Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders

As we predicted last Autumn, 2022 will see a long list of mergers and acquisitions occuring as scales of efficiences can be pushed into businesses through strong operational direction, digital transformation and different ways to do ‘work’. Hopefully, just as the Connells group in residential agency managed too, the Fisher German, Matthews Goodman deal will result in an even bigger business with greater market share.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 June 2022 09:39 AM

Agreed Michael, with the DTF moving forward at speed, we very much have been on this journey as a huge advocate and participant with government bodies and the stakeholders, as it is the cornerstone of a digital solution that should have been in place some time ago. The other point you make - the risk assessment is again an area that needs to be tightened up, I remember years ago dealing with a PEP, politically exposed person, and I thought it strange that they were perceived to be a higher risk group, not lower risk because they moved in circles with a bigger opportunity to commit criminality, strange really you would have thought they would pillars of the community.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 June 2022 07:29 AM

For many if the residential market does slow, OnTheMarket will be just grow and grow. As Jason Tebb has transformed the commercial model of the portal, making it a supportive progressive partner for agents wanting to increase their market share and who struggle with modernising their agency operations. This enlightened CEO has listened and responded to the needs of his agent partners and supplied solutions, unlike at least one other portal who just ratchets up the annual fees, and feels that offering a listing site for property is enough. This vanity will be there undoing - especially as savvy agents realise that technology gives them the whiphand to scale. In 2000 Rightmove was the answer to newspaper advertising for agencies, in 2022 OnTheMarket is leading the charge to undestand what agents want and need and deliver digital solutions alongside the traditional property listing system. This is the future of agency - as the lazy/smart tech savvy property consumer generation, demand a streamlined smartphone responsive property experience - times are changing - and time to choose your estate agency partners wisely. OTM is not a client of Proptech-PR. A consultancy for Proptech founders, but having analytical oversight of a substantial amount of portals in the UK and globally, take it from me - they are punching very much above their weight and the execution of their strategy is second to none.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 June 2022 09:10 AM

I am not sure how knowing that you can purchase a one bedroom flat in Newcastle for £40,000 helps you if you are a buyer who lives in Watford, where a one bedroom flat costs £155,000. Is the suggestion that people living and working in Watford - buy up North and commute ... maybe in their private jet? Eight years ago, a study of 10,000 people living in the UK was published using data from a mobile phone provider, it showed 83% of people, live, work and socialise in a 17KM area, most of their life. So probably that 9-hour 270 mile return commute from Watford to Newcastle is not going to work.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 June 2022 09:02 AM

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 June 2022 18:29 PM

Lots of soundbites - many the same as two decades ago. Fortunately AI, ML and the explosion of cloud computing almost 20 years ago will solve all, whilst the various factions and gatekeepers and politicians whirl around going nowhere. Hint - the client of 2022 is a digital native, they hate forms, pieces of paper, pdf's, things that arrive via royal mail. They love waiving their smartphone at 'things' which allows them a seamless gateway to enjoy services and goods. For the love of God build a property framework where the 'lazy' generation, the 65% of the globe under 39 years of age can tap their way quickly to destination buy or rent, in seconds not 28 weeks. Just look at banking, pre the Fintech revolution everyone said it was madness thinking we could ever digitally do banking, too high a security risk, etc, now banking is digital. Give it ten years there will be no more paper in the property industry, it will have evolved. And the plan, construct, sell, lease and asset management verticals will all be more efficient, faster and fit for purpose. Why does Cazoo exist, because the visionary founder of Zoopla Alex Chesterman realised buying second hand cars was a royal pain, frought with silly processes and delays, why not just deliver cars in great condition to buyers who can choose what they want - simple (well the back end is actually very complicated) but the NEED prompted the solution a multi billion pound vale solution. With buying and selling - there are three parts the legals, the finance and the selling operation, so more moving parts than second hand car sales, but if the 'whole' industry actually wanted to - it could re-imagine the whole thing.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 June 2022 09:41 AM

In this analysis are the residential revenue figures based just on fees from sales, ex VAT? Or do they include all other revenue that residential agents generate, financial services business, surveys, conveyancing, utility switching, and or referral fees for the same, the list is endless, typically there are five extra income streams agents rely upon, some agencies having as many as a dozen. Similarly is the lettings income, in this piece the amount charged for managed inventory, or all of the composite income that adds together to give annual revenue. I ask as an agency might do £250,000 of residential income yearly on sale fee, but be doing £300,000 of financial service revenue out of the same agency, so residental income of £500,000 plus of course any other income streams. Interesting figures, though based on some corporate intel. I think the figures would be skewed if more independent data was uses, as many of the independent agents I know across the UK seem to 'average' around £250K to £275K for residential, and lettings is closer on average to £200k. On a separate point, those outside of the industry might feel that a branch who offers residential sales and lettings and does combined revenue of say £375K is a good business, the kicker of course is the overheads to run the operation. In the corporate world, branches get stuffed with head office costs, the cost of 'support' and the salaries of those in the management chain above, maybe a £40K cost. And Independent agents though swerving these costs if a one or two branch concern still have lots of large fixed costs, eroding their profit. Which with inflation increasing and wage inflation about to explode will be a difficuly cocktail. My advice and I am biased, is that agents need to digitally transform their operations - and that does not mean replace humans with robots, it means find complimentarary software that powers the operations of the business, reduced mind numbing processes that wast valuable 'human' time and gets your brand front and centre with the public. Agency is a service industry, but you can not service a digital client using methods that belong to the 1990's a decade before cloud computing exploded allowing people to do pretty much anything. Property technology is not the enemy, and with fixed based businesses the only way to levearge profit is to become more agile, and better at servicing the consumer. Which means either employ more people into your teams, or use the teams that you have to do the transational profit earming tasks and let software deal with everything else.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 27 May 2022 10:24 AM

In 1990 I had the joy of running a branch during another recession, I had two Negs, one religiously rang his applicants daily, wrote all his notes on his cardboard applicant cards and agreed three sales a week. The other Neg, mostly smoked fags, turned up late and would disappear for hours, sometimes days mostly I think to the pub or local snooker hall, but every Wednesday the end of our sales week he would produce three sales. It taught me then that targets and KPI's are important you need to have a compass for the business, but sales people are 'people' and teams are little or large families, with different characters, some sales people are just great 1:1 with the public and can close opportunities, others enjoy being more robotic. I read the Times article and I thought mostly that he was in the wrong job, he will find his way.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 May 2022 09:07 AM

A strange title 'PropTech Today - which are genuine, which are pure money-making machines?' - as if they are a genuine solution then users are happy with UX and happy to pay for Saas which means revenue and profits for the Proptech. But if SME is not 'gennuine???' how is it purely a money making machine, because if it does not offer a scalable solution to users it will not get adoption and rather than making a profit - it will fall over. And given most software companies are up to £1M in costs even at an early stage, it is hardly a quick route to being a way to extract cash from duped users. In fact acting increasingly as an advisor in the A/M world, I am amazed at the tiny trickle of revenue that some SME's are producing in this sector despite all their bluster and endless rounds of funding.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 May 2022 09:45 AM

Some good thoughts here - though I think all the micro-parts of lettings can be digitally replicated James, boosted by AI and ramped through by careful UX and the strength of cloud computing, in fact I often wonder exactly what parts of lettings and residental and commercial sales - humans - actually do 'better' than machines. And agents spare me that real estate is a people business, of course it is and that is why people doing property get so exasparated by the slow and inefficient level of service, big data should = consumer excellence, not a digital void/silence or perceived indifference. 32-years in those trenches dealing with thousands of members of the public looking to transact business, mostly in the age of human service - was always too few troops and far too many battles to win. So here is a thought - JCB's are better at digging than humans with a spade, one is using the principle of oil under pressure to achieve big holes quickly, in fact there are increasingly construction Bots being guided by separate humans with control packs - but you get the picture. Well imagine reale state; the plan, build, sale, let and asset management of property was done on paper - you do not have to imagine it still largely is ... hence 20% of construction cost = mistakes. Then instead of human labour - men using spades to dig holes, you use software and coding to dig out the gold, you have all the ecosystem running on a very modern framework. Obviously as I have had published a couple of years ago - with huge workforces globally, utilising humans is a cheaper option - but for how long? As the 'needs' for the digitally aware consumer beat ever louder on the doors of corporates tasked with e-risking their business models. The victorians may have laid lots of railway track with shovel and spade weilding navigators, but in 2023 - I see locally there are a fair amount of robots in the construction mix, and if contech is getting on board maybe it is a sign for all.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 April 2022 01:09 AM

Great insights from old people, you need to understand two thirds of the world are aged under 35 years of age - Are they and the generation immediately below who are about to enter work, going to do a 5 day week? their lives are already running on the digital algorithms that influence their thoughts/desires and goals, and retiring at 67 with a gold watch is definitely not on the menu. Everyone has viewpoints, but if you take the time to LISTEN to maybe 120 different people a month globally, you might learn more than what is going on in the 17 mile radius that many of us live and die within according to smartphone data, now that is a thought. Maybe that is why the Metaverse, that utopian twilight zone where we can exist is so appealing to some - as we get away from the reality of the day to day. I am writing this whilst having a bout of Covid, so if it looks trippy ... it probably is - but being confined to bed for four days lets your mind focus on the big architecture of what is going on, allowing filtering out of the minutia. Look, Siemens the largest manufacturer in Europe allowed all employees to to a two day flexi-week for ever, very soon after March 2020, they saw the future and they have a market cap of $101 BN, so probably they know a bit about future proofing. And that is why the digital transformation of real estate proptech/fintech is so vital to any anologue agency business, time to tech up and expand or remain in the analogue glory days of yesteryear, no industry can outrun the digital tendrils of cloud computing, client adoption of buying online which is not a fad but a modern necessity and new technologies that will be ever more 'useful'. If anyone wants to find out more give me a call in a week or so always happy to discuss what the future looks like, it is not half as scary as many think it will be, and it is prudent to prepare rather than being the last person on the bus who tends to pay a lot more for the ride and gets the worst view.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 April 2022 13:33 PM

Great to see grassroots connectivity, from Jason Tebb who has proved to be a progressive listening CEO, nothing beats getting in the thick of it and hearing what the partner agents are thinking and need. Rightmove would do well to follow suit and get out of their ivory tower once in a while, I think that might be an education for them. Ratcheting up fees year on year does not make for a happy business model.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 April 2022 09:35 AM

Excellent solution.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 April 2022 11:56 AM

It is good to talk.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 April 2022 08:25 AM

Someone asked me the other day if being a Proptech Realestate Influencer was a real thing ... my answer is that very often when I post a few words, some of the most influential people in real estate on the globe, pick up the phone and call me. Not only do I 'speak' to over 100,000 people daily across many social media platforms and publications, including one as a an editor the other as an owner, I also have 38 years of connections, so when I 'say something' - people 'think' about it. I am not saying they agree or even like what I communicate - but it does have often far reaching consequences. So I repost my comment from a few days ago ... 'Is having no agency experience a problem if you are the CEO of a national agency? After Alison Platt did the same thing, she was a NED at Tesco's and became CEO of Countrywide PLC, the UK's largest estate agency group from 2014 to January 2018. Wait a minute she did have to resign after overseeing a 90% fall in the company's share price and a second profit warning in three months. Then the company stumbled along until the Connells Group bought the assets, and its C-suite made up of career property professionals made profit within 12-months. Maybe Purplebricks should have a rethink, as a 90% haircut off the share price which today is 23p, would mean that it would be 2.3p a share - unthinkable, well so is trading at 23p on the AIM. Purplebricks future all hinges on once again fuzzy logic ... we will let someone who has never sold a property in their life as an agent - run the show.' And leave you to wonder if following this - anyone made that call to me.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 April 2022 09:27 AM

Is having no agency experience a problem if you are the CEO of a national agency? After Alison Platt did the same thing, she was a NED at Tesco's and became CEO of Countrywide PLC, the UK's largest estate agency group from 2014 to January 2018. Wait a minute she did have to resign after overseeing a 90% fall in the company's share price and a second profit warning in three months. Then the company stumbled along until the Connells Group bought the assets, and its C-suite made up of career property professionals made profit within 12-months. Maybe Purplebricks should have a rethink, as a 90% haircut off the share price which today is 23p, would mean that it would be 2.3p a share - unthinkable, well so is trading at 23p on the AIM. Purplebricks future all hinges on once again fuzzy logic ... we will let someone who has never sold a property in their life as an agent - run the show.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 31 March 2022 09:08 AM

Zara has capacity to help Purplebricks on a consultancy basis, £150 an hour, plus an option to chase squirrels. In my view a good investment for both sides, she is one of the brightest co-founders out there.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 March 2022 08:41 AM

Is blockchain the future for the real estate industry?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2022 09:24 AM

From analysis nationally cancellation rate is around 23% and climbing, so the typical 28% to 31% industry standard may be returning. There are a whole host of factors in 2022 that were not around a year ago, no sdlt holiday, base rate moving from 0.1% to 0.75%, cost of living crisis, Russian war, high inflation, all these factors will dampen the market from last year. Which may just translate into a 'normal' 1.18M average completions, instead of the bumper - chancellor giveaway fuelled 2021 market.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 March 2022 08:53 AM

The correct people in the C-suite, the correct culture, the correct plan and the ability to execute the plan, due to having a culture of success. But the biggest reason for success was keeping an eye on the KPI's and managing the basics, ensuring that each core sector of the business was accountable. Sadly the now defunct Countrywide plc, more than a decade ago lost its core vision, and failed to focus on the business, the culture, instead looking for 'new ways' to do what is basically a simple task, service the property sector, which has never been rocket science.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 21 March 2022 08:12 AM

Oh Jan Byers if only I could influence you ... wait a minute I have influenced you to repost my original post in forensic detail, does this mean you are warming to me after all this time. A heads up, influencer marketing is worth £30Bn annually, and DM & Co Homes are utilising 'influence' by getting their thought leadership out to their audience. Which has resulted in almost 4,000 reads here alone, plus of course their original traction on social media. As to being an idiot and up myself - you are probably absolutely right, I will ask Zara, but having a digital audience of over 100,000 people does mean that you can leverage huge financial benefits for stakeholders. Get complex messages out there for debate, and inform, educate and move agendas along, on a global scale. In fact PROPTECH-PR now has more global clients than in the UK. Do we fly out to over 30 of those clients based in Israel, America, Australia, etc no - did we pitch to them originally in their native countries, No. How then did they ever hear of us - OUR INFLUENCE. Every single one of them came to us - as we 'influenced them' a very different way to traditional marketing.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 March 2022 15:10 PM

I love all of these comments made by mostly middle aged men. Who have that world view. Who look back to how things used to be. Did you know that 5BN people on the planet are 39 years old or younger? And only 2.9BN are 40 years plus. With 2.3BN people - who are 20 to 39, those same people who 'go to nail bars' and have hedonistic life styles. It is the young who actually are defining the world and its culture, and how commerce works. In the 1980's couples in their early twenties bought houses and had families, in 2022, first time buyers are often 38 years old, they fuel the economy in a very different way, a way that underpins everything. Having the latest electronic consumables, partying heavily or just doing what you want to do, rather than sitting in 'the office' or on a production line, is not a teenage thing, it is a lifestyle thing. Separately, many of those who commented would I feel be also lucky to have been in the vanguard of the hugest price inflation for property in the last two or three decades. Yes interest rates were high, but with hundreds of thousands of equity in property tucked under your belt, it is easy to say like any chiding parent - you need to tighten your belt and get on the property ladder. Well maybe the 'yoof' have more sense - spending more time on themselves, realising that life is finite - what is the point of getting to your sixties to enjoy it ... much better to sample its rich luxuries when you are younger and more healthy. And all this nonsense about Greggs, the reality is that the bank of mum and dad was the biggest provider of deposits for the 406,000 first time buyers in 2021, and will probably be the same this year, so maybe all that 'equity' has some value after all.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 March 2022 10:26 AM

This is an excellent piece of journalism and education, it is a pity that thousands of readers have not read it.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 March 2022 16:49 PM

The extra SDLT of 3% needs to be removed, as any extra cost, only translates into a higher cost for the tenant, who sits at the hard edge. When will the government understand that landlords are providing a service, a home for tenants, and the PRS needs more not less encouragement.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 March 2022 07:16 AM

Will the business get bought by an estate agent? As Purplebricks online service will always serve the vendor who wants to pay a low fee, about 6% of the market. And that estate agent would be able to monetise the financial services, conveyancing and other income streams in a proper manner, and provide the post sstc service that is lacking in the present model, by plugging in the onliner to their existing operation. Though the cash upfront model, sale or no sale, is a bit of a sticking point.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 March 2022 12:06 PM

It is good to see that now property industry icons are understanding the value of and endorsing the value of Matt Gilpin's mighty Sprift. For anyone who is not using Sprift's service I would recommend that you do, or at the very least get in contact with them to fully understand how their service can make any real estate facing operation more profitable.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 March 2022 09:29 AM

Maybe the investors have not heard what happened to the behemoth American ibuyer Zillow in November 2021, when it stopped being an ibuyer overnight due to having $569 million worth of debt as it had bought properties in at the wrong value, and they had to make 25% of their workforce redundant. In a buoyant market buying property assets is an easy gamble, the second the market fluctuates, and all housing markets fluctuate, the ibuyer gets stuck with a huge amount of housing stock at prices they can not afford to sell on. Alogorithms are great, but they are just a set of rules and outcomes, as Zillow found, and it is the variables that are not factured in, which kills off a business venture, all of my property technology and fintech client founders of course use them, but the ibuyer model is a casino model, which pays out for a while, then makes all stakeholders a lot poorer. For some vendors it is a great way to sell quickly, but when markets turn sitting on thousands of properties that drop in value by 5%, can mean huge losses for the operator, however good the original coding is.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 March 2022 09:18 AM

2.5 BN views amazing and yet, the amount of completions in the UK stays pretty static over the past decade, obviously zero correlation from browsers looking at property on RM to more people buying property. So what is the value proposition? It is like saying to agents, we ensure a million people will look at your window cards as they pass your office; but if only one in several millions pops in to buy, or let, is this a service worth £1,200 a month on average? When you only agree eight sales or let 10 properties every month.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 February 2022 13:35 PM

The Times covered 90% of all of this weeks ago, must be a slow news day for the Mail and other publications.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 February 2022 07:56 AM

The difference being with Countrywide, that after the assets of CW Plc were acquired, the new owners had a c-suite who actually knew how to run an agency business, and they started to do just that, and amazingly the business transformed. The problem with Purplebricks is that they need someone in the c-suite who actually can run an agency business, remind me what is Vic Darvey's background? Maybe a CEO with agency credentials would be a start to close the disconnect from user UX and the realities of all the moving parts that agencies encompass. The model of agency is not rocket science, but somehow Purplebricks has turned into a science project that has gone wrong. Anyone becoming a controlling force of this business - needs to have probably four key people who have the knowledge, vision and skills to push this company to its next stage. They are the key, not who 'owns' the business. Zara Stanton is up for a new role, maybe as an advisory?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 February 2022 08:42 AM

Last year 406,000 buyers who completed were in fact FTB's with no property to list. Close to one in two who bought in 2021. This does not support the narrative that the lack of stock is due to vendors being nervous about listing before they find, the stronger narrative is that two interest rate rises from the BoE with signals that further rises are on the way, plus rampant inflation, soaring energy costs and an unstable global political picture, and partygate, are making many hunker down to see what 2022 will be like before - deciding to move home. The housing market is built on sentiment. Yes stock is selling in days, but there is not a sustainable amount of that stock to sell. What value is there if you sell your home in 48 hours if the home you need to buy is not on the market? Answer you stay put.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 February 2022 08:11 AM

I admire Andrew Harrison's optimism - maybe though the reality that Purplebricks has got through 500M in the last seven years and has a share price of just 20p on the AIM, will focus his mind that an 11M injection of capital is unlikely to get Strike anywhere. My humble advice, use that 11M that has just been pumped in by investors to keep the lights on at Strike in a better way, by giving 200k to 55 exceptional traditional agents who will cold start 55-branches, who will return that capital in 28-months and will actually show profits thereafter. Looking at the financials, Strike has burnt through 56M, and helped just 56,000 people to move to the end of 2021 according to their PR. Which means each mover got £1,000 of Strike's cash, no company can absorb that cost of acquisition. As to market share - average completions each year are 1.2M, so Strike's average rate of helping just 5,000 plus people to complete annually is microscopic, or about the size of 50 small branches completing on eight sales a month. The difference being those branches will be charging a fee for each sale, rather than Strike's freemium model. I am surprised that Strike actually say they are a free service, in that 'accompanied viewings' a core service, offered free by many agents up to point of exchange, are a charged item ... a bit like if Strike were selling cars, they no doubt would be free, but engines and wheels would be provided at an additional cost. The public as ever are making their own mind up.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 February 2022 07:39 AM

It is the same market conditions following the heated market of 1988. Everyone who was going to move, moved in that year to take advantage of MIRAS for two, which the Chancellor said would be phased out in the September. Then there was a period of little new inventory coming on, for years, apart from the movers in the hatched, matched and despatched verticals. And interest rates rose upwards, touching 15%. Sounds familiar, every market goes boom to bust, and Rishi like all Chancellors plays fast and loose with property taxation at his peril, now BoE interest rates have gone from 0.1% to 0.5% in a matter of weeks with talk of two more rises before year end. We have hyper house inflation, wage inflation, food price and utility inflation, all this will change the housing market, especially as one in two properties were bought last year by first time buyers, 406,000 of them, if they sit and wait, or just can not afford the deposits, the market will falter as they are the genesis of many chain transactions.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 February 2022 07:30 AM

Kirstie Allsopp needs to be careful, when she gives advice to cash strapped would be buyers, and drops in things like she bought her first home with help of family, not everyone has a father who was chair of Christies, is Baron and peer, it seems to be quiet a week for those in priviledged positions telling the 'poor' to hunker down, and be frugal and save for the future, when quite clearly there is a slice of society who breezes through life with large silver spoons in their mouths. I like Kirsty and Phil, but maybe telling first time buyers to cut the frothy coffee, when the chancellor helped prices rise by 10% in a year, so a extra £25,000 on a first home at £250,000, will take more than this to fix.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 February 2022 08:11 AM

Maybe Graham read the text - 'are available digitally wherever possible from trusted and authenticated sources, and provided only once.' This is not adescription of a paper trail, and lots of buff files. In 2025 it is not going to be a case of pdf that will be shot across the ether using a 1838 invention the fax (not a typo faxes are that old) it is data from a source of trust being used by all stakeholders, which could be anything from an NFT on blockchain - to other more developed technolgies. Technology doubles in reach each year, so the technology available 12 years ago has grown up a lot and in 2017, 60% of the property technology companies in the UK launched, add in the Fintech technolgies which were in advance of this by ten years and you now have the ingredients for property being done - FAST. The world even at Westminster has moved on. Property existing as a digital asset, ready to go, lenders being able to quantify their 'risk' by having a micro digital view of what they lend against and with open banking the human they are lending too. AI and ML hoovering up all the case studies of all the transactions until there are no more variables left, and you have the transfer of title/mortgage/completion next day like Amazon. And yes HIPS were a disaster, expensive, local searches going out of date, documenation being piecemeal, etc, but 2012 was the 'paper age' school children now learn at the touchscreen, soon evven keyboards will fade as voice will digitally control all.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 February 2022 20:48 PM

Fact check - 'Strawberry chief executive Ben Sellers' - I think EAT will find that you get Strawberry jam, but Ben is in fact Co-founder of Starberry., with his brother Rus.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 February 2022 07:48 AM

Not sure why you changed the Press Release and re-titled me as a commentator? Graham Norwood? I am Founder and CEO of Proptech-PR and CEO and Founder of Proptech-X. You do make me laugh. My day job is to work at founder level with proptech technology companies to make them grow and if required help them to exit. We have now had 93 clients and separately, we are consultants to some of the biggest names in global real estate, advising on sales and acquisitions, market positioning, and operations. We also advise companies on strategies to how best digitally transform their estate agency businesses. I certainly do comment - but I find it strange that you would leave off someone's company name from a journalistic piece - unless of course there was a reason - thoughts?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 February 2022 09:24 AM

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 31 January 2022 10:21 AM

Michael Bruce is right, as I have often said he is not starting up Boomin in 2000 like Rightmove and building a business model to replace newspaper advertising for agents. He is instead setting up a property business in the 2020's for the agents and end users who do property now. The most pressing concern is to build UX into everything you do, for agent and end user, this is what they are doing. And of course the old legacy models of portals will be called out. It is like the newest generation of smart cars, Tesla and many other brands utilise cameras, to 'see' objects a car might hit, billions of dollars has been spent on this route, for almost a decade by many car giants. But the latest (ALTERNATIVE) solution - which is much better is lidar functionality - The LiDAR sensor on a vehicle emits single particles of light, known as photons, that strike nearby objects such as cars, pedestrians, and trees. The photons then bounce back to the sensor. The LiDAR system records each photon's roundtrip data, measuring distance and time to every object in the vehicle's vicinity - so whilst everyone who has the old system (new tech not really) which means you can run that person in front of you over, the new kids on the block are the winners as they have a smart way of doing things which works, based on solving big problems using the best tools from now. Yes RM has the monopoly, but the end user will gravitate to platforms and portals that give them the highest UX, if MumsNet rates you, you get adoption. That is why I like Boomin - new big solutions that drive revenue to agent stakeholders, and speed the property process. Also they are the catalyst that is making other portals suddenly become interested in property technology, seizing the huge opportunities that tie ups with key digital architecture can bring. Are Booming one of Proptech-PR's clients NO - do I speak as I find ALWAYS. Am I arrogant and annoying - OFTEN - but I do know what I am talking about - 100%.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 January 2022 17:18 PM

Now you know Kristjan why we are so busy helping estate agents plan how to digitally transform their businesses, we are not resellers we give wisdom, and the 32-years as an agent, and six years meeting 500 property technology founders and hundreds of CTO's and teams means that CEO's just ask me for an three line explanation of what they should do. You are 100% right, billions on the globe use a smartphone, who out of those knows how that technology works (or cares) it is what it does that is important. And increasingly property people are realising that software - powers change - powers leveraging efficincies - powers profitability. Each SME has a finite budget, software gives forward thinking, agile businesses an unfair edge. Agents are in a tearing hurry always, and are extroverts, they do not have typically a tech mindset, an application programming interface, is probably not even in their vocabularly, but as you point out - it will power all agents futures, just as Fintech now is maturing, that is why old fashioned banks are under pressure from just software plays like Revolut, which is not a bank, but just does bank like tasks, quick and fast. Real estate is increasingly going to be a a quick smash and grab landscape, with the hi-tech beasts hoovering up the client base, I see it already in America and Australia and increasingly in other areas. Residential agency sales and lettings is a tiny part of global real estate, but the rules are the same - adapt or become dinosaurs like Countrywide PLC. Yes it was lack of management from the C-suite, but great tech could have helped staunch those losses.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 January 2022 12:46 PM

18% of the House of Commons are landlords, some large landlords - many more in the House of Lords. 67% own a second home ... will they become holiday lets?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 January 2022 15:39 PM

HNY

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 January 2022 22:52 PM

This is all small beer, the real huge change in the global architecture of real estate is deals like Dye & Durham looking to acquire the Link Group for 3.2BN, adding over 1BN of revenue if it gets over the line. Whilst some folk are gazing at tiny infastructure moves - here in the UK that will take a decade to move, the world of real estate is being eaten up 'chunk by chunk' by huge money interests looking to lock down the hidden gold within all verticals of the property asset. Agile minds and bold investment will circumvent all nay sayers, and within five years, the slow pace of agency will be a thing of the past. The big question will be, who will be the winners and who will be wondering what happened to their profitable businesses, suddenly made obselete overnight, because the property consumer wanted now and fast, not slow and never solutions to their property needs.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 December 2021 19:43 PM

I like Boomin - and what they are doing, they are not a digital billboard, like other portals, they are a facilitator platform, improving the UX for the public and agents - who want to do property. Boomin are the front runner in this sector. Creating efficiences, growth and profit for all stakeholders.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 December 2021 11:36 AM

One of my favourite reads - Pirsig's 'zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance'. Well worth a read especially as WFH is upon us - it articulates the aesthetic of work, its beauty, use and heightend value as an abstract way of being.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 December 2021 15:37 PM

Purplebricks – an online national agent with no physical offices, a tiny workforce, and a cash upfront fee model – should be a cash cow that cannot fail given it has low running costs and instant cash each time a property is listed. After £460 million of investment and ‘cash’ from customers flowing through it in the past six years, its share price is 25p. And its ‘cash at the bank’ is only £56 million, with looming liabilities and litigation. But it consistently lists more property than any other agent annually in the UK so, clearly, it has a market and yet it’s in trouble. Why? All decisions come from the board and c-suite, maybe time to look there for answers.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 December 2021 06:23 AM

Top Proptech tip - if you need answers contact me as I have met over 500 proptech founders, in the past five years, and discussed in detail their technology, looked at its commercial value, and helped over 90 property technology/fintech companies in the last 18-months in the UK and globally, and my advice is agnostic, and comes from a 30+ years background in real estate. I also spend many hours a week analysing, mentoring, and advising agents as they 'struggle' to make sense of how to digitally transform their business to make more profit and stay ahead.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 December 2021 09:23 AM

Perverse that YOPA have just announced yet another injection of capital to keep the lights on, so that must be close to 100M 'invested' plus any cash that has passed through the business in the past years and still zero profit. If it costs £150k to cold start one 'traditional' branch, which is repaid after 24-months, and makes profit from year three, that £100M could have opened 666 cold start agencies, with that £100M being paid back. So there you have it - an online agency model that makes zero profit ever, or 666 traditional offices, with probably 20% making super profit, 10% making zero profit and the rest making some profit. I know which one I would like to be getting dividends from each year.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 December 2021 17:31 PM

Ben carter arrives Nov 2020, share price 69p, exits Dec 2021 share price 31p, so a 45% collapse in the value of the company in 13-months, great achievement, wait a minute aren't CMO's meant to add value to a company. The bigger picture here is that 31p is only 33% of the original listing price on the AIM back in late 2015. So all of those options for those in the c-suite are looking very poor at present, not surprising really, who had the big idea of spending all that cash on the Olympics ... did that generate a single new instruction? Maybe the cash could have been better spent in updating the digital side of the business, rather than quirky adverts with sporting titans. Just a thought.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 December 2021 15:09 PM

As you say Nathan, Proptech is just in the foothills, with the new technologies scaling up in the background everything that touches the asset class of property is going to be digitally redefined and powered by great minds solving big problems. Being lucky enough to be heavily involved with the REACH UK program, and knowing a number of the teams and founders personally, the expertise, knowledge and drive of these pioneers will be equipping the property practitioners of the 2020's and 2030's and onwards with the 'tools' to do a better and more efficient day job. Property technology is not here to replace people in real estate it is here to further their reach and conquer new marketplaces. Many do not realise that residential agency is only a tiny part of real estate story, and the plan, build, and management of property is the big area that innovation is addressing. More so with COP26 and the need to lessen the 10% to 15% of emissions created by actually building property. It will be interesting to see which companies make the cut for the 2022 Cohort, and the solutions they will be scaling up.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 November 2021 08:26 AM

Excellent Big Data, meets real estate at the micro level, leveraging solutions that all stakeholders can benefit from. Ultimately it is just using the digital toolbox of the 2020's to solve the problems residentail agency has had for centuries, much like Revolut a banking App is digitally re-plumbing how some practices in banking are done, adding speed transparency and lowering cost and adding UX x 100.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2021 08:35 AM

When analogue becomes digital, when paper is replaced by software, when 9 until 1 and 2 until five, five days a week, gives way to 24/7, then 18 weeks to do a residential deal will become a five day operation. Maybe it is a generational thing, maybe it will only happen when the 30 year olds of 2021 get into the C-suites and boardrooms, and tech will not even be an issue, as it hardwired into their pysche and business approach, as it has been all of their business life. Adoption is key, and unfortunately many gatekeeper dinosaurs are not very good at realising they are failing their businesses by risking the future by sitting on legacy structures that are outdated and not relevant.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 November 2021 08:20 AM

Since 1985 when I started in the industry the amount of estate agents has increased by 500%, the amount of housing stock 112%. Typically 1.2M or so properties complete each year, 85% being sold by an agency of some kind. Mathematically if all agents in the UK were spread out, you would find an estate agent every 2.4 miles. It is simple mathematics, if the cake has a finite size and it is sliced by an increasing amount of agents, then each agent gets a smaller slice. Yes in each area you have dominant players with more market share, but in the period 1985 to say 1998 any of the branches I had had a typical register of 80 to 120 properties for sale, and maybe we were competing with 25 agents geographically, now that would be 60, including hybrids and onliners. Increasingly we will see also the rise of SBV - sale by vendor as the tech savvy younger generation choose to swerve the usual ways of buying selling and letting. It is just the creep of digital, which has crept into Fintech and banking.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 November 2021 11:58 AM

178,000 in 2021.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 October 2021 19:11 PM

Baron Best is 76 not being ageist and has a great deal of knowledge around housing, and I think at some point was in the mix with the Joseph Rowntree foundation, but my question would be, should someone who is, or has been in real estate at the hard end, who understands the complete ecosystem and the real problems it faces in five, ten and fifteen years be looking at this. Also the intersection with data, technology and software, which will be forcing its tendrils deeper into the industry as it did with banking and Fintech. It is not so much the regulation of human agents that looms large on the horizon, rather what the shape of estate agency will be in the modern world, and the role of AI, ML and lots of emergent technologies around 5G and satellite technology.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 October 2021 22:21 PM

A few things here. I have been writing since 2017 that HMRC should have intervened as clearly LPE's were probably 'employees' on the grounds that the work, training etc was supplied by PB, and they did no other work. So why has it taken so long. It is up to the court to decide if my thinking was correct if indeed a class action goes that far. What I find curious is that Russel Quirke was of course the head of Emoov 1, an online agent, so will his ex employees be looking to bring an action against him/Emoov1, (or were they fully employed) or at least make petition to the official receiver who wound up the business? Will prospective claimants who worked for other defunct online agents, if not directly employed be able to claim, should this class action work. And are the fees that C4J the best for those seeking a financial outcome, as on their website - it looks like a great money spinner for solicitors - 'There are two bases of registration: Initial Fee of £249.99; Plus a success fee pursuant to our DBA agreement. The success fee will be 25% plus VAT at the prevailing rate and is calculated on the amount of monies recovered in respect of your claim. No initial fee: Only a success fee pursuant to our DBA agreement. The success fee will be 40% plus VAT at the prevailing rate and is calculated on the amount of monies recovered in respect of your claim. Lastly does anyone know the 'official status' of people working within Strike, Doorsteps etc, are they self-employed, employed, or likely to join this circus?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 October 2021 08:35 AM

1988

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 October 2021 14:07 PM

Having a fixed minimum fee is always a good idea, which should be £250 more than the 'cost' of selling a property, otherwise you are giving money away. In any marketplace you are always going to get agents who will do a 1% or less fee, and that is their business model, agents who want to make profit should only take instructions that make profit. Bearing in mind also that only 50% of property listed by an agent gets to completion, so any fee needs to cover the cost of selling the property, the cost of marketing another property that fails to complete, and the need for profit. As to fixed fees, trading standards actually likes the concept of fixed fees as it adds transparency in their eyes, after all 1.65% of an unknown sale price is not exactly a known fee, but a fixed fee of £4,950 + VAT for selling a property at £300,000 is. As to losing market share and losing instructions as 'fixed fees' are too high - is that such a bad thing? Do you want to sell a flat for 1% at £140,000, £1,400 + VAT, when it costs £2,200 to sell it, the 14 hours pre-SSTC and the 40 hours of sales control chasing up the leasehold pack, holding the hand of the first time buyer, communicating with all stakeholders etc. In fact I actually tell my client agents who are starting up to choose a segment of the market and just be a specialist in that market. Typically, looking to earn a £4,000 fee per sale on completion. And if that means a 1% fee on a £400,000 property, then do that, or if the local market allows 1.25% then sell property at £320,000 and above. If your website and portal prescence is only these type of properties, vendors with these type of properties will seek you out. Who wants to dominate all of the market (unless you are a corporate) - make the financials work for you. It is basic mathematics, as a start up one/two person concern, if you list 10 properties a month, that is 11 sales month a year (you lose two weeks in Dec and Jan) or 110 properties annually, of which half go to exchange equals 55. If your average fee is £4,000 that is £220,000. If you do not have a minimum fee, and just take any property, and take three properties a month at say 1% of £140,000, then you have 11 x 3 x £1,400 fee divided by two = £23,100 of exchanges Vs 11 x 3 x £4,000 divided by two = £66,000 of exchanges, one agent gets a turkey for Christmas, the other is the Turkey.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 October 2021 10:52 AM

I am not so sure about this low fee thing. In 1985 when I started some agents were charging 1% which on a three bed semi was 1% of 48,000, £480 + VAT. Even with annual inflation in 2021 1% of that now £379,000 three bed semi, is still a higher fee, £3,790 + VAT. Back in 1985 the agency I worked for had a scale fee of 2.25% + VAT, and in the small village we were in - we dominated, even though there were two 1% agents. Why - great service, great team, structured business model, weekly KPI's and no fuzzy business, just focus on listing, selling, exchanging, any other activity is for the birds. Great teams throughout the UK make huge profits annually replicating that model, often the core members have spent decades at the same desk. The general public may well be more tech savvy in 2022, than in 1985, but bottom line they want service, which is why since 2017 I moved from analogue estate agent into Proptech and its numerous verticals, as digital can deliver service at speed and volume. Humans are expensive and can not work 24/7 like software does. With Proptech-PR we have dealt with over 90 clients, some large real estate corporates, many outside of the UK, and Paul Robertson, the thing that you are up against is not so much the 1% agent - it is the huge transformation of how property is being done, in all of its guises, plan, build, sale, lease, asset management. Residential agency in the UK is a tiny business, based on a 'cottage industry model' - 70% of agents are one or two branch agencies, and that is its weakness, just as the lettings industry is being 'bought up' with large interests amalgamating the landlords and tenants, soon digital will allow similar monied interests to leverage their way into the cottage industry model of residential agency, and make it more efficient for all stakeholders.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 October 2021 09:52 AM

