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KEYWORD "Colin Shairp" - 44 RESULTS
Insight: ministerial changes have slipped under the radar

There has been an understandable focus on things other than Government since the death of Queen Elizabeth was announced, but Prime...

24 September 2022

From: Features

Opinion - government mortgage plan could mean more inherited debt

There’s talk of 50-year mortgages being introduced, loans that, along with the property they finance, could be passed to the next...

09 July 2022

From: Features

Opinion: Fairer lettings are not a horror story

The government’s Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper has initially caused some consternation and a strong adverse reaction from some within...

18 June 2022

From: Features

Video tours? I don’t see it myself!

There was an article in Estate Agent Today recently that suggested only four per cent of properties on Rightmove and Zoopla...

11 June 2022

From: Features

Is it time to do the world a favour?

Estate agents are in a unique position – we handle the meeting of people’s aspirations probably more than any other profession....

21 May 2022

From: Features

A 9 to 5 estate agent…dream on!

There’s lots of talk of people moving over within estate agency to be self-employed so they can chase the dream of...

18 December 2021

From: Features

Laying out a welcome mat for Airbnb - a breath of fresh air for deals

There are plenty in the estate agency and lettings world who don’t like the concept of Airbnb and similar enterprises. But they...

16 October 2021

From: Features

By jove, Gove is off at full steam ahead!

There’s good news and bad news from the shake-up in government ministers and ministries that was presented to the nation last...

25 September 2021

From: Features

Sector reform - stamp out this market malaise

Every so often it comes around – the argument that stamp duty should be reformed/removed/replaced (delete as appropriate). But why? Where’s the...

21 August 2021

From: Features

Post stamp-duty - keep the home market’s fires burning

Remember the early days of lockdown when there was a general panic? Perhaps the hot demand for toilet rolls was a sign...

24 July 2021

From: Features

Crazy times, hazy memories - looking back at more than 35 years in the industry

There are just three working days until the end of the stamp duty holiday for most buyers. That’s not even enough time...

26 June 2021

From: Features

What should agents do with cool customers in a hot market?

Property owners who play it cool when it comes to marketing their home find their frustration soon becomes overheated. The constant we...

08 May 2021

From: Features

Starting a business? Sage advice proved to be worth acting upon

It’s 12 years since we opened our doors with the Fine and Country estate agency in Drayton on April 1 2009. The...

03 April 2021

From: Features

Why every day is Women’s Day here!

You could be forgiven for overlooking International Women’s Day on Monday. Well, almost. Focus was instead turned to the first day back...

13 March 2021

From: Features

Honesty – and a leak - see the property market through ‘crisis’

Honesty is a concept that journalists will tell their readers is non-existent for estate agents. Yeah, right! But as the end...

27 February 2021

From: Features

It’s time to stamp on stamp duty speculation

You can always tell when Budget day is approaching. There’s lots of comment from every imaginable quarter about what the Chancellor of...

13 February 2021

From: Features

Agency backs For Sale boards and wants lion’s share of the market

The debate over whether For Sale boards remain a valuable source of publicity has been in the headlines of late -...

31 July 2020

From: Breaking News

Property Jobs Today - this year's final update on new appointments

If you thought Christmas Eve meant no more news in terms of industry movers and shakers…well, think again - we’ve one...

24 December 2018

From: Breaking News

OnTheMarket price rise could be the right move for some of us

It was interesting to see the recent story on Estate Agent Today about OnTheMarket (OTM) raising its fees after signing up...

04 August 2018

From: Features

Will Purplebricks ruling end agents’ purple mist?

So at last someone has woken up to the fact that Purplebricks needs to be clearer about how it charges for...

21 October 2017

From: Features

A sense of déjà vu over OnTheMarket

There’s a distinct sense of déjà vu over the debacle of OnTheMarket. I avoided joining two years ago because I couldn’t see...

