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Russell Quirk

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About Me

my expertise in the industry

Russell's Recent Activity

Totally agree! 😀

From: Russell Quirk 17 January 2024 14:26 PM

An actual free market, small state conservative in the housing role? Yes please.

From: Russell Quirk 22 August 2022 07:18 AM

See also YourBusinessNumber

From: Russell Quirk 01 June 2022 08:14 AM

On The Market’s IP lawyers will be busy today

From: Russell Quirk 31 January 2022 07:04 AM

The comms from Simplify have been handed terribly - because there hasn’t been any. A business of this size with a crisis affecting so many thousands of customers, agents and staff should have put a crisis PR strategy in play from day one. You can always decide WHAT to say day to day. But you can’t just say NOTHING except for a bland message on your website. Silence is indicative of a situation that is even more sinister than perhaps it is. It will worry stakeholders far more than a regular dialogue even if this dialogue is uncomfortable. It also smacks of arrogance and apathy and for years into the future agents and customers will more remember the WAY this debacle was handled over and above what the problem itself was.

From: Russell Quirk 20 December 2021 07:45 AM

Simon is an exceptional individual. I worked alongside him at Keller Williams and his intellect and passion for the job were both always evident. One of the most experienced senior execs in the property industry. He’ll do well here.

From: Russell Quirk 03 September 2021 07:34 AM

Foxtons’ previously aggressive approach and it’s culture are what made Foxtons great and infamous amongst sellers and landlords. It’s lost its mojo in that respect now under a management team that are far too corporate, not adventurous enough and that have squeezed the culture out of the business. For Foxtons to be ‘valuable’ again it must return to its purposeful ‘kill or be killed’ approach. But it won’t - not under the current regime.

From: Russell Quirk 02 September 2021 09:10 AM

You’re welcome Foxtons. Only took you three years to action the idea, the presentation detail and the geographic data I provided to you on this.

From: Russell Quirk 04 June 2021 18:54 PM

The long-term winner will be that which courts agents as equal partners rather than as ‘game’. And that once agent member traction starts to occur, can convince investors to back an audacious marketing campaign to push front and centre into public psyche. Innovation, yes too. But not for innovation’s sake but to forge a genuine improvement in both consumer user experience and, importantly, agent revenue. Rightmove have lots to worry about but too far into the future for the current, short-term incentivised management team to bother with. Much to the detriment of long term shareholders. ‘The Incumbents Dilemma’

From: Russell Quirk 08 August 2020 10:14 AM

And just as significant, the mood of the Bank of England MPC has turned toward a future cut in interest rates whereby cheap mortgages are set to become even cheaper. It’s the low cost of money that has really fuelled house prices over the last decade or so and so if there’s a collision of positive sentiment and even lower mortgage costs, the scene is set for a buoyant market.

From: Russell Quirk 16 January 2020 07:37 AM

Mark. Thanks for your comment. I’m not talking about tiny variations in opinion but purposeful, significant over valuations that are orchestrated to specifically coerce sellers to list with that agent. There’s a big difference between what I’m highlighting and what you’re saying. And we all know it goes on

From: Russell Quirk 06 January 2020 18:48 PM

Simon. U.K. agents are more ambitious than you give them credit for and many want to earn what they deserve. The cautious ones may stay where they are, sure, but the good ones will look to prosper by retaining the majority of the selling fee that, after all, they earn. Going it alone and having to deal with compliance, tech and admin isn’t very optimal. Whereas having the support of a global brand, training and, of course, all your portal and CRM costs paid for by Keller, will make a lot of sense to smart agents. As for commissions, an average U.K. fee of £3000 means that a Keller agent keeps £2000 per transaction. Instead of, what, £150 with Countrywide or LSL? That’s a huge incentive.

From: Russell Quirk 16 October 2019 08:08 AM

The planning process isn’t really the issue. The bottleneck is the developers that throttle supply despite having planning permission. Currently, around 600,000 plots are land banked by the top 10 house builders and whom decide on a whim what they build and where based upon shareholder value rather than overall need. Supply of homes, especially affordable homes, must be tackled differently rather than it being at the behest of a handful of housing developers and whom will never build more than their forward P&L forecast dictates.

From: Russell Quirk 30 September 2019 08:14 AM

Hi James, perhaps you could decide who can air opinion and who can’t?

