A former operations director at Strike, who is setting up his own ‘quick buying and selling agency’, told The Neg how he plans to build the business.

Jack Malnick (main image, inset), who started Sellhousefast.co.uk this month, intends to recruit a small team initially as he establishes the firm in the fast-buying space.

Most recently, Malnick was Chief Operating Officer with Sold.co.uk before quitting last month. He was also previously Operations Director at Strike for four years, having started his career with Foxtons.

Investors exit

He tells The Neg that there is plenty of room for another agency specialising in cash purchases, and the market may become a lot bigger in the next few months as many property investors exit the market.

Speculation about an increase in Capital Gains Tax in this month’s Budget has prompted experts to predict an exodus of landlords from the PRS.

Carnage

And Malnick believes a rise in CGT combined with the effects of the Renters’ Rights Bill, means it will be “carnage”.

“Landlords are going to sell up, and rents are going to go through the roof,” he says.

Malnick doesn’t see his new business as being in competition with traditional high street estate agents, but rather he wants to work ‘hand-in-hand’ with them.

You have a small minority of people where the finances don’t matter as much.”

“You have a small minority of people where the finances don’t matter as much…and in a few weeks they want to be able to sell and move on,” he says. These are the people he sees as the customers for SellHousefast.

And delays caused by conveyancing are among the problems that mean a seller could wait for between six and nine months before getting the cash for their property, he says.

He likes the new Yopa ‘associate broker’ model for self-employed agents, and is an admirer of the way Adam Day has established eXp in the UK.