If you had read the latest analytics on HMRC they have in the past year actually identified a significantly smaller number of 'landlords' who failed to make themselves known to the HMRC, for sure they need a more joined up strategy here. Maybe by 2024 they will actually move forward with a software solution that delivers results.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 October 2021 12:08 PM

N W there are a number of enlightened agencies out there - but few and far between, great to see you are one of them. The problem is, typically an agency that sets up is set up by people who worked for companies who have very analogue ways, strip out the crm, property portal, and mobile/WhatsApp and residential agency is still run on an excel sheet and a whiteboard, lettings thankfully less so, but still lots of excel sheets out there. What I am trying to say if you are 25 and starting up, use your digital native savvy, forget how your fifty year old boss ran his company or the same age MD ran his empire - run a modern agile business, more Amazon than bank on the high street, (we know how that model ended up) as the public like speed and free, but will take speed and paying for good service, but a human can only give good service to a relatively small pool of humans, software is a different league.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 October 2021 18:37 PM

Like Elvis, Akshay Ruparelia left the building some time ago, and is no longer part of Doorsteps which took hundreds of thousands from investors on a crowdfunding site, all of which cash has been burnt through. Akshay's sales pitch whilst crowdfunding was that by 2020 40% of agents will be onliners ... maybe the sad reality there is, one is born every minute. Strike is a hybrid onliner - take a look at their accounts and YOPA well they are delaying disclosure of their trading position, and Purplebricks made a profit for the first time, but not before eating through 220M of revenue and investment, a £6M return on six years of work and that sort of cash burn ... hardly a return. And now with employed 'staff' will that marginal profit be wiped out? The key thing is that the client wants service and until the tech lite onliners build an Amazon type model they are doomed. AI and MK is required and to do that very deep pockets, but the winner will be a significant one, until then doing agency like I used to in the 1980's is the sad fate for many property clients in 2021, where 'modern' for most is relying on a 20 year old property portal to bring the bacon home.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 October 2021 16:21 PM

And on planning with the usual 18 month to two year lag, if there are to be 300,000 new builds in 2025, the planning needs to be going in pretty quickly. Unfortunately, or fortunately Gove has decided to sit on the previous secretary's plans until he has time to wave them on or dream up plan B. But yes Andrew what is agreed at government level, when it hits LA's everything becomes very different.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 October 2021 15:51 PM

Boris lives on Fantasy Island in a bad way. Here are some real (non-beaver facts) the government under Disco Diva Gove the great leveller is committed to building 300,000 new properties a year. According to NHBC which provides for 80% of the certification for new builds, they issue about 140,000 a year, which means in total 175,000 new homes are being built. And this has been a constant rate for year with a 2% to 4% uptick annually. So with growing population, and 42% of people living in a household of one, there is not enough housing, and no way by 2025, the government target date, will everyone will be living in their own home. In fact by 2025 there will be an undersupply of close to 400,000 new homes, but by then we will be at election time, so maybe the beaver talk will be replaced by other rhetoric. And it is 50/50 if there will be an 18th Housing/Leveller secretary in post.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 October 2021 14:27 PM

HMRC receipts would be down as about 1M of buyers enjoyed a tax break. Tax break equals less receipts for HMRC. Also HMRC data is at the end of the property journey as it is compiled from properties/land of 40K value or more that has completed. So, what is happening in the October 2021 housing market will filter into completions most likely late February 2022, given the usual 5 month sales cycle. That is the data that will be key.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 October 2021 14:52 PM

According to their website – and looking at their offer form I am a little worried by this clause – ‘In making the above offer I/we acknowledge our requirement to pay a buyer’s fee on completion of sale and through the solicitors only of £2000.00 + vat (if the purchase price is lower than £200,000) or 1.0% + vat of the eventual selling price (if purchase price is higher than £200,000), in addition to the agreed purchase price. Payment of the buyer’s fee being instructed by the seller and forming part of the property seller’s sale contract.’ First, will this distort in any way the offer made by the prospective buyer, eg they reduce their bid to compensate paying the vendor’s fee? Second if the buyer is using a mortgage would the paying of a vendor fee by buyer, be seen as a really a mechanism to buy property at a higher value. Eg, vendor sells at £400,000 – buyer puts down £200,000 get a mortgage for £200,000, and pays the vendor gets the benefit of £4,800 via the instrument of the fee being paid to the agent. In reality the real cost to buyer of buying home is £404,800 not £400,000 should the mortgagee not be made aware of this? Third, what is the HMRC view? As SDLT is paid on the sale price, so if the vendor gets sold at 400,000 then SDLT is calculated on the 400,000 but if the vendor receives 400,000 plus the benefit of the seller’s fee 4,000 + 800 VAT, should SDLT not be applied to 404,800? No doubt the accountant in the mix will have sorted all of these issues.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 September 2021 17:17 PM

A great opportunity for many of the female and younger professionals to shine in this post, my hope is that Propertymark look extensively around. The recent appointment of Jason Tebb at OTM, shows that a modern mind, close to the beating heart of agents can quickly win hearts and minds. Also some of the senior hires in many tech companies are now increasingly seeing a female taking the reins, which given we are speeding to 2030 pretty soon is about time.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 September 2021 20:14 PM

Getting a reaction JB is the only reason I and my co-director Zara get out of bed, and it is not so much a trumpet model we base ourselves on, more a full marching brass band. I have quite a big fanbase in Israel and Greater China, it is amazing if you give time and effort freely, how it all comes back ten-fold. People like doing business with busy people in the know, I am sure in your line of work it is the same story.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 September 2021 09:22 AM

Looking at the recent financials of Strike and its ability to burn through multi millions with little sign of ever obtaining an EBITDA rating (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and the fact like many online models which bit the dust in the past, as they had only the thinnest veneer of tech, I am genuinely amazed that Tech Nation which is hugely sponsored by Government funding has decided to allow them on the programme. Strike’s freemium model, based upon referral income, is in no way a tech business based upon AI and ML, which Tech Nation itself states are, ‘now key foundations for many new platforms; in fact, in Europe 378 deals were completed within ‘Big Data’ companies in 2020, and 91% used AI and ML. The other vital technologies for innovation are robotics and drones; augmented reality and virtual reality (AR and VR); Internet of Things (IoT); and blockchain and cryptocurrency’. My whole life’s work is immersed in tech startups, scale ups and increasingly tech companies on their exit journey, and it is the innovation at the base tech level that adds the value to the end client and the business. Endless rounds of cash injections to support projects that have a fundimentally flawed MVP, with little capital investment in ground breaking tech are never going to scale up.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 September 2021 06:51 AM

With open banking allowing fiscal transparency, digitising the whole process of tenant referencing will be standard in five years, and the thought of humans wasting valuable time, instead of software doing the process will be just that a thought. AI and ML will drive 'intelligent' outcomes to such a point that the fallible human interface will not be needed. Which means lettings can be a better and quicker ride for all, more people living in rented accommodation at speed, and a quicker flow of capital through the whole process.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 September 2021 07:28 AM

Well done Graham, to have got to the fifty agent stage in such a short period of time is a really something, doing it during lockdown is out of this world.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 September 2021 10:00 AM

Despite all the C-suite spin, Purplebricks, share price hit an all time low six days ago. With fresh inventory likely to be low across all agencies for next two months, getting bumper revenue from new vendors listing will for this - upfront fee/online model be very challenging. Their cash burn will continue.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 September 2021 08:31 AM

This sounds great advice for running an agency in 2010, but not in 2030. A recent survey said that 32.8% of people never use their smart phones to 'talk' to anyone, 31.3% said they talked sometimes, with 35.9% said they used it to talk all the time. Prediction is by 2030, talking on phones will be down to 12%, hence why landlines at private homes are becoming extinct. There are 4M tenants who move a year, they definitely are not 55 year old retired vendors, so calling them up - good luck with that. And the idea of a daily call to your vendor? Again, a city centre business with 140 vendors, how many fruitless hours would that be a week? I like Phil Spencer a lot, but analogue agent have the mantra hit the phones, that was ok when I started in 1985 in agency, more calls = more revenue and profit, but multi-billion dollar business Amazon does not 'call clients' it is just digitally awake 24/7 using AI and ML to give client delight. Analogue agency is changing, software is not relacing estate agents, estate agents using the best software are replacing agents, Proptech is not science fiction anymore, it is a creeping digital force, with its tendrils in every vertical of real estate, planning, built, sale, lease, asset management, co-joined with all the fintech and contech verticals. Making a few extra calls to people, is a waste of time - planning a proper linked up strategy to be in front of the competition is a far better solution.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 September 2021 12:43 PM

It is fascinating to see how this will pay out, will blockchain be the defacto operating system of global realestate, I was amazed the other day to see a senior in the legal sector opine that in 20 years blockchain will be the determining technology, facilitating everything from smart contracts, to well 99% of legal matters, he even mentioned the millions of disputes that Amazon was concluding using AI rather than having store rooms of physical files. We at Proptech-PR, together now with our second company Proptech-X have been following John Reynolds, Dan Salmons and Steve Dawkins and the team since their start up. And with the present hiatus, where the pandemic has allowed a breathing space and a point of reflection on how real estate is done - it might just be that Coadjute is very much in the right place at the right time.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 September 2021 12:08 PM

40% of estate agents change their job every 18 months, average age of an agent is 23. Yes there are many companies with 30 plus years of experience, but due to industry churn, the likelihood is that in many agencies the 'local product knowledge' is often very thin. It is not a case of being an agent or being an agent who relies on tech. The public use digital solutions to run their life, and in their daily work environment, so they would assume (wrongly) that an industry with 80,000 plus frontline agents would be running their businesses on a digital basis in 2021, as it is quick efficient and 24/7. And a survey of only 500 people given, 4 million people move home a year in the UK (rentals/resi) is based on a tiny data pool, I wonder what the others think.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 September 2021 11:50 AM

I'll be glad when we buy property on Amazon. 2028 or sooner. Tap in click, move in.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 September 2021 12:13 PM

1988

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 September 2021 12:09 PM

Interesting views, but the big view being missed is that of the consumer, amazon with its multi trillion valuation shows that the public like fast, accurate service and are willing to pay for it. Are their goods the cheapest or best quality? No but they are convenient and can be ordered through the prism of a smart phone. Face to face is becoming less of a thing, surely 'boring stuff' is for coders and software to cure, whilst people have more time to go walking with their dog. a much better use of time and mind.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 September 2021 10:06 AM

If there is a low amount of stock - that means a low amount of people are looking to move. Which is not a good indicator of a healthy market. After the 1988 great housing market when 2M moved home in 12 months, there followed 4-years of very low activity, with very little coming to the market (unless it was organically generated from the normal hatched, matched or dispatched driven type of inventory). Zoopla after all are a portal, they are hardly going to say to their paying clients - the agents - doom is on the way. After all - if the amount of stock agents list is tiny and stays static, and property sells itself due to shortage - the argument for listing on portals starts to get a bit moot, why not just put up a board and use your CRM to generate a buyer.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 August 2021 21:23 PM

1988.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 August 2021 06:57 AM

Just two days ago I was telling a client that in the old days the 'secretary' of an agency (pre administrators as a role and title) were often the brain and glue of the agency. The single person who had been sitting in a chair in the corner for years and in whose cranium all the information of the branch was stored. In the days where paper was king and the secretary typed every document, these people knew everything - their counsel was gold. Many new managers and listers, letting managers etc relied on the deep wisdom of these unsung heroes who could give a value to a property as they probably lived locally, and had typed up the sales momorandum or the lettings inventory for a similar property in that street or even that property. Now of course the data sets come from other sources, and the general public is often ahead of the knowledge base in branches, but the same reliance on those non-frontline workers is key, though more so in the adminstration heavy side of lettings. On regulation I would have thought anyone touching real esate should if it ever happens have the same level of qualifications, though with the advance of tech, my hope is that software can keep everthing and everyone in apple pie order, with its 24/7 never sleeping eye.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 August 2021 19:33 PM

Spend a few moments reading the news and then the comments section of The Law Society Gazette and you will get a pretty good feel of why adoption to new legal tech is a very slow burner, even despite the latest report by The Law Society of England - in July. Urging digital change. Despite the new Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce, stating there will be a brave new world built on five pillars “These principles (pillars) include compliance, lawfulness, capability, transparency and accountability and they will likely increase consumer choice, create clarity and reduce time spent on procurement'. (Which will create) “A more stable and predictable environment will also be created for lawtech developers, as they will have a better understanding of the profession’s standards and match their products with these standards. “We hope this research will be the first step to digitally transforming the profession in a way which stays true to solicitors’ ethical obligations.” The sad reality is that most of the rank and file of the legal sector did not even blink, with only 11 of those in the legal sector even bothering to respond to a call for thoughts and views. If some estate agents are Dinosaurs who like the idea of being analogues (many are digital masters) then many in the legal sector are 'ameoba living in the sea', the next stage back, I am not being unkind - but single-celled animals adapted to extreme ocean depths is a pretty apt description of the bunker style mindest of many 'in charge' in the legal sector. Technology will not replace them, other law firms who embrace technology will.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 August 2021 11:22 AM

How many of those homes have cladding or fire safety issues, or building issues that means the new owners are trapped? Giving huge amount of tax payers money as surety for lending on property that can not be sold on is not such a great idea - hopefully in November if the government gives a new steer of fire regulations, surveyors can go down a different route, rather than confining tens of thousands of home buyers to huge crippling bills and years of being unable to move, re-mortgage. As a basic should any home not be 100% safe to live in, especially if it is a new home.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 August 2021 20:24 PM

What will happen to that report?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 August 2021 08:36 AM

I like Jaffa cakes, but at the weekend I like a few slices of Battenburg, and sometimes a cress sandwich or two.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 August 2021 19:57 PM

I dream of sitting on the sofa watching the TV, it takes me back to the 1980's, mostly I am tapping away at the keyboard at 2 am, but the point is Iain - do you think Amazon makes revenue of $21 BN with the attitude that if a client wants goods at 7pm on a Saturday night - they are an irritation. It is the other way around that client thinks any agent unable to service them at 7pm on any night or at any point of any day are old fashioned and disconnected. The digital native can open a bank account at 11.30 pm on a Friday, using their mobile, so getting some property service at the same time well it is just the norm. Does this mean humans need to be in the branch 24-7, no meet the digital transformation of real estate. Software as a service was built specifically to deal with customers ... hence why customer delight is Amazon, and closed agency at 3pm on a Saturday is likely to be closed agency full time within the decade.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 August 2021 18:52 PM

Many wise words here Nathan, and I know that the piece has been written by a person who has keen first hand insight into the digital transformation of real estate across all verticals, plan, build, sale. lease, asset management, in the commercial and residental sector. I have been lucky enough to map both the UK and increasingly the global map of real estate as it moves from its analogue origins into the glittering future of smart cities, the shared economy and all the technologies that lie therein. The only certainty in the world map of Proptech, with London only second to New York in the proliferation of Proptech start-ups is nothing is certain. At present around the world the real estate sector is pouring investment into: - Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Internet of Things (IOT), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and the Shared economy. And then as a bit of a side bet, it is spreading the capital around on anything else that is scalable and might be the next big thing. For anyone thinking that technology in the real estate sector is confined to the narrow confines of residential real estate in the UK. We at Proptech-X put together a small A-Z to cover just some of the digital cosmos that is out there. I think you will see by 2050, real estate globally is going to transacted differently, thought out differently and powered by technologies that are not even developed yet. Here is the A-Z, so far: - A to C 3D Modelling, 3D Printing, Accelerators, Agent Matching, Agent Services, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Asset Management, Auction, Augmented Reality, Augmented Valuation, Big Data, BIM, Biometric Security, Bitcoin, Broker Free Listing Search, Build-Buy-Manage-Rent-Sell, Cad, Chatbot, Coliving, Commercial Real Estate, Compliance, Construction, Construction Management, Contech, Conveyancing, Co-Working, CRM, Crowdfunding, Cryptocurrency, Customer Experience (UX), Cyber Maturity. D to O Data Protection, Data Valuation, Design, Development, Digital Twin, Drones, ESG, Facility Management, Fintech, Funding, Geolocation, Geospatial, Home Services, Indoor Mapping, Infrastructure & Sensors, Investment & Finance, Investment Management, Investment Platforms, IoT, Lead Generation, Legal Tech, Leasing Management Software, Lending – Mortgages, Lending Peer to Peer, Lending Tech, Lettings, Listing & Search Services, Location Based Services, Logistics, Long Term Rentals/Sale Search, Management & Maintenance, Marketing, Marketplaces, Money Transfer/Remittance, Mortgage Tech, Modular, Online Agent Brokerage, Online Agent Lettings, Online Agent Sales, Online Agents, Open Banking. P to Z Payment Operations, Payments/Billing Tech, Platforms, Portals, Portfolio Management, Property & Infrastructure, Property Management Solutions, Property Marketing platform, Property/Building Management, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Marketing Solutions, Real Estate Tools, SaaS, Sales & Marketing, Shared Economy, Shared Services, Short Term Rentals, Smart Building, Smart Buildings, Smart Cities, Smart Cities & Mobility, Smart City Sustainability, Smart Homes, Smart Real Estate, Smart Services, Software Providers, Space as a Service, Start-ups, The Shared Economy, Valuation Tools, Venture Capital, Virtual Reality and Virtual Viewing. If anyone needs any free guidance you all know where we are, as one person put it the other day, 'technology is not replacing agents, agents with technology are replacing agents who do not have any'. Once you grasp that, mapping your route to a prosperous future gets a lot easier.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 August 2021 18:08 PM

I have always felt that the LPE's work harder than many agents as they are both lister and agent - and are controlled by PB. So none of the benefits of being your own boss. And if you have carved out a great name in a local area, well time to put your own name over that virtual door, as 90% of the time a vendor instructs on the personality of the lister - yes reputation and strength of brand come into play, but LPE's have the core skill to list, and setting up your own business is all about inventory.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 August 2021 09:07 AM

Property Pundit you so have it. I am 89 years old, but I still understand that as two thirds of the worlds population is under 25 years of age, maybe they experience the world differently to me. I like to queue in the bank, go to the library and get my books stamped, queue in the post office, queue in the supermarket. It will never catch on all this buying on Amazon, with delivery next day and paying extra for the service, streaming content and paying for it, getting data for my mobile and paying for it as I use it, and as for paying for the convience of an instantly booked viewing - well that is just plain crazy. Next they will be telling me there are electric cars, or Revolut a banking software service which has only been around since 2015 has a higher market capitalisation value than the Natwest banking group. Time for my afternoon nap I must just be dreaming.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 August 2021 22:53 PM

Let them eat cake AND pay £30 for a viewing What do these two things have in common? Marie Antoinette’s quote “Let them eat cake” when asked what the starving French should eat as they had no bread. Mike Riley’s ViewRabbit concept and the idea that viewings could be charged at a rate of £30. Is the answer a major disconnect with what the consensus appears to be? Let’s find out. In Marie Antionette’s case, she had no idea of the world outside her palace. To her, substituting bread for cake was a sound option. At first glance, it would appear that ViewRabbit is also at odds with the consensus. But here’s the kicker, is it out of step with public sentiment or just out of sync with the estate agents’ legacy models of doing things? If the latter is true, is that really a bad thing? For me, ViewRabbit is probing the wants and needs of those in the property nexus, who live in a society where services and goods are leased and hired rather than owned. And things will inevitably be leased, hired, purchased, acquired, etc. Nothing stays dormant for long. So, in return for a certain sum upfront, ViewRabbit will guarantee that a viewer gets a slot to view a property, giving prospective buyers the power to freeze time. Cash equals convenience. Viewings on demand. If they want to, buyers are still free to take the traditional route and view the property via the agent. But, as any of us who have been in that position knows, it might be a gamble depending on the level of interest. It seems that a handful of agents aren’t happy with ViewRabbit upsetting their legacy modus operandi. Now I’m not saying it’s like the French revolutionaries escorting Marie Antionette to the guillotine. Viewings are still free, everyone knows that. But has anyone asked the general public for their view? Have any agents canvassed the buying public, or do they sit in their ivory branches like Marie Antionette, guessing the mood of the people? Now, this is anecdotal, but earlier in the year I wanted to view three properties. I was in a position to buy but they were snapped up before I had a chance to cross the threshold. Who knows, maybe I would’ve purchased one, but indifference from the agent and lack of service meant that they were satisfied with their first sound enquiry. Many people missed out thanks to those agents. As someone who marketed 18,000 properties over thirty-plus years as an agent, I am far from being anti-agent. I am, however, anti-lack of service. In my mind, my time is more precious than everyone else’s. If there’s extra money on the table, maybe it will jolt people into action. Maybe ViewRabbit does have a point after all. Time to ask the people.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 August 2021 10:05 AM

The share price tells all, when it listed on the Alternative Investment Market in December 2015 its share price was 95.5p, it rose to 498.5p in July 2017, and now it is 71p. It has been going since 2012, so after nearly nine years years and the 'best' housing market in memory, where an online model should thrive in lockdown conditions, it managed only a 3.6M pre tax profit. To date, it has burnt through hundreds of millions in investment and cashflow, and it could be argued that any new venture requires cash to build a new model, but if it pivots its model to having to absorb the cost of employing staff, and a whole layer of staffing personnel, and add in the no sale no fee model losses, and you are probably at minus £4M to £6M a year profit wise. For me the bigger story that no one is following is this 'New Model' around employment that has been signalled, rather than a sudden epiphany - is it in fact that HMRC who have long looked at the Purplebrick gig economy model, where LPE's are solely working for Purplebricks, who provide them the sole amount of work, train them and give them a schedule of what they do - and decided that they are employees all along. So Chris Arnold not so much an Alison Platt moment maybe more an Uber moment, where businesses based on 'not employing people' swerving holiday, sickness and holiday pay, but giving people the freedom to earn is finally being seen as a great model for employers keeping costs off the books - not so good for those doing the work. Though on reflection Chris you are right it is an Alison Platt moment, she destroyed Countrywide by trying to change it to Purplebricks, not doing the mathematics of the cost base of each branch, and now Vic Darvey is doing the same loading the business with costs it can not cover.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 August 2021 08:20 AM

Being a proptech real estate analyst, I think it perhaps dangerous to look to Scotland and its 110,000 of annual completions versus our usual 1.1M to 1.2M completions (possibly 1.38M due to Rishi). Making any assumptions at present is not going to be evidence led. Over 11,000 of repossessions are on hold - being the usual annual amount, which did not happen for the last 19 months, and of course there may be more as Furlough and the 'mortgage' holiday' schemes evaporate and the real picture arises. In 1988 when I was an estate agent, 2M properties completed, usually it was sub 1M, we then entered four years of one of the slowest and lowest housing markets, where prices went through the floor and negative equity was rife. A market even worse than 2008. And 1988 was fuelled by the tinkering of another Chancellor Nigel Lawson. So maybe the history books are where we might be looking rather than Scotland.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 August 2021 09:33 AM

Given the amount of newspaper inches that this MVP has already secured, and the fact even though it is the silly season for the press - this is a story with legs, I think a number of players will be looking long and hard at monetising this obvious vertical. After all fifty plus estate agents feeling it is a never going to work, might be right, but probably also they may not be in the industry in 2030, where 'paying' to use the pool car at the end of your road, rather than owning or renting a car that sits on your drive is the norm. Where paying for multiple things in the shared economy is the standard, normal thing to do, with the realisation that free does not really exist, it is just a cost base stuffed into the whole commercial matrix of getting things done. Much like 'free mortgage advice' which is a sales funnel for converting X amount of clients into mortgage borrowers who require finance, insurances etc, from which we the provider generate revenue. Or free viewings, really are they free? Who is paying for the time and resources of the agent? Mostly the vendor who completes his/her sale with the agency, they are also covering the costs for all the aborted sales, and fruitless viewings that did not result in a succesful let or sale, accrued along the way.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 27 July 2021 17:45 PM

Adrian - Purplebricks and now many agents utilise a digital diary system, which speeds up the ability to view, relinquishing an agents diary, is in my view a good thing, better than waiting 72 hours for an agent to maybe return your enquiry about wanting to view. Also the Viking King KB is right also - £50 for a no show, what is wrong with that too? As if member of team is in attendance they could be doing something worthwhile and their time wasted is a cost. The whole no sale no fee paradigm leads itself to an industry where everything is free until exchange, or a contract has been signed by a tenant.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 July 2021 17:52 PM

Getting vendors to pay an upfront fee, rather than a no sale no fee, is a mad idea. Hang on - over 60,000 vendors a year now utilise Purplebricks who had this as their key strategy, which meant that as a listing agent, it was instructed on more properties than the top three estate agency brands in the UK, so clearly a significant chunk of vendors thought this was a good idea. Paying to get a definite slot to view a property, which is refunded if you buy, rather than be told sorry it is sold - is that madness. Also, if it caught on, would the argument then be that estate agents could 'charge' a lower fee to the vendor - if a % of the fee was generated by the viewer. What analogue agents have to understand is that we now very much live in a shared economy, where people increasingly pay for a service or the use of a physical asset. So the idea of 'paying' to get an exclusive time and day to view, knowing that they get to see a property, is very much in tune with the modern buyer. I know of many tenants in London, finding it impossible to rent as the properties are let before they even see them being advertised, could ViewRabbit even up the playing field, and also give the landlord a better pool of tenants to select from? Speaking personally, both as an ex agent of 30 plus years, and as a buyer, my most recent experience was when trying to get viewings, three agents never came back to me so I never got to view a property, on two viewings it took over three days to book a viewing, with myself doing all the chasing, £30 to have an immediate booked slot, that sounds like great value, instant service. Having to fight to get into a property is madness, yet happens countless times each day, is this in the vendor's best interest? The better the consumer UX, arguably the happier they are, and happy clients are easier to deal with.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 July 2021 10:23 AM

Last year for months all agents had their doors locked, making them online agents too, so maybe the analysis needs to be re-engineered. Also, if the (true) onliners only acheived 8%, market share, in what was the best year to be an onliner - as their offering was ideal for the pandemic conditions, it looks like with the 19th almost upon us that 8% will float down to itstypical 5.1% to 5.3%, scooping the fee sensitive share of the market. Given Strike is a freemium model, it is arguable if they are actually an agency model at all, more a sales funnel for mortgage and other bolt on businesses, such as viewings which vendors can have as an add on? Who dreams up these marketing ideas - clearly no person who has estate agency and general public knowledge.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 July 2021 09:59 AM

Strike only completes on 3,214 properties a year, out of the 1.2M properties that complete annually. Strike has been around since 2007, formerly branded Housesimple, and in 14 years they have only 'helped' 45,000 people to move. So in 14-years, there have been 16.8M completed sales in the UK, Strike has had only 45,000 of that pie. Bearing in mind they offer a freemium model now; this is a business going nowhere. In comparison a traditional one branch agency completes on 140 sales a year, and they charge proper fees, so Strike would only need to have 27 traditional offices to be completing on 3,214 sales. A cold start branch, needs 165K of seed capital, in year two breaks even, paying all that seed capital back and in year three makes 80k profit, by year five making a 250k profit. 27 branches, as cold starts in 2007, would be £4.45M of seed capital, 2009 all capital repaid, by 2013 investors would be making 27 x £250,000 gross profit, 6.75M. In the next 8 years even allowing for underperforming branches the cumulative gross profit, would be say £5M x 8, lets call it £40M plus. Instead, tens of millions have been poured in, another £11M being wasted, give me a call, and lets use that 11M to cold start 65 branches tomorrow, and all investors in 36-months would have their capital back and maybe some profit. There is a lot of snake oil and emperors’ clothes going on – with SaaS as the new Messiah, I know a thing or two about that as well, so maybe 30 branches and the rest of the cash into the new model of agency we are on the cusp of. Then again I may be wrong I was only an estate agent for 32-years worked fot the two largest corporates in the UK and myself, and dealt with 18,000 properties in that time. And on the proptech front I have met over 400 founders, discussed their services, had 67 proptech clients last year, seen one of my first clients exit at multi-millions, have two proptechs we are looking to sell £30M plus, and we advised 20 real estate corporations last year also. We do not just deal with the small UK residential market either, we have clients in China, Russia, America, Australia, Israel, and in various verticals, from commercial real estate, to geospatial, from blockchain to augmented reality. What I do know is if an 'onliner' wants to win - they need to address the client UX square on - and not deviate. What I see loads of is spending cash 'on advertising' only for the service itself to be - clunky, ill thought out, low on tech, low on people and very low on original ideas. If Strike wants to replace estate agents, maybe - start with asking the public what they want, and build it from there, rather than on the shoulders of a legacy model.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 July 2021 10:07 AM

Here is what I know - and J Blackmore you are 100% correct. Strike has been around since 2007 it was formerley Housesimple. So in 14 years they have 'helped' 45,000 people to move. Not sure if 45,000 people means 45,000 completed sales, let us assume it is. So in 14 years 1.2M completions in UK a year, or 16.8 M completions in total, and Strike has 45,000 of them. This business is not a business. The only disruption is to investors bank balances. The figures do not add up, it equates to a tiny 3,214 completed sales a year for 14 years, as the business model. A single small one branch agency will complete on 140 sales a year, so Strike at a hit rate of 3,214 completions a year is like an agency with only 25 traditional branches. Hardly a national brand. Then look at the amount of cash it has already burnt. Put it this way, if a traditional agency model is adopted - give me 165k seed capital, and I will cold start a branch, and in 24 months I will give you 165K back and be at break even with that brand new agency branch. Year three I will make 80k profit, year four 125k profit year five 250k profit. Profit not revenue. So with 11M in my hot little hand tomorrow that could be 66 cold start new agencies in the UK, looking to repay the start up capital in FULL in 24 months and make PROFIT in year three, with this online model - in three years that 11M will go the way of Emoov, Hatched, Doorsteps et al. My advice put the money on red and walk away from the roulette table and hope you get lucky. Also Strike is based on a Freemium model - with revenue from mortgage referrals - which is very much under the microscope and may be cut off as a revenue stream.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 July 2021 10:57 AM

119M of losses in 6 years, 180M of investment, 6M of gross profit in one year - the year the country was in lockdown and a virtual online agent would be choice number one. I see the next 12 months as the departure lounge for the remaining onliners. Expensive, cash guzzling, lacking strategy, but worst of all giving the client the worst ride of their lives. 1/10 for client UX, a people lite, and tech lite business. Millions and millions are needed for some proper tech development - about 250M, but start with a plan, do not copy legacy agency. Has Amazon or Netflix taught onliners nothing? Emulate a legacy model = failure after burning all the cash. Build a model that has never existed = failure after burning all cash or brilliant success - surprisingly success is often very close to the road to failure.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 July 2021 01:00 AM

If you index in the 15M trousered cash for not selling property, (yes they refunded a tiny amount but about 15M will be the true amount of fee paid out with no completion) that makes for not a 6M gross profit, but a minus 9M cash burn rate. And cashback – there is no cashback – having marketed over 18,000 properties over 30 years here is what I know about residential sales in the UK. 95% of properties marketed, will get a proceedable offer 10% below the price – eg, 500k, that is an offer of 450K most agents could get that offer in 20 seconds, it then voids the refund. So the cash back concept is deeply flawed. If in lockdown a digital, people lite - supposed tech heavy agent can not move forward - after the 19th with people back in branches I think their Covid advantage ends, I sense a new person in to bat at the top maybe sometime soon, what they really need is some joined up strategy, a plan and a person who can execute it. Not a dogs breakfast. They actually do have some significant value but the assets are all plumbed in - in the wrong order. Always up for a call to give some consultancy guidance.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 July 2021 17:55 PM

The online agent Strike, which was previously House Simple, before it re-trenched from its aspirations of being a national agent brand and concentrated on the North, is looking for fresh recruits. Based on an agency model of being free, unlike the typical no sale no fee model, or even online model of Purplebricks – pay upfront sale or no sale, it may be hard to understand how these new starts are going to earn a living. Maybe Sam Mitchell the top man knows, as worryingly if you look on their website you have to take a £699 option if you want accompanied viewings, (not very free) and there does seem a heavy emphasis on ‘free mortgage advice’ which possibly means the service is a sales funnel for financial services revenue. Maybe Sam can enlighten me, as to how free the model is, after all their slogan is ‘A transparent experience from start to finish’.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 July 2021 00:28 AM

Have a look at Upside Capital Financial Ltd - on companies house - that might answer some of your questions Algarve Investor. And peer to peer lending - an easy way to get a carpet bag of money - not so easy when no investors get no return, and everyone leaves. I do think that the regulators should end the practice of any company saying it has a market capitalisation of £10M - Which is a figure made up by Founders seeking cash investment on the unregulated market of peer to peer lenders - a figure investors rely upon when paying in their cash. After all they are often pre-revenue and pre customer. Like Doorsteps original elevator pitch to investors - 'by 2020, 50% of properties will be marketed by online agents'. Here have 5% of this great new enterprise you will be rich- it will only cost you Mr Investor and your 356 friends £1,400 each to buy in collectively for £500,000. Then the investor wakes up and realise that the share of the 5% share has no value, as it is not a listed company, and you will not be able to sell your £1,400 fractional 'share' - then the Founder resigns and you say - where is my investment? No doubt perhaps AKR growth investments will be growing the dreams of some new investors. As to the P&L of Doorsteps, built on the fiction of completing a sale for £99, has anyone seen the latest figures? I would be very happy to know if they have ever made a penny profit. Don't tell me next year. Why do companies confuse revenue with profit. Revenue vanity - Profit sanity.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 June 2021 17:02 PM

An awful lot of sensible advice from the Viking King, as much to agents as to Proptechs, especially it is a marathon - and the first iterations are not the finished version.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 June 2021 20:35 PM

Nathan Emerson has put Propertymark on a new and enlightened digital pathway, that will enhance the value to its membership. His inclusive and listening policy, together with his insight into traditional agency, and the needs of agents to adapt to a less analogue age, where clients are digital natives expecting service at a faster rate, and via multi-channels, is winning hearts and minds.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 June 2021 09:55 AM

Actually Phil, it is usually perceived indifference, that cuts the tie between agent and vendor. And it amazes me that no proptech genius has written some software to overcome this PI problem. A vendor might get 20 calls from an agent booking viewings plus giving feedback, but when is there a call to monitor how things are going, a call to allow both sides to sum up how it is working out? Although PI causes the rift, many agents also feel that to continue with a non selling vendor is something akin to a toxic relationship, better to move on.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 21 June 2021 18:26 PM

Ben J - I thought it was free to join Boomin. And the cash being spent by Boomin is their own - which means they are backing themselves. Also major individuals such as Athena Hubble do not tend to make career decisions to join ventures without looking under the bonnet. As to the 'good' or 'bad' that Boomin is causing agents - a better question to ask is why all of a sudden are the top three portals all now pivoting their models, with proptech now the daily currency, could it be that Boomin, Openbrix, Moovshack, Property.xyz, etc are with their UX approach, making the established portals look again at their models. Digital innovation/transformation is the new oil that will power the profits of agents, if the portals get the mix right it is a win for all. The alternative is agents developing their own solutions - a costly journey and a time sensitive one.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 June 2021 09:31 AM

There are 11,000 Proptechs globally, and real estate is going through what the banking sector globally went through when it through its own fintech digital evolution, and now banking is for all of us efficient, fast and on my Apple watch (that and a talking Mickey Mouse), on my mobile, hastened by cloud computing and the annual doubling of technology's reach. I am sure many bank staff ushered in the year 2000, globally not understanding that after the false dotcom bust of the late 1990's and early 2000's in digital, the onslaught into their sector was unstoppable, that and a multi billion $ spend to change things. In the same way proptech, and I mean across CRE, Contech and all the verticals that make up the 'property' asset base, has the tendrils of a digital way of doing things within it. So not a case of do I stay analogue, maybe choose digital, rather what path should I take to de-risk my company's growth. Why do we see the same huge property companies, keeping close to tech, Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE) or JLL - well JLL spark specifically which is ' is dedicated to transforming the real estate industry through technology-based innovation' and turns over $16BN of revenue annually. These companies do not sit on the fence - they are planning how to digitally manufacture and own that fence. So for residential or letting agents thinking that the digital transformation of the asset class that is property is somehow going to be a fleeting matter - I think maybe you need to take a look around at the big changes in the architecture of your business and plan the best ways to de-risk the next ten years. If you want some free advice more than happy to help, we helped over 20 real estate companies get their 'heads' around the shape of modern real estate, and I come from a 30 + year background of analogue agency - so I promise I speak in a vernacular all can comprehend. As the lack of communality of language is one of the biggest barriers to change.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 June 2021 08:54 AM

In a short space of time - and with the legacy he was given - Jason Tebb has proved himself. Turning a leviathan around is a huge ask - and can takes years, clearly OTM put the right person in to bat.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 June 2021 08:45 AM

Yes in many ways saving 15K on SDLT and buying a 500k property that was 'worth' 450k 10 months ago is not excatly a win. Many have bought compromise properties having sold for great money only to find that as they trade up - big money only buys them average housing stock. There may be lots of steam yet in the market, but the largest tranche of FTB's will have bought all they want to buy, as we hit June (as is the case in every year) and the BTL brigade are not likely to fill the bottom of the market gap with property at sky high values.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 June 2021 00:27 AM

Banning emails from employers - could be seen as 1984 - and Eric Blair's dystopian take on a future world, but others emailing out of work hours, such as lucarative sales opportunities etc - is that also to be vetoed? Luckily or unluckily working for two companies I own, so still an employee - but with no union - I work as many do seven days a week and dawn to late at night, but that is a life choice. On the flipside I can totally see if you are on an hourly rate, then even working from home, or in an office or similar - personal hours and work hours need to be kept separate to a degree.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 June 2021 22:50 PM

