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Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo

CEO

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About Me

Was an agent. Owned estate agencies. Now joint founder of AVRillo, the UKs more awarded conveyancing lawyers. I love making a difference, getting a deal over the line, moving my clients and making my estate agent suppliers more money.

my expertise in the industry

I was an estate agent, then estate agency owner of more than one agency, sold up at profit to focus on conveyancing, and building up AVRillo. I one of the few specialists property lawyers in the UK, have two Masters in Property, as well as qualified as a property Arbitrator, able to judge property disputes. It means I can problems early, and find creative solutions others tend to miss. It means our clients and estate agents havea 95% success rate, rather than 63% with other lawyers across the UK. I am member of the Association of Public Speakers. I teach both lawyers and estate agents in winning ways, and am author of various conveyancing made easy handbooks.

Angelo 's Recent Activity

100% agree, Beth. We launched our sale-ready pack when the property goes on the market. We an online php coded property information form, which, once completed, feeds straight into our case history system. We’ve also included upfront material information we suspect might be needed under parts B and C. We’re also beta testing a preliminary report on title ‘complexity score’ report based on our assessment of the Land Registry deeds we include in our sale ready pack so the parties can try to find solutions in the one to two months between the property going on the market to offer accepted SSTC. We’re also adding a separate valuation report for clients and estate agents who may want to avail themselves of that too. It’s proving to be accurate. We genuinely believe that upfront transparency changes are long over due to get nearer to the more certain, faster Scottish system.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 17 June 2023 15:28 PM

Rob I know you and many others know just how crucial this is. I know you will be pushing this at National Conveyancing Week. Out if interest can estate agents come along too. We need to have a collaborative to ensure changes work in practice.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 03 March 2023 12:26 PM

This might upset some conveyancing lawyers, but not the ones that get it! I'll add my bit as former agent and solicitor for some 30 years. I've never seen conveyancing so bad. It's getting slower, with some lawyers having lost the art of picking up the phone and sorting out the problem there and then without having a long email battle over simple things. Arguing for no real reason adds weeks to the already slow transaction. As for COVID, yes, of course it has slowed the transaction down. More paperwork to send out, complex scenarios to deal with. That's without all the firms closing, redundancies etc. I've been told Rightmove estimate an extra month on the transaction when it was already close to 5 months! It's not easy for agents or lawyers to keep up. I can share what we have done, but we've been brave. We've spent money and recources on engaging the team, keeping them motivated, and committed to getting deals done. This includes looking after their wellbeing and paying good commission rates (not only completing but ensuring they complete with high customer scores). Tony (my brother and business partner) each work 20 hours a day, but i don't expect or want them to do this; but my word do they work hard. So far we have not even increased our prices, which most firms do. It means though all my team work hard, long hours but are keeping their reputation for getting the deals done. What else have we done? We put more money where our mouth is. We started to recruit new lawyers in May. Over the last 3 months we have taken on 10 experienced conveyancing lawyers. We are bringing on 4 more. Fact is, we took the view that we did not spend 22 years on building up AVRillo to see if fall due to current staff not coping with new demands. Yes, less profit, but a firm with an engaged, well paid workforce, and happy agents who get their deals done. It's not easy, but if conveyancers are to survive, we must all continue to invest as much as we can in doing a good job now, or face losing business.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 21 September 2020 20:09 PM

A must article Nat, well done. Is it all down to white socks? It's undoubtedly historical. When I started in estate agency 30 years ago, estate agents were trusted advisers. Clients walked in with respect for our knowledge. The 90's house boom saw 'get rich quick' 'white socks brigade' of agents in flash cars, cute minis, over-inflating prices, cash cash cash with minimal work in a rising market!! Now is the time agents can prove their worth. Valuations, negotiation, helping with the sales progression, these are all things which the seller and buyer will find extremely hard to do alone. Communication more, show your knowledge of prices, the local market, explain the 63% abortive rate if they don't have someone like you holding their hand, post-offer acceptance, all the way to completion. Surely that will enable you to increase your commission fee. People want to know they are getting good value for money from their chosen expert. Not paying for something they think they can stick on Rightmove and sell.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 29 August 2020 12:52 PM

