chris Wood
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Latest property news
Tribunal clears former agent in long-running Trading Standards ‘fraud’ case
Chris Wood, who used to run SW agency PDQ Estates, says ruling by tribunal after years of waiting for justice means his name has been cleared.
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‘Battle with Purplebricks cost me my estate agency business’
Former estate agent Chris Wood says he feels vindicated by Wired magazine's investigation in to Purplebricks' use of TrustPilot but says it has all come at a heavy personal price.
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Estate agency quits high street AND Rightmove in same week
Cornish estate agent PDQ Estates is to close its branch in Helston and has quit Rightmove, its managing director Chris Wood has revealed. PDQ has been trading for 18 years from the address but Wood says that, after its lease came up for renegotiation, he decided to enact a long-planned strategy to take his business off the high street into action. The 51-year-old says much of his agency’s work is now done remotely on the road, on social media or at home and that this is a “logical move for our clients”. “If you know your local area well, know your job well, why in today’s world of social media, 3D and 4K photography, must you have a high street presence?” he says. “Whilst I will undoubtedly lose some business from more traditional sellers, I am confident I will be able to more than offset this in other ways.” PDQ is the third well-known agency to abandon the high street in recent months following both Orchards in London and national agency Humberts. Wood’s company has only ever operated one branch but his profile has been somewhat larger than his business. He helped Tesco develop its hybrid model during the mid-noughties,…
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Estate Agencies rapped by advertising watchdog
Coventry firm Lewis Oliver was reported for a cheeky newspaper ad that included a picture of a man’s torso wearing only swimming shorts headlined as “WOW WHAT A PACKAGE”. A roundel over the model’s crotch then said “Fully Managed Letting Service”. Two members of the public complained about the ad, claiming that the “image was irrelevant to the service being advertised and objectified the man” and was therefore offensive. The ASA has upheld the two complaints, saying that “taking the image, strapline and placement of the roundel into account, we considered that the ad was likely to have the effect of objectifying the man by using his physical features to draw attention to an unrelated product. “We concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence to some people.” Lewis Oliver was told not to repeat the ad, which is due for renewal in a few weeks’ time when the advertising contract with the paper comes to an end. The ad has also appeared as a billboard ad (above) although this did not attract any complaints. Meanwhile, a Cornish estate agent has had both a tweet and a blog published by the business referred to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA),…
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Agencies & People
Will agents back SW agent’s one-man stand against Purplebricks?
Cornish estate agent Chris Wood is asking agents and members of the public to back him in his campaign against Purplebricks with a £25 donation.
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Advertising watchdog says Purplebricks LPEs ARE ‘local’ and ‘expert’
Four complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that Purplebricks LPEs are neither ‘local’ nor ‘expert’ has been rejected by the watchdog. The complainants, who included Plymouth Trading Standards, property consultant Alexander Dawson and Chris Wood’s PDQ Estates, said calling Purplebricks’ agents ‘local’ and ‘expert’ – as featured on the company’s ‘meet our experts’ section – was misleading and could not be substantiated. During the ASA investigation, Purplebricks said ‘local’ referred to their agent’s local knowledge instead of their geographical location, and that they ensured each LPE had relevant knowledge of their patch. Purplebricks also told the ASA that its LPEs offer an “equivalent service to traditional estate agents” including doing valuations and preparing property listings, although it said there was no ‘set radius’ each of its LPEs covers, and that coverage depends on the sales volumes of the area. The company also said Purplebricks LPEs have “strong knowledge of the local property market” and “strong valuation experience” and that agents on average have between five and ten years’ experience working in the industry before joining Purplebricks. But they don’t have to be qualified – LPEs can join Purplebricks without any qualifications but must pass all National Association of Estate…
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Online estate agents help create ‘surge’ in complaints to advertising watchdog
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld 45% more complaints against estate agents so far this year than it did during the whole of 2016, it has been revealed. Thirteen complaints have so far been upheld during 2017 compared to nine during the whole of the previous year, while 52 complaints have been ‘informally resolved’ rather than going to full adjudications. The Daily Telegraph says this is due in part to the ‘surge’ in complaints against online estate agents to the ASA including Purplebricks, Hatched, HouseSimple, EasyProperty and YOPA, some of which were upheld and others not. One complaint about Purplebricks still going through the adjudication process is the one made by SW estate agent and former NAEA Propertymark Vice President Chris Wood about online agent representatives who described themselves as ‘experts’. Chris, who has been leading a one-man campaign to call out Purplebricks over the past year, says a decision is expected “very soon” from the ASA on his complaint. In December last year Chris also complained to National Trading Standards’ Estate Agency team about Purplebricks’ LPEs not being individually registered individually with the industry’s three redress schemes. “A decision from NTSEAT would be better because they have more…
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NAEA rebuffs calls to halt election for Vice President
An attempt to halt the voting process for the post of Vice President of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has been turned down by Chief Executive Mark Hayward in an email sent to SW-based agent Chris Wood yesterday. In it Mark confirms that he and the NAEA Propertymark board had been made aware of Chris’s request to halt the election process, and that they were also aware of the new processes in place to elect the Vice President, and other posts. The email also says Mark and the board were aware of Chris’s concerns about the process but were “completely satisfied that the process was correct and robust [and that] therefore the election will go forward in the normal manner. Final response Mark also said it would be the NAEA’s final response with Chris prior to the AGM on June 16. On Wednesday Chris had previously written to Mark asking him to confirm whether due processes was adhered to and suggesting that the NAEA appeared to “be playing for time” and wanted to “obfuscate due process”. Chris Wood was one of several agents proposed for the Vice President role but, following a panel interview, not proposed as a…
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Rejected Propertymark Vice President candidate says process is “undemocratic”
One of the agents nominated for the role of Propertymark Vice President says he is disappointed with the way the election is being conducted. Penzance agent and long-time outspoken critic of the industry’s status-quo Chris Wood (pictured, left), managing director of PDQ Properties, says in the past there were half a dozen people who eventually stood for the post after being nominated, and who were then voted on. He says that this time around he was told nominations for the post would have to be approved by a panel and then interviewed before standing for election. “I was happy to play along with at first because I assumed there had been a change in the rules – but I can’t see that there have been any,” says Chris. “I attended the interview and then received a letter that I had been unsuccessful from Christopher Hamer [the current executive chairman] on the day the candidates were announced.” Not democratic Chris says he disagrees with this way of filtering candidates and that it was “not democratic”. “I’ll happily stand and face my peers in a vote, and if I get voted off for being a gobby so-and-so and occasional loose cannon then that’s…
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Agencies & People
Chris Wood challenges Purplebricks to a house sales bet
Chris Wood of Penzance-based PDQ Estates has thrown down the gauntlet to hybrid agent Purplebricks to see who can sell the most homes. In a tweet (see right) over the weekend Chris challenged Purplebricks to put its model to the test by submitting all its completed transactions over a set period to be independently audited by the ESTAS, which would then be measured against PDQ Estates’ completed transactions. “I spoke to Simon Brown at the ESTAs who said he was very happy to do it and that it would all be above board,” says Chris. “Everyone thinks I’m anti Purplebricks, but I’m not,” says Chris. “I’ve got nothing against the hybrid concept – I helped develop a very similar system for Tesco when I worked there as a consultant – and I think the Purplebricks model is an excellent one.” Chris says his main problem with both Purplebricks and several traditional high street agents too is the way that properties are listed on the portals and how agent review websites work. His challenge has been retweeted numerous times including by Top 150 UK law firm and conveyancing solicitor Trethowans. It tweeted that ‘it won’t be Purplebricks who win. Always avoid…
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