Countrywide surveyors sign Landmark digital deal

Tech is changing the way property professionals across the industry do their job. And that now includes the 430-strong Countrywide surveyors team.

Where pencil and paper once sufficed, its staff have now begun completing their valuations equipped with Surface Pro 4 tablet PCs (see right) loaded up with software designed to entirely digitise the property valuation process.

Countrywide Surveying Services’ says it wants to “disrupt” the way valuation referrals are handled and its aim is to sign off 99% of properties on the day they are valued.

This is because, it says, the system enables its surveyors to capture site notes and use Rightmove’s Surveyor Comparable Tool to call up property details and compare it with similar homes in the area.

Landmark deal

The system is Landmark Valuation Services’ Q-Mobile product which has just finished being rolled out across Countrywide. And the deal is one of Landmark’s biggest to date, says Mike Holden, its Head of Client Relationships.

Countrywide’s valuations business is one of the biggest players in the market and its performance was one of the few high points of the PLC’s otherwise poor annual results published last week.

During 2016 it completed 364,957 valuations and surveys, increased its market share and turned over £68.6 million, up 4% on 2015, and earnings before tax up by 14%.

“As an organisation that handles thousands of annual valuation instructions, the mobile managed service from Landmark gives us total peace of mind that our surveyors are capturing the right information for every job in an efficient manner,” says Matthew Cumber, Director of Field Operations at Countrywide (pictured, left)

“By using Q-Mobile on the latest Surface Pro Tablets, our team can access everything they need onsite:  the camera is integrated, site notes are completed on the tablet, and comparable data accessed online.  It’s a far more streamlined process than ever before.”