12 August 2017

From: Features

When estate agents subside to even lower levels…

It’s traditional for estate agents to support each other when they come under attack from the press or public. After all,...

28 July 2017

From: Features

Great expectations can be a dickens of a problem

Great Expectations was a fantastic novel-cum-social-history written by Charles Dickens, who once lived in my adopted home city of Portsmouth. But these...

17 June 2017

From: Features

Using Rightmove alone would be the wrong move

It’s easy to be dismissive of the value of local newspapers for advertising residential property but things are never as straightforward...

08 April 2017

From: Features

Don’t undervalue Which? as a useful marketing tool

The guys at Which? are at it again, all over estate agents like a rash for “over valuing” properties so they...

17 February 2017

From: Features

Agents Do Charity - as the countdown to Christmas commences

There’s no need to worry but...er....there are only three weeks to go until Christmas. With traditional feelings of goodwill at this time...

02 December 2016

From: Breaking News

Invisible juggling – estate agents’ impressive skill

As circus performers, most estate agents would fail. Some of you might find that difficult to comprehend. After all, many uninformed members...

26 November 2016

From: Features

The gloom lifts – and so does the property market

It’s curious how gloom, gloom pre-Brexit Britain’s property market has gained a much brighter outlook now that the result of the...

07 October 2016

From: Features

My favourite grouse…lazy agents who tout for my properties

As I sit here writing this on the Glorious 12th, I realise I’m going on about my favourite grouse – agents...

12 August 2016

From: Features

Keen kids kindle Kenya kindness

It’s a familiar theme – kids doing charity trips and needing sponsorship or raffle prizes to help fund their fares. If we...

29 July 2016

From: Features

Index of house prices – or accumulating crisis?

So we now have a new 'official' index of house prices, and much good may it do us. For the chattering classes...

17 June 2016

From: Features

Brexit – does anyone know, does anyone care?

The glorious thing about the referendum on our EU membership is that four weeks today it will all be over –...

27 May 2016

From: Features

How do you protect clients from themselves?

When a potential buyer comes into the office and says they want to view a property on your books, the natural...

29 April 2016

From: Features

Naivety is a becoming a real headache

The property market is racing ahead, but not everyone who wants to be part of it appears to want to keep...

12 March 2016

From: Features

Homes’ horrible histories have little value

Life is getting pretty frustrating for estate agents, and not just because getting houses onto the market is such an uphill...

13 February 2016

From: Features

Consultation action confirms buy-to-let contempt

My suspicion in my December Industry Views column that the Chancellor, George Osborne, holds certain types of property owners in contempt...

08 January 2016

From: Features

Property ownership is fine – if it’s on an industrial scale

I’m sure I’m not the only estate agent confused by the Government’s approach to residential property ownership. Many of the current ministerial...

04 December 2015

From: Features

Why the NAEA is right to tighten money laundering screws

News from the Halifax this week that the combined values of the residential properties in London amounts to £1.13 trillion, virtually...

13 November 2015

From: Features

Traditional agents have been online for years

It’s interesting to read of plans to debate which business plan really is best for the customer, online or traditional estate...

09 October 2015

From: Features

So much bleating, I thought a goat had got in!

It was interesting to see the report on Estate Agent Today about the meeting between London estate agents, NAEA, and HMRC. No,...

25 September 2015

From: Features

Almost a love-in from Which?

It’s always interesting when Which? produces a report that includes estate agency. It asked 1,990 people their views on buying and selling...

21 August 2015

From: Features

A new twist on the right to buy

Competition is hot among home buyers in my part of southern England to take ownership of properties that come onto the...

24 July 2015

From: Features

Heard the one about the shy estate agent?

What do we actually do as estate agents to serve our wonderful public? Some might think we go out, value houses, advise...

26 June 2015

From: Features

A victory V sign to the housing sector?

The Conservatives’ election victory came as a surprise, so much so that television pundits spent all night after the vote rubbishing...

15 May 2015

From: Features

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