Kristjan Byfield
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Latest property news
Exiting Rightmove agents share details of ‘bland’ emails sent urging them not to leave
Agents who have given notice to the portal to quit are sent one - and sometimes several - emails on their final day giving them one last chance not to drop Rightmove.
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Agents around the UK sign up to join social media initiative #AgentsHereToHelp
Kristjan Byfield says he's gathering social media savvy estate agents together to help the public during the crisis and change public attitudes.
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Rightmove prepares to reveal 2019 full results on 28th February
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Rightmove has announced that its full results for 2019 are to be released to the City on 28th February, its company secretary Sandra Odell has announced. The results will be published at 7am followed by a presentation for analysts which will be held at the offices of Rightmove’s City adviser UBS at 9.00am. But while investors will be licking their lips in expectation of another set of record results to boost their client’s pension funds, ISAs and other investment vehicles, this year may not be the usual profits jamboree. Two dark clouds loom over Rightmove despite another 12 months of no-doubt incredible profits and continuing share buy-backs. Last year criticism of the annual price increases introduced by the company were at their most strident among agents annoyed by double-digit increases despite difficult sales and lettings markets. These pushed the annual revenue for the branch to over £1,000 a month for the first time, although many agents had been paying this for some time already. 23% increase One agent, Kristjan Byfield of Base Properties, revealed that his increase last year was 23%, a hike that the portal pushed through despite his strong complaints and…
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Wrap up warm! 100 industry figures prepare to sleep rough tonight for CentrePoint
The Negotiator will be joining the brave property souls wrapping up warm to sleep in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to raise funds the homeless charity.
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Launch of revolutionary new tenant check-out platform just days away
Letting agent Kristjan Byfield convened a dozen of the industry's best-known figures to present his proptech brainchild The Depository.
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Difficult market conditions to blame for CIELA failure, says founding agent
Kristjan Byfield, one of the founding agents of the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agent (CIELA) says the organisation was launched at the wrong time and that it would have been more successful if it had focussed on fewer issues. CIELA launched in January this year but after struggling to attract enough agents to sign up, it threw in the towel in June despite having a large group of experienced founder agents (pictured, right) behind it. “We just tried to launch it at a difficult time,” says Kristjan, who says he realises “hindsight is a wonderful thing” but thinks CIELA launched with too many objectives, and that difficult market conditions meant too many agents didn’t have the time or energy to commit to a new membership organisation. “The trouble with our industry is that we’re a funny old bunch. There were too many voices trying to get their points over; it would have been better to be more focussed,” he says. “Our industry is too fragmented. For example, the issues facing a Welsh agent with a few hundred properties to manage are very different to those facing a business like mine in central London. “I am disappointed that CIELA…
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Historic photo? CIELA members snapped at first meeting
Behold CIELA, or the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents, in the flesh. This photograph was taken at their inaugural gathering in Bicester, Oxfordshire yesterday where they spent five hours discussing the challenges that smaller agents face. The CIELA members talked about the many several ways independent agents could take on the corporates including in one of the most pressing areas – communications. The group discussed how public relations could harness the collective power of independent agents and take on the “misleading marketing” put about the larger estate agency firms. Serious challenges Luke Gidney, owner of Let Leeds letting agency, said: “As an industry, we have never faced so many serious challenges at once. We urgently need a united voice now, without corporate influence.” Vivienne Harris, owner of Heathgate Properties in London, said: “Currently we are an industry that is under attack. We need an organisation that can lobby government and educate the public on what it is we actually do.” The discussions also swung round to the group’s dislike of online-only and “fake agent” agents, as well as how to use independent agents’ sales and lettings data to produce the UK’s most up-to-date and accurate house price and rental…
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