inventories, owed rent, visas, pets, ex partners, planning permission and fraud to share an insight into the cases reviewed and awards given
  

To view TPO's 2014 Interim Report, please visit http://www.tpos.co.uk/quarterly_report.htm.

What is The Property Ombudsman?

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme offers an independent and impartial dispute resolution service to consumers who have been unable to resolve their disputes with a registered agent. The scheme was established in 1990. The Ombudsman can provide redress to place the consumer back in the position they were before the complaint arose, achieving a full and final settlement of the dispute and all claims made by either party. Where appropriate, the Ombudsman can make compensatory awards in individual cases up to a maximum of £25,000 for actual and quantifiable loss and/or for aggravation, distress and/or inconvenience caused by the actions of a registered agent.

TPO is free to all consumers. Agents pay a single annual subscription covering them for sales, lettings, commercial, international and auction activities. TPO does not charge case fees.
At 1 August 2014 over 13,200 sales offices and 11,600 letting offices were registered with TPO. The TPO estimates that these figures represent 95% of sales agents and 65% of lettings agents operating within the UK.

What does this mean? 

Hopefully, that tenants and landlords will receive better treatment and experience less tricks in future. 

I believe that everything that is done to improve the behaviour, practices and reputation of estate agents can only be a good thing.

Sam Samuel, MNAEA CRLM,  November 2014


You can view our earlier posts in our Index here.

St Matthews Project gains an outstanding award

Hot on the heels of our last blog post on something excellent that is British, we're kicking off (!) October with another one.

This time, we're talking football.Specifically, the St Mattews Project in Tulse Hill. The project, and the award, are probably best introduced by information received from James Alexander, a Trustee of the Project:

"As a trustee of the St Matthews Project I (James) wanted to let you all know that on Thursday evening the St Matthews Project won the FA Charter Standard Club of the Year for London award and also the wider regional award.  This means that out of 4500 football based projects throughout London and the surrounding area the FA deemed the St Matthews Project as achieving the most over the past 12 months. As you can imagine this is an amazing achievement and is real recognition of the hard work Lee has put in over the past 10 years.

"This comes on the back of the project receiving the Ambition Quality Mark earlier in the year recognising the high standard of the projects policies and procedures. 

"For those who didn't know the breadth of the projects work, here is a snippet of what St Matthews offers our over 100 weekly participants

• Weekly parents play football for 3-4 year olds and their parent
• Weekly turn up and play sessions for ages 6-9, 9-12 and 16+
• Twice weekly team sessions (training and matches) for under 10, under 11s, under 13s, under 15s and under 16s
• Weekly girls football
• FA level 1 and 2 coaching courses
• NVQs in sports coaching

"Alongside this Lee and the coaches spend countless hours supporting the young people deal with family issues, liaising with schools and supporting young people navigate their way through adolescence. Personally I take great joy is seeing how the project has been able to employ a number of our ex players as coaches.  This Saturday for example over half of the coaches were ex players who have done their coaching qualifications with us and now work for the project.

"Well done Lee and everyone involved for your amazing achievement."

It is a real pleasure to share this sort of thing in this blog.

 You can browse our other blog topics in the Index here.  

Ways to make housing affordable

Teepol - cleaning up at the British Family Fayre

A lot of attention is being given to affordable housing, social housing, and the need for more housing. Indeed, the latest development is the Conservative party's proposal for discounted housing for first-time buyers under forty years old, as reported here by the BBC.  Most of these schemes simply reflect the fact that demand for housing and home ownership continues to outstrip supply, which has a lot to do with ongoing, and in some cases, record-breaking rises in house prices.

As responsible estate agents, we at Edward Ashdale certainly hope that the initiatives under way do help people find homes at an affordable cost, though it is certainly true that in both the owned and rental sectors the cost of a home does not compare well to the income of many people.

One consideration, then, is people's income. Having more income is one way to afford a better home. That is one reason why we have been happy to help the Tulse Hill Community Market to take off. It is an outlet for local people to trade goods and services and, in many cases, the goods such as jewellery and art are ones that the traders have created themselves. This is the kind of place where may people have started selling and begun businesses that grow and grow. It is easy to forget that even massive businesses start somewhere, just as Marks & Spencer did, with £5 and a Penny Bazaar. Even car boot sales, where again people sometimes sell the things they have started to make (or bake), can be an important step for some people. So we welcome these too, and note that a new one in Brixton has been set up, named BrixtonBooty, and we wish that well - see @BrixtonBooty on Twitter.


