As a former agent and Chartered Surveyor, as well as a founder of Myhomemove, the country’s largest conveyancer, I believe I have a reasonable background in property matters.
Throughout my career I have also been one to try and explore ways and means of improving the way that we sell, buy and transfer the ownership of property that for many is a home, for most a key investment, and increasingly to some an investment that is an intrinsic part of their wide-ranging investment portfolio and their retirement pot.
Because of what we do, Myhomemove has a very interesting view of what is actually happening in the residential property market, and over the forthcoming months I will be happy to share a few snippets with you.
But first a few comments on how these articles will be positioned.
Many, many years ago as an agency branch manager, my office was the guinea pig for a “new computer system”.
At the time the company I was with were pioneers in the use of technology and it really was ground-breaking stuff. Since then I have worked with and trained agents in the use of their shiny new computers, and have of course seen the changes that the internet has brought.
I have a reasonable idea of how agency works and have experienced all of this not just as an agent but also as a client and customer.
I also have a clear sight of how things have changed, and this includes how the newer online models work, which was debated at length last year at our #brickandclick conference where we went some way to dispel the myth that they are just “online” models.
In most cases they are “hybrids” which have a different charging model rather than a different operating model.
Because of our scale, we are privy to information that most agents will never see.
We know better than anyone the timescales that are involved, and not surprisingly we would like to see things speeded up as well.
We have access to property information, property values, and the circumstances of sellers and buyers which, if aggregated, can provide a fascinating insight into the current position of the market, as well as a number of highly interesting trends.
I also see the different processes and approaches of an increasingly varied range of agencies – from those that are wholly owned, those that are single and multi-branch companies, and even those that are franchises or simple one-man-bands. They all act differently.
We deal with property throughout England and Wales, from deepest Cornwall to the far reaches of the north-west and north-east: in fact, every year we deal with transactions in every postcode area. We therefore have a wide-angle view of the entire market.
How is this of value? By completing more transactions, we know more about actual values, and can report on them within days of completion rather than months.
We also settle more agents’ invoices than any other conveyancer so we have a better view of what the average agent’s fee is than anyone else – and that is very interesting.
Some may say that the average agent’s fee is distorted by the online/hybrid agents, but of course this is not the case because their invoice is settled as part of their instruction, not as part of the outcome, so therefore does not feature in our calculations.
In my opinion the collective noun of housing property indices should be a “confusion” – well, they certainly confuse me. Inevitably those of the lenders tend to lean towards their own products and product share: after all, why would the Halifax and Nationwide have any knowledge, and even care, about cash purchases?
Of course fellow correspondent Julian O’Dell has gone to some lengths to cut through the fog of most of these.
This lack of knowledge of cash purchases might also be exaggerated this year, and even more so in the future, by those pensioners who release capital from their pensions in order to buy property.
The Land Registry should of course be far more accurate, but it is always three months out of date. And as for seasonally adjusted figures…
So there we have it – the basis for some different comment taken from a different viewpoint. I have some ideas on what I can share in the next few months, and would welcome any other suggestions where you feel I can help.
Let me know, and I look forward to starting in earnest next month.
* Stephen Hayter is sales director of Myhomemove, which this week won the award for ‘best conveyancing service – individual firms’ at the Mortgage Strategy Awards. Stephen is now away on holiday and unable to respond to any comments to this first column
Hello Stephen,
Welcome to EYE.
Is it, in your opinion right and proper that an agent’s data (the comparables data that gives a successful agent the edge over their competition at the next appraisal) is shared with all and sundry through property websites such as Zoopla and On the market?
I personally think the sold price of any property ought to be confidential to the vendor, purchaser ,the selling agent and the conveyancing teams. I can’t think how sharing such information fits with the fiduciary obligations of paid professional so wonder how the data is ending up so easily accessible on the internet, and whether sharing of such information isn’t a fundamental breach of data protection regulations. I welcome your thoughts on this.
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best add Rightmove to the list!!!
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I find this to be an odd comment now. Years ago information was not available and we earned a living from the fact that only we knew…but nowadays its all about how you interpret and use the information that’s available. I don’t think there is any going back!!
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Let’s investigate why then; Do you sell property Richard? If you do when have you sought the express permission of your client to share quite private information with anyone? Do your terms and conditions of sale include such a permission?
Have you signed away to any service provider the authority to share data gathered by your firm to third parties?
In would guess the answer to those questions is no. That being the case who has the authority to share your and your client’s data with anyone? Where is the information coming from?
You won’t be able to discuss your electric bill without jumping through all sorts of Data Protection hoops yet it seems Property completions data is somehow exempt from DP regulations. That seems strange to me.
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You had me at ‘new computer system’ !
Certainly wetted the appetite Stephen and as you say you’ve got some absolutely critical and insightful data there that I think most people will find fascinating in the months to come.
More please!
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Hardly surprising that Mr Hayter’s inaugural ‘article’ focuses on the tech side of matters… MHM being essentially a web-based organisation and all – but it all makes me more than a little concerned, to be frank.
Firstly, it is this outfit that openly ‘big up’ the online element of OUR industry. May last year they stated “…more home buyers are relying on online services like Zoopla and Rightmove to find a new home; dismissing traditional estate agency methods in favour of internet-based products.” On ‘the other’ industry propagan… I mean news… website they ran an article actually entitled “Online agents are the future says myhomemove” So – the appearance of this author is, to me, a bit like the guy ‘Andy1000000 – or however many 0s were in his name – who metaphorically walked into the lions’ den and started slapping away at their faces with a sirloin steak a week ago and then didn’t like it when one of the lions (albeit of course a cute, cuddly lion…) bit him on his @$$.
Secondly, all this talk about the company’s access to this figure and that amount – and how quickly these stats can be “reported”… sorry, but reported to who?
Mr Hayter states above “Because of our scale, we are privy to information that most agents will never see.” Sorry – why say MOST? That indicates to the likes of me that “some” will see the information.
Sounds to me like MHM fancy themselves as YET ANOTHER nose in the trough of indices Mr Hayter dubs the “confusion”. But only to the ‘chosen’ few, if I’m sniffing the right stuff in the air.
And adding more confusion, no doubt. But it’ll somehow make them a few quid – data subscriptions, perhaps – if that’s all this is about, really.
‘cos like Jonnie sed on another thread – ‘it’s all going online, innit?’
He must have read the articles from MHM…
Q: What is the collective noun for all Online/Budget Estate Agents, Passive Intermediaries, and Hybrids?
A: Zoopla’s Christmas Party Guest List.
;o)
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