This week’s Agents MVMT podcast ‘Pass the Syrup’, presented by Ben Madden, features Adam Horton of Hortons, Wendy Peterman of Petermans and Joe Rylett of eXp.
The guests give their views on the speed (or lack of) at which property transactions are progressing and why this may be, as well as several recent reports that point to the importance of energy efficient homes for both landlords and buyers.
Guests are also asked to talk about great agents they have worked with, give their feedback on a current Agents Together challenge mentees are facing, and any tips for agents in the current climate.
If you would like to take part in the Agents MVMT initiative, provide a feature or be a guest on the podcast, contact Ben Madden directly at ben.madden@fineandcountry.com.
The time sales are taking has been crippling to us, it’s literally been reducing us to tears and the delays give too many opportunities for the sale to fall through, but you can chase, prod etc nobody appears to give a monkeys. The whole process is awful. Trying to get a solicitor to do any work prior to agreeing a sale is also just impossible. All the time you end up just waiting around to be paid. It’s a horrible business at the moment
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I can agree with this. Urgency seems to have gone out of the window and chase ups feel redundant, falling on deaf ears.
My biggest discomfort with the job at the moment is how long it is taking to get paid. Fortunately our pipeline is currently strong and has been for a few years but as transactions slow it is going to get more unpleasant.
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Mary, i can feel the pain from here. As Bryan Mansell points out below, getting the seller prepared can really help. It also means they are less likely to change agent. There are a growing number of sites to help like Gazeal or PIP Vaults. These sites have been built by estate agents who were suffering your problem. Do make contact if you would like to.
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Solicitors “WFH”
looking after kids
going for a run or cycle or gym
doing the shopping
cleaning the the house
dropping kids off somewhere
picking up kids from school
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Would be slightly amusing if not totally inaccurate.
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It is not not all inaccurate
I have spoken to solicitor working from home and been stopped mid chat so they can deal; with their child
Last week we has a solicitor who said they could no do something because she had no printer at home and would not be in the office for 2 days
Regularly see one of our local sols out for a run during the middle of the afternoon
Mate of mine partner in a firm in Wokingham says it is a constant problem he has and that they struggle to get young staff as they all want to WFH so they can have an easy life
Solicitors get paid if a transaction does not complete so most do not give a s===
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You are not swimming in the same pool of conveyancers as I am then Jan.
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The Bold Legal Group has an online forum with over 1000 conveyancers posting on a regular basis. The questions posted produce a snapshot of some of the difficulties conveyancers face:
· SDLT issues
· Building Safety Act confusion
· Source of Funds problems
· HMLR delays
· Lender delays
· Planning questions
· Power of Attorney questions
· Probate delays
· Restrictions
· Deeds of Variation
· Etc
Gone forever are the days of opening a file, submitting searches, raising enquires and awaiting a mortgage offer. And if the stages in the process have changed, we need to change the way we carry out the work. Earlier conveyancer involvement is now a must (especially when acting for sellers). How do we get that ball rolling?
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I wouldn’t want my comment above to be taken as a blanket to all conveyancers. There are some very efficient people in the business, the problem is (as with a lot of things) that chains are getting longer which is increasing chances of a poor conveyancer being involved.
A chain only works to its weakest link.
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Here’s an idea! Stop chasing referral fees and recommending conveyancing companies who due to the kick back lack the resources to invest in their infrastructure and the employment of qualified fee earners.
Any agent who receives a referral fee has only themselves to blame.
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Honestly if you try and encourage your local high street bod to start preparing things in anticipation of an early sale, it just won’t happen
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Mary, I agree however the seller can get ‘sale ready; much earlier which will help speed up the process of getting the sale started when it is time. Agents need to look closely at the ‘How to Sell’ guide which has been around for a few years now. Agents will benefit from a quicker sale if they adopt the free advice and pass it on to their sellers when listing. The guide is free and we have built Gazeal around this guide.
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Reasons:-
Too many bad conveyancersLack of experience in the professionBad or no regulationNo leadershipReferral fees and panel managers
Working from home/consultancy
Land Registry delaysMortgage delays and in particular the use of portals to interact with LendersVested interests-too many indians
Too many people in the profession taking the time to have too many jollies
Too many non-conveyancers seeping into the profession
To name but a few. Conveyancing is a profession with a tiny minority of professionals remaining. It’s only going to get worse, actual conveyancers need to somehow take back the profession it’s the only chance the current system has left.
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Why has no one mentioned that it is an Agents job to do Sales Progression, not the conveyancer? If the client is prepped properly and they, and the Agents don’t email or hassle the solicitors, they may have more time to do the actual job. I appreciate the factories of conveyancers (or box tickers) have little experience of the house buying or selling process themselves this too, leads to delays! If someone had a decent portal whereby the Agent knew what was outstanding, they could chase the information and the box tickers/solicitors would have more time for the work. I know many good solicitors who work from the early hours until early afternoon as its the only time they can actually get anything done.
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If agents do not chase sols sit on their a===
They work until “early afternoon”
That is the point exactly
And you do not even see the irony
Incredible
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My conveyancing hours were 6.00 am untill 6.00 or 7.00 pm weekdays, plus another 10 hours most weekends. 35 of those hours were spent doing the legal work, the remainder updating agents and clients, chasing lenders etc, and that was 18 years ago when conveyancing was less challenging.
This constant bickering and blaming each other (without really understanding each others role) is pathetic and will acheive nothing.
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In total agreement that it should be the agents job to do sales progression and support the conveyancers on a transaction, especially if the conveyancer is not getting any response from the other side.
The reason estate agents don’t chase is because it sometimes impossible to get a response from these conveyancing firms who they have recommended for the referral fee.
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I was a member of BNI for nearly 4 years and over that time it helped me generate approx. £27000 per year in income from referral business. Admittedly this was as a lettings agent rather than an estate agent although we did managed to secure between 3 and 4 sales a month.
I was also a glutton for punishment as I went to two different chapters / meetings.
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