The Agent
Reflections on estate agency, today and in past times
Latest Article
The Scorpion #2
20th December 2018
The battle between traditional high street agencies and their online competitors rumbles on, in a Goliath versus Goliath sort of way. While city investors don’t seem very keen on the former at the moment, the latter are not without their problems either. Do you care? Probably not…unless you’re a shareholder. But what do you need to know as a fee paying customer?
Online agencies tend to charge a relatively small fee, but they charge it upfront, and it is not refunded if the property remains... Read More >
Recent Articles:
The Scorpion #1 An insider's take on the business of buying and selling property 29th November 2018
This is the first of a series of columns written by a residential estate agent about residential property. I have adopted a pseudonym because I am employed, and I would like, if necessary, to separate my views from those of my employers. I would Read More >
Online and hybrid estate agency – the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? A view from inside the industry 23rd November 2018
Recent news for those operating in the property market has generally been negative with the effects of weak transactional volumes, falling house prices, lack of consumer confidence and increasing regulation all causing businesses to reappraise Read More >
What goes up can come down 1988 to 1998 8th February 2018
A new generation now realised that what goes up can come down. 1988’s falls took until 1998 in London property to fully recover.
Lessons learned in London over that period included the fact that even well off people didn’t want to live in Read More >
Ageism & aggression hits and things get personal! Why being an estate agent requires thick skin 2nd February 2018
Well, the year has got off to quite a start with my ego taking something of a hammering!
First off, The Property Chronicle titled me a ‘Veteran Agent’ (could they not have thought of a kinder description?) then I was described as ‘Old Read More >
Has buying and selling improved over the last five decades? A veteran agent looks back to the good old days of a 28 day exchange 4th January 2018
A question often asked: so, how much has the whole procedure of buying and selling houses changed and hopefully improved then? Well, frankly, it hasn’t at all.
On the plus side, we do have computers, better telephone systems, Read More >
The beginning of the end Being an estate agent in the 80s 1st December 2017
During the 80s being an agent still felt ‘less’ than working in the City. They had their own set of fireworks with Big Bang but at some point house prices started to become a talking point. They never had before and I remember conversations Read More >
A new breed of agent Ed Mead looks back to what estate agency was like in the 80s 13th September 2017
I’m not quite sure what it was that led to the emergence of the high end independent agent, especially in central London. For years, unless you were professionally accredited i.e. a RICS or ISVA member, you wouldn’t even have been considered Read More >
Reminiscences of an estate agent Alan Howick looks back on his five decades of experience 6th September 2017
This November I clock up 50 years as an estate agent - and what have I learnt or gained from this experience?
Well, I have tried alternative business options over the last five decades but still ended up selling second hand houses for a Read More >
How it was With almost 40 years' experience in the industry, Ed Mead looks back at what estate agents used to be like 16th August 2017
About thirty years ago I remember my stepfather, a well-known man of considerable standing, surprising me by telling me I was in a ‘gentleman’s profession’. OK, he was quite old, but amongst the next generation up from me, i.e. the majority Read More >
Online Retailing: Britain, Europe, US and Canada 2017 European Online Growth 6th August 2017
E-commerce is the fastest growing retail market in Europe and North America. Online sales in Western Europe and Poland grew from £174.76 bn [€201.33 bn] in 2015 to £201.90 bn [€232.60 bn] in 2016 (+15.6%). In 2017, we expect total Read More >
