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Latest property news
But how? London agency claims sales fall through rate of just 15.9%
A 13-branch London estate agent says it has claimed a sales fall through rate that’s half the national average of 30.5%. LiFE Residential, which specialises in the sales, purchase, renting and management of new-build developments across the capital, says only 15.9% of its sales failed to make it to completion. The company says the astonishing figure has been achieved in just six months. The company’s fall-through rate in 2016 was 33% and 30% in 2017. LiFE Residential says the reduction in fall-through has been achieved by employing an in-house and dedicated sales progression team, establishing direct relationships with selected solicitors and accurately collating and qualifying both property and purchaser information prior to offer. “Fall throughs often happen due to there not being enough clarity at the listing stage, a lack of ownership over progressing the sale or agents having inefficient relationships with both clients and solicitors,” says Josh Larn (left) the company’s East London Area Sales Manager. “We’ve worked hard to reduce the impact of each of these and are thrilled with the results.” The company’s claims may raise eyebrows among some of its competitors; the national sales fall-through rate has been stuck at between 25% and 35% for over…
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Latest property news
Connells reveals shaky first half of 2018 but launches sales progression tool for all
Estate agency giant Connells saw profits drop during the first half of 2018 but invested in a new online sales progression tool.
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Latest property news
ZPG signs up four more big agency brands to multi-year deals, including YOPA
Zoopla parent company ZPG has revealed its latest set of multi-year tie-in agreements with agents including its first with a hybrid operator. ZPG says it has signed ‘long term’ agreements with the agents, which are likely to be similar to ZPG’s recent deals with the larger agency networks and last up to five years. The named companies involved are all South of England and London agents; Foxtons, Dexters and Andrews plus online agency YOPA. The agreements usually offer agents more stable pricing structures in return for committing to advertise all their properties on ZPG’s two main portals, Zoopla and PrimeLocation. Although ZPG won’t reveal the nature of each agreement, they are either simple no-frills listing deals or include elements of services provided by ZPG’s business-to-business brands such as the Property Software Group and Hometrack. 200 branches The latest deals will keep 200 branches within ZPG including the 70 apiece that Foxtons and Dexters each operate, and Andrews’ 60 offices. Yopa doesn’t have any branches but like Purplebricks has local agents who work from home. These number 102 currently, spread across nine regional teams. “We’re delighted to extend our relationships with each of these firms for the long term,” says Mark…
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Latest property news
Connells reveals good start to year and increased market share during 2017
The Connells Group has made a bullish opening trading statement for 2018 revealing that more applicants are registering to buy homes with the company. “We are delighted to be entering 2018 with a pipeline that is up compared to last year, and we are confident that, through our breadth of experience, we will continue to build on the success of 2017 and further increase our market share in 2018,” says David Plumtree, Connells Group Estate Agency Chief Executive (pictured, below). Connells also says the company increased its market share last year by 4% despite official figures likely to reveal a 10% decrease in the number of people moving home during 2017, it says. Despite the sales slowdown, Connells says the number of properties it sold decreased by only 3% last year and that “clearly the increase in our share of the new instruction market has enabled us to fare better than the market as a whole in respect of our sales results,” says David Plumtree. Connells results are in stark contrast to its main rival in the market, Countrywide, which yesterday revealed that its income from sales and lettings decreased by 14% last year. Unwavering focus “During the course of…
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Movers & Shakers
Connells appoints new Divisional Managing Director
A new Divisional Managing Director for Connells Residential, one of the UK’s largest and most successful estate agencies and part of the Connells Group, has been appointed.
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Latest property news
A Question of Property: Liz Brown, MD of Connells, Midlands
How big is your part of Connells? I look after 55 branches and approximately 140 staff in the Midlands for Connells including land, new homes, mortgages services, sales and lettings. Are online/hybrid agents making headway? They were during the first six months of the year when the market was more buoyant, and the instruction-to sale conversion rate was high up at the 80%. It’s then that we saw a considerable take-up among vendors for hybrid agents. But as the market has become tougher, so this has changed. Vendors are realising the hard way that in more difficult markets, you need a little more expertise and proactive support to achieve a sale. You’ve got to know your customer base much better and be able to be able to put chains together. We are picking up instructions from online agents, which fall into two categories. These are either failed online attempts to sell – people who’ve tried online and haven’t sold and who are then seriously annoyed when they have to pay twice. Then there are the people who do get an offer via a hybrid-type agency listing, but the sale goes nowhere, and they have to abandon the offer and start…
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Latest property news
Has a Welsh lettings industry consolidation begun as regulation bites?
The impact of greater regulation of the Welsh lettings sector via Rent Smart Wales and a likely copycat lettings fee ban in the pipeline appears to have persuaded one agent in Wales to offload its entire property management division. Cardiff-based Peter Alan, the largest Welsh estate agent with 29 branches which is part of the Connells Group, has bought the lettings business of Newport-based rival Roberts & Co Property Management Limited for an undisclosed sum. Roberts & Co’s lettings business, which was established a decade ago, manages 800 properties – down from 1,200 three years ago – and employs 17 staff who now join the existing ranks of Peter Alan’s 270-strong team. Strategic sale Roberts & Co says the money raised from its ‘strategic’ sale of its lettings business will enable it to invest and expand its sales and mortgage services business. Its lettings staff will be transferred to Peter Alan and the Roberts & Co brand will eventually disappear from the market. “We are really pleased to have acquired Roberts & Co’s lettings and property management business which allows us the opportunity to further enhance an already successful business and work with many talented individuals,” says Andrew Barry, Peter…
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Latest property news
That’s loyalty! Connells Chairman celebrates 40 years with the company
A study of business leaders around the world recently found that the UK’s move on faster than in any other country apart from Brazil, Russian and India. The average tenure at the top is 4.8 years, down from 8.3 years seven years ago, the research by PwC revealed. No one has told the chairman of Connells Group, Stephen Shipperley (pictured, right), about this because this month he is celebrating his 40th anniversary with the company. “My own experience is testament to the emphasis that the company places on developing people within this business, giving those with potential the opportunities to advance and progress,” he says. “As a result, we have some of the best people in the industry and good people stay here. Most of our management, local, middle and senior, have been with the company 10, 20, 30 years.” Stephen joined the company as a Negotiator at its Aylesbury branch in 1977, twenty years before some of today’s younger trainees were born. He gave up the opportunity to go to university to join Connells direct from school and by 21 was a branch manager, helping the office become the most profitable in the company. By 1990, when he was…
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Movers & Shakers
Trevor Hill’s new role
Trevor Hill, who has, after over 35 years with the company, stepped down from his role as Land & New Homes Regional Director is to take a new consultancy position exclusively for Connells.
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Latest property news
NHBC: Latest new home registrations
Developers registered 40,000 new homes to be built in the UK during Q2 2017, according to NHBC’s latest new home registration statistics.
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