The whole architecture has to be changed, the legals, finance and the sales process, focusing on the minutiea is pointless, we have seen and met the future, and work daily with those interested in engineering that future, the digital natives want to do property in a faster more efficient way. One company in one sector of realestate however good it is, is but a tiny cog, the bigger changes which we see are playing out through real estate, not just in residential agency in the UK, in fact of course CRE is and always will be the bigger brother, but the planning, building etc verticals are moving forward based on tech, but the closed mindsets of estate agents - (and I was one for 30 years plus) is only going to leave them wondering what went wrong - when they failed to adapt to modern agency.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 May 2021 18:14 PM

Mark they will not reply - maybe Vic should ask them?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 May 2021 21:23 PM

Everyone knows my views on Purplebricks, but listing 60,000 instructions year on year in the UK makes it a huge contender, and it is the 'general public' making this choice - so 'Get Agent' who have a strap line of 'Find the Best Estate Agent for You - see which agent will do the best job of selling your home' is possibly in breach of this commitment. Also does GetAgent not have a commercial model where it takes a % of the agent's commission if it successfully puts together a prospective vendor and an agent. So a referral fee underpins their enterprise? I stand to be corrected on this - and message me directly if you are the CEO. But - if this is the case might it be that Purplebricks did not want to pay to be included? Again conjecture on my part - but I seem to remember back in the day some comparison website asking me for a % of a fee if they introduced me to potential vendors, and I replied I had 42% market share of sales in a two-mile radius so probably their service was not for me, as we usually were invited out on most MA's. If this was not GetAgent I apologise for my lack of understanding what your business model is, maybe you just provide intel for the public as a service? But if that is the case, then as the largest lister of property in the UK under one brand - why would you miss Purplebricks off your list? On the Get Agent website it clearly states that it uses Land Registry data to determine who is the 'best' agent in an area, clearly omitting 40,000 completed sales a year from one agency would skew this data set and make a mockery of this claim - I wonder if trading standards would be happy at this situation. Maybe a proviso needs to be added to the Get Agent site – ‘we omit to include data for Purplebricks even though they are the most dominant lister of properties in the UK or similar’.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 May 2021 11:17 AM

The old model was, inventory from agents generated visits to property portals. These visitors or leads are then passed back to the agents either as enquiries to buy or let, or list or rent. Technology is now washing through all verticals of real estate, which means the digital natives who utilise portals want much more than just a list of properties, and agencies themselves need to realise that their 'customers' expect a very different UX journey. We are now seeing, powered on by lockdown, the need to have a more Amazon and responsive model for the public who wants to 'do property' on the customer's terms. ZPG are going down a progressive proptech route, enabling agents to digitally transform their businesses, Boomin is putting the consumer at the heart of their proposition and at the same time monitising all the opportunities that agents fail to monetise, and sharing the cash nexus with the partner agents - as many agents do not understand that agents are digital companies - whether they like it or not, and Rightmove is adding a new division of account managers to 'manage' its agents - I am unsure what this will look like on the ground, is it containment or a policy of listening and nurturing agents? What is clear, and I speak due to my day job at Proptech-PR to probably 20 Founders, CEO's, CCO's and CTO's a week in the space, is that there is a collective move to actually help agencies be more efficient, by giving them joined up solutions. We are now seeing the start of a period of maturity in the real estate tech sector that really only began in 2017, by 2027 the whole landscape will be very different, much of it pushed on by the increasing demands of the digital natives and the minds of proptech founders coding better solutions.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 May 2021 13:59 PM

Had the most basic level of technology been used, then all of these buyers could have been 'reserved' their new properties, having been qualified, all from the comfort of their existing homes. Having to wait outside premises, is a throwback to the 1980's, the world is now more Amazon, UX delight than, waiting in line, especially overnight. 75% of investment buyers who bought new homes in 2020 did so off plan, I am guessing they did not roll out their sleeping bags to be first in line at analogue estate agent. A great story for the BBC, a poor show for the UK real estate industry, now more than ever proptech will power real estate, the days of gatekeeper, slow agency are definitely numbered. We at Proptech-PR have helped over 20 real estate organisations 'manage' the change from 1980's thinking to 2030's business models, in 2020. De-risking their futures, in 2021 we think we will double this number. Change marches on.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 May 2021 09:43 AM

We at Proptech-PR are one of their biggest advocates since having a cup of builder's tea with Craig Massey in October 2019, their tech, second to none, topflight team and execution.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 May 2021 18:19 PM

Some wise words here Nathan, and we of course are involved with REACH and its excellent accelerator programme, as well as partners across the globe and with government and HMLR initiatives. In the past year alone we have helped with the growth of over 80 Proptechs and advised over 30 real estate concerns, having met with over 340 proptech founders in the past four and a half years. All of this gives us a very deep panoramic view of the yotal ecosystem and the only certainty in the world map of Proptech, with London only second to New York in the proliferation of Proptech start-ups is nothing is certain. At present around the world the real estate sector is pouring investment into: - Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Building Information Modelling (BIM), Internet of Things (IOT), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and the Shared economy. Though we do not just focus on the residential agency vertical - we are also daily involved with all the moving parts, the following is not an exhaustive list but gives a hint of the A-Z ground we cover with a variety of proptech enterprises:- A to C - 3D Modelling, 3D Printing, Accelerators, Agent Matching, Agent Services, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Asset Management, Auction, Augmented Reality, Augmented Valuation, Big Data, BIM, Biometric Security, Bitcoin, Broker Free Listing Search, Build, Cad, Chatbot, Coliving, Commercial Real Estate, Compliance, Construction, Construction Management, Contech, Conveyancing, Co-Working, CRM, Crowdfunding, Cryptocurrency, Customer Experience (UX), Cyber Maturity. D to O - Data Protection, Data Valuation, Design, Development, Digital Twin, Drones, ESG, Facility Management, Fintech, Funding, Geolocation, Geospatial, Home Services, Indoor Mapping, Infrastructure & Sensors, Investment & Finance, Investment Management, Investment Platforms, IoT, Lead Generation, Legal Tech, Leasing Management Software, Lending – Mortgages, Lending Peer to Peer, Lending Tech, Lettings, Listing & Search Services, Location Based Services, Logistics, Long Term Rentals/Sale Search, Management & Maintenance, Marketing, Marketplaces, Money Transfer/Remittance, Mortgage Tech, Modular, Online Agent Brokerage, Online Agent Lettings, Online Agent Sales, Online Agents, Open Banking. P to V - Payment Operations, Payments/Billing Tech, Platforms, Portals, Portfolio Management, Property & Infrastructure, Property Management Solutions, Property Marketing platform, Property/Building Management, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Marketing Solutions, Real Estate Tools, SaaS, Sales & Marketing, Shared Economy, Shared Services, Short Term Rentals, Smart Building, Smart Buildings, Smart Cities, Smart Cities & Mobility, Smart City Sustainability, Smart Homes, Smart Real Estate, Smart Services, Software Providers, Space as a Service, Start-ups, The Shared Economy, Valuation Tools, Venture Capital, Virtual Reality and Virtual Viewing. So I think that anyone who feels that there is not a seismic shift taking place in real estate, maybe needs to take some time out and explore whatt is going on, I am more than happy to help them with that journey. Increasingly here at Proptech-PR we are helping analogue agents de-risk their businesses and get on that digital transformation highway. And that is why we are setting up Proptech-X a publication for both property professionals and proptechs so that all stakeholders can work together and understand each other in the post pandemic world of real estate.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 May 2021 08:46 AM

Totally up to a vendor who they wish to sell to, but the counter argument is that if areas 'suffer' from rich insurgents buying up properties and keeping prices buoyant, this is often not seen as a burden for vendors who will have seen a good return when they look to sell. Perhaps when this local couple look to sell, will they take a lower bid from a local buyer, especially if they are looking to trade up in the same heated market, or might their mindset change? London historically has 'suffered' from outsiders buying into the capital, creating year on year house inflation - until recent times, I do not see anyone saying this is terrible, just market forces.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 May 2021 08:29 AM

A secondary consideration is also if a Home Office in the garden has power and other utilities, and maybe a kitchen and or shower, mortgage lenders are pretty resistant to lending in these circumstances as perception has been in the past that though a 'glorified garden shed' should a mortgage lender in the future require the property to be sold as the lender was not in a position to pay the mortgage, having a 'second residence' in the garden is problematic. Also, if we start to get into the annexe equation - there can be separate SDLT required should a surveyor plough this furrow. I have had cases over the years where a buyer buys a property which is considered as two dwellings, which opens up an extra 3% SDLT liability on the whole price on top of SDLT that would be due. So you are getting into Granny flats morphing into Home Offices - maybe some clarity will filter through from HMRC?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 May 2021 08:16 AM

Mindsets and adoption - the tech is here.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 05 May 2021 15:48 PM

A very enlightened approach by the QC, perhaps a shame she was not first into bat. Is this the start of a more open method of finding the 'truth'? Is there an explanation why the original investigator moved aside?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 May 2021 08:57 AM

Much truth, much apathy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 May 2021 11:39 AM

As every agency looking to make profit trades on the premise that the resi income covers all costs and produces some profit, and financial services can generate as much as 40% gross profit pre-tax, why is it news that there will be a focus on financial services - as it would be a core concept with LSL anyway? Is it the case that the new CEO does not understand the fiscal foundations and golden ratios that govern a real estate business. And the comment by Graham above - is 100% on the money - estate agency businesses are strange creatures - and financial services businesses are different, as countless money houses found to their cost - LLoyds bank - (Black Horse Agencies) Halifax, Prudential etc.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 April 2021 08:06 AM

16.7% from a low base though Chris. Foxtons need a complete re-think, like most companies every decade you need to re-fresh or throw in the towel.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 April 2021 14:18 PM

Mark Hayward, ex CEO and now Chief Policy Advisor for Propertymark, is to talk to five of the seven Proptech companies in the REACH UK accelerator. This can be nothing but a good thing, as definitely the world is now digital and it is time that real estate the bastion of legacy systems and analogue realises it needs to service digital natives, who want instant UX. With my other hat on I must admit to being a mentor for REACH UK, and with another hat on I have to declare an interest, as at least one client who is in the programme happens to be a client of mine, at Proptech-PR. But the message I would like to convey as an analogue agent of more than 30 years in a previous life, is Countrywide Plc failed because it became a dinosaur, digital is the best way to de-risk any business that touches the asset class of property. Closed minds equals closed doors, equals dimishing profits.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 April 2021 14:09 PM

Mr P - you are 100% correct if there is a mortgagee - then the buyer's soliciter - is acting for the lender first and the buyer second - hence the snail rate of progress, solicitors do not fear the buyer suing them, but they do fear the power of the lender who not only can and will sue, but will also remove conveyancers from their panels. As you say cash is a five day gig on purchase, mortgage is a 28 day to 100 day gig, add a chain ... well usually in 165 days the deal can be done. To be fair to solicitors they are always the blind dumb protagonist, they have not viewed the property, they rely on pieces of paper to determine if it passes muster to be lent against and bought by the buyer. A lot to be said for the idea of solicitors virtually viewing properties 'together' with the vendor and buyer, you could quickly iron out lots of wrinkles, the need for a Fensa certificate, documentation for that new boiler, that wall that is missing has the ceiling been re-inforced, that garden fence is 10M out has the present occupier 'borrowed' some garden land from the railway comany, this would save the thousands of hours lost in chasing the minutiae that clogs sales.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 21 April 2021 11:32 AM

Given the survey was based on 1,000 respondents and there are 1.4M buyers a year, 1.1M who get to completion, - here we go again a knee jerk idea based on the tiniest amount of data, who dreams these things up. Maybe have a survey based on the data of 500,000 buyers, that would be more useful. Conversely the vendors selling should also have a voice, so maybe get an analysis of what say 500,000 vendors think, do they feel a more forensic approach to detailing all the problematic areas of their prized asset being out there on show prior to getting a viewing is a good thing? I have sold numerous properties over the years which if documented would not have warranted a viewing, but in fact were real gems, their value either being the location, the views, or the proximity to services or communications, having little to do with the property itself. If after a large enough assessment has been made, not based on the straw poll, and there is a need for more clarity, instead of this burden of gaining more insight into properties falling onto the shoulders of the selling agent, clearly this is a perfect SaaS area, where the vendor pays a data company to dice and slice all the intel prior to contacting Mr Agent.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 21 April 2021 11:16 AM

I like the NTSELAT team, they always respond to contact promptly and have a pretty shrewd handle on things, their only problem is that they need to be about 50 times larger to marshall their sector, and being based in Powys is always a big ask as not in the London mix.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 April 2021 16:11 PM

Kristjan Byfield the point was - OTM have zero cash to be a software warehouse, have you looked at their books recently? They are undercapitalised as it is, have almost zero traction in the portal space and managed to alienate the largest single agency in the UK with 8% marketshare. Some days I wish that I was designing space rockets, but realistically I have neither the resources or the time, a lot like OTM. Jason has arrived, but has no capital to do anything meaningful, a bit like old Countrywide, it took 140M a few years ago to bail it out, in reality all it did was keep the lights on and those in the c-suite on the gravy train, before bending its neck. And regarding tech innovation, given it can be a decade cycle before adoption and profit what shiny new things can OTM develop prior to 2031 that will help their cause. Prediction 2025 - OTM will be a very marginal player, cash strapped and out of soundbites.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 April 2021 20:59 PM

I have yet to hear or see the interview but the idea of OTM becoming a 'software house' given that you have google or microsoft etc who have multi billion dollar budgets, seems very odd, maybe this is just rhetoric or a soundbite? Or is OTM about to announce a multi-million pound tie up so that it can produce SaaS products? The one thing I have learnt in the proptech ecosystem is that when an enterprise starts to 'pivot' its core proposition - in this case being a property portal, and starts to go into trying to immitate another business, well focus, cash and reputations often suffer. Countrywide Plc was founded on high fees, high turnover of stock, focused core management, then non agents arrived and changed the model, then exited having fatally damaged the business. I get on five calls a day with tech founders, my first question - who are your clients? second question what is the problem you have found, third question how are you uniquely solving it? Everything else is noise, vanity and going to end badly. So who is OTM's clients? What problem is OTM solving? What is your solution? Maybe when I see the vid, things will be clearer. Maybe all the agents have said - OTM needs to pivot its model and build and distribute software products, forget the core portal business.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 April 2021 08:24 AM

Busiest market when I was selling as an agent was 1988, two million completions that year, then it was like a nuclear blizzard, no real market for four years and prices jumped off a cliff. With BoE at 0.1% base rate not really likely we will see a hike in mortgage rates, but Furlough is likely to be a kicker, unless the Chancellor continues to support those most hit by the pandemic.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 April 2021 21:01 PM

There are 50,000 in the UK property industry and associated supporting businesses in the supply chain, 350 replies is well, 0.007 of the sample group, so I am not saying it has no value, but I would not feel comfortable that it really tells us anything meaningful. I spend my whole life looking at analytics and figures buy not knowing what the other 99. 993% think would worry me a little. Here are a few thoughts from me and my co-director who Zara who has four legs and a tail and chases squirrels a lot. Most agents had their doors locked for a third of the year in 2020, yet completions remained at the usual level. Amazon an e-commerce platform saw its profits go skyward, many high street businesses are no more. All real estate companies are digital companies, those who realise this will thrive. UX is all you need to focus on if you are in the people business of agency, change your viewpoint, imagine you are the client and build a business that delights and speeds their needs, and base it on 2030 thinking not 1980 thinking. And spend more time with your dog walking in the countryside and less time looking out of plate glass windows.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 April 2021 20:50 PM

Matthew this is a brilliant overview of what an API is, and in some ways sums up why there is such a disconnect around Proptech. The lack of communality of language - that is why we are about to launch Proptech-X 'Uniting the Property & Tech Community' as there is not a bridge of language that exists to make things simple. After the use of about two technological words, extrovert property professional looks skyward and no longer engages, and tech professional well this is lowbrow stuff so little engagement there. How to join the need for education and enlightenment between the property or real estate verticals and the advance of tech - a big challenge - but we are on it.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 April 2021 20:28 PM

I think that in the next 18-months everyone is going realise that the digital norms that exist when procuring goods and services in our daily lives, applies to real estate too. Example, one point of digital truth, say encypted ID accepted by all stakehoders removing duplication. Open Banking which is going to change forever this fiscal landscape.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 April 2021 13:59 PM

The digital native locusts will search out the digital native conveyancers, I do not think these locusts buy stamps or even own a biro, so can not comprehend using a company that does. Totally agree that the law society and whole fabric of the legal profession needs to have a good talk to itself and realise that it is not an 'island'. If the failures of the retailers, and the ascendency of e-platform businesses like Amazon have not drilled home the message that the consumer - consumes 24/7 365, and buying a property is an act of a consumer in need of UX - so being open 9 to 5 with an hour for lunch and not at weekends is a 1960's idyll not a 2025 reality.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 April 2021 14:12 PM

Chris Arnold you are 110% correct, 72% of consumers 'buy' off a friend's recommendation that is why Influencer marketing is so huge, a person you follow and trust, rather than an advert that you never see on Youtube etc as you pay never to see them. Purplebrick's technology credentials are pretty thin too if they are going down the 'UK's leading tech led agency' route as CBRE which turns over $23BN annually might have something to say about usurping that title. A better title might be estate agent lite, tech lite, a service that delights neither the digital native or the service hungry consumer. With the annual accounts out soon, will that £7M spend eat all of the their profit for the year? I think it will be a close run thing.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 April 2021 12:05 PM

Analogue to digital, the legal profession just needs to repeat that mantra twice a day, and then implement it and in three years conveyancing will be a five day matter - from sstc to exchange. Alternatively, continue with paper, files and second class stamps, and antiquated legacy systems and see how many new clients you have in the year 2025 beating a path to your door ...

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 April 2021 08:56 AM

Pivot for who Simon AS or Nested?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 31 March 2021 11:14 AM

Maybe virtual interviews - next.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 March 2021 08:41 AM

Propertymark will be hoping no one is reading this article - or did they report themselves to the FCA? See extract from the 2019 Propertymark annual report ' The Finance department has undergone a major review of its processes, systems and procedures. As part of gaining that financial stability we have identified that our tax position was not properly ordered and that has led to a significant payment to HM Revenue and Customs of outstanding VAT which has arisen through misdefinition of our liabilities. We are confident that Propertymark’s finances are now on a sure footing.' Page 14 of the report. Given that the Propertymark website is full of rhetoric like - 'Propertymark launched in February 2017 combining five different associations into a single brand. The five associations (ARLA, NAEA, NAVA, ICBA and APIP) were dedicated to promoting the highest industry standards for over 50 years'. And 'What is Propertymark? Propertymark unites the experience of the leading property lettings and sales membership organisations, NAEA Propertymark and ARLA Propertymark, to create a single voice promoting professionalism and integrity in the property industry. Our property experts seek to become Propertymark Protected voluntarily to demonstrate transparency and ensure they are at the forefront of developments in the industry. Estate agents, letting agents as well as auctioneers who display the ‘Propertymark Protected’ logo are actively ensuring maximum protection for their clients'. Can in all credulity Propertymark be the great protector and guardian of financial probity if it fails to pass muster on basics like paying its own VAT bill, over several years - many may feel the answer is a big no.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 March 2021 08:21 AM

We have now all entered the 'twilight zone' some more than others. A CEO leaves, no reason given, a new CEO is in harness with zero real estate credentials two months later, and resigns five months later with no explanation. That alone would raise questions of competency, add in all of the departures and the lack of transparency of the last year and you have a sinking ship. In many ways it has a similar feel to Countrywide Plc, people in ivory towers believing they had a relevant business, and those they represented were 100% behind them, in reality they had become a Dinosaur. 2030 agency needs people who can fly spacecrafts, to keep up with the tech and pace of agency, not old stale pale men - getting nostalgic about a bygone age. And I speak as an old stale pale male, but I did something about it, got off my backside and engaged over the past five years with over 300 founders of proptech companies, over 100 real estate owners and hundreds of stakeholders, in the UK and globally, that takes time and effort, not words. My best advice to Propertymark, stop pontificating and start talking at volume to ALL of your members - you will find it good for the soul, and you might consider dropping RoPA as your central plank, and instead look to nourish and train those fee paying members.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2021 08:19 AM

What it could truthfully state is that at 60,000 instructions listed per year, for last two years, it listed more than the top three agents added together, and one of those is Countrywide PLC - (RIP sadly). That is the narrative I would go down. As to the amount of property listed, SSTC, exchanged and taken off the market - all of that data is freely available, if you would like it Graham - just ask an analyst. Zara my co-director knows the figures - and she is only four - well 28 in dog years. You might have to take her on her favourite walk - which will involve squirrels but she is the font of all knowledge, and loves to share things (though not her yellow ball or her favourite blue cow toy).

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 March 2021 08:49 AM

'If only they had used a robot' - that is what Zara thinks. Why not automate the whole process, then you could have conveyancing 24/7 - how long would it take to conveyance the change of title on a property then. This of course will never catch on - who would ever want to do anything as important as buy a property from the comfort of their mobile screen, whatever next they will be suggesting we can start accessing our bank accounts on our mobiles, no that is far too dangerous better to queue at the bank ... wait a minute my bank just closed for ever today, maybe this tech thing could catch on.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 March 2021 12:17 PM

Connells group £51.8M profit 2020. Purplebricks profit and loss since in last five years, 2016 £11.9M loss, 2017 £3.01M loss, 2018 £30.08M loss, 2019 £54.9M loss and in 2020 - up to 30th of April they lost £19.2M. In 2020 they had revenue of £111.1M but still made that £19.2M loss, so running cost was £130.3M - or a cash burn of £10.85M a month. It will be interesting to see if in the 2021 end of year accounts it is another negative figure. Also its revenue seems to be going backwards as in 2019 it generated £113.M and only £111.1M in year ending April 2020. If this stays static and it burns £20M a year more than it generates, how much runway has it left. Also will the Uber ruling have consequences with their self-employed model, as many argue the workforce are really employees, just without the benefits that a PAYE structure would allow. Lastly, if they pivot their model and go down the no-sale, no fee model, that is £18M of inward revenue a year that will be hard to swallow, as that is the typical figure that unsold listings generate. Employing a few traditional agents at the top of the purplebricks pyramid, does not change the model, employing 10,000 estate agents would. My advice - actually utilise some proptech, enhance client UX - supercharge the 'thin' sstc to completion journey - then there is a sustainable business, who knows it might actually make profit.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 March 2021 18:15 PM

Interesting inniative by The Guild, no cost to members for the training (not the exam). Will Propertymark be going the same route - or will they be looking to continue generating 'extra' revenue from their 17,000 members by asking those who are interested to pay for 'training'.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 March 2021 13:05 PM

I like it when an agency revamps its board - but maybe this a case of moving the deckchairs around as the Titanic sink. As fundamentally like Uber, Purplebricks is a cash guzzler that never makes profit. The figures do not lie, annual cut off is 30th of April for their accounts, in 2016, they lost 11.9M, 2017 they lost 3.01M, 2018 they lost 30.08M, 2019 they lost 54.9M and in 2020 - up to 30th of April they lost 19.2M. Against revenues (cash in of) 18.6M - 2016, 46.7M in 2017, 87.79M in 2018, 113.8M in 2019 and 111.10 M in 2020. Given this includes about 18M plus of revenue for houses that were listed and did not sell, in the past two years respectively - the figures on that basis would be far worse, try adding 18M to the loss figures quoted earlier. Also, I see they are going back to their 'no commission slogan' that really is a great USP. 🙈

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 March 2021 10:35 AM

Some great points made here, including the move towards gamification in tech. Separately, from 1986 to 2016 I was a static agent - chained to an office, though having marketed and listed 18,000 properties a good deal of time was also spent in properties or travelling to and from appointments. If I started my own agency again in 2021, I would not have premises. I would have a WFH policy, with a meet up venue for the team. I would be in the minds of all my clients and potential clients, with the use of social media across all platforms, TikTok, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, etc, but my biggest hitter would be my sales funnel company website, based on the e-commerce Amazon experience, this would be the engine of the business. In my present role as a global Proptech Real Estate Influencer, journalist and Editor, and Founder of Proptech-PR and Proptech-X, furthering the doctrine of moving real estate from analogue to digital, video conferencing has been my conduit pre-pandemic and will continue, having six one hour meetings a day, versus one or two is a no brainer, especially if your client is in India, Russia or America. On a separate point, Estate Agency they say is a 'people business', I actually think it is the business of 'wisdom' - that is why agents in towns cities and villages who have teams who have individuals with 20 or 30 years of experience win big, as the 'locals' like to leverage this wisdom. Now though this wisdom does not have to be on the high street, if the property consumer can easily react with the 'agent' via their preferred method of communication, be it an email, WhatsApp, Twitter etc, they just want a quick omni-channel journey, so they can transact 'stuff' before they go on Amazon and order a pair of Rollerskates, or hit up a fast food vendor for a quick delivery of food. We are now in the world of convenience, the customer is still king or queen, and the UX user or customer experience is prime - but if you try and deliver it in an anologue way ... well take a look at Arcadia, or many who are no longer on the high street, the public who are digital locusts, want things now, at a certain price, provide and profit, or ignore this trend and see your competition flourish.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 March 2021 10:42 AM

We were informed of problems a week ago with one agent, it will be interesting to know what the exactly is going on. At that time Rightmove suggested it was an isolated incident and it was the agent and their system that created the problem, clearly the reverse was true. It makes you think who can you trust to give the correct intel these days.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 March 2021 09:04 AM

All real estate companies are digital companies and enlightened brands like Foxtons not only embrace this but see it as the route to de-risk and grow their business. Digital transformation is not just moving from analogue to digital, it is a mindset too. Proptech has been universally described as the digital transformation of real estate. Where property and technology collide, producing a shockwave of change, powered by venture capital, cloud computing and new technologies, which seeks to modernise, create efficiencies, and drive profits. Changing forever the legacy, and paper driven processes in all verticals of the property asset class. This is a half-truth, Proptech is also a philosophy a new mindset for people who inhabit the c-suite . A heightened consciousness of what can be done in the global playground of real estate; using new tools which in themselves, allows the new order of things to be even further re-imagined and come into being. Using an analogy if real estate is a horse as a vehicle for human travel. Then Proptech would re-imagine it as a Tesla car, but the new technologies of AI and Big Data would further push the consciousness of a start-up tech team to come up with a space rocket. Foxtons certainly are well ahead in that new space race.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2021 13:11 PM

Maybe they could start by being honest about their inability to pay the VAT bill for several years, why it was covered up, did they pay a fine to HMRC as well as the VAT plus interest demanded, and was the Financial Officer and the accountants held liable/disciplined/let go? That would be a start, all this talk of being the leading group that the industry looks up to, the enterprise that is the 'financial guardian of best agency pratice' is mostly confined to the minds of those in the c-suite of Propertymark, the grass roots members have a completely different view. Transparency, truth, two words maybe Propertymark should start to look them up in the dictionary and add them to their four point plan.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 March 2021 09:03 AM

Perhaps they should reward Alison Platt too. After all she was the architect that delivered Countrywide on a plate to Connells. Without her intervention, CW might still be in the hands of CW.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 March 2021 08:57 AM

Is this good news? Generation Rent, could easily find itself - Generation Negative Equity - if as has been predicted by some sources repossessions reach a level in excess of 20,000 by 2023. Also the inniative may only serve to inflate an already high market, out of kilter with a fundamentally flawed economy. Will it be another quick sound bite that appeases the housing market, some pundits are saying far better the Chancellor stops tinkering and starts some original thinking.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 March 2021 07:42 AM

Typically there are 1.1M to 1.2M completed sales a year, Rightmove often states that it has millions of visitors in a short period of time, as if this is a value proposition, clearly if it was then millions of sales and let properties would be resulting each month, and yet it is only 130,000 gross sales that are agreed nationally each month according to HMLR (and not all generated solely by the activities of Rightmove), which nets down to only around 100,000 completed sales. The point being, if you say I am great value because huge amounts of 'lookers' come to the site - but the underlying amount of stock being transacted is stationery as it has been for the last five years or more in the UK, then what VALUE does having all of these 'lookers' have for the agents who see annual price rises, some more than 10% on their base line charges.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 February 2021 08:55 AM

And so it begins.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 February 2021 08:42 AM

At a real auction on the fall of the gavel the property is secured, MMA is a completely different model which though commercially beneficial to certain stakeholders is fraught with complications that may in time cause both portals to reconsider its strategy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 February 2021 07:57 AM

The future of property portals is - they will either convert to property platforms or they will cease. Rightmove has a single USP, it was first and it dominates, but the fact it never dared to expand outside the UK shows it vulnerability as a 2030 business model. It may also be number one out of the top three. But many of the new breed, are not in the same race as theses three, they are looking to enhance the UX of the consumer client and the UX of the consumer and paying agent. Rightmove et al will not fail because agents leave them - SNTRM (Who?) they will fail when more than 50% of people looking to do property start that search on different property platforms that give them a far superior UX. In 2000 mum and dad dialled up Rightmove, savvy millennial now 40+ and Gen-Z are exploring the property world using AR, VR aided by AI and ML, Amazon and E-commerce will continue to sweep into the UK real estate sector as it is globally, those who take the big view can see the future has arrived, it will just take a few years for the old portals to realise that change has already happened.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 February 2021 07:48 AM

Clarity of focus - total agreement. From the instruction all other streams of income flow, be it a rental or residential listing. Prioritising market appraisals is the number one revenue maker, be it a one person agency, a one branch agency or a thousand branch agency. Mature winning teams, also a vital component. Esprit de Coeur though is always the defining factor, and Countrywide had it and extinguished its flame, Skipton ensures it burns brightly, the test will be to spread its rejuvenating force within the Countrywide network, not always an easy task.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 February 2021 01:35 AM

July 2020, David Cox Chief Executive of ARLA Propertymark resigns, then CEO Mark Hayward announces his retirement effective in December, then weeks later Christopher Hamer the Chair resigns, then within two months a new CEO Tim Balcon is in place with zero real estate knowledge, then Mark Hayward instead of leaving stays on under a new title to hold the new CEO's hand, and now Kirsty Finney the newly elected President has 'left' in clearly mysterious circumstances. This whole situation is making the membership very uncertain as to the value of paying subscriptions to an entity that resembles a circus act, rather than being the paragon of professionalism it always purports to be. Maybe Tim Balcon will make a statement and add clarity to the latest situation, he has been keen of late to extol the virtues of Propertymark, part of the job of being a CEO is to deal with difficult issues, and clearly an ever revolving door of personnel is one of them.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 February 2021 08:22 AM

Is this Trump fake news? To start with he bank of mum and dad has put a huge amount of cash into property allowing their offspring to get into the property nexus. So this myth of the down trodden, disenfranchised FTB who can never afford to buy and needs special help is just that a myth as parents are stumping up big deposits. Also, if you are a first time buyer in Newcastle, what does a two bed flat cost? £45,000. Is this affordable, with a 5% deposit, or help to buy, £9,000 free for 5-years that flat is now £36,000 of mortgage payments a month, at say 3%, cheap as chips. Not sure what a combined annual salary is in Newcastle is, but I am guessing it is not £3,600 where a 10x's multiplier, gets us to £36,000. You see not everyone lives in London, I know it is a shock but 268,000 people live in this one area of the UK alone, the point being yes if you are a first time buyer and you are buying a two bed flat in Chelsea, that is 1.3M. Also since 2017, and this may be a bit of a shock – ‘First time buyers buying a property under £300,001 which they live in as their main residence pay zero that is ZERO SDLT – stamp duty to you and me’ so they enjoy a pretty good tax break as well. What is true, and I reported on a week or so ago. is that FTB are having to find an extra 10K as a deposit, due to rampant house price inflation in 2020.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 February 2021 19:58 PM

I do not think anyone was stating that SDLT was a bad thing. The cause for concern is that successive chancellors have tampered with it, and other fiscal measure around the sales of property. And each time they do the housing market and the people who buy and sell suffer. From MIRAS, mortgage interest at source in 1988, when Nigella's dad announced the changing of rules which caused a gold rush of buyers, a huge spike in prices, followed by a cliff edge, nuclear winter and then a fall in house prices, to even the changes around buying a second home with an extra burden of tax being applied, which meant that in 2017 a new wave of buyers bought a second property to avoid the tax, inflating prices, and distorting the shape of the market. The present difficult situation imposed by Rishi, means that with seven weeks to complete a sale, the market is now moribund, with new vendors sitting on their hands and not entering the market in February, waiting to see which way the governmental wind blows. No one is saying no SDLT, and for sure no one is saying scrap it and have a tax that cuts across all property assets owned by a person; apart from think tanks in Whitehall, what is being said by 50,000 people in the real estate sector in the UK is - if a Chancellor wants to change something - and it relates to property - do it with an immediate date, as having a cut off date always causes a big reaction, followed by another sometimes negative reaction to the housing market.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 February 2021 06:45 AM

Diane Abbott was a scream 12 minutes going on about a cyber attack and the need for those selling and buying in Hackney to get separate extension to others. We had one pundit saying the SDLT holiday was needed to help FTB's - (since 2017 up to 500k purchase by FTB carries no SDLT if it is primary residence) and a lot of grandstanding, zero original thought or argument, we even heard about Holland Park and fact that one participant by moving last year had not taken advantage of the SDLT holiday scheme, with property at 1M plus I am not too sure anyone had too much sympathy, though I was surprised to see the beaming face of MP Kevin Hollinrake as possibly his views might be construed a little partisan - considering his current position as Vendor of an agency group.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 February 2021 21:49 PM

Given the present RICS debacle and the opaque nature of Propertymark, and its concentration of power at the top, and its documented inability to pay huge sums of VAT to HMRC over several years - and at the same time casting itself as the de facto regulating voice of the industry - maybe Mr Balcon needs to understand that most agents ridicule organisations that are based on hypocrisy. My advice would be to kick off his premiership by apologising to all the paying members of the organisation, being transparent with what happened with the HMRC, and explain if the accountants and the chief financial officer has been changed, and if not - why not. My understanding is that if VAT is not paid a director can be fined, barred from office or imprisoned for ten years, so my question is - in the interests of the NAEA membership what interest or fine or other measures did the HMRC take when it was 'discovered' that the VAT element had over a number of years not been paid over. The offence is fully documented in the 2019 end of year annual report, but no financials, exactly how much VAT was underpaid, who was in charge and where are they now. Maybe Mr Balcon would like to answer these questions, before going forward with a new membership drive.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 January 2021 07:57 AM

This is old news I reported on this a when the SDLT holiday began, months ago, saying that property selling at 450k was now selling at 500k negating the SDLT holiday saving of 15k. Also the impetus to jump on the wagon and buy property would be to the determinant of the FTB, who would have bought at say £250,000, now faced due to increased demand the same property for £275,000, putting it further out of range. On the flipside, however you cut it up with 1.1M completions a year if the 12% figure is correct as the number who got a 15K maximum benefit - that is a huge chunk of change saved by buyers - a huge fiscal pulmigator.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 January 2021 11:26 AM

Agreed Lenny, the legacy systems of the legal sector need to be brought into the 2020's, time to unplug the Fax, accept email as a truth, and have a 24/7, approach to conveyancing to match the 24/7 buying habits of the 1.1M who complete a sale each year. There are now thankfully some increasing pockets of resistance with forward thinking solicitors mobilising a digital, not analogue strategy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 January 2021 06:37 AM

It is the start of it, technology is moving faster than anyone realises, the modernisation of real estate is happening - digital will replace analogue - and mindsets are at last seeing the future has already arrived, I am working on so many whitepapers at present in all the 'slow and unchanging verticals' the next eighteen months will see big changes - pushed forward by the pandemic.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 January 2021 06:32 AM

Given LSL were making waves about 'merging' with Countrywide PLC in February 2020, less than a year ago, and from that point on it has been nothing but bad financial news and extensive closures. I think the only wave that it is presently riding is disillusionment. Then again I am just a real estate analyst, March will be the true litmus test ...

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 January 2021 00:32 AM

Did you cover the VAT debacle? can Propertymark claim to be the one that the government listens too if it fails to pay the requisite amount of VAT over a number of years - as documented in their year end minutes of their annual meeting December 2019. And I quote from page page 14 'The Finance department has undergone a major review of its processes, systems and procedures. As part of gaining that financial stability we have identified that our tax position was not properly ordered and that has led to a significant payment to HM Revenue and Customs of outstanding VAT which has arisen through misdefinition of our liabilities and exemptions over a number of years.' Maybe Tim Balcon needs to do a little more homework, and contemplate that if you are to be the de facto - shining beacon of regulatory prowess - you can hardly do this if your own company fails to do some very basic functions. Moreover, can you in good faith be guiding others on compliance, especially in the financial sector, my thoughts are well - no. Also was the membership made aware of the underpayment of VAT, was there a fine and interest added, I am sure in the interests of transparency the 17,000 members who pay subscriptions have a right to know.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 January 2021 00:39 AM

Richard - if vendor pays the stamp - it just increases the sale price to buyer, surely. And if vendors are exiting the market, they would be penalised, as no upward chain vendor is 'paying' the stamp element as they are not buying on. Also, if I sell at 1.5M and buy at 200k, so under a scheme where I pay my buyer's stamp I gift them £93,750 - or lose this out of my sale equity, and the kind vendor I buy from chips me £1,500 - so I am £92,250 down on the deal - solution increase my selling price by £92,250 creating house price inflation - or I decide not to move - moribund market .

