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jeremy's  Personal Profile View my company profile

jeremy clarke
jeremy clarke
Director
12658  Profile Views

About Me

Over 30 years as an agent

my expertise in the industry

managed large chain flagship office and now run my own business

jeremy's Recent Activity

jeremy clarke
Another jobsworth with a made up "job" title that means nothing to anyone spouting more leftie rubbish.

From: jeremy clarke 28 December 2023 17:55 PM

jeremy clarke
Is it a way of writing off debts and agreeing zero payout to shareholders?

From: jeremy clarke 02 June 2023 12:38 PM

jeremy clarke
So trying to flog a so called estate agency service to the public cheaply didn't work yet the receivers think it's a selling point? You couldn't make it up!

From: jeremy clarke 20 April 2023 12:31 PM

jeremy clarke
Good luck getting any changes through when many freeholds are held in pension funds, any change or limitation would impact on millions of people's pensions! Imagine selling that to the board!

From: jeremy clarke 21 February 2023 11:38 AM

jeremy clarke
My solicitor made an error when registering an extended lease on one of my properties in September 2019, he failed to include the leases for teh other 3 flats. As a result Land Registry did nothing just sat on it. Now I am trying to re-mortgage and Land Registry eventually answered the phone when we asked why new lease had not been registered and advised that they needed the other 3. It has taken 3 months so far to get where we are now and it seems that my lease registration has gone to the bottom of a large pile so still not sorted! Had they returned the form in the first instance this could have been dealt with, they didn't!

From: jeremy clarke 24 January 2023 13:04 PM

jeremy clarke
So what happens to the "doer uppers" often occupied for many years with antiquated fittings and often no insulation or decent heating? Is Gov expecting beneficiaries to spend money to get EPC to a C before selling? What about the developers and little builders that buy such properties, often any works to improve will just be ripped out in the renovation, what a waste of time and money!

From: jeremy clarke 16 January 2023 13:31 PM

jeremy clarke
"Councils in the bottom quartile would then be asked to attend a public hearing where they will have to explain their poor results." A bit like sending a naughty child to sit on the naughty step!

From: jeremy clarke 14 December 2022 13:49 PM

jeremy clarke
What continues to amaze me is that these spokespersons and directors of this company still believe everything that they say!

From: jeremy clarke 14 December 2022 13:46 PM

jeremy clarke
Not very Socialist is it? It doesn't matter what he says, it will mean nothing to anyone unless the country starts to up the rate of building houses and flats! As the population continues to expand so that target of building needs to grow at least at the same rate but consecutive governments over many many years have made promises to build but have failed each time, normally by a huge margin! The gap in the market is more for houses to rent in the social sector than houses to buy; there must be many thousands of people housed in the PRS who would be better suited to social housing? Build social housing, release PRS properties and let the owners decide whether they sell to first time buyers or continue to rent.

From: jeremy clarke 27 September 2022 16:23 PM

jeremy clarke
Not strong enough. Housing needs to be completely free of government shackles other than sufficient funding.

From: jeremy clarke 20 August 2022 09:40 AM

jeremy clarke
Christian & Charlie, I accept that this is about service levels but what happens if the information provided by the agent proves incorrect? Internet speeds can vary, bus routes can be cancelled what if the buyer then alleges that they purchased on the basis that the internet speed and bus route quoted by the agent were x and the agent was wrong?

From: jeremy clarke 17 August 2022 13:47 PM

jeremy clarke
Insurance?

From: jeremy clarke 17 August 2022 07:56 AM

jeremy clarke
So, the tech savvy generation are now incapable of finding out anything, talk about being spoon fed, soon we'll be tasting their food for them to make sure that it's not too hot!

From: jeremy clarke 17 August 2022 07:54 AM

jeremy clarke
It could work with sales teams who work to targets but office based salaried staff? Small offices with fewer staff trying to cover the hours that customers expect, not practical. The only establishments I can see this working are the larger busy offices that employ just sales oriented staff and manage the administration elsewhere.

