Dominic Hiatt Blog

Wednesday 14th March 2012

Have you ever wondered about this PR malarkey and why it is always the same old suspects who appear plastered across the media, mouthing off about the housing market?

We all know who they are. With what can only be described as a monotonous regularity, they appear across the papers, in the trade press, social media and on TV pontificating about the property market. They’re the property sector’s very own media tarts.

One or two of them I’ve helped shape myself, witnessing first-hand the transition from humble agent (OK, probably not that humble) to media whore. And to pre-empt them, yes, I am a fine one to talk.


But what do the agents outside this chiefly London-centred, incestuous media bubble think of these high priests of the housing market?

Do they accurately reflect what the industry as a whole thinks and feels, or do they preach, well, a load of old tosh?

It would be fascinating to poll what agents think of their unelected representatives. Are they egomaniacs, prone to the hyperbole the media so often demand, or do they stay honest to their industry, relaying the facts – and nothing but?


Hand on heart, does it annoy the hell out of you to see the same old names in lights, when you’ve infinitely more knowledge and experience than they have – and in any case, they probably haven’t dealt with a real buyer or seller for ten years, if at all?

The property market is a broad church, its pews crammed with savvy agents, but currently the public only hear the sermons of a few sharp-elbowed and self-proclaimed industry experts.

But I am on a mission to change all that.

In the weeks ahead, I’ll be giving you some tips on how you can start making some media ripples of your own. I’ll also be shining a torch deep into the dark arts of the property media and its PR.

It’s going to be quite revealing.

Dominic Hiatt is director of Just In Time PR

www.justintimepr.com