Confirmed as a panellist at the Virtual EA Masters Conference next week, Jon Cooke, CEO of epropservices, the parent company of The Guild of Property Professionals and Fine & Country, says that he believes that a second wave of Covid-19 would act as a catalyst for further change within the industry.  

“We have already seen the industry evolve ten years within a few months as a result of the pandemic hitting our shores and estate and lettings agents adapting very quicky to a new way of working.

“I believe that a second wave of Covid-19 will entice more agents to re-evaluate the way they work, and we will see a third wave of agency gain momentum as a result,” says Cooke.   

Cooke says that the first wave of agency was predominately surveyors who also ran estate agency businesses in the local high street. The second wave of estate agency was when the more entrepreneurial marketeers came into the industry, some with prime and sometimes brash high street locations. It is this second wave that has driven the industry for the past two or three decades; very much a marketing-led model of estate agency.   

“The third wave is where individuals will possibly work remotely and will be less reliant on a high street office, however, they will work with an umbrella organisation that will provide them with leads, marketing, technology and the ever increasingly important compliance, similar to what The Guild does for its 800 Members and what Fine & Country does globally in the prime market sector under its platform license,” Cooke explains.   

“Before lockdown there was already a growing trend in the industry of agents moving away from the high street estate agency model and moving towards more flexible options that offered them the ability to work from anywhere, greater earning potential and the support of a network.

“If a second wave of Covid-19 causes further disruption in the market, more agents will be looking at their office set ups and ways to cut their overhead costs by perhaps having a central hub or shared office space such as WeWork. Technology has allowed agents to work remotely and the lockdown has proven it to be a viable option.

“The pandemic has forced the industry to embrace certain technology that until this year may not have been at the forefront. These days, every agent is more tech enabled and experienced at working remotely, which I believe could be the future of the sector.”  

Cooke says that the growing number of associates joining the Fine & Country brand under the platform license model is a prime example of agents looking to change the way they work and how they think about estate agency.

“As the model suits business-minded, experienced, motivated property professionals, we are also seeing a remarkable calibre of agent joining as an associate. Generally, they are individuals who by the nature of their experience and the fact that they are dealing in the upper quartile of the market can offer a bespoke, targeted premium service to luxury buyers and sellers.

 “How people interact with businesses has changed and as such the property sector will need to evolve and progress to accommodate the needs of today’s buyers and sellers.”