From: Russell Quirk 22 August 2019 22:25 PM

Try to keep up. I was interviewed on video for hours by Graham Lock and then Chris Watkins back in December and January. No holds barred. Life moves on... PS. ‘Missing millions’ makes for a nice sensationalist line but is a silly thing to assert. And defamatory

From: Russell Quirk 17 August 2019 16:58 PM

‘To SSTC...’. ? As we all know, booking a proper sale means different things to different agents. Chain checks, AIPs etc are from my experience of PB, not obstacles to them marking a home as ‘sold’. Therefore the data used here is not particularly representative of success. Listing to completion? Assuming the completion is proven to relate to the same agent that listed the property... that’s a rather more definitive measure and may show a very different picture here.

From: Russell Quirk 27 June 2019 14:28 PM

Revenue growth, yes. There’s precious little revenue growth in the HS business model and probably less than they had three years ago

From: Russell Quirk 27 June 2019 11:05 AM

One of several things I learned from the Emoov experience is that sales fees can be perceived to be too cheap to be good enough. Turns out it’s fundamental consumer psychology. So, going from too cheap to free makes no sense in terms of becoming dominant. Ancillary revenue only applies on completion. And given the data I saw recently that HouseSimple complete on about 35% of their listings, the unit economics just don’t add up here. Especially when you consider customer acquisition costs. The only way online agency (sales) works? Is to INCREASE fees, not to waive them.

From: Russell Quirk 27 June 2019 00:27 AM

Because people like you comment. You numpty

From: Russell Quirk 28 January 2019 09:00 AM

Emoov have operated a full and proper sales progression team since I founded the business in 2010. Vetting buyers, negotiating offers and progressing the sale are what estate agents are supposed to do. Online or not, those agents that ignore these important aspects are not estate agents but merely listing agents. However Graham, to categorise 'all online agents' as the same, is incorrect and inaccurate See https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/true-hybrid-russell-quirk

From: Russell Quirk 03 March 2018 08:57 AM

It is true that the customers of online agents are more likely to sell and that is as likely to be due to the targeted nature of online agency's proposition and their motivation to sell as to the fact that, ironically, they have paid in advance and therefore have 'skin in the game' and are bound not to be a 'tyre kicker' as some speculative sellers turn out to be, having listed, withdrawn and wasted a high street agent's money. And which is then passed on to successful 'no sale-no fee' sellers to subsidise. Such a model seems as 'unfair' on the consumer as the charge that is made in reverse of online agents' upfront charging model. 'I know an agent who was talking to a vendor who, in his view, nearly cost herself £40,000 by using Purplebricks - a lot more than any fee saved!' The danger in fishing around for such random examples, relied upon as a defence to the change happening in our industry and as protection to justify higher and higher fees, is that traditional agency players may actually begin to believe that there is such a difference in the performance of an online agent versus themselves. Such anecdotal aspersions are merely whimsical and convenient. A crutch. And with an absence of any data to stand such spurious claims up. To suggest that sellers sleep-walk into accepting lower offers via online agents is hugely insulting to the customers' intelligence. It also conveniently disregards the infinite comparable information available to us all via the internet. Frankly, of the thousands of homes that I have personally valued in my career I can think of none where the owner had not researched pricing themselves or where they had already decided on a price having had half a dozen agents round and, often, plumped for the highest price of all those quoted in order to 'see what happens'. No. To decry the online approach as being sub-standard simply does not hold any weight. Especially when you consider that many online agents advertise a 99% of asking price achievement where Hometrack states that the the UK traditional agent average is just 97%. It might just be, mightn't it, that high street agents are no better or worse on such performance than online agents and vice versa? Perhaps an agent is an agent is an agent? I wager that's what the public think, anyhow. Which leaves the other differentiators of fee and, importantly, customer service. The latter which, in general, the typical online agent excels at. So perhaps the message here is not to fight the new guys. But to learn from them and to focus on making estate agency better for the consumer rather than merely looking at what is 'best', most profitable, or 'fair' for incumbent industry participants themselves? Yet that is all I seem to hear. Ultimately, what the consumer wants will ensure the winning approach. And to attempt to pull the wool over their eyes on the basis of 'pay more and you'll get more' is an outdated commercial philosophy that evaporated the second that Amazon; Expedia; eBay; South West Air; Spotify; et al took their first dollar.