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 January 2021 23:27 PM

Siemens who turn over 98BN a year, the biggest European manufacturer, changed to a permanent WFH model in the early days of the first wave of the pandemic, with the option for workers to be in 'the office' two days a week if they wanted. Working from home is not a fad, Covid-19 has made everyone realise that with low tech, working from home - works. In agency the buyers or renters want to view property, they have zero interest in the path the agent takes to secure that property. So if working from your bathroom as a one person company, or living it large in a big expensive, pandemic friendly office space on the high street is your model, it makes zero difference to the client. What is now the biggest question - will lean, agile agents dumping big static office costs, but who use tech and social media effectively, be better suited to the Amazon, click now get it tomorrow client, all indications are - yes.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 January 2021 06:27 AM

Given that Grant Thornton are being sued for 200M by the liquidators of Patisserie Valerie, where it has been alleged it was “negligent in the preparation and conduct of the 2014 to 2017 financial statements”. - Co-incidentally covered by the Times in the past week, I hardly feel that in some way the inclusion in the mix of Grant Thornton, closes down this matter, possibly it excites more scrutiny. And the lack of comment about the NED's expelled is palpable, perhaps the only thing that is 'readily seen' about this very opaque matter. More rumblings will out - before this matter rests.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 January 2021 20:54 PM

I like her idea you taste properties, usually this sense is used in the Stanton household to eat cakes. Kirsty may feel Zoom will never catch on too, but scarily, it went from 37,000 UK users in Jan 2020 to 1.58M by late November - adoption can be a swift and sustained movement.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 January 2021 00:47 AM

Let us see what the end of year figures look like, and the cost base. If you pick through the multi-million pound write offs hidden in the detail. The consultancy reports commissioned at eye watering levels and never instigated, it is a true work of art, how to fritter hard cash, better aligned to front end profit making, hopefully if there is a change of guard this nonsense will at least stop.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 January 2021 20:46 PM

Putting teams and the public at risk with a new variant of Covid-19 that is 50-70% more virulent, versus doing the business in probably two months time. I can not see that there is a choice? In 2020 despite lockdown 1.0 and 2.0 - same amount of property was sold ... the benefit of everyone staying at home for 6-weeks - less people will become infected.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 05 January 2021 20:43 PM

What about the new levels of enhanced taxation (SDLT) for non-doms buying in the UK after Spring 2021will that not have a dampening affect?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 31 December 2020 12:07 PM

According to data from TwentyCi the actual cancellation rate nationally is less than last year if the 12-months of 2020 are taken as a whole, so not sure what reporting a brief period of lockdown news has to do with reporting factual data. I would suggest that Danny Luke talks to Ian Lancaster or Katy Billany, gets some accurate data and reports it, otherwise it can damage credibility. Also, with massive shortage of property now listed, the cancellation rates look set to remain low, yes 31st March may be rocky, but the urge to sell and move is strong, with WFH being a factor when homeowners or renters need a place to both live and work from, looking to the future.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 December 2020 06:09 AM

If you want the exact figures for Purplebricks for 2020, Graham, just email me - as I am an industry analyst I have all the stats, eg, listing figures are in excess of 60,000, I can give you sstc, cancellations, withdrawals and exchanges - I would have thought Mr Twindig would have the same intel - maybe he is just being shy .. chortle. Merry Christmas one and all.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 December 2020 21:46 PM

Hit Man, Baron Best has already publicly said that landlords will need to be regulated too, in phase two of the RoPA dream. I am not sure if anyone has done the mathematics on this, regulation of PRS, bigger cost and where will that cost end up - increased rents, PRS landlords leaving the sector - a greater shotgage of rental stock, meaning higher rents. Maybe, someone needs to do some whole of market, joined up thinking about what happens if. What happens if a chancellor puts in place a SDLT holiday with a solid stop date. What happens if help to buy has a firm stop date, banding of properties is reduced and the scheme is curtailed to only FTB's? The usual answer, chaos, carnage and many people losing out, from developers to buyers. Property is not complicated, but maybe policy is best made by those in the industry at the coalface, rather than sitting in committee rooms in the London bubble.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 December 2020 22:10 PM

I think RoPA is probably a no hoper, it has been kicked so far into the long grass, that by the time anyone finds it ... it will be 2030, and the world of property will be very different. I do agree though that statute and industry regulation from on high, rather than handed down via narrow prescriptive method would be preferable for all. The points made by Rebecca Marsh are extremely pertinent.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 December 2020 21:24 PM

Having been lucky enough to get an early screening of this, it is tempting to say this CRM is streets ahead, but with my proptech analyst hat on and my estate agency hat on – it really is. Joining up all the dots a modern solution for agencies of a certain size, this is going to be a big winner. It has removed so much of the repetitive human tasks that should have been automated a decade ago, freeing up the ever busy agent to do positive workflow activities, adding profit to that bottom line

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 November 2020 08:30 AM

Luckily, the OFT is anything but able to simplify the tax maze that exists, and as it is a feasibility report, rather than a statute, I think this type of taxation is a long way off. It is natural with the huge sums of money being pumped into the financial system, that the ever smiling populist chancellor will be looking at a plan B to balance the books, but my thoughts are 'unpopular' headline tax interventions, even if they hit only a fractional amount of people, can do a huge amount of damage, as there is always an equal reaction to circumvent any known change to tax rules.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 November 2020 07:06 AM

What is the real 'value' of Countrywide PLC' that is the most interesting question? At the start of November 2020, Purplebricks an agency with zero physical branches trading on the high street had listed (not sold) over 58,000 properties, Connells had listed over 18,000 and WH Brown over 19,000. So if the sale went through, are Connells getting rid of the competition? For sure the financial services element of Countrywide PLC is a good fit, but I just see that the 2025 property consumer, is not going to be walking into or engaging with physical branches. Putting aside the duplication of offices and the streamlining of this should the sale get past all the hurdles, is being the 'biggest' physical agent future proofing the profitability of Skipton Building society? As ever time will tell, but just as Rightmove in 2001 were on to a good thing with a new model, coming at the right time, Boomin an as yet untested model, is now showing that the portal/platform market has evolved, and I am not sure that acquiring Dinosaur Countrywide, if the sale happens will be a match made in heaven.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 November 2020 06:54 AM

I think it is an outrage that tens of thousands of pounds has been spent by agents on getting RoPA qualified, when it is just a talking shop. Propertymark should refund this money, await statute, which by my calculation could be 48-months or never, and then, the question is why should Propertymark NAEA be the gatekeepers who facilitate 'training' and agents can not avail themselves of other bodies? As an agency and proptech consultant, I am all for training and development, but this posturing that keeps agents in fear that they need to get their A' level in agency 'or else' is wearing a little thin. With the obvious shift in the estate agency paradigm, prompted by WFH culture and Covid-19, the real focus for industry thought leadership should be around AI and the use of technology, and helping agents make the change from legacy groundhog systems to being more connected to their clients and ensure their businesses will thrive in the new world of technology, that is eating many agents lunches.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 October 2020 08:32 AM

I am not sure that an 80 year old Baron is the correct person to be formulating the shape of real estate in the 2020's. I am even more sceptical of the government becoming a 'police man' , we have statutes that lay down the rules, and 99% of those doing property are straight, like any other industry, draconian, expensive gated licensing, favours the larger financial interests, which given that the UK agents, well 80% of them are a 'national cottage industry' will put onerous pressure on companies ravaged already by three years on intergovernmental Brexit delay and now the best that is Covid-19. If anyone out there in property land or proptech land would like to start the TCF party for the downtrodden, unheard masses of great people who just want to get on with the job they love with the minimum amount of red-tape and often vested interest friction, please message me. 'Transparency, collaboration and fraternity' Vs the chains or regulatory powers forced on a profession that just wants to get on.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 October 2020 10:37 AM

The sooner that someone takes firm control of Countrywide the better. Forget Alchemy, maybe start with some great talent - I am unsure but is not that ex-Countrywide stalwart Gary Barker now available? Imagine that - someone with an agency and tech brain, knowledge of the brand and a proven record of generating real profit in a short period of time, and a deep understanding of figures, which I always think is maybe the most important factor. It is not finance that is required, it is a management team that can move this juggernaut forward. On this I was just thinking today, how many people in the last week alone mentioned Mr reliable Bob Scarfe. Another publication recently ran a survey on the top influencers in agency ... in terms of people he motivated and who look up to him, even though they are now elevated, I know of no-one else who should have held the top spot.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 October 2020 13:24 PM

Residential sales agreed to date this year are 20,000 above last year, house prices in many areas have seen a rise, sometimes large sometimes small. SDLT holiday has pushed the moving plans of many, plus the need for some to get out of a flat and get a garden, as WFH is now going to be the 2021 reality. In a nutshell there are many factors at work, and the ability for conveyancers to move quickly is not such a factor as they deal with the journey post sale agreed, so will not really impact on the front end impetus in the marketplace. Of course there will be roar from the media as March 31st looms unless that nice new chancellor moves the goal posts on SDLT, surely not.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 October 2020 07:05 AM

Where do I begin? The biggest change to the conveyancing sector since 1925 was HIP's yes ... The one good thing about the SDLT holiday that Rishi decided to unleash on the property sector is that maybe in 2021, the conveyancing industry and the lenders and the surveyors will do some 'joined up thinking' and digitize vast swathes of the business which are not yet covered. Paper and legacy models out, smart, secure, coded digital solutions in. With over 1.1M successful completions annually, it is time to accept that the repetitive groundhog processes and minutiae of the conveyancing system can be speeded and enabled by machines, time for those in ivory towers to take a look around, and start to grasp the opportunities, rather than bemoan the bottlenecks.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 October 2020 12:04 PM

Probably only me, but as an agent for offer 30-years, a vital part of any index is the sstc component or even the exchanged component, as to be the largest listing site in the UK as an onliner might sound great, but the end user, how many of those properties get to exchange? With many 'traditional agencies' trading majoritively from home, you could also argue that now large swathes of these agents are increasingly an online offering, backed by sales teams that may have over a century or more of local knowledge spread through a small sales team that has worked a specific area for decades, delivering a very different service to the 'on liners'. Deep local knowledge, personal service and after sales service, the most vital element as thousands of sales are now bottlenecked in the SDLT holiday rush.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 October 2020 07:42 AM

Good to see that the blueprint of the future had the expert guidance of Mr Scarff, in the end decades of knowledge experience and professionalism can ease the changing models of agency, hubs do not equate to a lessening of a business, rather they modernise the business and allow a more agile model. Many of my clients see - if their operation has scale, the virtues of this type of re-generation of the 1985 type business models that lurk on many high streets.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 September 2020 08:04 AM

Kevin Hollinrake is on the money, the fourth industrial revolution is allowing all industries to find efficiencies, break from the shackles of legacy models and empower the workforce. The only positive from the pandemic is that the antiquated legacy model is now being shown to be just that, and smart innovation coupled with deep property knowledge is opening everyone's eyes to the future of real estate in all of its verticals. Technology within property is not a fad, its digital tendrils are here for good - and will remove swathes of boring repetitive back and front office procedures. WFH has shown even the most ardent critic, that agency is not just a high street business, but a high level of service business, where property professionals can digitally plug into the real estate nexus where ever they are, and if the pandemic strikes, business can still move forward, and the end client is happy to transact via the prism of their mobile. Hunters like many forward thinking businesses have not suddenly pivoted into the realms of property technology, they have for a sustained period had a strategic vision of modern agency, and will reap the benefits of this focus.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 September 2020 07:53 AM

The earnings debate is always skewed, the American Realtor typically does two or less sales a month, so though the fee may be higher, they are not doing 8 to 10 of them a month. And % what does that mean? 1.5% of a two bed in Newcastle at £56,000 sale price is not the same as 1.5% of £650,000 for the same property type in London. Also, as a commission based agent, the actual commission on the commission varies, from pooled commission to 3% or 5% or 10% plus basic salary, to no salary and 60% to 80% of a franchise or umbrella model. Or even 5% for listing 5% for selling, in over 30 years I have seen all the models, and the reality is - for a while, when the team is great, the market is ok, not overheated like now, a sales person can make a great living, if they move up into management they make less but they are not so front line. In other times it is a living. If you want to be rich, own your own agency, but get ready to give up your life for three years to establish it.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 August 2020 01:40 AM

90% of proptech companies that get funding that is not angel investment, fail, that is fail to ever make a profit, they may continue to exist, getting more and more rounds of funding, but ultimately the cash runs out. So, a 10% return for the investors. Interesting then, those who do not go for the big multi-million pound war chest, after all what do you need all that cash for? Development, marketing, well definitely not marketing, as my experience is that this comes a very poor third to the needs of keeping the tech staff gainfully employed, even if the company pivots its model so many times it shows little resemblance to the original pitch deck or elevator pitch dreamed up eighteen months before. In my limited time in the sector, I see two camps, huge sums of capital pouring into companies who make slow progress, burdened by expectation, bogged down by large teams, board members, chairs and all the trappings of a big successful business, but the solution is weak. Then we have low or no investment in agile, great solutions, with highly intelligent and engaged people, who will in time have a profitable product, not an mvp, that sees a proper return on investment. I agree with you James that the sector is both maturing, well here in the UK, there was an explosion of proptech companies in 2017, and at the same time, lockdown has now started a second gold rush for tiny concerns navigating real solutions that real estate requires, and addresses the ever changing trends that the property transacting consumer seems to adopt, which is ever in a state of flux.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 August 2020 01:26 AM

Livestream, auctions, all of these methods to help facilitate property transactions show that the way forward is digital. WFH, a shift in the psyche of the nation, and huge employers like Siemens who turn over 98BN a year, and now support WFH, means that things will be done differently. Property auctions being a great example, having attended many over 30 plus years as an agent, the idea of not being in a crowded, noisy hotel in central London, versus bidding on my mobile, whilst walking the dog, is just efficient, and the new norm.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 August 2020 09:16 AM

Always good to hear from departed Prime Ministers and regarding looking to buy property as an investment since 1945 property has increased in value by nearly 3% every year in value, so those looking not to invest in property are perhaps being foolish. When I started in agency in 1985, average price of a modest home 29,000, so Paul I think that not everyone is looking at BTL as an instant moneyspinner, and as many can and do buy cash this also changes the dynamic. To have a site where serious buyers can see what is best to buy for them has to be a good thing.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 August 2020 06:28 AM

At long last an investor portal, a specific piece of crafted technology that the industry and the investor buyer has been crying out for. The pandemic is now showing that there are really great solutions for large numbers of people 'doing property' that old fashioned one dimensional portals do not cater for. This platform gives key insights and meaningful data.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 August 2020 00:07 AM

It already exists, at least on a 10% discount in perpetuity basis, for key workers or local working people. No problems with lenders, a person I know bought one a few years ago, when they move they keep 90% of the equity (less any mortgage burden of course if outstanding) and the new buyer pays 90% of the going selling price. In a way you get 10% more house for your money, a bit of a win win. But, in the pandemic world, the chancellor having put the housing market on steroids, it could be argued that a 90% or 70% price tag on a new home that has ramped up in value by 10% due the stamp duty stampede sort of cancels gains out. So if £250,000 was new home price pre-Covid-19, and you buy 70% = £175,000 to finance, price inflation due to stamp duty holiday means buy same new home at £275,000, and that 70% = £192,500, extra £17,500. Maybe I should go into politics either housing secretary or chancellor, both need to get out of that Westminster bubble and join the real world. Then again I do not suppose that all of those in parliament, both houses, have to worry about their housing needs, given the scandals over moat clearance and bird baths that came out a few years ago, when the great and the good were ... being economical with the truth regarding what they claimed. And flipping which was the main and secondary residence depending on the tax efficiency.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 August 2020 16:16 PM

All will know that since it's inception I have been an ardent critic of Purplebricks, mostly because it is a tech lite and real estate lite solution. A creature which has guzzled hundreds of millions. It by the start of 2020 had lost nearly 117M, had 363M flowing through it, and had cost 481M to run over the past five years, it had by that point raised 187M in different rounds to build the company, plus the extra 35M that it has just achieved from it's recent sale of the Canadian business, and it famously burnt through 90M of cash reserves between April 2018 to April 2019. So 152M in the kitty down to 63M the following year, and that cash at bank was down to around 31M this month, but the extra 35M from Canada is propping it up, to guzzle it's way through in the next two and a half years, maybe less. Putting cash and profitability aside - (there has never been a dividend), what the company has now got 100% right - is the appointment of Dr Stephanie Caspar to the board, with real estate in a state of flux, and the pandemic changing the way all verticals of business are conducted, there has never been a greater need for someone who can see what is going on, what the future holds and can de-risk the organization. Well done Purplebricks. For me real estate is now another data and technology industry, we at Proptech-PR know this as we see over 40 proptech companies a month, and if those in real estate want to be credible and survive, they need to ensure that in every boardroom, and in every c-suite, and in every real estate organization at least 25% of personnel who have digital credentials, visionaries, who have the skillset to understand that the consumer does business utilising data and technology. The old world built on paper and legacy systems has long gone. The appointment of a Digital asset to the board is in sharp contrast to the present rout that our own UK real estate finds itself in, with the present 'professional leadership vacuum at NAEA Propertymark who laud themselves as the ‘thoughtful, professional and regulatory arm’ of the real estate profession, for me they are doing a really good impression of a clown circus act. If ever there was a need to get the rank and file membership of estate agents to believe in the NAEA’s vision, it is now; the question is will they choose a 'dinosaur' or a 'digital' replacement for the CEO job. My worry is that a 'safe pair of hands' will belong to an aged relic, who has never heard of Gen-Z, the top customer of the next decade, does not see the shift in how they do things, has no clue about proptech, AI and the future, and will think giving out paper certificates of competency to eager faced estate agents, prepares the recipient in any way with the skills and mental mind set to trade efficiently into the 2030's. That is why Will Darbyshire and I set up Proptech-PR as the 'COUNTERCULTURE' to all of that old school, old boy, red tape network, based on legacy systems, closed and gated secret communities serving only to enhance the profit of the few - sacrificed on the altar of greed, stupidity and down right arrogance. Very soon we will be unveiling the Proptech-PR counterculture August manifesto, outlining the shiny new future being shaped by the bright and clever generation, who are redefining real estate, re-structuring it through mathematics, code and deep thinking, the last place you will find these people is in a wing back chair with a scotch and soda and an ironed copy of the FT. We are blessed to meet dozens of these ambassadors of the future, each month, shy and retiring, free thinking and almost half in the shadows, they will soon be vanguard of the system. Regulation and paper well, that is for committees and the government, and is grindingly slow, what we know is that within two years the real estate ecosystem will have some new guardians, agile of mind, and with limitless capabilities. If you want to know more let us have a conversation andrew.stanton@proptech-PR.com, 07535 029676.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 July 2020 07:18 AM

Where to start. Not with ROPA, headed by no doubt a great mind, but Baron Best was born just after WWII, and the person heading the present committee is a sprightly 70 years young. So, 145 years of knowledge between the two of them, not so great if half the global population is 26 years old or younger. The disconnect about how this young consumer wants, and does transact business, and will be transacting and is transacting real estate in all its verticals is a shocker. Omni-channel customer experience powered by AI and ML, the problems around data, ethics etc, and the vast explosion of proptech in the UK since 2017, when most of the phalanx of new tech companies started up, is not even on the ROPA agenda, hopefully for NAEA Propertymark avoidance of VAT is not there either. My view and who cares what my view is, I have only personally dealt with 18,000 sales in the past three decades, met 240 proptech CEO's and leads in the past two years, advised a huge swathe of the top performing CEO's in the corporate and non-corporate sectors, and I am working on about a dozen initiatives in and around - geospatial, digital-logbooks, ID, digitizing conveyancing, automating the whole of residential agency, as well as looking after Zara my very demanding co-director who needs two walks a day, so what do I know. Well I know a lot, and that is the rub, as Graham Norwood who himself has great insight being privy to many confidential situations knows. The wrong people are sitting in the right chairs, the chairs of power or latent power, the small concentrations of people making huge decisions based on bad data. Time to start again, and start with this thought - real estate - all verticals built and non built - what does the consumer of the 2030's look like, how will they be 'buying and renting' things, and what cradle should any organisation that has regulatory powers be constructing to ensure the growth of this sector. Real estate is a tech and data business ... get used to it - get a grip on it and help it along its way, maybe get some people on committees who are 18 to 25 years of age, and ask them how they are going to consume things in the future - everything else is irrelevant, committees; - a camel is a horse designed by a committee we do well to remember that.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 July 2020 22:25 PM

Perhaps the new head of the NAEA / Propertymark needs to be a VAT or Tax Inspector as in the recently released NAEA Propertymark annual report and financial statements for the year ended 2019, on page 14, appears this howler ... 'we (NAEA / Proptertymark) have identified that our tax position was not properly ordered and that has led to a significant payment to HM Revenue and Customs of outstanding VAT which has arisen through misdefinition of our liabilities and exemptions over a number of years.' So, how can anyone who has held senior office formerly, including the Financial officer be credible, and how can the NAEA Propertymark laud itself as a fit organisation to 'regulate' and give advice to the government on how estate agency is run, especially concerning financial matters such as anti-money laundering etc. In the same report NAEA Propertymark actually congratulates itself, about how important it is, quote, ... 'It is clear that those formulating new legislation value the input from Propertymark and indeed seek out information as to market activity and members views. Whilst a formal regulatory regime for the sector is as yet in the future, our strategy is to ensure Propertymark has a role in that future regulated world and will continue to be a regular presence at Government working groups specifically, amongst other aspects on Regulation.' My thoughts, it should immediately disclose how much money was paid to the HMRC, including no doubt a sum for interest, also was there a fine. Second it should apologise to the 17,000 members whose subscriptions went into paying off this huge error. Third, what role did the financial officer have and is their position tenable, fourth is the recent revolving door of those leaving in anyway connected to the VAT matter or is it other factors. Fifth, at this crucial crossroads in the pandemic new world of business, should this organisation be trusted to advise the government committees on what is appropriate, given its own inability to be financially compliant. Lastly, which accountancy firm does the books and have they been changed since the VAT debacle that stretched many years came into focus.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 July 2020 07:21 AM

Make hay whilst the sun shines, get profitable, then streamline and dititise and automate your processes ensuring you give maximum training to your very highly skilled and experienced sales teams. That is Proptech-PR advice, we act as the bridge between real estate and tech, with six in our team, and 85 years of real estate knowledge, corporate and non-corporate we can give anyone a good arm wrestle about most areas of real estate. Knight Frank do well to be cautious about - the future - in 1988, I was that agent selling 6 properties a week personally, only to go on holiday for a fortnight in September 1988, and be told the office three negotiators sold two properties in those weeks, then for the next three years we battled with negative equity and tiny amounts of transactions. What the pandemic should be telling everyone in business, not just in real estate, is that as half the UK population of adults worked from home during lockdown (we opened in lockdown and are thriving) so a traditional model of estate agency needs a good re-think, to be agile is key, and if you want some pointers - we are the ones to talk to. We do not bite and we may just save your business from the tricky times ahead. Proptech-PR where good solutions for agency and tech meet.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 July 2020 13:36 PM

For £30 a for sale board or to let board is money in the bank, and when I started in agency in the mid 1980's they were and for some still are the barometer of success, brand and a very visual way of telling all this property is for sale or let, is sold or let. But 35-years on, maybe all that wood and plastic, is not the way, a simple app on your phone could do the same job, with Beacon technology, as you drive walk in an area, if a property is to let or for sale, pops up on your mobile. With all the things a static board can not tell you, the rent, etc, is there a garage, what are the local schools amenities etc. Also go one further, the general public who are 'thinking about letting or selling' could they tap into the local market to see what price they might want to try to get attention, again a mobile app could do this. So no more boards, but as ever all the intel pinging into that shiny little oblong that is welded into everyone's hand from cradle to grave. Maybe 5G will help innovations like this along, the local idea is good too as 72% of people tend to live and die with a 17km radius of where they 'live' from the point they leave home and move and start having children, so concept of scooping a local buyer is a big concept and ties in with agents using social media to grow their local digital footprint. If you need a proptech strategy - contact us Proptech-PR. andrew@proptech-pr.com straight talking into the future, and no dinosaurs guaranteed.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 July 2020 13:19 PM

We get to see over 40 proptech companies a month, across the spectrums and verticals, Geo-spatial to BIM, Digital twin, AI ML, you name it we have seen it and often know a great deal more about it, both because we have 85 years of real estate knowledge in the team and several years of proptech and deep tech knowledge. WeComplete is a new name to us, but what is encouraging is that many are looking to speed the selling and the exchange/completion process, there are many distinguished people on the case from Stuart Young Etive through to elen different teams I know working on solutions up and down the the UK and a few in the US and Australia. Automation of the conveyancing process, or large chunks of it is coming, so too is this going to happen in house purchase finance. With KNC - Ai is going to be taking this to a whole new level. If you want to know more about where the real estate and proptech worlds meet and are going contact us at Protech-PR, we are always giving sound advice, to startups in tech or agency, investors, academics or analysts writing whitepapers, even journalists who want to be in the know and especially CEO's wanting to de-risk and future-proof their businesses, either in tech land or real estate country. andrew.stanton@proptech-pr.com 07535 029676.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 July 2020 13:03 PM

During Lockdown I had predicted that completions in 2020 were likely to be 200,000 less than in 2008, the year of the global banking crisis. So around, 600,000 completions down from 1.1M in 2019. It will be interesting to see if the stamp tax holiday will create more sales, if it does then of course the amount of completions will be far higher than I had predicted, prior to government intervention. Clouds on the horizon are also that unemployment may start to play into the housing market sooner than later. On balance I take my hat off to the chancellor, but my biggest fear and I saw it in 1988, when I was an agent selling property, there may be a stampede to buy. But, as March is the end date for the stamp duty holiday and it takes on average 18 weeks for a sale to go through, it means that if there is a bounce in the market it will be until Christmas, as after that time there will not be the 'time' to get transactions 'completed.' The result a sharp spike in sales agreed, with usually house price inflation, followed by a very protracted period of fewer sales, usually with sale prices on the decline. Time will tell. Proptech-PR if you an agency and want to digitise some of that repetitive work, or realise that working from home could be a great answer but you are clueless as to how to go about it digitally, or you are a proptech company looking for clients or advice on how to build your brand or reputation, then give me a call or message me 07535 029676 andrew.stanton@proptech-pr.com.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 July 2020 07:04 AM

BIM Building Information Modelling or Digital Twin - digital replica, that is the choice for sure, and I agree there is a shift here. On the point about the tie up between these two giant 'brands' and the commercial advantages down the line to smart technology - time will tell. Commercial real estate the built environment and specifically the newly built arena is a hot topic, and efficiency that can be planned and built in is of course key. I saw Dharmesh Mistry post some wise words on Samsung and Microsoft when we discussed this on another forum and my hunch is that he will be proved right.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 July 2020 06:47 AM

Graham Norwood I actually ticked yes Purplebricks would be operating at the end of 2021, and it was interesting to see that at 6.23 am so early the survey was 50/50. With an uptick in the market due to the actions of the Chancellor and priming the fiscal pump with a SDLT shot in the arm, listings will be up, so revenue will be up for Purplebricks. But that cash burn, that as an analyst I have been banging on about never goes away, and this is the online agents big problem, the media cost, those Olympic adverts that digital advertising spend costs well too much. The 35M is an interesting sum, roughly what Countrywide is looking to scoop from selling off its commercial silverware for. The difference between the two is Countrywide needs 35M to pay the salaries and stave off the creditors who nervously eye the 95M black hole of debt this lumbering dinosaur carries, whereas Purplebricks may be an agency lite model, but it has zero debt on its spreadsheet, it has never paid a dividend either but that is a different story. If you need more insight into the market or to know what is really going on with the silent and efficient proptech revolution, underpinning the post pandemic real estate market give me a call 07535 029676.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 July 2020 06:32 AM

If you want to know what is going on in the real estate /proptech space, contact Proptech-PR.com or call me on 07535 029676 - you will be amazed at what we know, what we are helping to build, the trends and the insights.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 July 2020 09:04 AM

I have been saying for some time that in the portal arms race - Zoopla will convert to a sales platform, in order to trump Rightmove, the inclusion of auction on Zoopla and its heralding this as a better solution than private treaty will be very interesting. The grey area is indeed fees, at auction some agents are charging the buyer 2% as a fee, which in my mind must lessen the selling price as it would need to be factored into the transaction, eg I bid 500k, but as I have to pay 10k to the auctioning agent I will bid 490K to compensate. The compelling immediacy of auction is brilliant, but the halfway house the 28 days to exchange for me is a bit of a fudge, having overseen maybe 18,000 sales in 30 years of being an agent, an exchange on the gavel is worth far more than a hope of an exchange dependent on factors that are yet to come over in the next four weeks. Lockdown has given real estate a reset button for sure.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 July 2020 08:10 AM

During Lockdown I had predicted that completions in 2020 were likely to be 200,000 less than in 2008, the year of the global banking crisis. So around, 600,000 completions down from 1.1M in 2019. It will be interesting to see if the stamp tax holiday will create more sales, if it does then of course the amount of completions will be far higher than I had predicted, prior to government intervention. Clouds on the horizon are also that unemployment may start to play into the housing market sooner than later. On balance I take my hat off to the chancellor, but my biggest fear and I saw it in 1988, when I was an agent selling property, there may be a stampede to buy. But, as March is the end date for the stamp duty holiday and it takes on average 18 weeks for a sale to go through, it means that if there is a bounce in the market it will be until Christmas, as after that time there will not be the 'time' to get transactions 'completed.' The result a sharp spike in sales agreed, with usually house price inflation, followed by a very protracted period of fewer sales, usually with sale prices on the decline. Time will tell.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 July 2020 18:46 PM

The third quarter will reveal all, the Spring market began two and a half months late, now it unfolds against a backdrop of uncertain markers, from lack of housing stock causing price surges to large real estate companies keeping significant swathes of branches closed. All factors distorting the usual flow of what should have been a post Brexit vote - goodish market. September will hopefully see the return of students to schools it will also see at its end what the true shape of July, August and September looks like.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 July 2020 07:17 AM

It is a sad irony that Covid-19 is in many ways putting Geospatial back under the microscope, as a tool which was first utilised in a mainstream way nearly two-centuries ago to map out the French cholera epidemic of 1832. As at present Geospatial data and technologies, via apps and dashboard applications, are being utilised to fight the present global pandemic. But I get a little ahead of myself, what is Geospatial? It is mapping the world with numerous amounts of data sets, which Tomlinson half a century ago formulated into GIS – Geographic Information System, which allows analysis and strategies to be pulled out of the data. ‘A Geographic Information System (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analysing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS allows users to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.’ Then fifteen-years ago ‘Google Maps’ produced a public version, signalling a gold rush of new technologies. Timing also was a factor with new cloud computing, allowing Big Data to be meaningful, useful and have a commercial purpose. Today geospatial technologies are utilised across the real estate spectrum, from planning and the environment to asset management, and the actual way data is presented using many of the tools from the burgeoning visual tech industry is reshaping the way we understand the physical world we live in. Vector and Raster are the two data formats used to store geospatial data. Vector data use X & Y coordinates to determine the locations of points, lines, and areas (polygons) that correspond to map features, the boundaries, and centres of features, whereas Raster data, uses a matrix of pixels to define where features are located. Regarding application, in the world of real estate – some agents have heavily invested in Geospatial technology. Knight Frank developed ‘SKYWARD’, which utilised GIS software to establish that over 40,000 new properties could be built in areas of London, through building upwards without impinging on the existing skyline. Utilising Ordnance Survey data in a 3D-spatial format, and other data sets such as Land Registry; a real case of commerce and technology coming together. Geospatial has many applications, if you think about it is the science of integrating physical geography/cartography and data and then digitally extrapolating the new ways to solve old and new problems. What is most interesting to me is that its strongest manifestations are like relics from the computer gaming world of yesteryear. Where (VR) Virtual Reality, (AR) Augmented Reality and (MR) Mixed Reality seem to reign supreme, allowing a more youthful group of PropTech visionaries to see, and taste the world in a completely different way. Strapped into a comfy chair with an electronic headset. CTA For me, aged 57, and having over 30-years of front-line real estate experience before being a born again PropTech Prophet; I too perhaps see other large jewels that Geospatial can deliver, from the comfort of my armchair with a beer in one hand and two-eyes on the future. The quantum jump that the £6.5BN UK property industry can make if Geospatial PropTech is utilised to produce a Digital Logbook for every property. This Digital logbook would be a singular point of truth, a depositary not just for the paper lodged since 1832 at HM Land Registry, showing title, boundaries, etc, but includes all data both physical and paper generated that relates to a precise property. At a stroke, all keyholders in the buying and selling of property would digitally be in the same room, with access to all the information, the buyer, vendor, agent, solicitors, surveyor, and mortgagee. Digitise the paper led and archaic legacy-based conveyancing protocol and with automated processes the present 20-week white knuckle ride of uncertainty that is the precursor to most people buying a home, with 31% of them failing the first attempt, would be a thing of the past. An old man’s pipedream, maybe? Until you spend a few hours in the company of PropTech legends Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson and Craig Massey co-founders of Yourkeys, who have got the conveyancing process for new homes on PropTech digital roller-skates, with reservation to exchange in just seven days. All they are waiting for is the rest of the industry to catch up.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 July 2020 07:02 AM

Angus Brut, have you taken five minutes to understand what the Homesearch offering is? unlikely. Have you taken the time to understand that the real estate space has moved towards an automated and digitally efficient way of doing business, unlikely. Maybe if you took the time you would realise that the new portals have several advantages over the twenty year old Rightmove portal. I will try and keep it simple, in 2001 when Rightmove began, the Clio V6 Renault Sport also came out, by 2005 that version of the Clio was obsolete and no longer in production, nineteen years on Rightmove is still that Clio V6 Renault Sport. The consumer of property in 2020, buyers and sellers and tenants and landlords, do not want to ride in a Clio, they quite like the idea of something that is technologically of 2020's - the new portals. Woolworths were a great brand they became old fashioned, Mothercare, Thomas Cook, Debenhams, Beales, Carphone Warehouse, Laura Ashley, all dinosaurs. So back too your point Angus, why would someone from Gen-Z, those people who make up half the population of the globe see the benefit of an agent utilising a new portal, rather than a portal that has failed to evolve, for me it is a not difficult to see. In 2001, Rightmove was the portal, in 2020 it is one of many, and given it has alienated a vast swathe of agents, just because it has its 'stickers' sitting in many agents windows, like Thomas Cook it may wake up very soon to a day of reckoning, where it's customers - the paying agents - decide to place their inventory on a new cheaper more efficient site that performs, so 2001 Clio or 2020 Audi E-tron Sportback? I know where I am putting my money.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 June 2020 08:58 AM

Well on the share price increase, in real terms the price has gone up from about 1.6p a full share to 4.48p a full share, down from 114p a share on Jan 1st, so not really news. And a long way down from March 2014 when it was trading in excess of 500p a share. The bigger news will be when furlough comes to an end and the 9,000 plus staff at Countrywide need a full salary, and Countrywide has no cash throughput to move forward. Maybe take a look at last years accounts, madness they spent almost 2m on aborted schemes to improve cash flow, resigned themselves to continue paying a 7.5m ongoing provision for offices that never make profit, but they want to keep the lights on. And do not even get into the hundreds of thousands paid in fines and legal fees to cover the stupidity and negligent way those in the c-suite choose to ignore their basic function. Luckily though some in the c-suite are sitting on millions of company shares, which at 4.48p is a lot less buck than if share price was £5.15 a share. Good news is that Paul Creffield may retire before he hits 70, but you never know he is doing such a great job maybe not.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 June 2020 09:22 AM

The Property Portal wars rage and with agents having until the end of June to decide on staying or going from Rightmove is it a straight choice anyway? Will portals give way to portal / platforms and can a 2001 portal model survive another 20 years? Unlikely, Proptech-PR.com we know a thing or too about the new landscape of real estate and proptech.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 31 May 2020 13:47 PM

The Property Portal wars rage and with agents having until the end of June to decide on staying or going from Rightmove is it a straight choice anyway? Will portals give way to portal / platforms can a 2001 portal model survive another 20 years? Unlikely Proptech-PR.com

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 31 May 2020 13:45 PM

Platform definitely, portal/platform possibly, and the customer now being overwhelmingly more tech savvy than you 30 year in the business agent, so all that product knowledge that gave agents the edge - alexa now bestows on the new buyer in 4 seconds, and the mobile phone in less than a second. So why are these clients going to stand for Dino-estate agents? - lets face it I like the Flintstones but I would not let them sell my cave.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 21 May 2020 08:54 AM

Now I have to be careful on many levels, not least because I want to buy in Winchester possibly and I may be wrong but Andrew Richardson may be the Manager at Jackson Stops in that ancient city. And Angus Brut - I am not sure how informed you are about the credentials of many in the proptech sector. Take James Dearsley - global thought leader and exponent of Proptech, has he any experience in selling property? that will be a big tick, his co-founder Eddie Holmes any experience in property big tick, Andrew Stanton any experience in property, only 35 years, and in my company Proptech-PR there are five of us, and all have Proptech credentials and how many years of agency experience? that will be 85 years. I could go on, but exactly how many years of experience have you in the real estate trade? Moving on - Settled has gone, so has 1.2M and is that the end of Proptech? Well lets see Countrywide the 'bastion of traditional we do it this way' - legacy agency model built on paper and 'man/woman power, and is the largest agent by size in the UK over 690 physical offices. This grey dinosaur managed to have an operating loss of 212M in 2017, and an operating loss of 251M in 2018, and the full horror show figures for 2019 are not in the general domain - but in the notes of the General meeting of 23rd of December when the aborted sale of Lambert Smith Hampton was discussed Countrywide stated ... ' Even if the Countrywide Group is able to fully realise its strategic goals and turnaround plan, there is no guarantee that the Countrywide Group will return to profitability promptly, or indeed at all.' So I am guessing that the 473M operating loss of the two previous years is going to be followed by a stinker. Is this relevant, after all maybe Countrywide are not the normal agent on the high street, but having done an analysis of every single brand inside Countrywide, they are actually your typical agent. Trading from a large or prominently located office on the High street, usually a goldfish bowl and scattered around them are other agencies who if you rebranded their shop fronts would look the same. So here is where I share my very privileged knowledge and insight gained by talking on a daily basis to four or five proptech companies with a number of real estate companies thrown in. I am not a re-seller of shiny new toys for agents, we are Proptech-PR.com because I am trying to save the Dinosaur nation from extinction. We speak to companies with real solutions some based in the UK others around the world and take it from me - in 36-months Angus and Andrew - real estate in the UK will bear little semblance to what it is now. Examples - Riccardo Iannucci Dawson a 27-year old, (Yourkeys) who luckily has very little idea of the world that you Andrew & Angus live in, has provided a solution to getting new homes from reservation to exchange in 162 hours. Is this significant? Well unless you are on another planet and enjoy slow cash flow, inordinate delays, and most importantly upset and stressed clients this has to be revolutionary. Now if the Proptech solution is rolled out into Residential agency with a cancellation rate of 29 - 31% and that was to be reduced to 9%, and the 20-week sale cycle was reduced to 8-weeks, then a typical 100 gross sales a year at £3,000 which normally would give £300,000 - 29% cancellations - £213,000 of income becomes £273,000 of income, which across a 400 branch network is an extra 24M of income. A tiny glimpse into the near future - and given that 65% of Proptech companies were first registered in the UK in 2017 so 36-months ago - they are doing absolutely brilliantly. The big problem at the moment is not that Proptech is failing, it is that agents are failing to understand what Proptech is, and if anyone wants to contact me or James Dearsley or the ever growing band of enlightened ex-property professionals I think you would be amazed at the amount of advice and technical assistance that is out there. Proptech is not the enemy, it is an enabler - ignorance as ever is always the enemy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 May 2020 22:44 PM