From: jeremy clarke 10 August 2022 08:06 AM

jeremy clarke
“Unfortunately, there’s not a great deal that can be done to immediately remedy the issue other than the buyer coughing up or the seller reducing the asking price." In my experience, there is generally another buyer waiting in the wings to take the property and, if the property has been under offer for some time that buyer even pay a higher price.

From: jeremy clarke 04 May 2022 14:35 PM

jeremy clarke
A quick look at easypropertycom just now shows 33 properties of which just 6 are available and 8 of the sstc are on a new development. When I searched for my local rep and then researched her it appears she covers Glasgow which is approximately 450 miles away from me.! How is this sustainable, not enough income from those properties listed as sold across the country to pay a single salary?

From: jeremy clarke 04 May 2022 12:35 PM

jeremy clarke
All this means is that franchise head offices have said that franchise owners can sign up if they wish as with Rightmove and others. It doesn't mean that every franchisee will sign up.

From: jeremy clarke 28 April 2022 08:28 AM

jeremy clarke
Agents within an hour's drive of Penzance! Real experts then! No details on how agent gets paid? How motivated will that agent be having travelled an hour to an appointment only to find that the viewers don't turn up and they have an hour's travel home again? Anyone who values their greatest asset would be foolish to even consider this type of agency, stay local, use the local agent's knowledge!

From: jeremy clarke 07 January 2022 07:58 AM

jeremy clarke
Anyone had a lead yet?

From: jeremy clarke 20 July 2021 08:06 AM

jeremy clarke
Anyone had any leads yet?

From: jeremy clarke 03 June 2021 08:25 AM

jeremy clarke
We find in our town that all the agents quote ex VAT to get the appointment, having got their foot in the door, they then "fess up" but say that all agents will be adding VAT. Where we quote 1.5% INC VAT other agents will quote 1.5%, neglect the VAT which effectively means 1.8% INC VAT.

From: jeremy clarke 28 August 2020 09:36 AM

jeremy clarke
Seriously?? Have you seen the cover page of their website? Just yells cheap cheap cheap and the flashing banner in the centre "everything must go!" Looks more like somewhere to sell tat rather than your greatest asset, but everyone to their own, it's about what you value.

From: jeremy clarke 26 August 2020 09:34 AM

jeremy clarke
IMHO it doesn't matter how good you are as an agent, the public recognise brands and when buyers are faced with a Rightmove page with 400 properties from all over the country where do they start? If it works, it will be a very slow burn!

From: jeremy clarke 26 August 2020 09:25 AM

jeremy clarke
Just did their online valuation tool which returned a max value on our flat of £176,795!! 2 local agents last week valued it at £350 - £365,000 but hey you could save a couple of thousand quid in fees whilst losing £175,000 on the sale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From: jeremy clarke 18 August 2020 09:51 AM

jeremy clarke
YAWN!

From: jeremy clarke 18 August 2020 09:25 AM

jeremy clarke
Ah, informally resolved, again? What do this lot have to do to actually get punished?

From: jeremy clarke 22 July 2020 08:46 AM

jeremy clarke
The only thing that I would have liked to have seen was the abolishment of the surcharge for 2nd homes which would have helped the landlords looking to buy into the PRS.

From: jeremy clarke 08 July 2020 13:30 PM

jeremy clarke
I agree with Charles McDowell, if there is an expectation that this new code of practice is to bring agencies under the umbrella of being professionals then the fres charged need to mirror this. After 17 years out of property sales and just reentering the market, it astonished me how agents are prostituting themselves with such low fees! More legislation more red tape more qualifications really need to mean higher rewards.

From: jeremy clarke 01 July 2020 08:21 AM

jeremy clarke
Still trying to get some sense out of rightmove regarding their costs moving forward, all I get is smoke and mirrors. If they don't reduce their costs dramatically then we will not be rejoining after the current reduction in costs ends at end of July.

