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Nichola Taylor Cockayne
Nichola Taylor Cockayne
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Nichola Taylor Cockayne
The HIPs didn't really work the first time, and cost many people who trained as providers a lot of money and time. However, i do agree that searches and further information should be available digitally in the same fashion that the EPC register and title registers are available. Waiting 6 weeks plus for a local search is criminal! It is worth noting that there is still an enormous amount of homeowners who are not internet savvy and require paper and phone based methods. I do agree that digital signatures should be permitted to help speed things up, with the appropriate regulation of course, but both systems will need run in parallel for a while yet. Our firm is just about to go into its 20th Year, and for much of that time we have been regulated by NAEA, who have strict requirements for estate agents. To introduce an additional licence requirement is foolish and open to bungling, but to have a set industry standard and require estate agents to become part of ONE regulating body like NAEA for example, would help across the industry and stay within fair competition. Especially with some of the cowboys (even corporate ones) out there. A digital property portfolio, accessible to edit only by legal professionals with a data log of any amendments and removals would speed things up, log developments to the property, sale transactions and so on, would be good. The buyers and sellers, and estate agents for example, could view the portfolio on a read only basis. Allowing a buyer to be able to amend the contents is open for all kinds of fiddling with. The 'lock in' e.g. loss of deposit should a buyer wish to retract their bid, is already a key part of the selling process in parts of Europe/nearby - Malta and Norway i believe are such places. This is also also how the auction method works, once a bid is accepted. If the government is hoping for a move to 'auction style buying and selling' there's an enormous amount of work to do to get there. While we're at it, shall we simplify the mortgage, probate and divorce industry too?

From: Nichola Taylor Cockayne 20 December 2017 10:20 AM

Nichola Taylor Cockayne
So tell me again why they have attacked the rental sector, which provides homes for the people that need to rent (which can include people with low income, zero hours contracts, council tenant waiting list, separation, poor credit, temporary contracts, waiting for the right house to buy and so on) ? Considering the waiting lists and the lack of council house building going on, never mind the other reasons people want/need to rent, surely an investment project, similar to the shared ownership schemes, would help finance the building and increase the numbers of property available to waiting tenants. And make it a viable investment and potential pension supplement. Not everyone can buy. A lot of people will never be able to for a number of reasons. These people won't just 'go away'.

From: Nichola Taylor Cockayne 05 October 2017 13:11 PM

Nichola Taylor Cockayne
Targeting tourists spots in Britain like this will drive more people abroad on holiday. It's already quite pricey for families to go away in the UK, with many popular spots in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Canary Isles, Greece and Turkey available for about the same or less money. Not to mention more predictable weather. To damage the UK tourist industry at this point would be a bad idea. Let's be honest, the tax rise would be footed by the people staying there on holiday.

From: Nichola Taylor Cockayne 11 August 2017 14:05 PM

Nichola Taylor Cockayne
As nobody saw that coming a mile off...

From: Nichola Taylor Cockayne 27 March 2017 11:18 AM

Nichola Taylor Cockayne
Coming from a small family-run agency, we already do all of the above and for 1%. We have to do a good job for our customers, and we have to excel in all areas to stand apart from the corporate firms like this one and other more-well known ones in the UK. We wouldn't survive otherwise, and we depend on each other to all do their part in the team. Much like the online and "hybrid" agents, this 'US style customer service' already details what any decent agent already does! The main difference is cost. We don't have to put an exorbitant price tag on quality service, just a fair one. In my experience, having commission-only staff is a recipe for trouble, and isn't far off the unethical zero hours contracts that have caused such a palava recently. You get pushy salespeople, aggressive and underhanded tactics, a massive turn over of staff and intense demoralisation. There is no team or synergy! It only strengthens the public belief of Estate Agents being in the top-ten most hated professions of the UK.

From: Nichola Taylor Cockayne 30 January 2017 10:28 AM

Nichola Taylor Cockayne
So, from what I gather, 'hybrid agencies' is just the latest buzz word for a complicated and many tiered service. That is, to have a paperless do-it-yourself model with photos and online advertising done by the agent, to be able to add in 'extras' like signs and accompanied viewings, to have an up-front payment and a no-sale-no-fee payment option instead, and also to have the option to go all in where the agent does everything included in one price. So essentially, it just gives customers more choice and complicates a service that should be super-simple, while hiding behind fancy jargon like 'hybrid' and claiming to save vendors thousands of pounds in fees... Aren't all Estate Agents 'hybrids' then? Besides that, what rock do journalists live under when it comes to selling houses outside of London? How many agents do you know charge enough that certain online agents can claim to save vendors 3k-5k in fees?

From: Nichola Taylor Cockayne 12 September 2016 09:56 AM

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