You do frustrate me sometime Property Pundit by posting and stealing my thunder - I think it is a stroke of the highest level of arrogance and genius to raid the piggy bank that the agents created and use the funds to seek new customers. This is a PR disaster - not sure who does Rightmove's PR strategy - maybe they are a secret collaborator of the 'Say No to Rightmove' campaign. Because believe you me - if choice one was listen to your upset clients just complaints, and option two was stick your fingers in your ears - and up the ante by spending cold cash on finding new clients, option one would be a winner. You see Rightmove's achilles heel is that it's product is like British Leyland's 1970's Austin Allegro. In that in 2000 Rightmove was a shiny new thing, unseen by the public or the industry. But, in 2020 just as the chunky tin car of British Leyland, the one dimensional portal model is well - much like a second hand car. Users or drivers want the shiny new model of the 2020 period - the one that will endure maybe into the 2040's. Forcing agents to drive around in an Austin Allegro - and paying ever more money to do so - when agents can drive a new generation model, which is far cheaper to run and gives more miles per gallon and has phenomenal tech - but more importantly gives a much smoother ride for the fee paying end user the buyer or tenant - is the height of madness. My prediction just as video conferencing was a 'thing that some people did' and became a world wide phenomena with millions adopting it in a week, there lurks in some place a much better model than the present Austin Allegro, however much Rightmove tries to cling on to its heritage.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 May 2020 23:27 PM

I think there will be more clarity in the real estate sector by the end of next week, but the worst situation would be a bun fight, and a mixed response to how to go about a new Covid-19 protocol in the industry. The other factor is of course the general public - which way will they go - and of course the Bank of England talking about the worst recession for three-centuries is not too helpful. Commerce is built on confidence and certainty and often sentiment, as ever it will be a case of cautiously moving forward. In my 35-years in the industry we have never been at these crossroads before, war, recession, inflation, deflation, yes - but a global pandemic with no cure - well that is new territory, one silver lining some of the companies in certain proptech verticals are doing business at an exponential rate, so maybe this can help agents go about business safely.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 May 2020 22:49 PM

With the base rate at 0.1% and overdraft facilities at 9%, that is a staggering rate of interest to be paying for any banking facility, so good to see the banks are helping out as per usual. Also, though salaries are typically 60% of the cost of running an agency, so if the teams are being furloughed, and owners are topping up the 20% shortfall, that still means owners need to find 52% of the monthly overheads minus any residential business completing. Obviously rental income if the size of the portfolio allows will help but, very soon with lockdown for the foreseeable, the £10,000 grant will perhaps be less than is required, hopefully not.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 April 2020 14:28 PM

Completions - however you look at it, sadly will be hit for 2020. If you are an optimist there will be a bounce post Covid, if you are not it will be flat or dip. But stock levels at present across the nation's agents are low, the usual pre-spring level, that would have dramatically swelled during the peak listing and selling period, late March to early June. With lockdown until 6th May earliest and probably running into later May, even if agents re-opened in early June it would take 6 weeks of 'normal' agency for stock levels to rise to a level where volume sales could happen, so mid July. Give sales take 5 months to complete, that will push many into 2021 as a completion timescale. So, I am thinking completions at 65% level of the usual 1m to 1.2m level, at best maybe lower, which of course means a proportionate loss of completions monies flowing in this year. I am not being pessimistic, just analysing the figures. A really sad thing, three years of Brexit - thank you politicians for hampering all of the economy while you squabbled and now this pandemic.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 April 2020 13:23 PM

Knight Frank taking a positive step, in uncertain times, preserve and persevere, the touchstone of any organisation looking to sail through the current stormy waters. The real problem is that with lockdown now until at least 6th May, and probably longer - which agencies have the deepest pockets to safeguard their businesses. Tough times - and tough decisions.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 April 2020 13:13 PM

Proptech creating efficiencies and solutions, about the only upside from this pandemic, agents having time to realise the value of tech in their business. Maybe modern agency on a wide scale basis may now become a reality. I do not think agents were so much anti-tech, more we have no time to validate its effectiveness or commercial use, well lockdown has changed all of that.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 April 2020 13:08 PM

Well as Purplebricks and Countrywide have a very similar ever dropping market capitalisation at present, and Countrywide shares are worth in real terms about 2.4p, I am not sure that anything is going to be helping these two companies. Countrywide's financial backers will probably end up taking the debt as equity and then sell off the assets, and with the ToscaFund pulling the plug on Purplebrick shares, Axel Springer are ever closer to securing a full controlling interest in the pie in the face tv advert onliner. Easter egg anyone?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 April 2020 19:52 PM

Now that is worrying, RICS actually edging off the fence, maybe they realise that the imminent wide scale demise of the real estate sector will mean nothing to survey, which will mean ... demise of the RICS profession.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 April 2020 19:43 PM

No one knows anything and that is the problem - uncertainty. In my view it will take four months, so end of July before we see any return to a normal market, which is the start of August, the usual half-time of the real estate cycle. If this unfortunate scenario plays out - there will either be a rush to do business or a lull to September, or a let us wait to see what happens and defer to 2021. Lockdown is the only certainty at present and this may be longer and more severe than many thought, but with a pandemic with no cure it seems to be the only solution that works.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 April 2020 17:12 PM

I love Simon Shinerock's view - High Street, Hub or Home office the three H's of estate agency model. Maybe an agent can operate all three? So a corporate, all listers operate from a Home office, secure instructions which go to the host branch, maybe negotiators and financial services here too. Hub, this is where the sales and post sales teams hang out - and High Street a small unit with front facing property professionals influencing and facilitating property business. It is time that companies moved from hours done to tasks done mentality. If it takes 8 hours to complete task A, does it matter if a person does it at 6.30 am and throughout the day, does there need to be the tyranny of the morning meeting eating into productivity time. If a person works better from home, let them. If someone needs the craic of the 'buzzing' sales environment ship them into the hub, if they want to sit in the traditional office goldfish bowl, let them sit in a boutique small space, more akin to Timpsons in size than the huge offices on many high streets.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 April 2020 17:03 PM

Thangham Debboinaire new Shadow secretary for state for housing, you have three minutes on your selected topic housing. Question one – do you have any industry experience in the housing or real estate sector. Question two – does this lack of knowledge help or impede you keeping the government to account, or will you take advice from ‘those in the know.’ Question three – what exactly is Labour’s position on housing – apart from the usual rhetoric that there is not enough housing and the poor are the worst off? Lastly, you have been quoted as saying that you support ‘unfettered capitalism’ is that some sort of chutney preserve? And after three minutes you have scored … well it does make me wonder if there are somewhere on the Labour benches more suited individuals, but then maybe not.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 April 2020 16:52 PM

Any measure that helps any person in these unprecedented times are to be welcomed, and the government is reacting quickly to this 'complex' proposition. Difficult times and pressure groups flagging up problems and solutions seems to be very much the way at present.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 April 2020 19:06 PM

Property Pundit - some very valid points, I think Homesearch were not thinking let's spend lots of hard cash to build an alternative to Rightmove, but public opinion and sentiment within the agency community has voted - we need a better or alternative solution. As to build a huge data monster - well that is probably a model that many forward thinking entrepreneurs are thinking about - and maybe a talk with Gary Keller would be enlightening he started that journey some years ago. I think that Covid-19 is making everyone in business sit up and pay attention to the inefficiencies in the businesses, the solutions that are out there and the big gaping holes where solutions need to exist and quickly. So Homesearch are being brave and are striking out to fill one of those holes. Perhaps, and not related to Property Portal Wars - the biggest black hole, is cash flow, or rather the time it takes from getting a client to say I will (buy this property) and the marriage (exchange) to take place. With rigid costs eating into residential agents pockets, when the industry gets out of the blocks, maybe getting to exchange in under a month will be a better cause than any other.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 April 2020 12:56 PM

Homesearch are getting a lot of traction in a very short space of time. Giles Ellwood and Sam Hunter have been really clever realising that anyone looking to beat Rightmove is on a failed mission, as Rightmove is arguably already two decades out of date. Homesearch are creating in 2020 a model based not just on listing stock, but empowering agents in a forum marketplace where growth of businesses can be nurtured not put under annual financial pressure. Rightmove has had 18 years and an army of account managers and sales-people to get clients. In contrast in lockdown mode, over 2,500 people have sought Homesearch out in 11 days- there is a reason.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 April 2020 11:03 AM

Completions likely to be 65% - 68% of those for 2019, if agents are not back in the 'office' for 90 days, as this is peak listing and selling time, this is my analysis also. Hopefully, this will not be the case. If it is then the good news is that there will be a big wave of activity that compensates for the lost period of business. In reality no-one knows where and when the present terrible situation will end, and one day at a time seems a pretty good strategy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 April 2020 10:57 AM

Social media is definitely key at the moment - everyone is on it - so agents should be making sure their brand, proposition and even their stock is on it. Locked doors for agencies does not need to mean that businesses can not still engage with consumers. If anything this effort should be stepped up.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 April 2020 13:29 PM

Completions likely to be down 35% on the usual 1 to 1.2M annual number if agents are not functioning for 90 days, as this is key listing and selling season. I hope this is not the case and normality comes sooner but maybe it is a late Autumn market we now are looking at. On the positive, no-one knows and for sure there is a massive pent up demand to do property business at all levels. So by the end of 2021 a correction of activity will probably have occurred.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 April 2020 13:23 PM

Necessity the mother of invention - maybe not a polished model of how to list a property with no Local Property Expert on the ground, but again Purplebricks is looking to generate revenue and interest in property at the key 'Spring' period that is usually bonanza time. One thing about company's who will survive these terrible times is their ability to PIVOT - the new buzzword of those who have an entrepreneurs mindset. Producing Income (in) Very Out-of-bounds Times.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 April 2020 13:02 PM

Unfortunately, what had the makings of a great year for sales is now turning into a less positive one. Hopefully, the market will flow later in the year, but some of the big hitters in the industry are predicting completions may be down by 40% to around 650,000. If this proves to be the case that will of course have massive repercussions. On the positive and there is much to be positive about, the picture changes on a daily basis and maybe by the end of April some sound sense can be made of the present fluid situation. My take on it is that of the hundreds of agents I have spoken to or communicated with since mid March, everyone is very much ready to get on with business as usual at the earliest opportunity, and many are re-thinking their business model, and questioning can they do things better?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 31 March 2020 07:28 AM

Great to hear that all bodies within the conveyancing sector are looking for collaborative solutions to ease the problems faced by all.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 March 2020 09:49 AM

Countrywide, Purplebricks, it is a question of trust and a working business model. For sure all share prices are being hit, but Countrywide have never recovered from the 80% share price fall under Alison Platt, and the failure to sort out a proper way forward after that. And the general public realising that paying upfront for an online model that cost 21,000 vendors over 18 Million in wasted fees last year means that 'trust' is no longer in place. Once the love/trust is gone - well game over. Share prices recover, and over time you can not beat a return on the stock market, but Puplebricks is listed on the alternative investment market - probably apt as it has an alternative estate agency model, listing property is its core function - not selling property.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 March 2020 09:27 AM

As a Proptech Real Estate Analyst in many ways these times are the most interesting - for me the future is a cup of tea. TEA, Tech Enabled Agents, property professionals with a suite of digital tools to run efficient businesses, where Estate Agents and Proptech meld and just become 'agents'. Sitting in the opposing corner is an other model, technology to run a model where the agent is nowhere to be seen. This is the advanced model that Purplebricks is now looking to advance, a direct service where vendors self-list - removing that troublesome overhead of the Lister / Local Property Expert (those hardworking much pressured backbone of the online model). Gary Keller, yes he is not exactly a local agent - has for some years been developing technology to empower the agent, it seems Purplebricks is the exact opposite of this model. Who will win well for this onliner it looks like the cash is about to run out. In April 2018 Purplebricks had 152M cash at bank, this April that will have reduced to around 35M, that is a 117M cash burn in 24-months, or a £4,875,000 cash burn a month. I revealed on the 2nd of March in a Daily Telegraph article that in 2019 Purplebricks had 21,380 vendors who de-listed their properties. Leaving over behind 18M of fee they had paid upfront. Following this revelation the share price fell off a cliff. Marketing and selling property is all about trust, as Rightmove is now finding once that trust is lost - things soon unravel. I am extremely sympathetic to any person hit by this terrible situation we are now all facing, and I think Local Property Experts, those very hardworking, self-employed (debatable) workforce who props up this online Behemoth, are now going to find things even harder, a shame that all those millions went on Olympic adverts rather than a contingency fund to help them during difficult times. Doing the mathematics, Purplebricks unlike a traditional agent, has no 'pipeline of sales' to live off, its income is from upfront fees and cross selling of services at point of instruction. With lock down, the amount of new instructions for all agents will stall. As to changing to a leaner model, Puplebricks Achilles heel has always been its lack of physical offices, if it cuts its advertising - it ceases to exist. Without adverts on the tv, massive online spend - the fickle general public will soon 'forget' the brand, and maybe this is a bigger challenge than the £4,875,000 cash burn. Even with reduced overheads, it will eat through that £35M very quickly, but before it doers the market capitalisation will be so low that either a buyer will swoop in and buy the company, or Axel Springer will take it private and hopefully look at the model and start again.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 March 2020 08:47 AM

Rightmove has got it all wrong and now the trust has gone where does that leave everyone? In the past week I have had communication with or from over 500 property professionals, CEO’s, sole traders, men and women in the front line of the business, tech companies, other analysts, you name them I have been talking with them. As many know I have for some time said that the real estate relationship with Rightmove has become a toxic, abusive and one sided, and that a major fault line was pushing the two parties wider and wider apart. For sure since 2006 when Rightmove became a quoted stock, the share price had until a few weeks ago rocketed by 1,500%, and in February 2020 hit 691p a share, but now at 470p a share with a likely revenue hit of 75M plus, shareholders and the c-suite of Rightmove might realise that the gravy train has just hit the buffers. Many that I spoke to say that with over 130M visits a month to the Rightmove website, the brand strength and the public’s pre-occupation with ‘Property Porn’ means that as the Property Portal heavyweight, nothing can stop it. Well Covid-19 just has, faced with a long journey ahead agents looking at their fixed cost model of agency, suspiciously eye the large ticket cost of Rightmove, often in the top three of a branches costs after salaries. Agents now realise that with the proliferation of ‘free to list’ portals, their £1,100 plus as an average branch spend, is in fact nowhere near its true price point. The other thing that everyone talking to me says is ‘Rightmove has itself never moved’ in that it has no evolved, it is just digital shelves rammed with goods/listings supplied by the agents. How will it end? Well in January 2016 the share price was 402p, and in the following years it was 390p, 450p,474p and in 2020 642p (peaking at 691p a month later) so an adjustment to 470p was likely at some time in 2020 anayway. Now though – agents are going to leave Rightmove, and those that stay are not going to want to pay anywhere near £1,100 a branch. Luckily I am neither a shareholder or in the Rightmove c-suite, but if I was on the management team the first thing I would do is what I do … listen and engender debate, find out what your customer wants and needs and provide it – do not put your fingers in your ears and keep putting up the prices. Or people like Kristjan Byfield who is the kindest and gentlest and most considerate and well respected property and proptech professional will give you your P45.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 27 March 2020 12:28 PM

Real Estate Lock down has today 27th of March begun, 10,000 Countrywide staff on furlough - probably for next three months. We are now entering unknown waters.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 27 March 2020 12:24 PM

All seems sensible, but if you no longer own your old property having completed on it today and live in it, and you can not move into your new home. Are you if there is a mortgage involved with regard to your buyer and you on your forward purchase breaching the mortgagees conditions not to mention the legal transfer of the ownership of the property?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2020 12:05 PM

Yourkeys - reservation of a new home to exchange in 168 hours, standard time-frame for a sale in 2019, 19 weeks, that is some pretty good solid documented proof with numerous case studies. Imagine what that does for a new home builder/estate agent cash flow and what it does for the customer journey of buyers. Purplebricks an agency with no offices, listing 60,000 properties in a year, that is 60,000 vendors liking the idea of paying upfront, not a no-sale no fee model, that is pretty revolutionary. Very much a people-lite estate agency model, for sure not my favourite - but then I am not 60,000 consumers lining up with my wallet open. HB Reavis - smart buildings being constructed around the world, with use of AI and dital tech to make the 'work environment' a better place to be. Fixflo - changing the way thousands of renters and landlords connect and deal with properties, Digital street - HMLR digitising the data that it has held since 1862. The whole point is and this is from having dealt with nearly 16,000 residential sales over 3-decades - agency is a people business for sure - but people are transacting that business from the mobile in their hand, the days of buyers hopping into a negotiators car to view a dream home - belong to the 1980's, the Gen-Z and millennials use modern tech to transact everything as indeed so do you? Do I think arranging a mortgage will involve a buyer sitting in an office doing the paperwork in five years? No. Will automated feeds of the latest mortgage deals be available to every buyer, either on a property portal or similar yes. Will agents become depleted in number, just like the workers on the car production lines were replaced by robots yes, will paper be replaced by AI reading that paper and making the legal sector run 20 times faster - it is already happening, adoption of new practices is sometimes slow, but as Covid-19 shows, overnight all of the UK agents have become online agents - communicating using video calling and laptops from their homes. A month ago if Property Pundit you could have walked into any Bookies - well in fact with new tech - you could have logged into any bookmaker in 30 seconds, and I bet you would have got odds of 50,000 to one that the UK real estate market would not all go online with no offices, in the next five years - but here we are it happened overnight. And those who are going to trade well with tech savvy customers who by 2028 will be 90% of your client base will be reaping the rewards, pen and paper anyone, pick and mix at Woolworth's counter anyone? No seamless omni-channel service - that is what the consumer wants - and that is what good proptech will provide.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2020 11:53 AM

Lets see Zeus says that for 365 days the average amount of listing will be 110. That is 40,150 listed properties if they hit that target. Last year they listed 60,000 and generated 90M of revenue. So is it fair to assume as revenue = upfront cost to vendor at point of instruction, 40,150 listings = 1/3 less revenue so 60M? Bearing in mind they have burnt through over 6M a month for the past 2 years? Second point, if for the first three months, Purplebricks are listing 25 a day, so 25 x 30.4 days x 3 months = 2,280 listings. Then in the next 9 months 9 x 30.4 days, they need to list, 40,150 (their 365 days at 110 instructions a day) minus 2,280 achieved in quarter one, so 37,870 listings in 9 x 30.4 days = 37,870 divided by 274 days = 138 instructions a day. How likely is that ... an uptick from 25 a day to 138 a day - my thoughts are it is impossible - but then I am just a Proptech Real Estate analyst and what do I know - luckily Zeus are the professionals.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2020 09:19 AM

I must disclose my connection with James Dearsley in the sense I am an unpaid Proptech Influencer for Unissu, choosing to champion James and Eddie Holmes and the work they do to get the core message about the benefits of modern agency, including digital transformation of archaic and legacy driven real estate protocols. I have already written an article that says this terrible situation, is giving agents a chance to re-group, sit and think about how they run their businesses, how tech allows communication, and how consumers are using tech to transact property transactions. Now I am hopeful that agents will grasp the chance to 'explore' proptech, and see that just as many had never used video conferencing, often adoption of processes is all about necessity and repetition. And the payback is instant, so new efficient ways of doing things. Just think what some of the businesses that James listed in his article or indeed are on the Unissu site, can do for your business. All businesses to stay profitable have to evolve and adapt, my plea is that agents use their forced incarceration wisely, business is definitely not ever going to be the same again, but as agents have shown always - they can and will adapt and find winning strategies to make better businesses.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2020 07:41 AM

To my mind all agency doors are now shut and the workforce is now home working, which for some will make them realise that premises are not the essential ingredient they once were. Sales teams do thrive by being in the same arena, the buzz and going into work for the craic is an important factor some to do a 'sales job.' I had many speak to me regarding this London agency having a more different thought of how to keep the organisation moving forward, clearly now it has re-considered it's strategy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2020 07:26 AM

Well what do you know last October I predicted that the 152M that Purplebricks had in the bank in April 2018, would dwindle down to 31M by April 2020. I must be a crystal ball gazer, or maybe a pretty good Real Estate Analyst to have been bang on the money. So, cash burn 152M in 24 months, is 6.3M cash burn a month, and that is with over 90M of revenue coming in from listings in the UK in 2019. As we know it also held onto over 18M of fee paid upfront from vendors who took their homes off the market in 2019, amazing that none of these complained on Trust Pilot. Lets do the mathematics, the share price is 34p, it started at 95.5p in December 2015, it used to have a market capitalisation of 1BN now it is now just 103M. If no properties can be listed for say two months, that is 10M plus cash burn, zero income, money at bank 21M, share price gets hit, market capitalisation gets hit, poor self employed LPE's leave as no income, no sick pay, so I can not see a happy resolution. Yes Axel Springer can go from holding 27.5% of the company to 30% triggering a play for a controlling interest, and the ToscaFund is cashing in some of its exposure, but who wants to run a company who burns through millions every month? No Olympics so that TV spend like some many wasted opportunities is just going to make things more difficult. I had always said by Autumn either Axel Springer takes them private, or there is a hostile bid, but as the company has never made a penny profit, or paid a dividend, why spend good cash - on this company - when there are so many other good sound propositions at a low ebb.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 March 2020 23:58 PM

Let me see 1.6M properties are listed a year, so that is maybe 2.3M vendors and 2.3M buyers, call it 4.5M people 'doing property' a year. Add in 1M to 1.2M completions a year, so some vendors and buyers not in 4.5M number above, let us call it 6M people 'doing property a year. So a sample of 300 out of 6 million vendors and buyers, as a % is, well too many decimal places to put down, and maybe Twindig's former trading name Cimmple, might have been a better name for this straw poll. As to trust and transparency, maybe taking a swipe at the property industry, when it comes from a person who has little hands on knowledge of the real estate or proptech sector might not be the best strategy, time will tell. But if you duff up the potential client base you want to sell your admin management tools to, do not be surprised if they are not too receptive. On the portals do not sell properties, we do know that Purplebricks who has not a single 'negotiator' or 'sales manager' in its team - and no sales targets - does in fact rely on property portals to generate it's sales. So on that point also I would take exception, and this is one of the great areas of contention, onliner's are combine-harvesters - listing industrial amounts of property, with in Purplebrick's case no focused sales team. Yes they have or had Local property experts - but they are targeted and paid on listings, not agreed sales or exchanges.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 March 2020 23:31 PM

On the 11th of February mighty Rightmove had a share price of 701p, yesterday the share price fell to 475p, a 32.6% drop, and over an 11% drop in the last week. They always say pride comes before a fall, in this case perhaps shareholders greed comes before the interests of the agents. Dissent and upset, and anger is now being focused on Rightmove, yes all shares are getting hit, but Countrywide, Purplebricks and now Rightmove are showing they are out of step with the very industry they are in - you cannot fool all of the people all of the time - and if there is a mass exodus from Rightmove, those in the c-suite maybe deserve to be reminded who pays their salaries and bonuses. So now today Rightmove reacts, pushing their chess piece across the black and white squares in what may prove to be a very bloody endgame, but as Harry Hill the elder statesman of agency and of course on the ground at the inception of Rightmove asks on another Linkedin post, 'will the 75% discount be enough?' Everyone knows I back agents - being one for 32 years, and in equal measure I now back proptech - setting up Proptech-PR as a body to get agents informed and modernised. I used my 2,500 database of agency decision makers yesterday speaking directly with and contacting nearly 300 decision makers who wanted to know which way to turn. I focused them all on Rightmove - telling them to be brave and take their moment - it was about paying a fair price for a service, and it was time to break the monopoly. I also said RM needed to cover the next 4 months and maybe just eat the cost 100%, I said agents need to see that as a collective they have the power. Looking at Rightmove's reaction I think they are now listening. But will agents ever trust Rightmove again? Also maybe agents need to look at the power of social media - as it has been used by many to get the attention of Rightmove, just think what it can do for your businesses - maybe portals are a nice to have and agents need to invest more in their own social media so they are in control.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 March 2020 12:20 PM

There is now an action group - a digital petition - closing date 1st of April - I think a lot of agents may be signing it, especially as OTM now giving 3 month relief on their subscriptions.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 March 2020 08:44 AM

Rightmove do not upset a Viking - as you will find that this is a very wrong move. Those who know Kristjan Byfield will realise that he really cares about his customers, his business and his industry, self funding projects to enhance the rental sector. He is extremely bright and friendly and he is widely respected both as an agent and within the Proptech world where he is a director of the UK Proptech Association, so he knows a thing or two about technology and the direction of travel that the industry is going. Putting this to one side, and having seen him recently in his London office, he is typical of every agent, he just wants a fair deal, to be able to trade and do a good job. Though we were discussing his latest project we did talk about Rightmove and Kristjan said, and it is a conversation that I have heard countless times - the only reason agents stay with Rightmove is that if they do not - agents will tell vendors and this will make it less likely a landlord or vendor will use them. To an extent - this lies at the heart of the Rightmove abusive power relationship, the brand of Rightmove has 100% grown off the back of listings generated by agents, and for many years is a brand name that vendors have been conditioned to look for. Because agents in their presentation to vendors and Landlords are quick to state they use Rightmove. Now though, the tech savvy new breed of vendors and landlords unlike their fathers and mothers do not care where an agent lists, they care about the level of service they receive and if the agent in front of them is a good one. So perhaps agents need to stop championing Rightmove, that abuse high maintenance partner who erodes their brand, and utilise social media to gain their vendors and landlords. Because take it from me, if I want to sell my home or let my home out, it is my mobile I go to. Seventy three times a day I check it and I am on social media three and a half hours a day , and believe me I would not be going on Rightmove to decide who my agent of choice is to sell or let my home. No my choice of who to invite in would be whoever influences me - we are all now children of the digital age, there has been a seismic change. And Rightmove will soon realise that just like the Newspapers (remember when we thought no agent could trade without them) who held an abusive amount of power and who used to bill for classified adverts charging by the 'word', the internet has changed the rules and Kristjan Byfield the Viking is leading the charge - the only question is how long can Rightmove with its 70% profit margin stand at the barricade and ignore the ever increasing number of angry agents standing on the other side?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 March 2020 06:41 AM

There is a prize if you can guess how many free property portals now exist, which begs the question how much does it cost Rightmove to place your stock on their website? Second, how much new stock are you going to be listing in the next 6-months. The usual amount slightly less or considerably less, so the cost to list these fewer listings stays the same? The poll above says 95% of people reading this article feel that Rightmove are taking liberties. Do they not understand how fragile the old style property portal model is. Rightmove may be riding high now with a 68% profit margin, but Countrywide not so long ago had a share price 100 times greater than they have today, and Purplebricks had a share price 120 times greater than their present 37p a share. Showing that things can rapidly change. Especially if those at the top carry on in a cavalier - fingers in their ear way. Many chickens are now coming home to roost, and maybe Rightmove's days of laying those golden eggs is numbered.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 March 2020 10:32 AM

On the 17th of October 2019 I posted the following on my Linkedin account ... 'Following the recent (announcement of the imminent) arrival of Bruce Marsh to steady the wheel at Countrywide, whose share price dips below 4p, it was good news that Countrywide had done something new. But, it was potentially bad news Bruce’s very successful career to date, appears to lack any experience in the property sector, unless home DIY can be counted and of course Dixons. I do hope that in the words of Britney they have not ‘done it again’ as Countrywide had previously installed a CEO the infamous and long-departed Alison Platt whose background was also anything but estate agency. During her four-year reign there was a 90% drop in the company’s share price. At least with the current share price at 3.9p, no-one can really harm the present fortunes of the company. True Bruce and Dave Lewis as a double act turned the fortune of Tesco around, following a programme of redundancies and re-modelling. But, the difference between Tesco and the Behemoth of Countrywide, is that Tesco when turning its fortunes around was in the top three of retailers in the world, Countrywide sadly is not in the same league as many of its competitors. The jury is out on whether it can survive, (as an ex-employee I hope it does) or it will have a programme of asset stripping and be consigned to history as yet another example of ‘big business’ failing to adapt to the realities of the ‘click generation’ who want service, and brands that deliver. Less than a week later, and Countrywide welcome on board another face from Tescos, Amanda Rendle. Actually Amanda Rendle's background may well be useful, with a past including HSB, Masthaven Bank? (yes the experimental one) and currently a non-exec of The Royal Mint and Keep Britain Tidy, she may have access to copious funds - which CW desperately need, and if there is a rout, then at least she can help clean up the mess. It does astound me why the strategy at the top is - get someone from the outside of the industry to solve our problems and calm the stock market - Alison Platt - prime candidate - property industry knowledge zero - MD of Bupa - that was a good fit. Here is a suggestion - why doesn't CW put together a 'think tank' (I know very 1960's) of estate agents - and move the company forward that way. Where can they find these calibre of people with industry knowledge? - well - there are thousands of them in their business and if the look at the people they 'let go' in the past 60 months there is probably enough top talent there to make a start. My thoughts - share price will implode in Spring 2020, when CW looks for another life saving injection of cash, and then piece by piece CW will be sold off. Thoughts?' So, I was predicting end of Countrywide in the Spring, and I think we are fast approaching that point, as to the share price, it was 305p on the 28th of Feb, (there was a re-calibration of the share price) but it has dropped to 56p today - an 81% drop in just over a fortnight. Will others now do the honourable thing - resign or will they be pushed - that is about the only unknown factor that surrounds Countrywide at the moment, unless of course there are any other Tesco employees on the horizon.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 March 2020 21:56 PM

Malcolm Parsons you are right at a recent solicitors seminar in London, a very senior official stated that if Purplebricks were in the chain it added 15 days to the pre-exchange process. I saw no data, but anecdotally my clients pretty well all say the same thing. Agency is a nebulous activity, finding the buyer is only part of the process, often the post sale being agreed part of the process takes the most time and care. Which online agents are not geared up for.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 March 2020 14:46 PM

Countrywide's demise: be certain that is where we are, has come about in a predictable manner, and can be pinned on one factor mismanagement from the top. For well over 18 months I have been screaming that someone needed to take the helm and steer this huge vessel away from the rocks. Reaction from the c-suite, carry on as though everything is normal. Well the three year plan for sure is well under way, it is a shame that it was just like its author, misguided, out of step and lacking any merit. Maybe this week will see some long overdue resignations, then again that would take introspection, and ownership of the abject failure that is now Countrywide, the financially wounded Dinosaur that failed to listen, or adopt the Proptech Revolution. Great management coupled with technology digitally transforming processes, creating lasting efficiencies, with 10,000 people in the business, Countrywide should have been a model of modern real estate industry, instead it will stand as a lasting blueprint of how not to do agency. A warning for any other Dinosaur businesses, 'modernise, clients are transacting their lives through a digital prism'.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 March 2020 15:34 PM

Countrywide's demise: be certain that is where we are, has come about in a predictable manner, and can be pinned on one factor mismanagement from the top. For well over 18 months I have been screaming that someone needed to take the helm and steer this huge vessel away from the rocks. Reaction from the c-suite, carry on as though everything is normal. Well the three year plan for sure is well under way, it is a shame that it was just like its author, misguided, out of step and lacking any merit. Maybe this week will see some long overdue resignations, then again that would take introspection, and ownership of the abject failure that is now Countrywide, the financially wounded Dinosaur that failed to listen, or adopt the Proptech Revolution. Great management coupled with technology digitally transforming processes, creating lasting efficiencies, with 10,000 people in the business, Countrywide should have been a model of modern real estate industry, instead it will stand as a lasting blueprint of how not to do agency. A warning for any other Dinosaur businesses, 'modernise, clients are transacting their lives through a digital prism'.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 March 2020 15:32 PM

Since the 2nd of March and my Daily Telegraph headline story 'Purple 'made £18M fees on homes that stayed unsold' - the share price has moved from 107p to at one point today 36p. Does this matter? people should have a choice right - if they want to use an online solution shouldn't they be free to do so. My answer is yes, but vendors about to sign the agency agreement should also be told that in 2019 in the UK though 60,000 listed with Purplebricks, 21,380 also took their homes off the market leaving behind over 18,000,000 of upfront fee. That would make many consider the financial ramifications of signing up with a pay up front fee agent in the first place. Traditional agents - no sale no fee, online agents (there are some exceptions) are different they mostly are all pay upfront and pray. The other problem Purplebricks now faces, is that traditional agents will be able to 'live' on the exchange income from their un-exchanged sales pipelines, online agents have no sales pipelines they rely on listings - which in a Covid-19 world may be few and far between, so their upfront cash model is about to crash along with their imploding share price. Hostile bid or Axel Springer. Clocks ticks.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 March 2020 15:24 PM

Another big problem, with Covid-19, the self employed LPE's will get no sick pay, and if they can not list as vendors decide not to be vendors due to the crisis - Purplebricks may lose all of their workforce. No LPE's no Purplebricks.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 March 2020 10:54 AM

Michael Riley - Axel Springer have a difficult choice, they bought 135M of shares at 360p in 2018 then bought another bock of shares the following September at a lower value. So with Purplebricks current shares at 53p (down from 107p - at 2nd of March pre-my Daily Telegraph story - 18M of fee kept for not selling properties in 2019) is it wise to go all in? If Purplebricks implodes and share price hits 40p or less. Twice bitten will Axel Springer go for another bite? Their alternative wait for another party to swoop in? But who and why, yes it has revenue, but it burns cash like it is going out of fashion. And never returns a profit, and if you list 60,000 properties a year like they did in the UK in 2019, and 21,000 plus come off the market in the same year failing to sell, and you keep that 18M of fee, how long before vendors decide you are just after their money than their custom?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 March 2020 10:52 AM

The financially wounded dinosaur - is now in the operating theatre - what a terrible unravelling of this once fine company. Let us or rather the C-suite of Countrywide face some facts - they do not know what they are doing. Who announces a sell off an asset before the deal is done - only people who do not have the intelligence to realise the devastation of such a deal going awry. The banks might have been snapping at the them, after all 10,000 salaries a month to service is on its own a tall order, let alone the funding of the day to day loss making business, but if you run a big company you should not be making school boy errors. Talking of errors - Alison Platt - ensuring the share price dropped by 80% during her tenure, the 10M of letting deposits in the 'wrong account' AML breaches and fines - just who is running the show? Very soon if there is a God someone who takes their responsibilities seriously to safeguard the futures of all those working within the company and the shareholders. In 11 days - Countrywide's fate is sealed one way or the other - my thoughts LSL hostile bid will not go the distance - leaving a bloody rout - asset stripping and carnage. All of which many in the industry have been talking about for the last 18 months, so why did the board not act sooner.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 March 2020 09:21 AM

Where to begin - following on from my story in the Telegraph on the 18th of February which revealed the fact that Purplebricks had kept 18 Million pounds of vendor fee in 2019, for properties - (over 21,000 of them) that vendors took off the market as the onliner could not sell them, I am at loss why Nested who is burning cash like there is no tomorrow claims that online agency is the best solution. Share price of Purplebricks 108p - 18th February, truth known about the model, share price yesterday 62p. I think that is game over. Regarding online agents in general -Let me see - How many online agents who have ever made a profit - NONE. How many have ceased trading? Lots. Why do they cease trading? They run out of money. Where does money come from to fund them? Crowd funding, and more crowd funding, and private investors and if you are a big company the alternative investment market, maybe blue chip companies. How much has Nested had? Did you know that with an £165,000 outlay, a traditional agency with staff and cars and sales teams and all that boring stuff 94% of agents have, will from a cold start break even in 2 years, so pay all £165,000 back and from year three it will make profit, maybe £100,000 in year 3, climbing from there. So with 200M, the amount Nested has had I could have opened 1210 cold start traditional offices, which by year three would have paid back the 200M and in year three have bought in a massive positive stream of profit. And that is why an advert strapping a man to a wheel based stretcher on his way down a hill just about sums up the knowledge set of online agents - they seem to inhabit a different universe. Now maybe I am being harsh - surely there must be one online agent who has made a profit ... tepilo - no - gone, emoov - no - gone, hatched - no -gone, u-pad - no -gone, the list goes on ... emoov 2 - no profit yet, doorsteps - no profit yet, Purplebricks - no profit yet, Yopa - no profit yet, Housesimple - no profit yet and now a free service, easyproperty - original model - failed - new version in place. The only person who makes money when an onliner sets up is - a crowdfunder who takes a cut of money raised, property portals who list stock, and google and facebook etc who take lots of many advertising the projects. Last on the list is the customer experience. If you want a model that works - employ me - I can build a successful model, and the fee structure would be - cost to run the business plus 23% gross profit. And it would be a service that vendors and landlords and other clients would love. Not - let us cut out the expensive bits - offices etc -because in fact online/hybrids cost more to run than offices on the high street. Funded by - previous years profits - not continuous handouts. Proptech-PR.com