From: jeremy clarke 04 June 2020 08:05 AM

jeremy clarke
so, the magic bullet to increase share of the market is.............................give it away for free! Who would have ever thought that, why didn't we all think of that? Oh, hang on, free = unsustainable even if when you close you can say that you increased your market share on your CV as you present to the next mug!

From: jeremy clarke 05 May 2020 11:36 AM

jeremy clarke
Time for Kevin Hollirake?

From: jeremy clarke 13 February 2020 11:43 AM

jeremy clarke
They closed their sales and lettings branch in Christchurch in Dorset 2 weeks ago.

From: jeremy clarke 16 December 2019 08:54 AM

jeremy clarke
Didn't Remax made such a bold promise almost 20 years ago? Where are they now, seen a few come and go over the years?

From: jeremy clarke 16 October 2019 13:28 PM

jeremy clarke
For the past 15 years I've run a letting agency, prior to that I spent the same number of years working in and managing estate agency. We now only get involved in sales when a landlord decides to sell up (getting more frequent lately, I have to say!) Looking at what happens now in comparison with 15 years ago, little has changed other than the costing; the constant pressure to drive costs down has, in my opinion, led to conveyancing being undertaken by inexperienced staff and firms being unable to invest. The factory farm method is fraught with problems, staff have little experience, do not know the locality, often move on and are under pressure to get deals done in volume. This will inevitably lead to errors which may manifest themselves years later when sellers come to move on. To me a good local firm with a partner who has "skin in the game" acting on behalf of buyer and seller is always the way forward. Too often agents opinions are clouded by the commission cheque dangled in front of their eyes!!

From: jeremy clarke 02 October 2019 16:12 PM

jeremy clarke
I run a small business and it never fails to amaze me how often we see companies making huge losses yet paying directors large bonuses unrelated to performance. If my business made a loss how would I pay myself any bonus? Things need to change!

From: jeremy clarke 29 September 2019 09:48 AM

jeremy clarke
Who ever takes over at number 10 needs to seize the opportunity to take Housing out of Gov hands. Forget Housing ministers, we need an independent industry driven body to shape the future of housing. For too long Housing has been a political football now is the opportunity to ditch all the crazy rules and red tape, sit down and design something that works, a plan for the social sector, the prs, building, development and sensible legislation that's all in one place rather than spread across hundreds of pieces of legal jargon.

From: jeremy clarke 23 July 2019 09:03 AM

jeremy clarke
Prepare for the fat cats at arla and other organisations that represent themselves and do little for their members to start squabbling over who should be the training provider, who should be the industry "experts" . What is crazy is the no grandfathering policy! 30+ years in this business and yet we are to be told what to do by a minister with zero experience who just last week was minister for streetlights! There will be a lot of anger out there amongst agents who recognise the need for training and qualification too who will see all the money and effort that they have spent p***ed up against the wall by the publication of a report which says gov should ignore everything that has gone before and all should get a qualification that hasn't yet been "invented" overseen by an organisation that doesn't yet exist to satisfy a gov that cannot negotiate a deal after more than 3 years!

From: jeremy clarke 15 July 2019 08:47 AM

jeremy clarke
Hybrid? What the hell is hybrid? If the online call centres are talking about sticking a board up and posting on portals being hybrid then they are so wrong. Your local agent will do that but combine it with personal service, accessibility and years of local knowledge and you have a proper estate agent! 20% market share??!! More B******t from a business that has failed in every sense apart from the fact that they continue to burn investors money at a huge rate and still manage to walk away with the director's pockets lined with gold!!