So, we also view efforts elsewhere to boost the economy, large and small, with approval. There are many artisan markets around, one instance being the Gingham Goose Craft Market in Hayes - Twitter @GinghamGoose. There are also British manufacturers who have, despite the demise of many proud names, clung on and prospered down the years. One example is Teepol, a cleaning products manufacturer in Orpington, which has been in business since the 1960's. They recently appeared at the British Family Fayre. The British Family are an interesting phenomenon in themselves, having chosen to buy only British goods for a year, which gave them a unique twelve months and a lot of publicity for British producers.  On Twitter, @BritishFamily.

So, in short, good luck to the government with what it is doing for the housing sector, and even better luck to the people making this country prosperous.
  
You can browse our other blog topics in the Index here.  

It's A Selhurst Thing

When we attended the recent Tulse Hill Community Market Fun Day, an initiative we (Edward Ashdale Estate Agents) are proud to support, we met someone interesting. Of course, we always meet interesting people at the markets and other activities they put on. This time, when we blogged subsequently, here, we focused on Constable Douglas-Smith, a local policeman who came along.

However, we also met former Tulse Hill resident and strong supporter of positive community interaction, Sadie Campbell. Sadie told us about something she is launching in the Selhurst and Croydon area of London.

First, the 18th of August sees "It's a Selhurst Thing", a Community Day and Creative Arts and Photographic Exhibition in Acts House, 30 Union Road, Croydon CR0 2XU.

Then, between 1st and 7th September, in the Sun Lounge of the Fairfield Halls in Croydon, CR9 1DG, the exhibition is in place over a longer period of days.

Sadie told us that, "This project has three main aims all of which are of lasting community benefit:
 

1) [helping people to] Gain transferable skills. Approximately 20 local people  aged 8- 70+ years will support the project, some volunteering in roles that develop their knowledge of project and event development and to learn new skills, such as photography.

2) [to]  Enrich Community Cohesion and through partnership working produce an exhibition depicting the likes and dislikes of people living in the Selhurst/Croydon area. These stories will allow the meek and mild to speak to decision makers and members of the wider community, as the exhibition will cover 100 years of Croydon life. It will travel through the borough allowing people to add pieces to it. Finally, it will be archived to serve as a historical record of how we used to live, work and play.

3) [to serve as a] Memorial. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Fico Dougan, who was just 17 years old when he was tragically murdered on the 25th September 2013 in Croydon.  As a ‘Community Call For Positive Action,’ we hope that this project will be a start of the Fico Dougan Award, where local people will help raise money annually, to offer financial support to ambitious people who want to quickly access opportunities, i.e., access training, education or to start off a business idea, etc., who would not otherwise be able to afford the fees involved.This will serve as a lasting memorial in Fico’s honour to finish the educational journey that he started, but unfortunately could not complete."

If you can, go and see either event - or both events. If you're local, add a piece to the travelling exhibition. 

The poster that is at the top of this blog post offers some more detail and Sadie's contact details, if you would like to get in touch about having the exhibition near you. Her email is sadiecampbell@hotmail.co.uk.   

You can browse our other blog topics in the Index here.

Helping the thin blue line

Constable Douglas-Smith

Sometimes it is surprising how things come together. We're fresh from supporting the Met Police's Junior Citizen initiative by supporting 90 children to take part in activities promoting child safety, health and wellbeing - this is an earlier example. Our Tulse Hill office is looking forward to receiving the certificate we will get acknowledging our help, but helping the children is the real point.

We didn't think about it at the time, but when we supported the new Community Market in Tulse Hill, that too supported children and the police. This came home to us when we went to the Fun Day run yesterday by the Community Market at their old Scout Hut location. The market itself is about to move to a coffee shop at 357 Norwood Road, just down from our Tulse Hill office. The Fun Day, though, featured local traders, a few only just starting out, and people including (sometimes face-painted) children. It also featured Constable Douglas-Smith, pictured. On his beat in the community, the constable is well-used to being photographed as he pops into local events, keeping up relationships with people. However, if there were no Community Market, there would be less positive things being done in the community and one less opportunity for Constable Douglas-Smith to catch up with people in a nice setting. So, we are very happy that we have supported the market, and the Met's Junior Citizen initiative, and that we met Constable Douglas-Smith, our local example of the thin blue line of British policing.

We look forward to seeing him again.

You can read about who else we meet at the Community Markets and about their services and contact details in our post here.

You can browse our other blog topics in the Index here.