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 March 2020 08:02 AM

Great to see that at last tech is making its way into the armoury of some forward thinking property groups, Facebook is a great way to disseminate information in a collaborative way. Well done Property Guild leading the way with this initiative. Another great way to communicate and keep property professionals in the loop and do business, in the property sector is using WhatsApp, which has over two billion general and business users. In fact research shows that 76% of consumers/renters/buyers & sellers would rather engage with estate agents over WhatsApp rather than talk on the phone. This has helped make WhatsApp an powerful tool for all agents. But the rules for WhatsApp use in business have changed. That is why ProptechPR has set up a free live webinar by demo from ‘industry acclaimed’ Paul Gandar, CEO of Stitch.ai, whose WhatsApp solution not only enables agents to super-connect your sales teams and clients, driving sales and profit streams forward, but also ensures you stay fully compliant with all of the new WhatsApp business regulations. Join him tomorrow 12th March from 4 pm - go to Eventbrite for details or google Stitch ai to find out more.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 March 2020 10:29 AM

Interesting comment J Blackmore - listing houses - core model of Rightmove. Listing property is core model of residential agency - and instead of agents charging Rightmove for the raw material they need to sustain their model - the listings - agents have to pay Rightmove. Maybe this is the solution - agents need to say to Rightmove, my monthly payment is £x to list on your site, but without the fruits of my labour the instructions that I generate every day from my work as an agent, which is supported by my daily burn of capital to support this enterprise - there would be no Rightmove. As without stock the buyers would not frequent the portal, like bees in search of honey. So you charge me £x to list and I charge you £x + y for letting you have housing stock to list which draws in buyers.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2020 22:59 PM

Oh Bob Owens - where do I get my facts? From the annual company accounts or share news in fact it takes about 4 seconds with modern tech to pull up most information. As a real estate analyst it is of course my day job.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2020 21:27 PM

Dear Bob Owens, I think that I have been giving a balanced and accurate view of Countrywide's demise for some years. And these are the recent posts from October including the Daily Telegraphs article 25th Feb 2020 in which I used the now famous phrase, ''One wounded dinosaur looking to share a home ... Stanton says that Countrywide’s failure to embrace the so-called ‘proptech’ revolution has left it a “financially wounded dinosaur”. As a former employee of Countrywide 1985-1989 - at a point they were the number one agent - I am saddened by the lack of leadership that has been shown in recent years. In case you missed any of my factually correct observations Bob, here they are, in chronological order. 17th October - Andrew Stanton’s thoughts - Following the recent arrival of Bruce Marsh to steady the wheel at Countrywide, whose share price dips below 4p, it was good news that Countrywide had done something new. But it was potentially bad news Bruce’s very successful career to date, appears to lack any experience in the property sector, unless home DIY can be counted and of course Dixons. I do hope that in the words of Britney they have not ‘done it again’ as Countrywide had previously installed a CEO the infamous and long-departed Alison Platt whose background was also anything but estate agency. During her four-year reign there was a 90% drop in the company’s share price. At least with the current share price at 3.9p, no-one can really harm the present fortunes of the company. True Bruce and Dave Lewis as a double act turned the fortune of Tesco around, following a programme of redundancies and re-modelling. But, the difference between Tesco and the Behemoth of Countrywide, is that Tesco when turning its fortunes around was in the top three of retailers in the world, Countrywide sadly is not in the same league as many of its competitors. The jury is out on whether it can survive, (as an ex-employee I hope it does) or it will have a programme of asset stripping and be consigned to history as yet another example of ‘big business’ failing to adapt to the realities of the ‘click generation’ who want service, and brands that deliver. Less than a week later, and Countrywide welcome on board another face from Tesco's, Amanda Rendle. Actually Amanda Rendle's background may well be useful, with a past including HSB, Masthaven Bank? (yes the experimental one) and currently a non-exec of The Royal Mint and Keep Britain Tidy, she may have access to copious funds - which CW desperately need, and if there is a rout, then at least she can help clean up the mess. It does astound me why the strategy at the top is - get someone from the outside of the industry to solve our problems and calm the stock market - Alison Platt - prime candidate - property industry knowledge zero - MD of Bupa - that was a good fit. Here is a suggestion - why doesn't CW put together a 'think tank' (I know very 1960's) of estate agents - and move the company forward that way. Where can they find these calibre of people with industry knowledge? - well - there are thousands of them in their business and if the look at the people they 'let go' in the past 60 months there is probably enough top talent there to make a start. My thoughts - share price will implode in Spring 2020, when CW looks for another lifesaving injection of cash, and then piece by piece CW will be sold off. Thoughts? Stanton's thoughts - 30th October - Today Countrywide is in the dock again this time it has a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors disciplinary meeting about 10M of diverted funds. At a tribunal RICS’ will state that £10,093,866 of unclaimed client funds in Countrywide’s lettings division, has been taken out of its client account, and put into its own account, and that Countrywide has grossly failed to look after/safeguard the clients’ funds. RICS' also says that there is a systemic, prolonged lack of professional obligations to the RICS's client money guidance, it will be interesting what defence Countrywide put forward. This 10M sitting within the company raises two issues; the shareholders and prospective shareholders have a false image of the shape of the company's finances, and is it time to get rid of those responsible, the chief financial officer and or his predecessor, together with anyone else, including those 'helpful' accountants who sign off the annual accounts. The liquidity of the company or not is certainly a factor for shareholders, though at less than 4p a share for some time I do not think many people have been buying CW shares. The equally disturbing factor is the lack of governance - and what have the financial officers of the company been doing - or not doing? With a multi-million pound rescue cash injection last year, a great chunk of which has been eaten through with monthly running costs of this great lumbering beast, when the 10M is subtracted from any 'cash' at the bank - will Countrywide have to 'sell the silver' to raise capital to continue trading? For me it is a race against time, sell off assets and cut offices, or wait and the costs of running the business will eat you and the assets and some offices will be sold or rebranded. Though I am not sure who apart from the incumbent staff in the form of a MBO, would want to buy the company as it clearly will not be making profit anytime soon. Countrywide - Fines, Bonfires and who shapes regulation of estate agents? October 30th 2019 – Andrew Stanton’s thoughts - Following today’s ruling by RIC's, is it time that Countrywide got rid of its rotten apples? Back in August 2018 Himanshu Raja - Chief financial Officer at Countrywide, was until it was voted down to receive £7M of company shares, and Paul Creffield Group GMD was to receive £8M of shares. This was at a time that the scandal of the £10M funds was known to the company, but not disclosed to the shareholders. Then in early Spring 2019, Countrywide were fined £215,000 for Anti Money Laundering lapses, and now they have been fined another £100,000 for financial irregularities. Given that Mr Creffield is himself fully supportive of RoPA, and a single regulator. Is it not time for him and Himanshu to do the honourable thing? Two months ago Mr Creffield when asked about RoPA said, … 'We're really supportive of regulation because we believe it will help create a level playing field with all agents expected to have the same expertise, It'll be good for the consumer too.' More worryingly for all parties, including perhaps Baron Best who heads up RoPA is Mr Creffield's further comments regarding RoPA, ' Because of Countrywide's scale, we've been consulted frequently (by RoPA) on proposals during their preparation, and we've conducted some pilot projects.' Now if the new regulatory framework that a forthcoming government may back comes into being in the form of RoPA, should some of its architects be coming from Countrywide's top management team. For me they would be the last people I would look to. If Paul Creffield advocates root and branch industry regulation - then Countrywide should itself be a beacon of this industry change, at present it is a bonfire of vanities, which given the proximity of November the 5th is very apt. Matches anyone. This article was first published on the 5th of November 2019. - Following on from the recent £100,000 fine and costs, awarded against Countrywide regarding their mismanagement of lettings funds, there is a far more alarming and arrogant strand of sentiment enshrouding the whole debacle. If you read all of the documentation on the case, it seems unless I have got it totally wrong, Countrywide between 2008 and 2018 had in place a policy agreed at CEO level to keep the untraceable lettings funds in the company account, all 10M of it, rather than keep it safe in a separate account, from which the funds should have been distributed elsewhere. Paul Creffield when alerted to it, fully co-operated with the RICS investigation, but - Paul Creffield did not become CEO, discover the deceit, and then report it as a whistle- blower. No it was an outside audit that picked up on the situation, which if let undetected may well have continued. In fact if you look closely at Paul's statement in mitigation he seems very much to make the case that because Countrywide does billions of pounds worth of mortgages a year, have a massive RICs presence, and has a huge 800 (?) strong office presence with many branches in all the towns and villages, it would be a travesty if Countrywide were too badly damaged by the affair as it would possibly upset the property industry as a whole. (TOO BIG TO FAIL). In other words - Countrywide had in place by its own admission a questionable practice, the internal transfer of client funds, which was company policy. Then by chance an outsider found out about it, and of course if you are the CEO of the day you are going to be as helpful as you can, but I think that to play the card of TOO BIG TO FAIL, is a dangerous one. Because if Countrywide is founded upon financial services and has within in very notable and trustworthy RICS personnel, shouldn't the bar be set higher rather than lower, as a warning to all. The panel in their judgement under mitigating and aggravating matters, actually states that Countrywide were using the fund to inflate their profit provision. As a matter of balance I am told by those who know that Paul is a very good at what he does, but I wonder if the matter had not come to light, would anyone at Countrywide have seized the nettle. Also where does this leave the likes of former CEO's Alison Platt (90% fall in the share price) for example, and the auditors and the Chief financial officers? You may not think it but I actually love Countrywide and I am a big fan, it is just a shame that all the talent was sacrificed during various regime purges, maybe they should invite some of those who can do the job back, as I feel unfortunately there are other icebergs about to present themselves in front of HMS Countrywide. 19th February 2020 - There have been loud rumours that possibly due to financial constraints, Countrywide Plc and LSL are thinking of a merger. Though there is no proof of this, for several days there have been whispers especially following the harsh pruning of the LSL operation. A few days ago I did on social media entreat Countrywide to follow the strong strategy of LSL, cut out the dead wood, but a merger is another plan for sure. LSL has multiple brands, including Your Move under its umbrella, Reids Rains etc, and a huge financial services operation with a large e-serv RICS operation as well, so it is hard to see how two giant agencies with massive personnel could easily merge? Maybe it is no more than a rumour - but with the 38M deal to sell off assets stalling and the share price of Countrywide at a dangerously low point, something has to give. In contrast LSL share price has risen in the last 6-weeks from 200p a share to 343p a share - indicating something big on the horizon. I have tried contacting the LSL media contact Twitter account, but it was last used on the 12th of Dec 2016, so not much help. If anyone is in the know please let me know. The Daily Telegraph ... 25th February 2020 - 'Open to offers: One wounded dinosaur looking to share a home ... Stanton says that Countrywide’s failure to embrace the so-called ‘proptech’ revolution has left it a “financially wounded dinosaur” ... and that any merger with LSL is really a hostile takeover, with LSL setting the terms.' The traditional high street model is battling against declining sales and the rise of online challengers ... analyst Andrew Stanton warns: “Estate agencies of the future will be based on captured data and analytics which provide a clear narrative of what the customer likes and wants.'

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2020 21:20 PM

Lovely piece Simon - I take it you are sunning yourself out of the UK. But yes illness often shapes change in society, the conspiracy theory regarding an illness that attacks older folk is also gaining traction, my hope is that of course things will not go as badly as some feel.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2020 01:16 AM

Valentina Shegoyan and her team will I know make a great success of this venture, and with her deep insight into both the proptech and real estate sector and her advanced network of connections this in turn will I hope help modernise UK real estate.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2020 01:11 AM

With only 13 days for LSL to make a formal offer to Countrywide, and the present volatility of the stock market and of course Coronavirus, maybe the financially wounded dinosaur that is Countrywide may face demise due to a cold rather than any other factor. On the face of it LSL are in the driving seat but if revenue streams of all agencies get hit due to the virus, I think the timing of this matter is very much now a source of regret. If the 'merger/hostile bid' fails, without fresh capital there will be no cash for Countrywide to trade forward. If it were to pass - a big if - the 10,000 jobs would be under major threat and of course there is lurking a huge pension liability with a collective headcount of 14,500 or more.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2020 01:05 AM

Given the present government has given over no time for any enactment of RoPA at this time, it may be half a decade before RoPA has any powers if ever. Whilst every profession should have members who are fit for purpose, I am not sure that Richard Best should belittle honest individuals who choose to become estate agents, by saying that they need to be licensed if not they will be criminals. And then citing other professions as being paragons of virtues. The prisons of the UK have been home to many solicitors accountants, and members of the house for many decades, so regulation of their activities did little. Plainly put, if people have a criminal bias within them then that nature will or may surface in whatever profession or job they take. Most people are straight, but to make them fearful or leave an industry which maybe they have faithfully worked in for 4 or 5 decades due to the whims of a political or 'governing body' which may have a large voice, but maybe does not represent the 35,000 workers within the property industry - is to my mind not a measured option. Neither is the charging of estate agents to undertake examinations, prior to there being any changes in legislation. Some feeling pressured to do so, and others doing so in the false belief that the government has already endorsed new legislation.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 March 2020 00:57 AM

Given that Mike DelPrete has been a long term advocate of the online model, especially Purplebricks, who currently trade at 73p a share, down from 95.5p their opening share price 5 years ago, it might be the case that anything Mr DelPrete praises might be in for a sudden day of reckoning. Especially as the agents are starting to work out that Rightmove is corrosive to their branding, and does not produce vendors or landlords, social media another budget does. Let us see in 12 months where Rightmove is in the mix of things with many other more agile and less legacy driven portals get more traction.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 March 2020 16:02 PM

Real estate as a digital asset, with digital logbook for sure is going to be critical moving forward, and there are a number of solutions being worked upon in the proptech space. Get rid of the paper and replace it with a digital solution, that AI and other autonomous networks will be able to access and utilise in seconds rather than weeks. For use not just in transactional space - residential private treaty sale of property, but for instance when replacing a bathroom tile, knowing the manufacturer of that tile, how to order etc. A secure digital filing cabinet, with dare I say all the legals as well as the physical description of the asset, from planning through to the built proposition. Proptech is a facilitator of progress, not a disruptor.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 March 2020 13:53 PM

Actually in my experience - and yes everyone knows my views on online agents - typically when looking to list a vendor will speak to an online agent prior to marketing. A decade ago a vendor might have had 3 agents 'in' to pitch, all 3 would have been traditional agents, maybe one or two corporates. Now the online option is explored, maybe a hybrid and then a 'traditional agent'. And I do not see this changing, also as the mobile is the weapon of choice, those who get to pitch for the business are those on that mobile. So a wake up call for the social media blind amongst the agency community.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 March 2020 13:19 PM

Let me see - How many online agents who have ever made a profit - NONE. How many have ceased trading? Lots. Why do they cease trading? Run out of money. Where does money come from to fund them? Crowd funding, and more crowd funding, and private investors and if you are a big company the alternative investment market, maybe blue chip companies. Surely there must be one online agent who has made a profit ... tepilo - no - gone, emoov - no - gone, hatched - no -gone, u-pad - no -gone, the list goes on ... emoov 2 - no profit yet, doorsteps - no profit yet, Purplebricks - no profit yet, Yopa - no profit yet, Housesimple - no profit yet and now a free service, easyproperty - original model - failed - new version in place. The only person who makes money when a hybrid or onliner sets up is - crowdfunder who takes a cut of money raised, property portals who list stock, and google and facebook etc who take lots of many advertising the projects. Last on the list is the customer experience. If you want a hybrid model that works - employ me £1,200 a day - I can build a successful model, and the fee structure would be - cost to run the business plus 23% gross profit. And it would be a service that vendors and landlords and other clients would love. Not - let us cut out the expensive bits - offices etc -because in fact online/hybrids cost more to run than offices on the high street. Funded by - previous years profits - not continuous handouts. Proptech-PR.com

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 March 2020 01:13 AM

Well it was 21,380 withdrawals that I reported to Vinjeru MKandawire senior reporter at The Daily Telegraph, for my story that ran under her name today in the Daily Telegraph- though a little surprised we ended up with 18 Million. As Purplebricks charge £999 or £1,399 upfront plus £X for viewings. So 21,380 withdrawn in 2019 x £999 = £21,358,620 of fee retained by Purplebricks, add in some £1,399 and £X for viewings you are going to get nearer to mid £24M plus retained. Then of course they ceased trading in USA & Australia in 2019, so how many vendors lost their upfront fees, I think it could be thousands, so maybe we are at £28M. No idea why the regulators do not put a stop to this? RoPA want to get teeth and regulate - our friends in Wales NTSEAT do not seem to want to know and the NAEA have no comment. Much talk of needing to bring professional standards in - but wholesale damage to credibility of the sector taking place. I see 2 more online/hybrids are looking for crowdfunding - no wonder the public are sick of the industry. Silver lining. Purplebricks share price graph over last 5 years now resembles a 'Purple Dinosaur' started at 95.5p peaked at nearly a fiver in 2017 and traded at 85p yesterday down from 107p the day before. Vic Darvey I feel is for high jump and not an Olympic one. (Two Andrew Stanton Proptech-PR.com Dinosaur stories in Daily Telegraph in 6-days - the other being Countrywide - 'failure to adopt proptech ... has left it a financially wounded dinosaur ' will there be a third one next week and who might it be?)

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 March 2020 00:36 AM

I was at the NAEA on Thursday and they were going on about new forms ... so in a quite moment when button holed in the exhibitors area I said to a senior bod, 'This just shows the disconnect that exists in the real estate space in the UK, and why we are going to have more dinosaur situations very soon.' Committees are staring at their navels while people like Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson who is 27 years old, has with his co-founder Craig Massey a man of my age - coded their way using proptech to a place where properties exchange in 168 hours - 7 days - yourkeys.' Later on I someone kindly said they could talk me through the new bits of paper that the NAEA are dreaming up and the RoPA group. I just said, ' do you realise right now within two miles of this building there are dozens of bright people solving all the problems, using mathematics, data, machine learning artificial intelligence, IoT, blockchain applications, the days of talk talk of the last century are being replaced by a technological revolution which is outstripping trade organisations, quasi institutions that help the real estate industry, and outstripping the Victorian pace at which the Brexit bound parliament can enact property legislation.' 'Time for less dinosaurs, less ivory towers, less we know better because we are the property professionals and more - How do we make ourselves relevant to the needs of our clients and customers. How can technology be our friend, how can we digitally transform our businesses into fit for purpose vehicles that will make profit and help the industry move forward. Time to hang around the new kids on the block, who I meet daily in my work, as I take the time to find out what is really going on.' He went off to get some more sandwiches and a cup of tea ...

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 February 2020 23:07 PM

I am meeting Rollo tomorrow James Dearsley so we will see if 200K is possible, the point though is unless you want to continue doing agency like Fred Flinstone or Wilma Flintstone - the big ask - as you asked James is - what is the emerging model? What for agency will be the norm moving forward? And if I was 23 again and just deciding to 'ruin' my life by leaving a sensible safe middle paid job to become an agent or realtor - what would I want that job to look like? This is the exciting bit with tech, as with 5G, there are going to be technologies we have not dreamed of possible, and they will wrap up this industry and many others and hurl them into the future. Enough of wounded dinosaurs, time to go hunting for the next age of agency, it is going to be far better than anyone imagined.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 February 2020 22:20 PM

As reported by myself yesterday in the Daily Telegraph - of course it is a hostile bid ... - TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER - headline & article 25/02/20 By Vinjeru Mkandawire 25 February 2020 Open to offers: One wounded dinosaur looking to share a home Countrywide merger exposes the growing pressure on traditional estate agents. Stanton says that Countrywide’s failure to embrace the so-called ‘proptech’ revolution has left it a “financially wounded dinosaur” and that any merger with LSL is really a hostile takeover, with LSL setting the terms.' The traditional high street model is battling against declining sales and the rise of online challengers 'However, analyst Andrew Stanton warns: “Estate agencies of the future will be based on captured data and analytics which provide a clear narrative of what the customer likes and wants." He adds: “A personalised, tech-based service - with connection across digital platforms and smart phones - means there will be less need for hundreds of branches.”

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 February 2020 09:36 AM

Phil Priest on the money - I am using Tik Tok - why - well if the younger generation uses it as they grow, and when they are 25 it is a firm favourite then agents need to be in that space. Instagram - pretty photos - well for those who have not been there recently an awful lot is happening, and also the imbalance between the type of viewer age and gender gets things across to different audiences. As Phil says you can build brand by being yourself. I do some hardcore statistical analysis - so much I am almost blind, and I post it - but from time to time I throw in my co-director Zara, my dog - it shows I have a little humanity and fun, maybe the sort of clever guy with a cute dog you would do business with? Or you could post 77 sold boards or a video nasty of that peach of a property that well even Zara could sell. What makes you different, is a brand thing. Social media vendors and landlords are influenced here, property portals, buyers and tenants do business here. Two focuses two approaches.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 February 2020 22:10 PM

Well I have an open mind and I am popping in this Thursday if time allows to see Rollo, and I will let you know my thoughts. And you all know reader I am a harsh critic. But the tech enabled skilful agent with many years experience in their local patch is a very good agent, equal to any and better than some.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 February 2020 17:23 PM

Thomas Morris a local brand to me is an exception - brilliant team - brilliant top management, go ten minutes in any direction and walk into a CW office and in the main mediocre to poor, on my visits to dozens of clients, always the CW offices are league division 2 or closing or closed, or have 10 or 12 instructions. These offices can not be replicated by new fascias, it is the agent within, the tech within and the mindset of the top management that drives profit. Anthony Codling a very bright person, but his comment is like saying - in an oasis of mediocrity - the tiny oasis of excellence - which occurs rarely, all we need is to replicate it. Also look at those personnel numbers - for the love of God had Countrywide automated basic systems five years ago - when they had some cash - they would have 6,000 staff and not be in this mess. Merger unlikely, asset stripping rout in five weeks very likely. Yes survey and mortgage business generates huge revenue - but without a front end or substantially reduced in size agency feeding the hopper - how much revenue will it be generating? And I love or loved Countrywide - I earnt big money and was a dominant agent - but that was in the past - much like they are. Now they are going to be Woolworths - or as I branded them in the Daily Telegraph a wounded dinosaur - looking for a home.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 February 2020 16:45 PM

Last year nearly 22,000 Purplebricks vendors took their property off the market with PB. At an average fee of £1300 that is more than £28M of fee, paid out for zero houses being exchanged. If as Graham states, 'This morning’s statement from the CMA says: “Competition law exists to ensure businesses compete fairly and customers are protected from getting ripped off.' Why are they not looking into this multi-million pound situation for customers? Or are vendors of online agents in a different bracket? Thoughts anyone. Vic Darvey maybe or the Press department of Purplebricks, if they feel my figure are inaccurate, more than happy to discuss.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 February 2020 16:21 PM

I-buyer - not making profit as a model, and a new model at that. In US average sale price 93% of market price, good luck with selling that concept. Margins are wafer thin also, so if the market drops, overnight someone (the financial backers) gets to sit on a lot of housing stock at the wrong money which will not sell. Sounds a lot like Russian roulette, and then tie it all into the Guild Brand. My suggestion do some deep research, before rolling it out on the UK conservative public, it could turn into a PR nightmare. I applaud the Guild trying to get a point of difference product or service but I know of some much better initiatives, and they will not frighten the horses.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 February 2020 11:11 AM

They need that cash quickly, Lambert Smith Hampton is being sold to pay the bank, who will then allow a £90M plus facility of funding to keep loss making Countrywide afloat. Great strategy. Without the cash, it can be seen that the financial interests may become extremely reluctant to continue to support the venture. Even if the deal goes ahead, given that Countrywide are unlikely to post huge profits in the near future. Is it not time to call time on the doomed Countrywide back to basics three-year plan? I wonder what plan B those in the c-suite at Countrywide have? Apart from drawing hundreds of thousands each year in salaries.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 February 2020 11:26 AM

Christopher Pincher who according to the Telegraph may or may not have a penchant for wearing 'dressing gowns' will hold a post with no real function or power. This is held by the housing secretary and possibly by Demonic Cummings, who seems to have a view on most things. The advancement of regulation in the property industry - a big drum - beaten by some perhaps for a number of reasons also puzzles me when there are in my opinion some corking abuses taking place that no-one wishes to engage with. Perhaps, the 28 million of fee paid by clients of Purplebricks last year not to get their homes sold, a recent statistical report confirmed that over 22,000 vendors with Purplebricks last year took their homes off the market. At an average cost to the client of £1,300 that to me is a concern of some import, perhaps Christopher Pincher, or Baron Best might think it worthy of consideration? Probably not, better to ensure agents who have been selling property for forty years get an A'level in estate agency to reassure the public that regulation of the sector is in good hands.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 February 2020 16:13 PM

Simply put, Property Portals Rightmove, Zoopla, etc are the exit lounge for property and rental property, and social media is the import lounge for gaining vendors and landlords. But now social media is increasingly becoming the go to place to find your next rental or property to live in. Gone are the days when agents newspaper advertising was both the product, houses for sale and to let, and their branding. The beauty of social media, is that in the same household you can send a different message to different people, so unlike a newspaper advert - universal in its reach - but a blunt instrument - a bespoke piece of social media can really engage the correct target audience. This is why new estate agents (this term includes letting agents) who are of course using social media are killing the market, overturning established legacy businesses in medium sized towns. Customers - vendors and landlords - are being influenced by these companies. That is why I in my consultancy spend a large amount of time talking about having a bespoke social media solution, and maybe cutting portal spend and using social media to get the brand out there, so when you sit with the landlord or vendor, your brand is already inside their head. And just posting on your Facebook, twitter or Instagram account may be doing very little to grow your digital footprint, you need to pay for a digital marketeer, to ensure that 'copy' which also needs to be produced gets in front of the correct people at the correct time. For those who think social media is for children, here is a fact, half the globe is now populated by Generation-Z. This is your up and coming client, they use apps for everything and look at different and emerging platforms Tik Tok. They speak on mobiles only 38% of the time using social media for all their other communication, if your business is founded on the telephone (Alexander Bell's invention in the 19th century) you are going to be increasingly out of the loop. If you want some sound advice on this topic contact me estate-agency-insights-strategies.co.uk it might just increase your profits by 35% over the next 12-months.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 February 2020 15:59 PM

Property Pundit - let us analyse that statement. No tech, no machines, no AI, property will get sold. So no electricity (Michael Faraday 1821), no telephones (Alexander Bell 1826), no cars (Karl Benz 1886), in fact take out any technology innovation and soon you are back to selling real estate using the skin of animals to write on and a for sale board made out of a tree. So yes, it is a model of property selling, but for Generation-Z, who I think in between using Tik Tok on their updated Alexander Bell smart phone, may start to be your core customer - it might be a good idea to get ahead of the curve not look backwards.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 February 2020 14:43 PM

Sounds to me that Vic Darvey was in the same darkened cinema auditorium where I was a few weeks ago eating popcorn whilst watching Mark Burgess say the same things about how estate agency is moving forward with AI and machine learning prior to unveiling his glistening Lifecycle offering. It was dark but I did not think I saw Vic there. The problem is Purplebricks has no cash to develop anything, it is a shame they burnt through 110M in less than two years on the their big global adventure. That cash could have put them in pole position. The reality now is they have missed their moment, and they will become a marginalised spent force, at best taken private by Axel Springer and servicing 4% of the market, the low fee vendors selling low fee stock.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 February 2020 00:54 AM

Rightmove makes huge profits because they are a tech company, and whilst they have a minimal cash burn on new development, their core product, the listing of property is not an ever-increasing cost. Like many such companies, a product or service is developed, and it catches on, and the cost to roll it out to new clients becomes relatively minimal after the initial start-up phase of the business where usually there is a multi-million-pound investment to produce the winning model. As a maturing business it is clear that because it holds a monopoly situation, it can adopt a pricing policy that it chooses, with some agents paying far more for an identical service, which means they subsidise others. Also, online agents who cover vast swathes of the UK probably have a pricing plan very different to that of an agency with 200 offices in the high street. What underpins the Rightmove model and is its strength and weakness is that it is the continued patronage of the agents. The problem for Rightmove is that if agents become a disillusioned collective who feel they have been paying through the nose, and in fact have been subsidising perhaps corporates or online agents, then a very dangerous schism may appear. I am not suggesting this is the case, and perhaps as this debacle grows there may be more transparency, but, the day of reckoning is coming, because the new generation of proptech solutions might in a single leap make the provision of a digital shop window on the internet at a unit cost of £1,200 plus a month to be a costly nice to have. Rather than the cosy core essential that is ‘exceptional value for money’ it may well be for the present, but not if you are subsidising the rival agent next door to you.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 February 2020 09:31 AM

Rightmove and high fees, from an ex-employee - soon this Behemoth will realise that technology in the sector may well outstrip the legacy built model that is really just an auto trader online. Two pressures will come through, what the consumer wants from a website and what agents will pay for it. No wonder there are now now many new portals coming into being, many with a free entry model, like all things you can only keep making successive profit if your customers are happy, when they are not they vote with their feet.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 February 2020 08:55 AM

AI has come a long way from its origins 65 years ago, and whilst it is an ever increasing arena in essence the replication of the neural pathways of the human mind in machines sums it up. And it is the application of this concept which underpins much of the technology of today. James makes the point that in partnership AI and humans have a great result, but I am going down the other path, AI will soon leave humans behind, a bit sci-fi? let me explain. Simply put, Artificial intelligence is built upon mathematics, statistics, probability, information engineering, hooked up with applications to then perform processes. So, back in the early 1990's being an avid chess player I bought a Kasporov chess computer game, it was cutting edge. I played against 'Gary K' most days and worked my way through the levels, much like AI and machine learning, where computers through processed data become smarter. Then came the day that at the top level I could beat the computer. Here is the kicker, the advance of computers capacity, the little brain in my computer game, increases in a non-linear fashion, doubling annually. Aided by advances and the cost of tech coming down in real terms. In the 1960's IBM computers sent us to the moon, the IBM computer of 2020 capacity wise is many thousand times more capable. So, though the human touch, the agent helping James with his rogue tenants is needed in 2020, given that AI will be able to teach itself to be even cleverer, might in five years, it be AI that detects problems in a rented environment, via controls / sensors from the smart tech family of proptech, which through AI results in the tenants being guided towards repairing damage or similar, without human intervention? Decades away? I do not think so. What will happen to humanity, hopefully, if the boring mundane sand that clogs up our every day life is filtered by AI, we can focus on some bigger problems, saving the planet, looking after those in need of care, it will just take a re-adjustment of some of our own neural pathways to human learn different and better ways of doing things.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 February 2020 08:08 AM

Regarding the assertion Rightmove - there is no alternative there is no choice and it is a consumer led proposition, I do not think this to be the case. Also, though Rightmove has enjoyed a dominant position for a long time, at grass root level, the relationship between agent and property portal is becoming increasingly fractious and disconnected. Anecdotally, and I meet hundreds of agents, everyone feels that Rightmove is expensive, and that year on year increases which see a massive profit margin for the portal, give very little return to the client agent. And the noise if becoming louder. The Achilles heel for Rightmove, is that the vendor and buyer do not demand that they see their home listed for sale on Rightmove. It is agents who 'fight it out' on the listing battlefield who present the proposition that an agent without Rightmove is not a credible agent. Many agents realising this, are developing both their brand and their marketing around social media, putting funding into this arena. Not only does it differentiate the agent, unlike Rightmove which makes all agents equal, in the sense that agents brands are stripped away, replaced by tiny digital property adds, neatly stacked by price and postcode across a vast digital platform - it actually drives business directly to the agent. Social media is in it's infancy in the real estate sector in the UK, yes some agents post on the various social media sites, but when CRM's come of age and it is an integrated part of their functionality, I think that the day's of Rightmove supremacy will be numbered. Because, Generation-Z, as a consumer is both relentless and fickle. Just because agents in the sitting room of prospective vendors properties have been conditioned and may feel that Rightmove is a must have, and an agent without it is a weak agent. Generation-Z is probably going to be looking for their next home on Tik Tok or some other social media platform, oblivious to the 'way mum and dad or older siblings used to go about searching for property'. Take a look around the globe, America, Australia etc, property portals yes, but personal service and brand built upon social media is becoming increasingly more relevant. After all consumers do all of their business on their phone, as an influencer in the proptech and real estate sector, 90% of my business comes from Linkedin, five years ago it would have been 20%. Rightmove will only continue to be 'the property brand' as long as agents do not develop their own property brands, and a key strategy I would suggest is not to pay even more money to them for enhanced awareness of their site, put that money into social media, it grows brands it grows businesses. And there are also number of new contenders in the property portal space such as PropertyHeads, headed up by visionary Ben Davis, which has more functionality and is based on a social media and multi-function concept. As well as OpenBrix - CEO Adam Pigott - whose portal is built on the blockchain to decentralise the control, and cannot raise prices that is not agreed upon by the majority of the members on the site - so a completely inclusive listening approach.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 February 2020 06:59 AM

Let me see, the creation of an annual tax on wealthy and not so wealthy people who find themselves the owner of properties with a large price tag. Is that a conservative vote winner? or does it sound like an election loser. Given that the idea was dreamed up over a decade ago by of all people Vince Cable, I am in wonderment why it is rearing its head once more. Tinkering with stamp duty, taxation on property can seem a great idea, but as I have seen first hand it can have seismic consequences. In 1988, Nigel Lawson said it would be a good idea to limit mortgage relief at source but gave advance warning. This caused everyone in the UK to pair up and buy property, massive house inflation, and a nuclear winter - property market for many years after. I was actually in agency at the time, and remember it took over a decade for the market to come back. More recently, we had the introduction of additional stamp duty for buyers, purchasing second or more properties, result - another bun fight to buy before the tax change - then a slower market. Annually the property industry in the UK is worth collectively 6.5BN, and the chancellor collects around 16BN, before changing things consult the UK real estate industry first.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 February 2020 21:53 PM

Let me see, the creation of an annual tax on wealthy and not so wealthy people who find themselves the owner of properties with a large price tag. Is that a conservative vote winner? or does it sound like an election loser. Given that the idea was dreamed up over a decade ago by of all people Vince Cable, I am in wonderment why it is rearing its head once more. Tinkering with stamp duty, taxation on property can seem a great idea, but as I have seen first hand it can have seismic consequences. In 1988, Nigel Lawson said it would be a good idea to limit mortgage relief at source, but gave advance warning. This caused everyone in the UK to pair up and buy property, massive house inflation, and a nuclear winter - property market for many years after. I was actually in agency at the time, and remember it took over a decade for the market to come back. More recently, we had the introduction of additional stamp duty for buyers, purchasing second or more properties, result - another bun fight to buy before the tax change - then a slower market. My advice, annually the property industry in the UK is worth collectively 6.5BN, and the chancellor collects around 16BN a year in stamp duty revenue, before changing the level of, or introducing a new way to tax property, perhaps consult the UK real estate industry first.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 February 2020 18:50 PM

This is an interesting topic, in one sense Esther McVey has, though mostly through sound-bites moved in a positive manner, with a rallying cry of something needs to be done with housing. If she loses her position in the imminent re-shuffle, her vision will be lost, and perhaps the policy she was pushing may change direction under a new replacement. Why I say this is interesting is that if anyone took time to read Dominic Cummings open letter to the people following the general election, where he requested that people come join him in a 'brains trust' type scenario. There was a large amount of rhetoric about regeneration, building and planning centred on inner cities and communities. So, if the enfant terrible stays the course maybe McVey's replacement might be a stronger advocate of change in housing - though maybe with a more laissez-faire attitude to regulating the actual property industry itself. Less RoPA regulation, more capital investment in communities. Time will tell.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 February 2020 18:28 PM

As I understand it and I may be wrong, Lambert Smith Hampton is being disposed of to gain capital, to pay the bank, who will in return allow a sub £100M facility of funding to keep loss making Countrywide afloat. If the sale of LSH fails, what level of liquidity does Countrywide have? And would the bank become extremely reluctant to continue to support the venture. Even if the deal goes ahead, (and some say the sale price favours the buyer), given that Countrywide are unlikely to post huge profits in the near future, is it not time to call time on the doomed Countrywide back to basics three-year plan? Put another way, if those in the c-suite at Countrywide, instead of drawing hundreds of thousands each year, come profit or no profit, had to rely upon managing the business to get their salaries, would they be less inclined to sell off the family silver, and actually put together a strategic plan that would head the company back into making profit.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 February 2020 17:54 PM

Online reviews or fake news? In the world of Donald Trump the Teflon president, the written or rather tweeted word how much currency does it have? Are consumers guided by reviews, given the gaming that can potentially be used? In the world of influence by social media - a world I inhabit I think ultimately people when it comes down to it are far shrewder than many companies think. If a product or a service is good it will have traction and prosper, and no amount of five star reviews will prop up that which is not.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 February 2020 13:35 PM

Where to begin with this young James? So many strands let us have a go at addressing them. Solicitors are risk averse, status quo for them is not so much a rock group as a way of slowly engaging with the world, let us carry on as before and not do anything that will frighten the horses. Adoption of any new practice is slow, and whilst the whole of the conveyancing infrastructure is undergoing a quiet seismic shift, with the young blood building legal practices on and around tech to facilitate the paper pushing exercise of transferring title, there are equal numbers doing a King Canute and sitting at the seas edge saying the tide is not coming in, as it pools around their ankles. Lidia Quinlan would do well to take some time to visit some of the more enlightened legal practices who are not kicking proptech into the long grass, in ten years these companies will be the leaders in the field and companies proud of their paper driven processes will I am afraid go the way of Blockbuster video stores. On the topic of cyber crime being high on the agenda of concern, a recent law society report stated that 85% of legal firms in the UK did not have a basic and robust anti-money-laundering system in place. They do well to be worried. The irony - and young James Dearsley will support me on this hopefully, technology could remedy this. It could safeguard companies in the legal sector, but this would require a change of mindset, the employment of people within legal practices who could engender the culture change required and introduce the technology required, as most c-suite people simply do not have the time or knowledge to bring such change. On the matter of fees, I am an analyst and consultant, and the first thing agents say is 'I can not put my fees up because of the competition.' I always say forget the competition focus on the customer. If she or he is super happy, what you charge is irrelevant. People spend money when they are happy with the service or product, if you build your business around the client, not what you think they want, but really around what they want, you can charge a going rate, which should be the cost of running your business plus a healthy margin for profit.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 February 2020 12:40 PM