From: jeremy clarke 04 July 2019 08:54 AM

jeremy clarke
That's some amount of miles for a local property expert, £9,000 in petrol costs alone! 115 appraisals a month - 4 a day! Is it any wonder that LPE's have little or no time to service their customers, it appears that they spend a good part of their time driving to and from appointments (200 miles a day!) and the rest of their time signing up the disillusioned for £900 a pop which, incidentally, blows a big hole in the figures in this report - 900 x 90 properties = £81,000 a month x 12 = £972,000 a year, yet by year four, was short of £400,000 which equates to about 37 units a month?

From: jeremy clarke 24 June 2019 10:13 AM

jeremy clarke
We have taken a rain check, OTM will be going based on results

From: jeremy clarke 18 June 2019 10:05 AM

jeremy clarke
The rep came to see us the other day as our free period is coming to an end, nothing new to offer, pricing is all over the place share deals blah blah blah. Cannot really see any value once we have to pay.

From: jeremy clarke 18 June 2019 08:46 AM

jeremy clarke
Is it April the first? Nobody in this incompetent government is worthy let alone a failed housing minister who really should have stood up for the housing and property industry rather than just paying lip service and nodding at everything that went before him to damage the industry!

From: jeremy clarke 28 May 2019 08:54 AM

jeremy clarke
Quite simply if corbet came to power this country would be toast, there would be no private enterprise left, no entrepreneurs, the rental and sales market will be decimated. If this is ever allowed to happen it will be regretted for many years in the future - no one should believe the "free unicorns" rubbish that they spout we will all be considerably poorer under a red government.

From: jeremy clarke 25 May 2019 09:56 AM

jeremy clarke
£99 Home - who? Oh look 600 or so properties available at £99 a pop = c£61,000 income plus a few lettings properties; hardly setting the world alight, cannot possibly cover costs so next stop is either crowdfunding with a valuation of £11 billionty or "sorry folks we got it wrong, we've paid ourselves a few hundred grand but failed"!

From: jeremy clarke 01 April 2019 12:24 PM

jeremy clarke
Excellent article, such a shame that the people that need to read it probably will not and the so called charities (really now just pressure groups) have their own agenda which does not include facing up to the truth! Housed any homeless lately Polly N??

From: jeremy clarke 01 April 2019 10:15 AM

jeremy clarke
OOO! A disruptor!

From: jeremy clarke 25 February 2019 08:46 AM

jeremy clarke
Disruptors?

From: jeremy clarke 20 February 2019 09:14 AM

jeremy clarke
Most of these call centres would make more money if they paid their customers rather than the other way around, whatever happened to running a business to make a profit? IMHO anyone setting themselves up like this deserves to fail, the problem is that the trade bodies just let it happen, when did we last see ARLA or any of the other "trade bodies" come out publicly to support full service proper businesses and show these money burning call centres for what they really are?

From: jeremy clarke 05 February 2019 07:48 AM

jeremy clarke
No Sh*t Sherlock! Shouldn't the headline read something like "failed online call centre agent admits he got it wrong before shafting investors and staff?"

From: jeremy clarke 23 January 2019 11:02 AM

jeremy clarke
Is it the first of April already? Who in their right mind would go back to a company that had taken their money, shafted their staff and then closed down? They shoot horses don't they? This horse should have been shot!

From: jeremy clarke 16 January 2019 15:17 PM

jeremy clarke
Usual high level of customer service from call centre agents then! We've taken your money and closed but cannot be ar**d to tell you!

From: jeremy clarke 10 January 2019 09:20 AM

jeremy clarke
Why? What value the brands? They had no traction to start with and following the farce of the last months before Mr Q ran off leaving staff vendors buyers landlords & tenants in the lurch the name is a joke, hope the buyer has deep pockets and broad shoulders!

From: jeremy clarke 09 January 2019 15:40 PM

jeremy clarke
If you cannot do the job, become a consultant!

From: jeremy clarke 09 January 2019 10:20 AM

jeremy clarke
Loor view?? Yup that scans, every time I think of property I think Loor (NOT!) Bit like when Yellow Pages changed its name to Yell!? Oh well another disruptor to add to the list.