I was an agent and owned estate agencies. I am a conveyancer I co-own AVRillo conveyancing. I’ve seen the customers perspective from both ends. It would be total madness to buy and sell without the estate agent. We’ve done tens of thousands of completions, and yes, things are not always perfect, but they are good enough. The focus has to be on what we can do more, not less of. When I’ve personally bought and sold I’ve always used a right agent, not a purple bricks or no scent model. Don’t forget 37% of sales abort. The key to a successful move is improved communication between the chain, not less. Transacting without an estate agent would bring the chain to a virtual standstill so much so that we won’t even take a case on if there is no agent. It’s difficult enough to proactively get to exchange and completion with a lazy agent who can’t be bothered to get involved but imagine progressing without the help of an estate agent who can speak to both seller and buyer. Impossible. What about estate agents fees? When I buy and sell something of value, like property, I never go for the cheapest. Do you? And boy is there cheap agents out there. If you want the job done right, you need to pay the right money for it. Don’t underpay and expect the agent to be motivated or have the recourses to do the job fully. Ever heard of the saying “you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”. Not quite, but you get what I mean.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 26 August 2020 07:47 AM

This is a really good award, as voted by the customers, those that count, remember all they pay our bills

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 18 August 2020 14:53 PM

It's sad, and a missed opportunity.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 08 August 2020 16:19 PM

I love a good raffle, but still, got to be better ways to sell a home. On Eddie's calculation, they made a loss. Maybe better for the vendor to re-align their asking price!

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 08 August 2020 13:18 PM

COVID. But objectively though, wouldn't it be a better use of everyone's resources if we spent less time fixating on Rightmove, and more of our valuable human recourses focusing on what we should do best. After all, time is the only thing we can't get back, so lets put it to really good use. Why not redirect that energy on using Rightmove and any other portal to its full. Let's get on the phones more, follow up the Rightmove leads more, be more interactive, get back to the service which many agents and lawyers have lost. Fact is, sellers and buyers, love Rightmove. We used it when we were agents because we wanted to sell and attract more buyers to buy. Rightmove fulfil the same role, very well, now as it did then. In fact, even better. All I am saying, we are a long time dead, let's use our working time on making the moves that will earn us more money in a pretty good market now, after so many months of fear over COVID crash.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 08 August 2020 12:29 PM

A £4 million loss forecast is nothing for the size of RM during this social and economic crisis. This forecast is actually a good indicator that property market never crashed. It just got put on hold. It was ready to come back after Brexit, and it did. We, as did most agents and lawyers, suffered a 90% drop in instructions during COVID lockdown. But things are changing fast We provide our conveyancing to estate agents all over the UK. Fact is, agents (and therefore we) are now busier than pre-covid. People want to move and the money is there to spend. The government have pumped billions into the economy, low interest rates and they have even told the banks to lend and spend. I traded both as an agent and as a solicitor during both the 1989 and 2008 crash. This is completely different. Get set for a very busy period.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 07 August 2020 00:56 AM

Hi Paul. You are so right. Margate another underrated area. Kent the garden of England. I could read on the train. Wow! What a luxury. Also took the kids for the first time in Rye on the East Sussex coast. Some of those buildings date back to 1440, cobbled stones and a 4 star pub lunch. It so nice to re-discover the beauty and fresher air outside London.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 07 August 2020 00:41 AM

I was one of those looking to potentially move from the smoke, but having read the comments, my new question, does it have a nearby tube station, and will it get me into London in 25 minutes. If not, I might just enjoy my drives into Devon, Cornwall and all the other beautiful places we forgot about pre Covid.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 06 August 2020 13:03 PM

As you say does everyone meet for tea and biscuits (and pretty much give up for 2 or 3 years) or is something going to be done. I’ve become a bit cynical over my 30 years running both estate agency and conveyancing legal firm. People are tired, fed up, and will go for the least resistance and opt to dunk their biscuits into their cosy cup of tea. But yet, if we don’t change digital savvy, more demanding consumers will force change on us. So let’s take the lead. Let’s stay in business. Be more successful by doing the right thing. Stand out and your standards will be followed. People follow success. Take that lead now. Be the change!

