‘Hybrid estate agencies best placed to thrive in a market downturn’
The Agency UK's COO Steph Walker believes firms like hers with lower costs will do better than traditional agents.
Hybrid firm The Agency UK is in a much better position than traditional high street agents to weather a looming downturn in the housing market, its COO insists.
Steph Walker told The Neg that without the costs and overheads other agents incur, her company was well placed to flourish next year.
Launched in January 2021, The Agency UK reached 50 partner agents in its network this summer and is now up to 70.
A new recruitment drive with roadshows now underway should help to bring more agents on board, she says.
Partner estate agents from both conventional estate agencies such as Connells and Winkworth as well as online and other brokerage models have signed up, and The Agency has recently expanded in Scotland and Wales.
Agents have also recently joined from Cornwall, Leicestershire, Essex, County Durham, Cumbria, Milton Keynes, Hampshire, Merseyside, Norfolk, and the Isle of Wight.
Scaremongering
“We are probably the biggest branded brokerage in the UK. We have grown organically,” Walker says.
Now the post-Covid market boom appears to be dissipating, Walker believes The Agency will thrive. “In a normalised market over the next two years we will come into our own.”
She says there has been a lot of scaremongering about what will happen with the economy. “There are lots of buyers out there, and people need to move home.
“There has been a tendency to over-price, and agents will have to avoid that,” she adds.
The Agency UK is holding a network conference jointly with charity Agents Together on 2 December at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
So, you think in a changing market, the poor service and the inability to get the best price which is the general trademark of hybrid agents (better known as online advertisers). Is going to be a more attractive option for a seller? The fact is this is going to be a harder market to do business for all. The ones who will thrive are those who give the best and most professional service and achieve the best price for their clients. Thats something cheap hybrids just cannot facilitate. Sorry to burst your bubble.