From: jeremy clarke 08 January 2019 11:59 AM

jeremy clarke
Oh dear, has someone left the calendar open on April the first? Who, in their right mind, would want to get involved with 5,000 disgruntled, out of pocket vendors and pay for the privilege? They shoot horses don't they? Time this horse was dispatched humanely.

From: jeremy clarke 11 December 2018 09:03 AM

jeremy clarke
If the public haven't learnt their mistakes by instructing a call centre once and choose to go to another then, quite simply, they deserve each other! I don't think there will be many agents fighting over the one listing here in Christchurch!!

From: jeremy clarke 05 December 2018 14:53 PM

jeremy clarke
I get mixed up, is this the mob that carry sheep around or the mob that are trying to find a buyer at stupid money because they cannot survive on the current business model? If I'm confused then you can bet that the public are!

From: jeremy clarke 13 November 2018 10:17 AM

jeremy clarke
What? It seems that there are plenty of "research" companies out there that just take instruction (and payment) from their principle and produce a report that mirrors the instruction!

From: jeremy clarke 01 October 2018 12:05 PM

jeremy clarke
Perhaps buyers should be made aware that, if they can actually get to view a pb property and then manage to negotiate with an lpe, they will be paying £6,000 more than if they had viewed the property via another agent?

From: jeremy clarke 27 September 2018 09:03 AM

jeremy clarke
James Robinson is correct an agent has a duty to get best price for their client the vendor. If a house is advertised at £350,000 and sale is agreed at £345,000 then surely that means that the buyer is able to pay £4140 more than the offer? Company tried it in Christchurch, their fall-through rate was very high and I suspect that had something to do with mortgage companies/valuers/deposits? As the market continues to tighten all of the market disruptors will fall by the wayside and traditional will come back into its own.

From: jeremy clarke 14 September 2018 10:02 AM

jeremy clarke
Ha, that worked well for the last company that tried it! Don't you just love these disruptors?

From: jeremy clarke 11 September 2018 12:38 PM

jeremy clarke
We don't do sales, just lettings but there is clear evidence that the sales market is slowing down; 3 agents have closed in Christchurch in the last 8 weeks! I have said it before and will continue to say it, when the market slows, fewer sellers will speculate by paying up front as they realise that chances of selling have diminished. As a result all the lpes will see their incomes drop and will leave the business, once that happens it will be a pack of cards as Burple *ricks implodes along with all the other pay before you get service agents fail to make any headway in paying down huge losses and the advertising budget disappears!

From: jeremy clarke 07 August 2018 09:28 AM

jeremy clarke
Simon, we can all see where this is going. Charges will escalate as time goes on further penalising not only the smaller operators but also those who have never had reason to use any redress scheme to settle disputes! Once government see an opportunity, they will "invent" a reason for one of their departments/pals/old school chums to set up and operate the only redress scheme by which time we will all be hanging from the rafters by our short & curlies! Government (local & central) are completely clueless when it comes to the housing market, they see their position as one of making false promises e.g. the dianne abbot school of accounting -" we will build 11 billionty houses next month" and introducing layers of regulations not fit for purpose that just serve to "squash" the PRS, the agents and everyone else involved in housing. I. like many, have absolutely no idea why government are on this quest but as with many landlords and agents I have no intention of hanging around for years to see the catastrophic results!

From: jeremy clarke 19 July 2018 10:17 AM

jeremy clarke
As usual, zero experience and zero interest in our industry! Whilst gov continue to publish crazy ideas about changing our industry and yet haven't the courtesy to appoint anyone with the right background we all know that everything he says will just be a vote getter regardless of effect. Do I wish him good luck? The answer is no, I would far rather that this appointment was from outside government to someone with property experience!

