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Michael Day

Managing Director

1456 Profile Views

About Me

Award winning industry professional with over 40 years experience (started when I was three!)

MBA, FRICS, FNAEA, FARLA

my expertise in the industry

Partner A C Frost & Co 1983-1986
Regional Director Prudential Property Services 1986-1991
Director Connells and Conveyancing Director 1991-2003
Owner and Managing Director Integra Property Services 2003-present day
NED teclet - 2018- present day

Michael's Recent Activity

I obviously share these concerns. The Consumer Protection Against Unfair Trading Regulations go far wider than NTSELAT's "guidance" and whilst well intentioned, they, alongside the portal "tick box" and the Propertymark PIQ approach will, IMO, leave agents potentially exposed to greater risks than intended as caveat emptor is kicked into history.

From: Michael Day 19 March 2024 16:09 PM

It will be interesting to see how it develops James. Of course, conveyancers are covered by Consumer Protection Against Unfair Trading Regs too but are better placed and qualified to make interpretations than the majority of agents. Whilst Trading Standards have sought to provide clearer guidance to agents, what is being covered in A< B and C as material information is not exhaustive and a "tick box" approach will, IMO, ultimately prove inadequate.

From: Michael Day 19 March 2024 09:06 AM

As you say, I wholly advocate getting a conveyancer involved for the seller at point of marketing, not point of sale. There is a significant good practice and commercial opportunity here for everyone. There may be an opportunity to mitigate PI risk for an agent in this situation - key as I said in the article is having an operational and strategic plan - the portals will often be showing "Ask the agent" in their rather basic tick box display of material information and I envisage the "blaggers" and the "poorly trained and informed" could be exposing themselves to greater risk. Conveyancers do, IMO, need to look at being prepared to work slightly differently to currently in order to create win, win, win scenarios - a win for the client, the conveyancer and the agent. IMO moving to a no move, no fee proposition would facilitate making this easier, lock clients in and provide a platform for higher fees.

From: Michael Day 19 March 2024 09:03 AM

Thank you - the encouragement and support of my many friends and contacts across the industry certainly helps in keeping me motivated to do the numbers!

From: Michael Day 14 August 2023 10:45 AM

Thanks Rob - always good to walk the walk as well as talk the talk!

From: Michael Day 14 August 2023 10:43 AM

Meaningless and somewhat disingenuous comments by "potential acquirer" who has at least achieved the oxygen of some publicity - I'm sure he'd run a mile if they actually said yes! The business is losing several hundreds of thousands of pounds a week which would need covering plus the costs of restructuring as he suggests. I don't see major shareholders such as Axel Springer rushing to consider! BTW is his offer subject to contract or due diligence? If not could be very expensive!

From: Michael Day 21 February 2023 13:17 PM

The cost of an AML check is not simply a basic ID, PEPs and Sanctions check which might be £2-5 a person (often without photo or NFC chip checks). There is the need for a risk assessment, HMRC registration, staff time etc. Hopefully in the near future we will see the Digital Trust Framework mean that these checks can be shared between appropriate parties as customers/clients often having to go through same/similar process with agents, conveyancers and lenders - the latter two of which normally charge.

From: Michael Day 08 February 2023 10:43 AM

They share a NED - I think that probably has as much to do with the decision as the financial gain. In fairness to Lifetime Legal - it is their Smart Compliance product which is much better (and more costly) than a basic AML ID check that many agents use so not comparing like with like. How it is sold and the "mark up" aspect is the key issue though. Making £30 or so on an AML product won't change the fortunes of Purplebricks who IMO still need to re-establish a clear differentiated market proposition and transactional volumes

From: Michael Day 08 February 2023 10:38 AM

The issue of referral fees is clearly important but, IMO, if the relationship and understanding between the agent and conveyancer is a good one it is a bit of a “red herring” Agents should be doing more than just passing a telephone number across and asking a conveyancer to quote – they should be adding value by selling the conveyancing service to the consumer (ideally on a known and agreed fee scale) and completing some of the collection of information required. During the transaction they should again be adding value through proactive involvement and engagement with all parties to progress the transaction. Conveyancers for their part should be prepared to open a file and not wait until a completed chain exists – there is much work they could be doing to get ahead of the curve in a sale/purchase. If the relationship and operation runs akin to outlined above, then a referral fee is actually good value for the conveyancer as they will not have to spend time, money and other resources on finding clients and selling their services. Sales progression can be speeded up by agreed contact with agents rather than a piecemeal approach. No sensible agent should refer business to a conveyancer who doesn't meet acceptable standards as the value of a sales commission clearly outweighs any referral fee achieved. As the catalyst for the transaction, agents are in a strong position but need to balance performance and service with headline referral fees. I’m all for agents and conveyancers charging higher fees – if they can both demonstrate the “value add” (faster transactions, less aborts etc) then they will easily be able to achieve. Might even see conveyancers aligning their fees with agents – no move, no fee – fixed fees etc?

From: Michael Day 22 November 2022 09:16 AM

John. You haven't factored the drop in house prices Q4 2022 which with predicted falls in next 2 years comes to 9%. No predictions on transactional volumes though which is the essential metric in estate agency. I expect a significantly higher reduction.

From: Michael Day 17 November 2022 15:09 PM

I am staggered that shareholders haven't moved to oust the senior team - Peter Long's track record at Countrywide (and elsewhere) would mean that his cv wouldn't make the cut at most operations. They tried to "innovate" but, foreseeably, ended up "cannibalising" their own business and have shown no other willingness to innovate. Back to basics always sounded a bit weak and the lack of vision and shared understanding across the business of what this (or indeed any objectives they have) means is an issue. A bit like the football team that is "too good" to get relegated, there seems to be a misguided view that it will come right. It won't without change. Ironically, the market is likely to improve in 2020 and that is likely to accelerate Countrywide's decline as they are servicing debt and do not have enough resource to invest and take advantage of an upturn and are likely to miss out to more agile, faster and focused operations.

From: Michael Day 11 January 2020 09:49 AM

Its a living and breathing company - sometimes it breathes in, sometimes it breathes out!

From: Michael Day 16 December 2019 10:58 AM

Unless Barrie is a complete mug and on the basis he is milking the PR (well done) he doesn't seem to be one, the risk will have been covered by an indemnity policy so real cost likely to be a few thousand not £250,000 BTW Is it patriotic to secretly be hoping your team doesn't win? ;-)

From: Michael Day 05 September 2019 08:43 AM

Her name is Thea

From: Michael Day 22 August 2019 10:36 AM

Always good to be able to point the finger at conveyancers Rob! You forgot managing agents. Estate agents could still do more to prepare sellers ahead of agreeing sales by pushing them to instruct lawyers and get "packs" ready (sound familiar?)

From: Michael Day 19 August 2019 08:18 AM

Good publicity for Adam who has a clear agenda with his new role to grow Exp Realty in the UK.. Some really interesting information in the sector can be found from Mike Delprete and this presentation in particular where he looks at the big players in the space in the USA and describes their competitive advantage as "sustainable unprofitability"!! The top five (Zillow, Compass, OpenDoor, Redfin and Exp Realty) all have significant valuations but none (including Exp Realty) is profitable

From: Michael Day 09 August 2019 09:00 AM

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