From: Russell Quirk 16 April 2017 14:09 PM

When you look closely you'll see that the best online and hybrid agents are proving fabulous customer service and then commanding a fuller fee that's justified by that performance. Not all of them can demonstrate such though. Whilst high street fees are pressured downwards, the better online companies are seeing increases in revenue per customer. As there are different approaches to doing business in the traditional sector there are also very different model nuances within the online/hybrid space too. I'll leave the race to the bottom to others and will concentrate on enhancing the eMoov proposition further and further.

From: Russell Quirk 29 October 2016 10:21 AM

Nat, a nicely balanced article the takeaway from which is certainly 'here to stay' as far as the digital agency space is concerned (there you go, another sector term to feast on). The Rightmove stat is a very interesting one and, surely, an unbiased analysis of digital market share growing. 2.5% in 2014 and 5% in 2016. Which, extrapolated as a trend line, indicates a 20% market share by 2020. That's 360,000 listings. Food for thought...

From: Russell Quirk 20 August 2016 15:32 PM

Time for the NAEA to step away from this farce and remove themselves from the OTM board, surely?

From: Russell Quirk 21 April 2016 12:42 PM

Well well. Better late than never :-) Let's see, did the founding agents of Savills, Knight Frank, Spicer haart, Strutt & Parker, Douglas & Gordon etc all drop Zoopla?

From: Russell Quirk 21 April 2016 12:41 PM

Thanks Algarve I. There's something for everyone in our PR pipe all year round (not just at Christmas) and 2016 promises similar informatives and educational pieces. Happy to help the industry as such, as always. And I'm sure you'll see the entire online/hybrid/digital/virtual sector significantly ramping up their activities next year. We certainly are ;-) Have a great Christmas everyone. See you in the New Year!

From: Russell Quirk 24 December 2015 10:14 AM

Slippery. Slope.

From: Russell Quirk 11 December 2015 08:56 AM

From: Russell Quirk 17 November 2015 07:16 AM

So I bought Huts.co.uk for £1300 instead (no, we're not rebranding). If anyone wants to buy it for £50,000 just let me know ;)

From: Russell Quirk 06 November 2015 05:26 AM

This says it all (yesterday's Telegraph article) 'Gavin Jago, of Peel Hunt, said: “Countrywide has been trying to hold its commission rates and its market share has suffered as a result. The growing presence of online and hybrid estate agents will only increase this pressure.” Mr Jago thinks the sector is only at “the early stages of structural change”, which could see consumers shift their business to lower-cost online estate agents'. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/marketreport/11975980/Countrywide-warns-on-profits-as-housing-sales-slow.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

From: Russell Quirk 05 November 2015 07:22 AM

Ouch. This is desperate stuff

From: Russell Quirk 03 November 2015 08:21 AM

And if OTM then allowed so called online agents to list, they'd be an all inclusive, proper property website and would have the opportunity to hold all UK inventory, increase traffic and thus giving greater confidence to buyers and agents alike resulting in a more viable and visible business. But that would be a sensible, commercially astute move and so far, the AM board seem not to want to do anything sensible or commercially astute. Therefore my prediction of OTM's demise by the time the candles are lit on their first birthday cake, still looks likely.

From: Russell Quirk 31 October 2015 09:28 AM

Wow. Even consolidating from 50 brands to 10 would be too many to promote and sustain in a space that is ever shifting online. I wonder how many consumers have heard of Countrywide and know that they are the largest UK estate agency player? Not many I suspect. Interestingly, as the largest, the group have just a 6% market share in the UK and this perhaps makes Countrwide vulnerable against single brand, consumer focussed players. Wasn't 'retail' surpassed by eCommerce a while back?

From: Russell Quirk 23 October 2015 08:12 AM

I'm afraid you continue to totally misunderstand the online model. And to see your own ways of working through ever more rose tinted spectacles. It's a shame.

From: Russell Quirk 11 October 2015 20:56 PM

Thanks for the mention. The round closes today and we've just hit £2.5m by 730 individual investors

From: Russell Quirk 08 October 2015 06:10 AM

Thanks Terence. Not sure what you mean by '..without giving much of a service back...'? You don't seem to elaborate on that. Anyhow, great idea to have you offer me the chance to work as an estate agent (although I thought I'd been doing that the past 16 years). I'll be there with you Monday for you to show me the ropes. What time do you start?

From: Russell Quirk 02 September 2015 07:12 AM

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