From: jeremy clarke 09 July 2018 16:28 PM

jeremy clarke
Looks like Dianne Abbott has been doing his accounts? 199 x 2000 = 398,000 - 500,000 (crowdfund) = -£102,000 That doesn't account for any costs such as premises staff advertising so on that basis, my business must also be worth at least £16 million or maybe more because we show a profit! SMOKE AND MIRRORS!

From: jeremy clarke 17 May 2018 09:21 AM

jeremy clarke
Burple *ricks TOLD Government? Who the hell do they think they are? NO SALE NO FEE - THAT'S QUITE TRANSPARENT AS FAR AS I CAN SEE!

From: jeremy clarke 11 April 2018 09:00 AM

jeremy clarke
Surely an agent's duty means that the agent is employed to get the best price for a seller? If there is a £1,000 floating around which the buyer gets then how has the seller got the best price? Fiduciary duty means that an agent must be transparent with his principal (seller) and divulge any monies or other incentives earned as a result of the seller's instruction to the agent -do all the sellers know about the £1,000??

From: jeremy clarke 21 March 2018 10:31 AM

jeremy clarke
WTF? As a sales agent since the late 1980' this has always happened! A good negotiator would spot the opportunity when a property was listed, a good neg knows his vendors and applicants - we used to call it "working the box" when negs had physical applicant cards to phone out on. Often the top of the chain would "complete" the circle by buying the small property at the bottom of a chain, I've seen many a time when the seller at the top was looking to buy a family home plus investment and the property at the bottom became that investment! Is this another claim for the toothless asa to "settle informally?"

From: jeremy clarke 19 December 2017 09:31 AM

jeremy clarke
Here we insist on smoke and carbon monoxide in all properties that we let whether managed or not, my view is that if a landlord scrimps on £15 before we start, do I want that landlord? Also I suspect that there have been more deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning from incorrectly fitted/maintained gas appliances than there have from solid fuel burners? Better safe than sorry!

From: jeremy clarke 04 December 2017 10:16 AM

jeremy clarke
Makes a lot of sense, I have built my business here on a personal service and that is reflected in the reviews that we get and the referral business that we get. I do think that, if I'm allowed to call them online agents David, will suffer when the property market reaches one of its stalling periods. There are cycles in the property market, good times and bad and when properties start to take longer to sell or let, we as agents need to remember to divert our time to speaking to and looking after the business that we have. With many "online" models in agency the policy of the "agent" being paid to list means a constant pressure and I question whether that "agent" will have the time and inclination to deal with the customer service aspect of our business? Maybe these businesses will flourish but maybe, just maybe, the "stack 'em high" listing method may come back and bite them on the a**e?!

From: jeremy clarke 17 August 2017 12:38 PM

jeremy clarke
And still, they are allowed to air TV ads stating that they do not charge to sell your property!

From: jeremy clarke 09 August 2017 10:01 AM

jeremy clarke
Leasehold doesn't need banning as often it protects but what does need to change is the ability for builders to sell the freehold interest on to companies such as Homeground, also costs need to be confirmed in the lease and capped e.g. for buying the freehold or for enquiries at point of sale and for issues such as consent.

From: jeremy clarke 25 July 2017 14:54 PM

jeremy clarke
Oh well, as long as PB take note of the report today regarding employers/employees and pay the relevant tax/NI/holidays all should be well in PB land! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40561807

From: jeremy clarke 11 July 2017 12:02 PM

jeremy clarke
Anyone remember "Seekers" back in the late 1980s? They survived on listing as many properties as possible and at the time when the market was on a high they did well. What happened when the market tightened up in 1989 - 1992 though? The public became more savvy and quickly saw the flaw in the process that is to say they didn't want to pay up front whilst property prices were falling and property was struggling to sell. As a result the instruction levels for the Seekers model dried up whereas those of us who ran a conventional model estate agent had to make the choice; become overwhelmed with 100s of instructions or be selective. We became selective, increased our fee; remember the fee is paid on success not listing and our offices became more profitable than previously. I'm not suggesting at all that we will see a property crash such as the late 80s early 90s but any perceived change in the selling market will cause the public to stand back and think; will they part with just south of a £1000 hoping to hear from the agent again or instruct a professional locally based high street agent which has the tools to carry it through fluctuations in the market place? And Seekers? Disappeared without a trace sometime in the early 1990s I believe, never to be heard of again!