Buying clubs are a great idea, far more agents not in the guild and maybe not part of any club, should consider setting up their own - then negotiating greater discounts.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 February 2020 22:40 PM

I met Oliver Gershfield the Managing Director a few months ago and he explained in detail the model, which for the vendor is an extremely attractive proposition. Acting on properties which have to be vacant, flyp refurbish the subject property to a very high standard in a very short period, flyp fund the upgrade 100%, and then the property has tenants on a short term agreement. Access is guaranteed at anytime, and sad and dejected property where maybe the vendor has not got the ready capital or time to project manage a refurbishment, becomes transformed, and sold. Once completed, flyp receive their monies paid out plus payment for the service, the rental income helps the process and everyone is a winner. I especially liked the concept of the vendor not paying for anything upfront, and income coming into the project from rental yield, also from over 30 years of property sales experience a totally refurbished property will always sell extremely quickly, arguably for more money and is more likely to value up when inspected by the surveyor, who ultimately may pay a call.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 February 2020 20:22 PM

But it is not comprehensive enough, what is needed is a comprehensive property DNA pack. To front load a property, ensuring that from point of sale onward exchange can occur more quickly. With 18 weeks being the usual time frame for a sale, to get over the line, despite all the tech in the sector – something is not going right. Many in the property sector are scrambling for answers from Land registry and digital street and hackathons and shared perspectives. But as Taylor Wessing legal luminaries in the digital field, both in the adoption of tech and embracing proptech firms, stated yesterday, exchanges are governed by the slowest component in the chain. Solicitors are risk averse, so tech is a slow go for many legal firms, which means, great have more information on property as in the PIP initiative, but if you have a conveyancing practice who is not tech ready, then you are in for a long haul. Piecemeal solutions are helpful, but the antiquated property sector it is a bit like a poor relative of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The model is not good, so more and more data is fed in and bit by painful bit until the digital ‘brain’ recognises it must change its approach to achieve the required outcome. Luckily reform will not come from the legal sector, but from the younger generation coding their way to solutions which will set fire to the paper lead conveyancing industry. Things are moving extremely quickly in this sector and with blockchain looking a likely contender to resolve the antiquated system, by the time the TA6 property form is up for a new rendition it will most probably be AI composing the document in a digital format so instantaneous execution can be fulfilled.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 February 2020 15:14 PM

A comprehensive property DNA pack is long overdue to front load a property, ensuring that from point of sale onward exchange can occur more quickly. With 18 weeks being the usual time frame for a sale, to get over the line, despite all the tech in the sector – something is not going right. Many in the property sector are scrambling for answers from Land registry and digital street and hackathons and shared perspectives. But as Taylor Wessing legal luminaries in the digital field, both in the adoption of tech and embracing proptech firms, stated yesterday, exchanges are governed by the slowest component in the chain. Solicitors are risk averse, so tech is a slow go for many legal firms, which means, great have more information on property as in the PIP initiative, but if you have a conveyancing practice who is not tech ready, then you are in for a long haul. Piecemeal solutions are helpful, but the antiquated property sector it is a bit like a poor relative of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The model is not good, so more and more data is fed in and bit by painful bit until the digital ‘brain’ recognises it must change its approach to achieve the required outcome. Luckily reform will not come from the legal sector, but from the younger generation coding their way to solutions which will set fire to the paper lead conveyancing industry. Things are moving extremely quickly in this sector and with blockchain looking a likely contender to resolve the antiquated system, by the time the TA6 property form is up for a new rendition it will most probably be AI composing the document in a digital format so instantaneous execution can be fulfilled.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 February 2020 14:30 PM

From my own data as an industry analyst, last year Hunters – exchanged on over 11,200 sales. Making them 5th place. Your Move pipped them by actually exchanging on over 12,000. And Connells and Sequence two agencies under one umbrella Skipton Building Society exchanged on over 22,000 sales. Purplebricks also exchanged on far more than Hunters and Countrywide as a group were ahead, so maybe more accurately Hunters were 5th for exchanges in 2019, not third?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 February 2020 13:02 PM

Actually Chris, recent studies show that potential vendors are most influenced by really good and sustained marketing campaigns across social media and or television. Hence the stratospheric rise outside of the agency scene, of some really big online brands. Agents may feel that vendors for example will use the local agent who has 40% of the sold boards and has been trading for 90 years and the team has 110 years of experience, but, the new agent with two, young tech savvy people running the show can really make themselves be seen as the Only Agent, via social media done correctly. I have seen it happen in medium sized towns time and time again, the timescale about 18-months. Tech is changing everything.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 February 2020 12:51 PM

Recently it was reported that having an online agent in the chain or as direct seller, added 15 days to the sales process due to the low amount of 'sales progression' offered by the online agents. Given the tortuous nature of the whole stress inducing process, prolonging the agony is not a good thing for the industry.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 January 2020 07:14 AM

A pretty robust statement from the agent, I do not see a connection to them regarding being financially liable if their statement is correct. I do sympathise with anyone who has been scammed, and I can fully see that this is a very bad experience.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 January 2020 07:10 AM

I must profess a personal interest with Offr, in the sense that two of the directors Phil Farrell and Robert Hoban, were plying me with several pints of Guinness recently in a hostelry in London Bridge. Putting that aside, and unlike Guinness which is said not to travel well across the water, Offr certainly does. I have been following the fortunes of this company for some time, and as a person very much in the know as my day time job is networking with all sectors of the proptech and real estate industry, meeting CEO’s, project managers, data scientists, captains of the finance, banking and legal industry and more, I love it when someone gets it right. And Robert, Phil have definitely got it right, with their offering – Offr. In between the pints Phil and Robert said their biggest problem was articulating what their service was. I suggested it was ‘two taps – Offr’ – meaning with two taps of your smart phone you can offer on a property, this is an integral part of their service. It also suggests that the service is instantaneous and seamless, the modern consumers touchstone. Phil rightly said, two taps seems more like Michael Flatterley, but after another pint of the black stuff I said well what is the Offr proposition? With an Irish gleam in his eye, Phil then said that Offr is a service for agents that runs alongside their existing business, it enhances it, and gives transparency to all parties, with a dashboard system that allows all stakeholders to be super connected. They went on to say that they had looked at the slow model of real estate, all the sticking points, and they had digitally engineered a better model with the buyer and the vendor at the centre of all things. Also, a transparent and time specific way of agreeing sales, still on the traditional private treaty basis. But, where buyer’s are pre-qualified before they offer (Offr), and at point of sale, within seconds the memo of sale can be produced, and all parties who offered and were unsuccesful would be instantly told. Then the proptech in the Offr solution really kicks off, with all ther stakeholders in the sale, buyer, seller, solicitors, all on a dashboard system able to see in real time the progress of the sale. For me – though I am no longer selling property, if I was I would use Offr (not the drink talking) because – it works – at point of pitching for the business in front of the vendor the Offr solution will gain vendors, and it will run along the existing way the agent works, it will also support a higher fee. So, more instructions, a better listing fee, a quicker sale being agreed and a speedier more transparent route to exchange. And a great experience for the buyer and seller My advice – look on the Offr website today and get in contact with these two Robert or Phil, they may not buy you a pint, but, they will transform the bottom line of your business for the better.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 January 2020 07:06 AM

A comprehensive property DNA pack is long overdue to front load a property, ensuring that from point of sale onward exchange can occur more quickly. But, with 18 weeks being the usual time frame for a sale, to get over the line, despite all the tech in the sector – something is not going right. Many in the property sector are scrambling for answers from Land registry and digital street and hackathons and shared perspectives. But as Taylor Wessing legal luminaries in the digital field, both in the adoption of tech and embracing proptech firms, stated yesterday, exchanges are governed by the slowest component in the chain. Solicitors are risk averse, so tech is a slow go for many legal firms, which means, great have more information on property as in the PIP initiative, but if you have a conveyancing practice who is not tech ready, then you are in for a long haul. Piecemeal solutions are helpful, but the antiquated property sector it is a bit like a poor relative of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The model is not good, so more and more data is fed in and bit by painful bit until the digital ‘brain’ recognises it must change its approach to achieve the required outcome.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 January 2020 17:19 PM

It is a catchy tune 'digital transformation of real estate' the 'automation' of many parts of the industry and using new tech to solve both new and old questions. The problem with estate agency is that like many industries it is a legacy proposition. We always do it a certain way, and better to keep the status quo - wrong - the new status quo is re-imagining how things can be done better and new efficiencies achieved. I am not sure call centres and lots of humans are a better alternative to AI and machine learning, though I do like the idea of putting the customer first.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 January 2020 17:15 PM

I believe in education, qualifications and developing yourself, as everyone now is very much their own person and own brand. But, I am not sure that Boris is up for regulation of the sector, the recent Liverpool debacle with licences in landlords being shut down, shows perhaps a retrograde element creeping into the property sector. Also, whilst I support development of property professionals (agency is a profession) I think RoPA may be jumping the gun, as it could be 24 months or never before Baron Best who is 75 years old gets his vision through government. For me the key skills RoPA should be instilling is the ones that teach agents how to handle the tsunami that is the digital transformation of the industry. It is clear agents need to be compliant and conversant with all regulations and provide a service based on professional etiquette, but having recently see Mark Burgess hold forth with his Iceberg Digital summation of where the industry is going - think more amazon or google or Netflix rather than high street agencies taking professional photography and thinking this is cutting edge. You soon start to realise that the industry is very much at a tipping point, where industry visionaries arguably have more to offer than industry regulators however well meaning their intention is. Remember half of the global population is now Gen Z so if your agency is geared to, and markets to the baby boomers or older millennials who are 40 now, in a few years your customers will not be doing business with you.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 January 2020 11:45 AM

Reservation agreements, given that 28% to 32% of residential agreed sales fail, any mechanism to minimise cancelled sales should be embraced. But, when you drill down into the figures, and find that of the 32% that fall through, less than 30% of these do so because the vendor or buyer goes back on the deal. It is clear that other factors need to be addressed. As the major factors for a sale going off are: - adverse surveys, finance problems, problems with legals and problems in a chain type sale. To my mind, the immediate payment of a non-refundable local authority search fee, at point of a sale being agreed, and monies on account by the buyer with the search paid for immediately. With an equal commitment made by the vendor if buying on, is better than any 'deposit'. Or, maybe a meaningful 5% deposit, but, given the legal sector will say this is unfair, and cause complications later as a squabble develops due to adverse survey or defective title, I think this is just a minefield. The real solution is simple, replace the slow pace of the transaction with new thinking, get the mathematicians, data scientists to sort the problem, and build a proper system. So, that at point of sale, the title, the property, the finance, the survey, the searches, the identity of all concerned is all put together in a sealed digital process, where and exchange can be instantaneous. The blocks to this road map, land registry (I know digital street exists), the present conveyancing process based on paper and preserving the status quo and there being no risk in the process, and the present lending system. Estate agents are 'introducers' like Amazon they do not make anything - they facilitate commerce, the transfer of title, but, they do not engage in that process. The good news is that Gen-Z are going to by their force of numbers - (half of the global population is now Gen-Z) - make the digital transformation of the real estate a reality. Just because mum and dad patiently waited 18 weeks to complete on their home, after choosing to buy it, does not mean that the tech savvy generation who are already re-shaping the world by bringing in more efficiencies will be passive passengers held to ransom. No, just as Greta Thunberg is showing, if enough people say there is a better way, solutions will be found.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 27 January 2020 20:33 PM

At a recent seminar hosted by Taylor Wessing who are international solicitors, who took the step to digitally automate their business, and also represent amongst others proptech companies, one of the delegates asked the question will an algorithm replace the solicitor industry. Joe Pepper the MD thought not, and I concur. But, financial services is a different sector, absolutely ripe for the devastation or helping hand of the tech revolution. People who need financial advice relating to property, should be able to just click into the intel. AI is perfectly positioned to meet this requirement, and soon will do the ‘brain work’ in the sector. In a 24/7 click click world a 24/7 solution is required, being a human and having deep knowledge set or skill set in say mortgage provision is great, but as James Dearsley says, at 2am when I want to know what that 600k mortgage is going to cost, it will not be some human giving me the good news.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 26 January 2020 21:43 PM

Though I know of no scorecard, does anyone out there know what in 2019 was the profile of companies who set up in that year. Eg, 100 traditional agents set up from an office, 80 hub agents set up from high street location, 40 hub agents set up from non-high street location, 23 franchises taken, 230 self employed in eXp or KW type of role, 170 LPE's various online agents. Just to get an idea of the direction of travel, including the opening of new corporate branches in whatever format. I think it will make interesting reading.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 January 2020 11:16 AM

The race is very much on with Coadjute the early favourite, with its overarching blockchain strategy to increase transparency and speed of property deals. I know that at it's heart it wants to, as many solvers of problems do, find and affect inefficiencies in the present dis-jointed system and remove barriers. And it has some pretty big backers, Barclays, RBS, etc. Coadjute's head John Reynolds, (founder) is also looking at the solutions in the construction industry a topic that I follow closely, looking to minimise the cost base due to duplication and weaknesses in the system. So the alignment of a number of companies including Gary Barker's Reapit to the Coadjute cause will see a power shift regarding the direction of travel in the proptech sector. Not unlike the perhaps the Beta-max/Video war that was fought some decades ago. Certainly there is a need for a 'simpler' unified system - as I totally agree that those millennials and Gen-z don't want to know about the tech detail, they just want an omni-channel seamless property experience, who powers it is not their concern.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 January 2020 10:43 AM

What is going to be the most interesting feature of the 'mortgage and related products market' as it gets swept along by the digital transformation of UK real estate/society in general, is who is going to be the provider that the public turns to and trusts? Pushing aside that the Fintech revolution has several years head start on the Proptech revolution, and finance sits firmly in the first camp, it is interesting that the financial services sector in the UK seems to be repeating itself. In the sense that in the early 1980's, financial institutions wanting to sell mortgages and endowments, needed access to the end user - the buyer. So, banks and building societies bought and created chains of estate agents, to get to these buyers at point of sale. Now with the rise of developments utilising big data and AI, buyer's data can be captured, not through the prism of an agency holding an applicant, but directly, so the process of targeting and satisfying the financial needs of a buyer of property, does not need the help of an agency. The new high priest of finance is the technician in their digital laboratory. The question is who is going to be paying their wages and using their knowledge?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 January 2020 09:53 AM

Strangely I find myself changing hats from being an estate agent, bemoaning the slowness and inadequacies of HM Land Registry, to being a real estate and proptech analyst and consultant. And in so doing actually being an advocate of their present position and more specifically the focus they have put into their research and development project Digital Street. This collaborative initiative which has been running some years, and which anyone from the real estate sector in the UK can join in with, (I applied) is making progress. Maybe it is time if estate agents want change to be faster - they take time out and support the Land Registry cause, as at present the Law Society, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, HM Revenue and Customs, large legal firms, as well as professionals across the industry are working towards the same goal, speeding up and digitally transforming the sector. The big problem is speeding up land searches is a tiny part of what is occurring at the Land Registry which began in the early 1860's. The changes taking place are massive, complex, but will result in an information dividend that is hard to imagine, as Gareth Robinson, Head of Data Management for the project stated in November 2019, 'The next evolution of the Land Register needs to: • be composed of structured, computer-readable data, held in a single logical data store – structured data is easier for machines to access and read; more structure means we can automate things more easily and design new services • be able to identify party, place and interests uniquely, so we can improve the integrity of our registers and enable simple searches • be able to manage relationships both within and between titles, to make it easier to see, for example, which register entry relates to which deed • include digital title plans; this will enable customers to access information using a map and find information without having to read through lengthy register entries • make sure all titles offer up to date, current information.' I have a feeling this will not be achieved overnight, but, the good news is that there are commercial reasons driving the engine of change, a large byproduct of which will be a good fix for speeding up the 'broken' conveyancing system in place in the UK at present.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 January 2020 09:27 AM

Definitely new housing minister.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 January 2020 12:23 PM

Simon Bad Boy Shinerock - you are correct. Handcuff you to a lamppost and let you have nothing but a charged mobile (tech) you will do deals because you are extra-ordinary, you will out list outsell and make more profit than anyone locally. This is true of many star rated agents, it's just in their blood. But, proptech the silent helping hand will aid the people in the industry who are not as gifted as you are. An example, a medium sized town I know well now has a very skewed property market place, some of the dominant old brands are doing ok, but the new agents some just two years old, are head and shoulders above them. Why - the way the new businesses are structured and the amount of tech within. A further eye opener for me was recently going to the annual Negotiator awards dinner at the Grovesnor. Time after time images of 'internal office shots showing the teams' was flashed up on the big screen, and time after time the winners were - well people who did not even look like the agents I used to remember, their dress code was different, their work environment was different, and there were fewer and fewer old school agents picking up those awards. Everyone knows Simon that you run a very successful agency, amongst other things, but, I think if you were not handcuffed to a lamppost and you were starting over again today - your blueprint for the business and the role of tech to run it would be significantly different, because your brilliance can not be replicated, not even with a digital twin.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 January 2020 22:16 PM

Well Rob, the headline might actually read Countrywide - End of volume sales of Betamax players. The point being for our younger readers (who may not know what a Betamax player is) that if Countrywide fails, it is not because corporate agency is done - look at Sequence/Connells that Shipton Building Society business returns profit year after year. Why? Because it adapts, it moved on from Video vs Betamax - and continually engages with the new challenges of engaging with and selling to its customers. The vendors and landlords, buyers and tenants. As one on the very edge of innovation and tech Rob, you of all people realise that artificial intelligence and automation, are pushing into all of commerce and service industries, not just agency. Unfortunately, if the people running a business as large as Countrywide are on the wrong side of 65, they probably feel at home with Betamax but think Python is a late 1960's TV programme, instead of an interpreted top-flight, general-purpose programming language, used in the proptech and other tech communities.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 January 2020 18:49 PM

I read recently an article written in a legal trade journal before Christmas, that said 82% of solicitors in the UK did not have an AML procedure in place, and the senior body having asked solicitors to send in evidence of the systems they had in place, got sent many sent documents which showed they had just set up an AML procedure. So, yes agents need to do more, but if the 'legal' profession are not taking it seriously, and HMRC has no-one to service and audit the situation, isn't it time to re-think the strategy here.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 January 2020 18:28 PM

A little history, two of the most highest paid executives back in back in August 2018 -Himanshu Raja - Chief financial Officer at Countrywide, was until it was voted down to receive £7M of company shares, and his colleague Paul Creffield Group GMD was to receive £8M of shares. This was at a time that the scandal of the £10M Lettings funds was known to the company, but not disclosed to the shareholders. Then in early Spring 2019, Countrywide were fined £215,000 for Anti Money Laundering lapses, and now they have been fined another £100,000 for financial irregularities. Given that Mr Creffield is himself fully supportive of RoPA, and a single regulator. Is it not time for him and Himanshu to do the honourable thing? Some months ago Mr Creffield when asked about RoPA said, … 'We're really supportive of regulation because we believe it will help create a level playing field with all agents expected to have the same expertise, It'll be good for the consumer too.' More worryingly for all parties, including perhaps Baron Best who heads up RoPA is Mr Creffield's further comments regarding RoPA, ' Because of Countrywide's scale, we've been consulted frequently (by RoPA) on proposals during their preparation, and we've conducted some pilot projects.' Now if the new regulatory framework that a forthcoming government may back comes into being in the form of RoPA, should some of its architects be coming from Countrywide's top management team. For me they would be the last people I would look to. If Paul Creffield advocates root and branch industry regulation - then Countrwide should itself be a beacon of this industry change, at present it is a bonfire of vanities. Following on from the recent fine and costs, awarded against Countrywide regarding their mis-management of lettings funds, there is a far more alarming and arrogant strand of sentiment enshrouding the whole debacle. If you read all of the documentation on the case, it seems unless I have got it totally wrong, Countrywide between 2008 and 2018 had in place a policy agreed at CEO level to keep the untraceable lettings funds in the company account, all 10M of it, rather then keep it safe in a separate account, from which the funds should have been distributed elsewhere. Paul Creffield fully co-operated with the RICS investigation, but - when Paul Creffield originally discovered the deceit, he hid the fact. And it was a whistle- blower, via an external audit that picked up on the situation, which if let undetected may well have continued. In fact if you look closely at Paul's statement in mitigation to the RICS tribunal. He seems very much to make the case that because Countrywide does billions of pounds worth of mortgages a year, has a massive RICS presence, and has a huge 800 (?) strong office presence with many branches in all the towns and villages, it would be a travesty if Countrywide were too badly damaged by the affair as it would possibly upset the property industry as a whole. (TOO BIG TO FAIL). In other words - Countrywide had in place by its own admission a questionable practice, the internal transfer of client funds, which was company policy. Then by chance an outsider found out about it, and of course if your are the CEO of the day you are going to be as helpful as you can, but I think that to play the card of TOO BIG TO FAIL, is a dangerous one. Because if Countrywide is founded upon financial services and has within in very notable and trustworthy RICS personnel, shouldn't the bar be set higher rather than lower, as a warning to all. The panel in their judgement under mitigating and aggravating matters, actually states that Countrywide were using the fund to inflate their profit provision. As a matter of balance I am told by those who know that Paul is a very good at what he does, but I wonder if the matter had not come to light, would anyone at Countrywide have seized the nettle. Also where does this leave the likes of former CEO's Alison Platt (90% fall in the share price) for example, and the auditors and the Chief financial officers? Were they looking the other way? You may not think it but I actually love Countrywide and I am a big fan, it is just a shame that all the talent was sacrificed during various regime purges, maybe they should invite some of those who can do the job back, as I feel unfortunately that extremely soon the final iceberg is about to present itself in front of HMS Countrywide. And the recent concept of selling off part of the company just before the new year (asset stripping) to raise money to fund a revolving line of credit, that just sinks the company into deeper debt as it haemorrhages yet more money, is a very bad strategy, it keeps the lights on - but who cares - those in the C-suite are unable to use that light to see what is obvious - immediate change at the top.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 January 2020 22:57 PM

Mike DelPrete makes an off the cuff comment, but when analysed in the round, Purplebricks is not really doing very well, it's current market cap is 378M down from a market cap in excess of 1.3BN in the past. It has never made a profit. Yes, on paper the UK arm has made profit, but if you then factor in the multi-million pound losses elsewhere in it's empire, zero profit, and a big red number. Mike may have forgotten that it has burnt through a cash stockpile a year last April 2018 of 160M, to have only 41M left by December 2019. And it is currently still burning 3M a month. Despite massive upfront cash-flow. So, in 14-months without fresh capital from outside investors things are going to get pretty interesting. Mike's assertion that cost of acquisition is sub £400, is meaningless in itself, if as the company accounts show the actual cost of running the operation far outweighs the inward cash flow. Add to this that seven major online UK agents have ceased trading in the last 24-months, none of which made profit, and many made multi-million pound loses, I am not sure that acquiring clients for sub £400 is a triumph for anyone. Lastly, Purplebricks originally had 7M private investment, then 45M from the AIM flotation and 135M from poor Axel Springer, as well as tens of millions of revenue from vendors paying upfront fees, but where has all the money gone? Mostly, on marketing costs to keep the brand front and centre, and those adverts are killing the revenue streams, once the brand is off air, and off the digital highway, it will soon be forgotten, that is it's Achilles heal. Brand awareness can only be bought for so long.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 January 2020 22:21 PM

Totally agree James, to sustain, grow or exit your business it all adds up to the same thing, you need to have a business founded upon tech. The senior partner, CEO, may well be the font of all information, but if they are not going to be in the mix - retirement, doing less hours etc, then unless what is in their head is digitally flowing through the veins of the company and can be seen dashboard style by the sales team / prospective buyer of the business you are on to a loser. That is why by comparison Lettings businesses are easier to sell and quantify, as they are so data driven and proptech is the hidden digital framework. A prospective buyer of such a business can feel and experience the value of the business in about 15 minutes, residential agency is more nebulous. I am in the middle of going through a comprehensive consultancy process with a really switched on 'older' generation CEO with a great profitable business. And he is giving me free reign to get the correct balance of digital transformation into his multi-discipline organisation. And his team are 110% behind it, why, all those processes that eat their time will be gone, so they can be less stressed and have more time to give personal service and generate new business and close new business, and the owner gets a business fit for purpose. Wisely, the CEO had worked out, if he did the Emu thing - head in sand all the years of building the big asset, the business would be for nothing, especially as the new kids on the block, use tech as they grew up with it. My advice, get good 360 degree advice - which is what I do, advice on proptech is as vital as consultancy advice on all the other aspects of the business, arguably more. Second actually adopt the advice. Third - relax your business is in good shape and you are in the driving seat, rather than worrying about being behind the curve.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 January 2020 09:26 AM

If and it is a big if - there was a 500,000 divide, caused by a new stamp duty band, then that would also mean that property worth £500,000 to £530,000 will be consigned to a sale price of £500,000 a big chop of equity for anyone caught in this space gone for ever. Stamp duty, like the laws of physics often has an equal and opposite reaction. My advice - leave the property industry to those who know more about it than the government. It is also worth commenting though, the UK property market is worth about 6.5BN annually, and stamp duty revenue is 16BN. So which is the dog and which is the tail.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 January 2020 22:25 PM

I have it on good authority that nearly 40% of those within the property agency are considering changing their company within 12-months, and the average length of time a person who is less in rank than a manager stays in role is 18-months. Also, staffing is the worst since 1975, in terms of 'good staff'. Which is why, most branches/offices are running on skeleton staff, and why tech is taking some of that boring process driven stuff away from front-line earners. The digital transformation of the property industry and I am not just talking residential agency, but from planning to built in the real world, to disposal and asset management etc, is happening despite a huge lack of trained personnel in key sectors, the 'work' being diligently handled by AI, machine learning, and multiple applications of big data. Real estate, like all commerce is never going to be as it was, and the 'people' heavy offices and branches of past decades are not going to exist. Embrace this concept and march on.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 January 2020 00:16 AM

Having briefly met Nicky recently it is obvious that she will do extremely well in her new position and I wish her well.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 January 2020 00:03 AM

Charlie Wright in a sense you are so right EasyMatch is a form of proptech (basic but it works) but if we translate what it does in terms of cars, it probably would be a bicycle when the car park also now has a Lamborghini or two parked up. And as Matthew Payne so eloquently put it - there are companies - such as myself who give best advice across the industry as to what is a good fit tech wise. So, if you want a full MOT from one who knows both about the property industry and the proptech industry, contact me. And I will be happy to tell you in a 12,000 word report if your business needs a bicycle or a Volvo or a Lamborghini, and what it is going to cost, and the annual running costs and what return on investment you are likely to enjoy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 January 2020 23:54 PM

They do this annually, a good way of keeping that headline share price high and visible.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 05 January 2020 12:41 PM

Property Pundit - I will let you know as I am seeing ID later this month, what I do know is Mark Burgess is like me - straight talking, focused and does what he says he will do, so this latest offering will be I am sure a great asset to those who are investing in their business. Rob Brady from Iceberg Digital is also a top flight property professional with a great tech background, he discussed the new offering with me and I am optimistic that it will change the fortunes of agents who engage with it. Tech after all is only good, if the team believes in it, uses it, and quantify whether it represents a ROI. I'll let you know how it goes after the 23rd of January and my day with Iceberg Digital. For sure proptech is not for everyone, but I would not fancy travelling to North London later this month on the back of a horse, yes the horse would get me there, but there are quicker ways.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 January 2020 12:20 PM

House prices, rising or falling; either way is this an indicator of anything? For me the annual volume of completions is the best indicator of where the property trend is. And with annual completions in the last decade running at 1.2M/1M, the housing market is clearly at a point of stasis, caused by many factors. If you throw in the rising population in that period, in real terms property ownership is on the decline. I'm a little beam of sunshine today aren't I, Happy New Year.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 January 2020 07:55 AM

A government with a large majority, whatever party has it, means Westminster can move forward a big tick. Brexit no longer a debate about leaving, another big tick. Low interest rates, big tick. House inflation likely to be 2% next year, big tick (obviously some variables and of course London in the doldrums). Shortage of property - well RIC's to be expected the market was moribund due to the Brexit debacle, why list in a dead market? But, it is likely that 2020 will see activity very similar to 2018, and as the year progresses, there is likely to be better things on the horizon. Most of my clients and network are extremely optimistic about the 2020, not something I would have said coming into 2019.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 December 2019 11:47 AM

Colby Short is in a sense so right and so wrong, I once read that 87% of online property portal watchers digitally viewed stock just as a hobby, with no intention to purchase. So, a surge of viewers across the festive season may mean nothing. Or maybe the surge does mean something. As in our click and go, twilight virtual reality world, we now inhabit, where our bodies may be in a room, but our minds are definitely elsewhere, tantalised by digital offerings. A few days off, sitting on the sofa, will for many be the core time apart from 'holidays' when the 'family', and extended members can discuss the strategy for the new year. And given the B-word is now hopefully behind us, I for one will be avidly looking on my 'digital devices of mass instruction' my phone and i-pad at the possible next property I will be looking to buy in 2020. Subject to the collective input of those cherished people grouped around me, including the views of 'Aunty Tina' as she quaffs an industrial amount of Bodegas Tradicion Oloroso, in front of the Stanton Yule Log homestead.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 December 2019 11:27 AM

Whilst obviously this fictional young couple have bought a property on the fictional HS2 line, with trains speeding at 250 MPH, causing their wall to tremble (or maybe something else is causing earth tremors). In a way, Zoopla have overlooked, in this nod to bedroom farce, the fact that in reality 70% of first time buyers are in fact in rented accommodation before they buy, rather than living at home with the 'tyranny' of 'parents' whose presence minimises their freedom to ... well do anything they like. So, could the advert have been positioned at this bigger proportion of buyers? For sure this advert will cause debate and get Zoopla out there, so three ticks for that, some imaginative content, and maybe the property portals or Zoopla at least will start the 2020's as they mean to go on, pushing the boundaries, and not a crab in sight.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 December 2019 10:45 AM

Zoopla gets it, I could have written the identical replies given by them, and that is why they may well be the winner. It is the consumer, the millennials and gen-z who are heading the charge for a quick, pain free, property journey, their force is irresistible. Zoopla are agile enough to react and embrace this. In contrast, Rightmove feeling themselves invincible inside their impregnable cash cow castle, may look back at their Nokia moment, which I think was mid last year, and think if only ... if only we had listened to our clients, if only we had kept our eye on how the property industry was evolving we could have had it all. The two very different responses that the two main portals gave to Graham say it all, one realises that it needs to recreate itself in the image of a facilitator for property business, helping its agent clients and visitors to its site, the other feels that it is just a digital shop window. And that is kind of where Nokia’s journey ended, it thought was just a mobile phone, which as we all know was not the evolutionary case, it became much more than a mobile phone, it was to be the digital dashboard of the modern world.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 December 2019 23:21 PM

I assume and I know this is dangerous, it would be a 10% extra help to buy option, for those first time buyers looking to buy locally. So, a 30% deposit repayable after 5-years, or paying the interest on it. This may not be the scheme, and it might be a post election soundbite, but at least housing is back on the parliamentary agenda, which is a refreshing change. Having seen help to buy, being taken up by 61% of buyers who could have bought without it, there are big questions around its use, and does it inflate house prices, and has it helped a moneyed sector of society up another rung or two at the cost of others?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 December 2019 16:09 PM

No Velgram, no spoof, often agents are placed in the centre of domestic situations, and a sympathetic and professional approach often at a time that is critical, helps those most in need. Despite all of the pantomime vitriol aimed at agents, it is well known within the industry that the caring and listening side of our industry often fills the gaps in helping people who are at crisis point. We deal with all types of situations, but hatched, matched and dispatched, are key areas, and the protagonists caught up in these life changing events I have found are grateful for the support and quiet words and helpful advice we give, especially those who are isolated, frightened and vulnerable.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 December 2019 16:02 PM

As they say Graham, statistics can prove anything you want them to, but here are a few pre-Christmas thoughts. Purplebricks have over 500 Local property experts/listers who are self-employed owning their own company. This means that on average they each have listed for their company around 30 properties currently for sale. 16,000 instructions divided by 500 LPE’s. Purplebricks unlike most other agents, turn each instruction into upfront cash, typically a spend by the vendor of £1,300, so that 16,284 of listings means close on 21M of fee in their bank, and that is just for listing. So, a good model for their cash flow. But, why then do Purplebricks lose/burn around 3M more each month than they get as income? In April 2018, they had 150M sitting in their bank according to their annual accounts, in the next 12 months despite taking to the market thousands of properties, they managed to burn through 7.5M of cash each month, more than their incoming cash, a staggering 90M burnt through in the year, leaving them with only 60M in the kitty by April 2019. In their latest financial report, they have burnt through another 19M since April, leaving just over 41M. Which if they burn through 3M a month, means they will run out of cash in 14 months. The reason perhaps Purplebricks has so many instructions is that it is ‘buying the market’ which is fine if you have the cash to keep the company moving forward, but unless there is another round of capital funding to underpin the company, it simply will run out of cash. It was alright when private investors and the founders pumped their own money into the company, followed by capital generated by listing on the the Alternative Stock Market, etc, but, with the share price in the doldrums in real terms, and six major online agents withdrawing or being forced to withdraw I feel there is little appetite to get fresh investment. The most likely outcome is that Axel Springer will take them private, re-jig the model, make it cheaper to run and it will service a certain sector of the market and type of vendor who is price sensitive to fee. Perhaps, the lesson for other agents is that taking a fee of some description upfront, sale or no sale is not a bad idea, it helps with offsetting costs, gains commitment from the vendor and should help cash-flow, all positive things. Back to statistics, having a huge market share of property for sale, is also not really a sign of anything, as we know that Connells or the Skipton building society – will return multi-million pound profits at the end of its financial year, whereas Countrywide who in this snapshot has only 11% less stock for sale is unlikely to be in the same position. Turnover Graham, as you know is vanity, profit is sanity.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 December 2019 12:45 PM

Sean, I am sure you will smash it, you are very experienced, you know the geography, and agency is hard work, rather than hard to do. So, I am sure with a professional attitude you will thrive, my only suggestion, automate as many processes as you can afford to, to allow your personality to be the brand inside the brand. Good luck for the 2020's.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 December 2019 12:43 PM

Well done to this company for opening another office, and maybe it is time to consider that all agents are really the same, based on the same broad model. Online agents are the same as Hackney & Leigh, they just have no offices, agents who use hubs, share a physical space, hybrids trade from their cars, hotel foyers, coffee shops and their bedrooms, and many agents trade inside a brick shell on the high street. And the property professionals are self-employed, employed or in the gig economy. Where the difference is going to come, is what camp - tech wise - agents group themselves in, moving through the 2020's. Non-engagement or tokenism, will eat profits, whilst early adopters may pay heavily for tech that fails to give a ROI. But, for sure what the future client will be seeking out is service, and tech will enhance that offering of service, with automated processes. Allowing those agents who invest - to evolve and profit. If a new office on the high street is your vision, great, but, if you are relying on doing business as usual, and the competition is more tech savvy, they may well be eating your lunch sooner rather than later.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 December 2019 17:14 PM

All good Georgina, and as the tech improves, and the customer journey gets less bumpy through machine learning etc, maybe online will be more in the mix, for sure tech savvy people do like to be know what is happening, dashboards gives this. Also, love2move aligning itself, rather than going up against the traditional agent is a very clever strategy, are there any figures for what % of deals an agent does using you as a white label ap? Obviously, not asking you to publish sensitive data, but if you connect on linked maybe we could chat.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 December 2019 12:24 PM

It is not buyer's remorse that often ends a sale, which a deposit might fend off, what ends many sales is the gestation period. Hopefully, in the next 3-years the digital revolution will catch up with the land registry (yes I know they are on it) conveyancing (yes I know some are on it) and the antiquated and slow process that is sale by private treaty, a preferred system of doing a deal. RoPA and front loading transactions with advanced HIP like legal packs in a digital form, encrypted contracts, etc will be the future. The only variable is - what is the timescale for all this change and what vested interests will hold it back and what forces (millennial's and Gen-Z) will push it forward?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 December 2019 11:16 AM