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 29 July 2020 00:50 AM

The media get it wrong, often intentionally to get the big head line. There is billions of pound printed on purpose. There is "loads of money" in the economy. This is not the 2008 crash. This is totally different. Oxford are close to a vaccine. People are desperate to move. Money is there. Most of redundancies will be in the younger age group who sadly are unable to buy in any event.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 22 July 2020 10:02 AM

It could go so easily go down that line. It needs active agents like you Paul, who know the day to day business to push for practical regulations and enforcement

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 21 July 2020 16:40 PM

Tell you what will get rid of more dead wood Rebecca, more enforcement powers, and stricter penalties. Those that break the rules are making it difficult for the good agents.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 21 July 2020 16:38 PM

My point exactly Philip. Without teeth, those that care will be spends hours and hours on complying, does that don't care, and know there is a small risk of enforcement (a big chunk of agents sadly) will just carry out regardless. The consultation must push enforcement measures.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 21 July 2020 16:37 PM

Get ready to work more, and make more money! There was no doubt at all that the boom would start around about now. Money is plentiful, people want to spend, and us Brits love to buy property. We have more home ownership than any of our European counterparts. We love buying property. When you buy, it makes you feel good, and it makes you spend more. Don't forget; the real brakes was Brexit. COVID will have a vaccine by the end of the year. So what next? Get yourself ready. Be prepared to work hard, service your client better, more calls more updates. Keep tighter control on your conveyancing and get ready to make the money agents desperately need to keep in business.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 20 July 2020 14:29 PM

As an ex estate agents, turned conveyancing specialists, I (as co-founder of AVRillo) know just how time-consuming regulation compliance can be. It's almost crippling, but ones which are needed all the same to keep the cowboys out. HOWEVER! There is no point having regulations unless there is bite behind them. They need to be enforced, so the good agents don't get swamped in tying up their resources, and the bad agents flout the rules, knowing there is no much chance of enforcement. My view, have your say, make the regulations work for you, but ask for enforcers to take action, so you all work from a level playing field and get consumers to trust agents again as their professional advisers.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 20 July 2020 14:11 PM

Thank goodness for Zoom. Covid has advanced use of tech in the property industry by many years in as many months. And for the better. However, what you don’t get on the virtual platform is the chance to share ideas and a strengthened energy to give more, do more. The vaccine will come, people will be safer and conferences will return to face to face, but all in good time. Until then, let’s talk to each other, be honest and hold each other accountable to do better and more for the customer, our staff, each other and our industry

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 20 July 2020 01:00 AM

It’s a joke! Let’s all wake up and smell the coffee. As ex estate, and conveyancer, I’ve seen for decades exchange of mistrust between the two. Sometimes that’s about all that gets exchanged!! The sooner we all realise we are on ‘team client’ and talk to each other properly the sooner the horrendous abortive rates will stop.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 20 July 2020 00:49 AM

tell you what, lets back date it to 1694, the date when Stamp duty was introduced in England during the reign of William and Mary to raise money for war against France. Tell you what, there is talk about tax rises at some point in the future, bring it back in March with the tax also introduced on goods including hats, for the crisis of 1694.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 13 July 2020 09:40 AM

I'll add my pennies worth. 100% conveyancers will not cope. As ex estate agent turned Conveyancers my word of warning, be prepared to work closer with your conveyancer or find someone who can work with you to get your deals over the line. If they can't cope, you won't get paid.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 09 July 2020 19:25 PM

Chris, thank you asking such direct questions. Your hard hitting interviews have become the newsnight of the industry; plus brave of Jason to come on.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 26 June 2020 08:11 AM

I am devastated by the loss of Louie. Not only knowledgeable and an expert in his field, but also a very nice guy. I am glad I knew him.

From: Angelo Piccirillo CEO AVRillo 22 June 2020 18:23 PM

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