From: jeremy clarke 10 July 2017 09:15 AM

jeremy clarke
Isn't it just a matter of communicating the issue to sellers at the point of instruction and advising them to get solicitors to put searches in hand? If a property is correctly priced it should go under offer during that period between applying for and receiving the searches and once a "sale" is confirmed the search process is quite advanced or already completed and can be sold on to the buyer's solicitor.

From: jeremy clarke 28 June 2017 09:45 AM

jeremy clarke
Fully agree with you Trevor. With the draft blowing around whether EPCs will continue to be necessary we are finding that EPAs are unable to make a living and are jumping ship before it sinks - I predict that the same will happen when the market shrinks back and the public find that just sticking a board in the garden and an advert on the internet doesn't sell/let their property!

From: jeremy clarke 06 October 2016 09:31 AM

jeremy clarke
perhaps now Shelter will return to being a charity that helps the genuine homeless? Let's hope that in his new (probably grossly overpaid) role he will concentrate on the charity work rather than using it as a platform for his own views which appear to only curry favour with a certain sector of our community who also seem to protest about every other issue in life; runways, polar bears, eating meat, icebergs, rain forests.......and for some reason always have the time to attend marches waving placards when the majority of us are at our desks working!

From: jeremy clarke 06 October 2016 09:27 AM

jeremy clarke
£40 million house sales - dependent on where their base is that sounds like just over 100 houses sold which is probably about the same as a small market town agent manages. On that basis what are they shouting about? If they had sold thousands of houses and managed to streamline the process then that's a difference kettle of fish but really 1 person in an office could handle that pipeline surely?!

From: jeremy clarke 04 July 2016 09:07 AM

jeremy clarke
I agree with many comments on here, my biggest issue is, as Richard points out above, the title of "local expert". If I wanted a local expert I would look locally not online, I would, as a customer want to know what the "expert" could offer and would expect a lot of back up knowledge such as comparables, time served in the area and doing the job. If an "expert" turned up at my property and had only just started the job and had no local knowledge the cost of his/her service would be irrelevant, they could charge 50p for all I care I just wouldn't use them. That brings us to Chris' points about differentiating and surely competing against a recently employed "muppet" who doesn't know his patch is relatively easy? When I started in this business almost 30 years ago as a trainee negotiator I spent 6 months in an office (near the back!) before I was allowed to go out with a negotiator to start learning the ropes; it was almost a year before I was allowed to go on an appraisal. When I first managed an office I worked on the same basis, as a result of that some 20 years on at least 10 of my ex-staff are either managers of offices, area mangers or run their own businesses - they are proper local experts!

From: jeremy clarke 13 June 2016 11:25 AM

jeremy clarke
Or simply a raft of renegotiated offers as the date passes? I'm sure that most experienced agents could cope with that scenario but what about the online three and sixpence agents - do they have the staff, the skills and the time? Just a few extra hours and that cheap fee becomes a negative fee to them!

From: jeremy clarke 29 February 2016 09:07 AM

jeremy clarke
smoke and mirrors? How can you announce a loss and a profit for the same period?

From: jeremy clarke 09 February 2016 09:35 AM

jeremy clarke
When I first came into agency in 1988 with what was then Hambro Countrywide their offices were open 8 - 8 - didn't last very long!

From: jeremy clarke 09 February 2016 09:28 AM

jeremy clarke
And in more" news" a negotiator from Bloggs Estate Agency was spotted crossing the road without looking both ways!

From: jeremy clarke 08 February 2016 09:03 AM

jeremy clarke
Now, is that 50% inclusive of VAT or exclusive of VAT? 50% of what, shouldn't a fee be published in order that the man on the street can calculate what 50% off means? And what about Pythagoras; the sum of the square of the 2 sides equals the sum of the square of the diagonal but only if you publish the length of the 2 sides? Or not? Confusing this advertising lark isn't it?

From: jeremy clarke 17 November 2015 09:56 AM

jeremy clarke
Perhaps he/she could start targeting agents that do not display their fees and pass details on to the trading standards people who seem unable to leave their snug little offices to go out in the cold and look for themselves?!

From: jeremy clarke 09 November 2015 08:46 AM

jeremy clarke
Why oh why was everyone drawn in to this fight? Over the years lots of portals have come and gone..... At the end of the day agents are just wasting energy, let alone money worrying about new portals. Nobody will ever topple Rightmove; they started the process years ago, when they started it was free, they signed up thousands of agents, kept it free for a few years and then started to charge a monthly fee by which time they were so well established that nobody thought of moving away. Yes over the years they became greedy SOBS and we all hate them for it but they ain't going anywhere! You will never change the public's perception of online portals, it's either RM Z or the agents own website that they will visit; ask a sample of say 5,000 people on the street and I bet 80% will know RM & Z whilst hardly anyone will have heard of OTM, irrespective of how many TV ads they produce. So if OTM are going to survive they need to drop the attitude, offer the site free to all agents for 2 -3 years with a cap to costs after that and allow agents to choose which portals they advertise on. If they are still around in 3 years time we can then discuss the matter, in the meantime let them all get on with the bickering and we can get on with our jobs.

From: jeremy clarke 26 October 2015 09:14 AM

jeremy clarke
Has anyone asked the public? Does the public really care? It seems to me that this has become a battle of agents and portals; if one (any of) the portals disappeared tomorrow would the public (a) care, (b) notice (c) stop buying/renting houses? I suspect that the answer to all questions is no, they would just carry on regardless. We retain just 1 website and that suffices; if agents are doing their job correctly enquiries from 1 listing just need converting to another or more suitable property - after all in the days of newspapers did we always advertise every property every week?

From: jeremy clarke 20 October 2015 09:14 AM

jeremy clarke
What a way to run a business, a bit like selling something to a customer and then reducing the price as soon as they leave the door. Makes you wonder who would trust an operator that was prepared to drop prices by so much in one hit!

From: jeremy clarke 05 October 2015 13:51 PM

jeremy clarke
To make it even more confusing - our local TSO advises that the legislation only covers fees displayed in the agent's office and on the agents' own web sites; therefore allowing exclusive fees to be quoted on Rightmove micro sites and on printed terms of business???

From: jeremy clarke 14 September 2015 09:34 AM

jeremy clarke
Is there an online agent that promotes itself in any way other than cheap fees? Having been in the business for almost £30 years this just seems to be the latest gimmick in a long line. I remember the days in traditional estate agency when colour photos arrived and we "charged" vendors for the privilege effectively increasing our fees; after a while the weaker agents caved in and fees were eroded again by including the photos. How long before these budget barrow boys erode their £9 a week fee by chucking in the boards and plans to "compete" with the High Street Agents??

From: jeremy clarke 11 September 2015 09:40 AM

jeremy clarke
YAWN! Remember Seekers back in the 80's boom, where are they now? When the market is good this sort of company will do okay but when the market starts to get tougher nothing beats the High Street Agent who cannot hide behind an internet page and probably has more local knowledge that anyone sitting in a call centre is a tucked away corner of the country! The other thing of course is, I guess that these guys want your money up front whereas the high Street Agent does a lot of this on trust. £119 to erect a for sale board, where's my van and mallet??

From: jeremy clarke 09 September 2015 10:34 AM

jeremy clarke
Please can someone wake me up when a "new" online agent can think of something to promote themselves other than cheap fees?

From: jeremy clarke 10 August 2015 11:53 AM

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