I wish Mark and Richard well with their crusade to enlighten property professionals, though many will know I have some sceptical views about the 'online' sector, I do fully embrace that the digital revolution is here to stay both in agency and all parts of our life, and it needs to be demystified. To help those out there who need a little bit of digital guidance, all I can say is that back in the mid 1980’s when I became an estate agent I was at that time an avid reader of science fiction. My favourite book was ‘Machines that think’ a compendium of short sci-fi stories, about future worlds, with a forward by the famous author Isaac Asimov. Though it was published in 1984, many of the stories had been written in the 1940’s and 1950’s and described future utopian or dystopian worlds full of new technology and the role of artificial intelligence, robots and data. Fast forward to nearly 2020, and I am still in the estate agency or property industry, and many of the advances that the sci-fi writers had predicted 70-plus years ago are now part of this world. And within the property sector there is now Proptech – or as I call it science fiction for agents. Let me explain, Proptech is a vast sprawling vista of different new technologies operating within the sphere of property, it is not just digitization, it is re-imagining and interconnecting all the strands within the sector. It covers property, its design, planning, build, sales, renting, asset management, and the way in which humans interact with property. Where the customer or end user’s experience can be analyzed, distilled and digitized into a solution which enhances service levels and the experience of the consumer, hopefully driving a profitable outcome for the owner of the technology. It could be a property with sensors – a talking house or providing seamless systems to replace archaic systems within estate agency, in fact a big problem in Proptech is seeing the wood for the trees and knowing which technology will succeed and which will not. Proptech is many things including; - Deep Learning, Artificial intelligence, Big Data, Intelligence Augmentation, The Internet of things, Machine Learning and Blockchain. The driver is to use data to streamline processes and deliver maximum revenues. (Note that many of these terms would not look out of place in one of Isaac Asimov’s books, I Robot.) Online agents are Proptech, so too is Fixflo in the rental sector, or Offr a new way to buy and sell property quickly and transparently in the residential property sector, the arena is vast but it is not too important to try to define Proptech, better to see the financial advantages that it is bringing. Just as Fintech exploded onto the scene in the past 15-years, where massive amounts of money were invested into Financial technology, Proptech is now starting to have the same levels of investment, in both the UK and the rest of the world. The big problem is that many UK estate agents see Proptech or the sub-division of Proptech that applies to them as Sci-fi. Some agents are very conservative, I was too, and slow moving to make changes to their businesses, they fear change. They feel bamboozled by the terminology and the complexities of Proptech, with many agents say it all sounds a bit costly, and it is not too certain which bit of Proptech works and produces a profit. Which is a shame because many property agents, residential and lettings, would benefit from automating the dull boring administrative type parts of their businesses, their property management systems. In the mid-1990’s I was an advocate of early Proptech using ‘Estate-Craft’ a bespoke software package which was the forerunner of many operating systems now. I realised that a salesperson using the system was worth two ‘pen and paper’ salespeople, because a lot of the repetitive work was taken out, and databases allowed quick matching of buyers to properties, and speed in commerce is always vital. For me the Proptech revolution which spans much more than the annual £6.5 BN residential sales market in the UK, is on the move. Offering its hand in partnership to ‘forward thinking’ estate agency companies. Creating a way of trading akin to Amazon where the customer experience is put front and centre. Some companies have fully grasped that outstretched hand, others sit and wait. And I wonder why? As now estate agency can be based on captured data and analytics which provide a clear narrative of what the customer likes and wants. So, a personalised service, with connection across digital platforms and smart phones, plus the important face to face engagement with salespeople can be provided. Another good reason to investigate and adopt ‘Proptech – science fiction for estate agents’, is the rise of the Millennials (born in the late 1980’s and 1990’s) and the rise of Generation Z or Gen Z the generation born just after the Millennials. These will soon be the volume property industry clients, and they form the digital technology generation, which Wikipedia ominously states are ‘comfortable with Internet and Social media’. That I feel is an understatement, and whilst Gen Z may seem a great name for a sci-fi novel, it might be prudent to start connecting with proptech industry giants like James Dearsley, or Eddie Holmes co-founders of Unissu. Unissu is trusted by almost 100,000 users to quickly discover, research, and buy PropTech solutions from around the world, it represents the interests of over nearly 8,000 companies, it connects you with an international community of market-leading institutions and individuals, to get agents ahead of the Proptech game. Eddie and James are always up for a conversation, and they are both ex-property professionals so they know the property game from your viewpoint, and their advice is free - click Unissu.com - and start the conversation today.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 December 2019 10:25 AM

No news here, Skipton building society actually has one of the most solid businesses in the UK property sector. And having one branch overhead to service one local market makes perfect sense.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 December 2019 05:39 AM

Maybe Graham the dust needs to settle a little before any real trends can be seen. But, yes I agree that an end to the impasse at the House of Commons will help rather than hinder the market. As to McVey and Jenrick, let us see who fortune shines on - though with her proptech bias, Esther has at present, got my vote if she remains in post.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 December 2019 05:32 AM

In the future there will be no silos, until then a strategy to cope and prosper must be striven for. Some great pointers and observations here Gary, and maybe, part of the problem of tech, is that language gets in the way. In the sense that those in tech talk in a different way to those outside, both have common opportunity and goals, but, without dumbing down the science - the property world needs more advocates who can bridge the two languages/worlds. Certainly, efficiency, cost cutting, maximisation of a company’s profitability will engage the property industry, but, selling the sizzle is easy, communicating the journey that needs to be undertaken is far harder. Reapit though are definitely making inroads, and maybe it is time, that will be the ingredient that grows the movement, as the sector matures, and successful tech establishes itself, with less worthy offerings becoming marginalised.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 December 2019 11:09 AM

Quite easy to do the math, number of listings in the UK in the last 6 months for Purplebricks, then knowing the average 'commission' per instruction, times the two totals divide by the total number of LPE's and times by 2. (As all listings = fee). You now have the 'average' annual income of each LPE, based on instruction 'commission' then factor in some extra income for referral fees, or paid for viewings. These figures are easy to find, some in the company returns, or financials, just google or go on Purplebricks web page or similar.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 December 2019 22:34 PM

Not a good picture for Purplebricks, despite hiking the fee by £100 a unit, they did 47M of revenue in 6 months in the UK - bearing in mind they charge an upfront fee at around £1,300 sale or no sale, and only turned in a profit of 3.5M, down almost 40% in terms of profit for the same period last year. With further monies still required to pay for their global exploits that will fall in the next accounting period, I think the full trading year will show inroads into the cash war chest that once stood not so long ago at 150M, then dropped in a year to 60M and now must be dwindling fast. Also, if they change their fee model, to a more fees payable on completion, this will skew their cash flow by five months, typical cycle of a completed property, so rather than easing the cash situation it may well compound it. No point in being the biggest lister of property in the UK if you have no cash to run the operation. Going into its 5th year this should be a maturing model, for me it is well past its sell by date, as its offering is in no way spectacular, its just a cheap fee - reflected in service levels, which appeals to a small segment of vendors, selling at the lower end of the property scale.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 December 2019 09:12 AM

Some interesting points made by the portals, but, all of them may find that with the speed of proptech development through the sector, the new bread of buyer and tenant, may not start their journey by a lazy click on the major portals. Add in the blatant indifference of Rightmove, who by high summer may well have a major coup on their hands from dis-enfranchised agents, and you have a very different landscape emerging. Rightmove talks about collaboration with its agent clients, the subtext here is Rightmove has dreamed up new toys with new income streams to match, pushing up that monthly spend yet another notch. Zoopla has both stripped back its offering and actually added some innovation, and as stated before will I think move in the fast lane to adopt self listing by vendors, the natural evolution of portals in the UK. On the market, well they are a political hot potato, and putting this aside, their branding from the public's perspective is weak, and of course they are still in relative terms a newcomer, and not a mature brand. From my own viewpoint, having many clients in all sectors, the randomness of who pays what for the same service, and the lack of service or perceived indifference, more than anything has eroded client confidence. And this genie will not be going back into its box. With a tough 2020 coming and property prices more or less stagnant, costs will be key for agent survival and all outgoings including portal costs I think rightly will be under review.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 December 2019 06:30 AM

Great words of wisdom James, especially going to a proptech event, I think it will really open a person's eyes in a good way to the possibilities and solutions out there. Also, I know there are a lot of property professionals who are unsure of Proptech, or maybe anti - what I would say is that Tech, cannot be ignored. It is a two prong movement. Clients adopt new tech and interact and buy things using it (web, smart phone etc), so agents need to keep up with this tech revolution going on in the customer sector, at the same time agents need to spend 10% of their budget on getting their tech working for them to stay competitive within the sector. I have clients who have a great single branch business, making 300K profit, with an established team and little tech apart from your CRM, and the CEO asks what need is there for worrying about the advance of tech? Well, even if you put zero £ in to your tech budget, in the next 5 years your new clients and customers who have stopped coming into branches already, will be buying and selling and renting and doing all the associated processes through emerging tech; you might be the 'best' agent in the area, but if your clients 'can not find you' to do business your tech savvy new agents will be eating your lunch. Some CEO's think I am being alarmist, but I say go to the annual Negotiator awards in 2020, and in the evening, when you look up at the winners screen, you will see time after time, companies that get the top spot are a new breed of agent, what they have in common is they are either adapters or new businesses that have just started and all have a digital heartbeat and proud owners or CEO's who get the shape of the future.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 December 2019 14:55 PM

Property Pundit, I am getting an Alexa for Christmas so I can get Purple bricks results and also Housesimple, the great missed opportunity, is that tech is for sure coming, but, these lumbering online machines are not thinking straight, much like Countrywide, also a lumbering great machine, both have client and client data coming out of their ears, and if they used it, realised what the clients want or even dare I say predicted it using AI what the client of tomorrow wanted, they could build a real process around it. Instead all cash is being burnt just to keep the lights on. My solution would be with so many bright people sitting in proptech labs, mostly clustered around London, a simple call to them for help, might give the C-suite some really good strategies. The solutions are out there, grab them before the quickly dwindling cash in the bank disappears.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 December 2019 14:29 PM

I had predicted some time ago that this might be a great strategy for the 'smaller' property professionals, faced with a stark choice, buy tech off the shelf, or invest all your profit in tech and develop your own system. The FIA strategy, join us and enjoy collective knowledge and buying power and have an exclusive area to do it in, is a really great concept, a bit like collective bargaining, without the hassle and at a low risk entry fee, and Homesearch certainly do have a an offering that adds value, insight and strategy, my favourite themes.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 December 2019 14:17 PM

I only have sight of accounts to March 2018, which was a long time ago, but at that point, in the previous year they turned over 2.5M and made an operating loss of 13.5M. Or put another way, for every £1 they generated as cash flow it cost them £5.40. So, not a model making money. Since June 2019, they are doing the job of selling for free, so that lowers the cash flow coming in, but their pivotal strategy is to make profit by capturing data from buyers and referring people/data to the financial and conveyancing services sector, mortgages, insurances etc. What strikes me is that if you are running a company on tech and no physical offices, why is it costing £13.5M to run, and I assume that the cost in 2019 / 2020 will be North of £10M, so will the referral fee income cover that spend and some? I do not think it likely. Also, as only 12% of vendors see the fee as a factor when instructing an agent, I do feel that for 78% of vendors charging a fee is no issue - as long as the House Simple proposition is viable and results in good marketing, good service, excellent after sale agreed service and a seamless omni-channel experience for all clients, buyers and sellers. If the tech is merely a digitalization of the old model of agency, which is hardly seamless and often has major problems, and if there are not enough humans to hand hold the public - which is a key part of a property professionals core role, then even if you give the public the offering for free they may well vote with their feet and use the local agent with 4-sales people with 30-years experience each, who live in the area, and can give service that has a higher level of value.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 December 2019 11:18 AM

I fear Christmas is not going to be festive season for the Countrywide Turkey, Why? Well, call me a party pooper, but last August Countrywide raised £125M, to keep afloat, and the Group Managing Director Paul Creffield stated in his company report in March 2019, 'Significant progress was made in 2018 as we reset the strategy and delivered a capital refinancing plan that gives us the stability and flexibility to execute our three-year turnaround plan' and now they are selling off assets to the tune of £38M. So that is £163M, in 16 months, does this mean a cash burn of £10m a month. If so, the famous 3 year turnaround, which is due to end in 2021, may mean that an awful lot more of Countrywide is pawned. Hamptons? John D Wood? And before anyone says unthinkable, the only thing that is unthinkable is that this great business has been allowed to go full steam ahead into the night without someone at the helm, looking at the horizon, like a certain ship which unfortunately foundered not quite 400 miles from Newfoundland. Get those lifebelts on and strike up the band, because it might be the company's last hoorah in its present form.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 December 2019 18:42 PM

If you believe Proptech is the future within the property industry or not, what is inescapable is the need to know what your client wants and how they want to transact business with you. And now at last with the real cost of tech reducing, these answers can be found Proptech has been seen by some as a smorgasbord of solutions, pick the right one and your are in the winners enclosure, for me proptech is the synthesis that has come about because the property client of today wants an omni-channel, seamless, service driven model, not the model of agency that I came into back in the mid 1980's, which still proliferates. I agree, the whole model within the property sector has changed, there needs to be a collaborative and engaged and enlightened approach, where the property industry and the proptech industry become an equal marriage, as envisioned by James Dearsley and Eddie Holmes of Unissu and others. It is no coincidence that some corporates are in very serious danger, the reason, they had no insight or strategy to move their business model on. Clearly, everyone is doing business from the instrument I am tapping away on, and if I can understand it, then all property professionals need to, as it is no longer business as usual. I deal with a lot of extremely good property professionals, hugely experienced, well respected and running extremely profitable businesses, but, at a recent annual awards ceremony I was struck by the number of 'younger' and 'different looking' businesses with quirky dress codes and 'non-agency looking working places' and these were a sizeable section of the of the prize winners. So, if the old guard does not embrace change - sadly I think - they may well be outflanked by the data savvy new kids on the block.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 December 2019 01:06 AM

Johnny cash on the money ‘ hurt’ is maybe a fitting swan song. Get into that c-suite, get the key to the executive loo, and get some 30 year olds in. This perspective is missing, planning your strategy on experience of 50 and 60 year olds has limited relevance in the omni-channel consumer experience that vendors and buyers, landlords and tenants expect. For the love of God it is the 2020’s not the roaring 20’s.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 November 2019 01:46 AM

I think a key element here James, is that for you, being involved in the marketing mix is fun and second nature, over the past years many vendors leave the selling and marketing to ‘agents’. Not saying this is good or bad, but usually vendor is a passive passenger strapped in for the journey, which sometimes is pleasant, other times not so. On the tech front, yes, for sure massive gaps here, and Rightmove how many millions have they got to get this right for all agents. It will be great to see how your journey turns out.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 November 2019 07:51 AM

Good luck with this, a niche idea, based on a large market, major problem is getting the public to know the portal exists, usually a multi-million pound campaign is needed. With an ageing population for sure they are a great equity rich generation, but, it may be the case that to find this helpful new portal is not so easy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 November 2019 07:44 AM

As predicted a sale of the assets, all it will do is prolong the agony. This was a beast of the industry now it is dazed, and licking its wounds waiting for the end, a real shame. It’s only hope is that the Tesco faction can put a strategy together in time to stop a full scale rout. Unlikely, the cash burn is far too high.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 November 2019 07:22 AM

A flipside, to the debate of having millennials in your workforce, (and lets face it as a millennial could be 39 years of age, you definitely have some of them), is the way that the millennial 'buyer' and the even younger and more tech savvy GEn-Z buyer is changing the whole property game. I fully embrace the need that millennials have for a quick omni-channel response to everything, including the sale and purchase of property and all the processes in-between. However, I am a little nervous that the millennials unstoppable appetite for services and goods, instantly at the click of a button, is now driving the property sector too fast and too hard. Clearly, many companies are now being set up to feed a new type of savvy, consumer, but, the danger in the property sector is the lack of maturity in some of the business models. For example, iniatives like Mojo Mortgages, may well be on trend for these clients a fast track way to get a financial mortgage advice, but, they in turn are reliant on a tie up with Monzo bank, which itself is a new fintech / Proptech company with no high street presence, whose origin can be traced back to Crowdcube, (another recent online fintech company) and an instantaneous crowdfund of over £1M. Since then Monzo has had further injections of capital, and its valuation has skyrocketed, but, so too have the number of issues regarding its service and security, all documented in the financial press. These may be teething problems or not, time will tell. I suppose what I am saying is that – at the very fast rate that some things are changing in the ‘traditional' world of agency – many co-operations and inter company collaborations are sometimes founded upon organizational foundations which are less than five-years old. And this lack of tried and trusted maturity, can cause problems, if any of the ‘jenga block’ partnerships fail to deliver and need to be removed, and it is often the poor shareholders and users of the service who are the losers. Recent Fintech peer to peer lenders like ‘Lendy’ failing with over £160M of losses, may be in a different financial sector to mortgage business regulated by the FSA, but, with Metro bank also in the doldrums, what they had in common was they sought to be disruptors of the banking sector, instead they may well be the victims of it. I am all for change, and making the transaction of property a better, quicker and faster and more enjoyable path. Having previously been an estate agent for over 30-years I often dreamt that there must be a better way of doing property. With the proptech revolution in full swing I am sure the industry will get there - but the irresistible force of the millennials and Gen-Z with their needy, challenging and inquisitive mindset, may well be as much a help as a hinderance, until a new and tested pathway of what 'new estate agency' looks like in the 2020's and beyond becomes established.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 November 2019 21:44 PM

Property Pundit, it is not so much a race to the tape for property portals to allow self listing sites, it is more that month by month consumers are becoming more and more dashboard kings and queens, able to view transactional progress in real time. So, the sale and purchase of one's largest asset, why would you not want to be in pole position for that? I think the portals would love to keep the status quo, but the ever savvy, tech guzzling millennials and even more demanding (and why not) Gen-Z are not going to 'walk' into high street agents to do business, or solicitors offices, of banks or building society's to do finance, if they can do that journey on their phone/dashboard on their phone. As to why it would take off? Well, the tech and the will is now here, encrypted contracts, the conveyancing world being challenged to speed transactions even Land Registry is getting on board - a sign that a big change is coming.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 November 2019 15:22 PM

Now I am not sure what the imminent installation of Andrew Fisher means for the future of Rightmove. Here is an extremely intelligent, team player, who is modest and to quote him, 'My specialty has been helping develop and drive the adoption of new technologies to hundreds of millions of people, and my ambition is to help others to continue to do this and encourage them to believe that they can have a positive impact on a global scale.' Now although Andrew's background academically was not tech, the phenomenal success he had with Shazam, the app that apple can not get enough of, begs the question - is he going to steer Rightmove down the path of 'vendors' using apps to self list, or develop better tech for property agents? Time will tell, but with a very healthy bank balance it will be interesting to see what creature Rightmove turns into by the year 2025.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 November 2019 18:22 PM

Which parts of the Purplebrick model are you alluding to David, that has moved the industry on? The 90M it burnt through in its last trading year, the 52M loss it made during the same period, the 'self-employed' LPE's who have no other work but to work for Purplebricks, and so have no holiday pay, sickness cover and are liable for any compliance issues, or is it the pay upfront sale or no sale model that you particularly like? Purplebricks certainly is a Behemoth in the world of Proptech, but it is more a Frankenstein monster created in a Tech Lab, than a useful addition to the industry, its starting premise is all wrong, how do we create a company that has a massive cashflow at the front end. I talk daily with lots of people in the Proptech world, and they are revolutionising the whole thing, they have true vision, they are not just digitalizing the whole system, they are re-crafting it, making it fit for purpose. If you want to praise anything for the advances in the industry I would start with the brave bankers, investors and private individuals who are backing the real tech revolution, not some frightening giant monster which is casting a purple shadow.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 21 November 2019 17:13 PM

With 40% of the rental market being housing associations, a very astute tweaking of the model, also I never knew that the top boys did not have a property background, maybe that is why they did not see the ‘barriers’. The point you make James about having success or at least massive funding to continue a success, and then going full throttle to dominate the world overnight is a sound one. As another proptech behmoth found to its cost when Purplebricks burnt through 90m in its last financial year, much of it lost on overseas expansion and then recapitulation. Do you think that sometimes big investment, is as much a problem as a help, because investors want returns, but sometimes tech companies are really good in a smaller niche and the model is not world defining. Good to hear they are in it for the longhaul, also the short incubation period shows that the proptech sector will be the dominant noise and deliverer of very real solutions in the industry.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 November 2019 07:02 AM

The ultimate endgame model will be vendors self listing, it is just a race to see who blinks first, which of the big two Property portals allows this in the UK. My thoughts as stated any times will be that Zoopla goes first with model, as they charge agents a lower fee and agents would be more easily persuaded to continue listing alongside vendors. For Rightmove it would be the straw that breaks the camels back. Timescale 36-months and counting. Simon is very correct that Rightmove has been siting on hands and not pushed Rightmove into other communication mediums, not sure if this is pre-meditated or part of a plan.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 November 2019 07:49 AM

Rightmove makes huge profits because they are a tech company, and whilst they have a minimal cash burn on new development, their core product, the listing of property is not an ever increasing cost. Like many such companies, a product or service is developed and it catches on, and the cost to roll it out to new clients becomes relatively minimal after the initial start up phase of the business where usually there is a multi-million pound investment to produce the winning model. As a maturing business it is clear that because it holds a monopoly situation, it can adopt a pricing policy that it chooses, with some agents paying far more for an identical service, which means they subsidise others. Also, online agents who cover vast swathes of the UK probably have a pricing plan very different to that of an agency with 200 offices in the high street. What underpins the rightmove model, and is it’s strength and weakness is that it is the continued patronage of the agents. The problem for Rightmove is that if agents become a disillusioned collective who feel they have been paying through the nose, and in fact have been subsidising perhaps corporates or online agents, then a very dangerous schism may appear. I am not suggesting this is the case, and perhaps as this debacle grows there may be more transparency, but, the day of reckoning is coming, because the new generation of proptech solutions might in a single leap make the provision of a digital shop window on the internet at a unit cost of £1,200 plus a month to be a costly nice to have, rather than the cosy core essential that as Michael states is ‘exceptional value for money’ it may well be for the present, but not if you subsidising the rival agent next door to you.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 November 2019 07:26 AM

Actually, the industry is getting ever nearer to legally binding exchange of contracts at the click of a button. That is a reality. The only question is - will it be the accepted model adopted by all? And if so will it lead to vendors selling direct to buyers, with estate agents becoming listers, and after that have no real role. Everyone knows that you can buy at auction by bidding online and then unconditionally exchanging on a property. Yes, it would be sensible if the buyer had viewed the property, downloaded the legal pack, engaged a solicitor and had a survey, but, if in a financial situation where funds are available a buyer can today exchange if registered with the auctioneer and has the means to complete. Offr and other Proptech solutions are narrowing the field, and even though I was an agent for over 30 years, and have dealt with thousands of sales, I personally feel very comfortable with the concept of a more click and buy process, which is becoming the inevitable end game to the property game of chess that has been playing out for the last decade. It is all around you the Millennials and that means anyone 39 years and younger, and the Z - generation who are the next in line, do not go to shops, do not go to estate agents, they connect using mobiles, I-pads, computers, and maybe 5 different ways of communicating, they are not going to wait for anything, they demand like an advancing army of smart ants, an omni-channel experience, seamless, and fast. That is why so many businesses in all sectors are struggling, and the big challenge here is not will this become the model, but, will solicitors adapt or become obsolete, will land registry ever get itself truly digital and digitalized, because the Fintech sector has already got all the solutions for instant mortgage or property funding, due to being an early investor in the tech sector.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 November 2019 12:57 PM

Kristjan I think you would cry if you knew what the lowest rate that an agent pays with Rightmove for the volume of business you do, perhaps you should ask them. And if they tell you, ask why you are paying a great deal more - my thoughts are you will not be told the lowest rate for 'commercial and GDPR reasons'.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2019 17:18 PM

Hi Andrew, I am not sure that Emoov Mark II would want to acquire the reputation of the previous incarnation of Emoov, or the Trust Pilot reviews that are currently displayed, belonging to the old or new Emoov. Which are still being displayed despite assurances to the ASA and myself a fortnight ago that they would be taken down. And I quote one of the Trust Pilot reviews dated 28th Oct 2018 (so previous Emoov) 'Emoov has failed to deliver the service I have paid for. As it stands I am 10K out of pocket ... the bidder thought we were not interested in their offer and bought another house. (They) did not call the highest bidder to confirm acceptance of offer as we requested ... Watch dog contacted regarding my complaint' 6th Dec Trust pilot review 'Emoov has gone into administration … so don't bother using their website which is still live'. In fact under the new ownership as of 24th of Jan, Emoov II seems to be following in the footsteps of the original company, Trust pilot 24th Jan 2019 - 'Run by clowns, they feed you a bunch of lies. Horrible communication. Have no idea where the positive feedback comes from, very suspect. Do trust pilot delete negative reviews?' As an observation - it does seem strange that if you were looking to generate new business - you would populate your own website with such reviews, unless of course your business model was to lose money. Especially if you had the ASA breathing down your neck, maybe the ombudsman might take an interest.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2019 17:02 PM

IS RIGHTMOVE MAKING THE WRONGMOVE? First published 22nd October 2019 There are many agents grumbling about the way Rightmove is treating them, and some commentators have actually used the term abused. This seems a harsh term but looking more closely - the real possible abuse that is arguably at play, is the fact that Rightmove possibly charge agents different amounts, for the same service. So a new agent that wants to use Rightmove, pays more than an existing client for the identical service, and though it would seem sensible to discount to a multiple branch enterprise, many agents would be staggered at how little some agents in their town, village or city are paying, when they are paying substantially more for the same service. Now Rightmove can use any model they choose - if agents are unhappy - well they can choose not to list on Rightmove, but this economic advantage/disadvantage plays fast and loose with agents who are at present under considerable financial pressures. Maybe agents should set up an anonymous forum and post how much they are charged per branch/office and what level of service they are provided, I think this would be enlightening for all. No-one minds paying for a product or service, but some argue that the many customers at Rightmove may be subsidising the minority. Personally, I think that within three-years Zoopla who are re-aligning their model and who are substantially cheaper than Rightmove, may well offer 'self-listing' for the general public. As one of the online property portals jockey for market share and domination. Given the cost, I think many agents would 'eat' the fact that they are listing on a site with the 'self-listing' general public, as Zoopla's cost base is much lower than Rightmove. If Rightmove tried to launch this iniative, it would possibly cause a rebellion as agents would not want to pay a premium rate and compete with self-listing vendors. Estate agency, and by this I mean the whole property sector - is undergoing a period of change, just as other industries are. New technology is pushing this along and the customer or consumer is king (or queen) once again and they want service at the click of a button. And if enough of them want to market their own homes, because it is easy (obviously I know it is anything but easy) then this sentiment may change things. Lastly, the imminent departure of Scott Forbes , the present Chairman of Rightmove, who has been in place for nearly a decade and a half, may be the sign that things may not stay on the up for Rightmove for ever. Maybe, producing profits of over 65% a year, can not be sustained, especially in the property sector where many agents are trading on a margin as low as 3 or 4%, and in some cases a serious minus number.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2019 10:25 AM

It’s good to see graham that you read my posts on this subject, maybe this is the start of agents becoming a collective and getting a portal price that is fair, rather than late joiners bearing the cost for multi branch corporates. I somehow feel that you will not be getting too many CEO’s giving you the rate they pay, maybe there is need for a website where agents can post there charging rates, that would really get the momentum going, perhaps OTM will be seen in a new light, no-one likes to pay over the odds or subsidise the costs of competitors.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2019 09:15 AM

Well hopefully not - you see Axel will take them private and they will hoover up the vendors who want a cheaper fee and sell in the 230 - 270k price range, in large towns and cities, there is a place for the model. If they change the model, they might have something, but the fees need to be much higher and instead of just listers LPE's they need SELLERS - which means more cost to the business even if it is 'self-employed' status and off the balance sheet. Also, they have done millions and millions for no return, if they had used it to build a Proptech solution - not a digitization of the traditional agency model they might have made, but a system that made the sale journey easier, and quicker, rather than the model they have, where vendor and buyer are almost a peripheral afterthought, rather than prime drivers.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 November 2019 10:31 AM

It's me I am back again, I have just had a look at Purplebrick's annual accounts, and they have gone from their last year end April 2018m 152.8M cash in the bank to only 62.8M cash in the bank in April 2019, since which time they have had some hefty bills to pay to close down operations overseas. So that is a 90M burn in a year, which given they had income from upfront fees of probably 100M plus is not good news, that's a burn of 7.5M a month, I bet the executive toilets are made out of gold. Also, and I find this fascinating the way the company sets out its spreadsheet, Revenue 136.5M, cost of sales (56.6M), gross profit 79.9M, gross profit margin 58.5%, BUT THEN THEY ADD IN ADMIN AND MARKETING COSTS admin costs 61m, marketing costs 70.7M, and we get the operating loss of 52.3M. Call me stupid and many do, but the admin and marketing costs (Purplebricks adverts on multi-media, all the head office staff costs) are costs before any profit, just as in a traditional agent where you have income, expenditure and gross profit, you do not record a profit in the accounts and then add in the incidentals like your 60% staff costs or your advertising budget of 15%. Maybe, Purplebricks shareholders are not familiar with balance sheets. With only 60M in the war chest it will be interesting to see the interim accounts mid December and the full accounts next April, I think that mountain of cash at the bank may well be down to 20M, and then we will see if Purplebricks wins any golds at the Olympics.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 November 2019 10:11 AM

It's me I am back again, I have just had a look at Purplebrick's annual accounts, and they have gone from their last year end April 2018m 152.8M cash in the bank to only 62.8M cash in the bank in April 2019, since which time they have had some hefty bills to pay to close down operations overseas. So that is a 90M burn in a year, which given they had income from upfront fees of probably 100M plus is not good news, that's a burn of 7.5M a month, I bet the executive toilets are made out of gold. Also, and I find this fascinating the way the company sets out its spreadsheet, Revenue 136.5M, cost of sales (56.6M), gross profit 79.9M, gross profit margin 58.5%, BUT THEN THEY ADD IN ADMIN AND MARKETING COSTS admin costs 61m, marketing costs 70.7M, and we get the operating loss of 52.3M. Call me stupid and many do, but the admin and marketing costs (Purplebricks adverts on multi-media, all the head office staff costs) are costs before any profit, just as in a traditional agent where you have income, expenditure and gross profit, you do not record a profit in the accounts and then add in the incidentals like your 60% staff costs or your advertising budget of 15%. Maybe, Purplebricks shareholders are not familiar with balance sheets. With only 60M in the war chest it will be interesting to see the interim accounts mid December and the full accounts next April, I think that mountain of cash at the bank may well be down to 20M, and then we will see if Purplebricks wins any golds at the Olympics.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 November 2019 10:09 AM

If tracksuit Vic, is correct, and his company sells three times as many properties than any other agent - why has the company made ‘a full-year operating loss of £52.3 million.’ this year? Vic is a little prone to throw away lines - 'the company is not for sale’, just at the point Axel Springer is likely to take the company private. Maybe the three times was just another off the cuff comment. For me, and I have been crusading on this point for two years, is what is the conversion rate of listings to exchanges? I have read Purplebrick's company statements in the past boasting of a 73% and the 81% conversion rates, but no proof. The reason this is important to know is that in a pay upfront model, sale or no sale, if half your clients get no exchange on their property - shouldn't that be something that Vic talks about. I even offered a £1,000 of my own money for anyone from Purplebricks to prove this 81% conversion rate, not a single taker. Why? because I feel it likely they complete on average on every second property they list, in line with industry norms. My proof - click on rightmove today - see how many Purplebrick properties are listed for sale and how many are sstc - the ratio around 50%. Is this a true figure well, given that 28% of the sstc will fall through and rightmove keeps sstc on site for a number of months, any skewing of data about balances out. Put it this way, if you were selling 80% of your stock then around 80% of your stock on rightmove would have a sold sticker on it - that is not the picture I can see. I am more than happy for someone to prove me wrong, any takers?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 November 2019 09:38 AM

Rightmove may well be out of step and be seen as the Wrongmove. There is definitely dissent being muttered by many of my clients, with many agents grumbling about the way Rightmove is treating them, and some commentators have actually used the term abusive when describing their relationship with the portal. This seems a harsh term but looking more closely - the real possible abuse that is arguably at play, is the fact that Rightmove possibly charge agents different amounts, for the same service. So, a new agent that wants to use Rightmove, pays more than an existing client for the identical service, and though it would seem sensible to discount to a multiple branch enterprise, many agents would be staggered at how little some agents in their town, village or city are paying, when they are paying substantially more for the same service. Now Rightmove can use any model they choose - if agents are unhappy - well they can choose not to list on Rightmove, but this economic advantage/disadvantage plays fast and loose with agents who are at present under considerable financial pressures. Maybe agents should set up an anonymous forum and post how much they are charged per branch/office and what level of service they are provided, I think this would be enlightening for all. No-one minds paying for a product or service, but some argue that the many customers at Rightmove may be subsidising the minority. Personally, I think that within three-years Zoopla who are re-aligning their model and who are substantially cheaper than Rightmove, may well offer 'self-listing' for the general public. As one of the online property portals jockey for market share and domination. If you look at other countries, agents do list against self-listing vendors on main portals it is just that at present the UK does not. Given the cost, I think many agents would 'eat' the fact that they are listing on a site with the 'self-listing' general public, as Zoopla's cost base is much lower than Rightmove. If Rightmove tried to launch this iniative, it would possibly cause a rebellion as agents would not want to pay a premium rate and compete with self-listing vendors. Estate agency, and by this I mean the whole property sector - is undergoing a period of change, just as other industries are. New technology is pushing this along and the customer or consumer is king (or queen) once again and they want service at the click of a button. And if enough of them want to market their own homes, because it is easy (obviously I know it is anything but easy) then this sentiment may change things. So, maybe the real battlefield is not the annual rise in subscription to Rightmove and their 60% profits each year, it is making sure that your agency is adopting the new wave of proptech tools and systems to future proof your business. Yes, Rightmove is causing a chill out there and agents are cooling towards them, but there may well be a far colder arctic winter coming for agencies who wait too long to prospect the new way of doing business. Which will be high levels of face to face service backed by technology which allows an omni-channel service to the ever demanding general public, who are turning their backs in droves on businesses based on old trading models rooted in the last century.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 November 2019 06:43 AM

Maybe some people feel that the day will just be a talking shop, but I will be listening to find out the direction of play within the property community. It is very rare to get all of these polymaths under the same roof, and their views are just that - views to excite debate and move things on, especially as the landscape of agency is changing. Bercow is my local MP and I have met him, and he is a straight talker, so taking politics out of it - I am sure he alone will be a class act to watch and listen.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 November 2019 06:27 AM

Will there be tax-breaks for this innovation?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 November 2019 12:13 PM

Perhaps, Graham agents need to get on board with this and realise that Proptech is already in their business, and is not going away and is a power for good. Reapit have decided they want to be very much in the mix of what is about to evolve, and yes it is a risk, but doing nothing also could in 24-months see them isolated. Gary Barker is a brave man, and it will soon be 2020, and the increasing customer base of Millenials and Gen Z, will even more want a quicker level of service, value for money and everything at a tap of a button on their mobile. Perhaps the 'Apps store' will move this forward?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 November 2019 12:11 PM

James I totally agree with you; companies who stand still wither, often companies who would most benefit from your expertise feel want you to 'perform' like a novelty act, rather than embracing the opportunity to make their company more profitable, and the Proptech revolution is all around and is an undeniable force for the future. So, it is not a case of deciding to be part of it - all agents are part of it - they just need to decide if they are going to welcome in the technology and strategy that exists, or build the barricades and hope that it will be business as usual. Perhaps, the biggest point you make is - just do something - as you can always tweak the decision later, the biggest mistake as a certain large corporate agency is finding, is to give out soundbites that they have a three-year plan, and the plan is to change nothing and hunker down in a bunker.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 November 2019 11:29 AM

Hi James, how does the reporting stink? If you read all of the documentation on the case, it goes like this, Countrywide between 2008 and 2018 had in place a policy agreed at CEO level to keep the money in the company account, all 10M of it. Paul Creffield when alerted to it, fully co-operated with the RICS investigation, but - Paul Creffield did not become CEO discover the deceit and report it as a whistle- blower. No it was an outside audit that picked up on the situation, which if let undetected may well have continued. In fact if you look closely at Paul's statement in mitigation he seems very much to make the case that because Countrywide does billions of pounds worth of mortgages a year, have a massive RIICs prescence, and has a huge 800 (?) strong office presence with many branches in all the towns and villages, it would be a travesty if Countrywide were too badly damaged by the affair as it would possibly upset the property industry as a whole. (TOO BIG TO FAIL). In other words - Countrywide had in place by its own admission a questionable practice, the internal transfer of client funds, which was company policy. Then by chance an outsider found out about it, and of course if your are the CEO of the day you are going to be as helpful as you can, but I think that to play the card of TOO BIG TO FAIL, is a dangerous one, because if Countrywide is founded upon financial services and has within in very notable and trustworthy RICCS personnel, shouldn't the bar be set higher rather than lower, as a warning to all. The panel in their judgement under mitigating and aggravating matters, actually states that Countrywide were using the fund to inflate their profit provision. As a matter of balance I am told by those who know that Paul is a very good at what he does, but I wonder if the matter had not come to light, would anyone at Countrywide have seized the nettle. Also where does the leave the likes of former CEO's Amanda Platt for example, and the auditors and the Chief financial officers? You may not think it but I actually love Countrywide, it is just a shame that all the talent was sacrificed during various regime purges, maybe they should invite some of those who can do the job back, as I feel unfortunately there are other icebergs about to present themselves in front of HMS Countrywide.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 05 November 2019 12:39 PM

Any measure to reduce failed sales is to be embraced including reservation fees, which many in the industry have seen before. Fundamental buyer’s remorse though is a harder thing to overcome, and no study has been done to quantify this factor and there seems little chance to remove it from the property sale equation. On the positive, due to advances in the proptech arena, companies like Offr are putting together solutions to minimise both the period of time taken to get to exchange, whilst equally as importantly having buyers fully qualified at point of sale, and the property pre-packaged conveyancing wise, with a fully transparent offer process leading into a seamless post sale agreed process where vendor seller and the agent and the conveyancing process is front and centre. It is not a criticism but a sad reality that many agencies have become front loading, win the instruction, list it, sell it to a buyer, send out the memo of sale, and then... there seems often - a black hole of nothingness for weeks, and it is at this point the sale process is at its weakest and the fall throughs occur. RoPA are keen to see the fuller adoption of pre-conveyanced property prior to point of sale, some may mutter it is HIPS mark 2, but the difference is with proptech innovations which were not around before, far from hindering the sale process, motivated vendors can meet motivated buyers, on a business model where an omni channel approach of accountability means that post sale being agreed there is no longer that mysterious black hole where nothing seems to be going on. With dashboards, and mobile phones, the stakeholders in the sales, the agent who carries the cost of aborted sales, the vendor and the buyer and the conveyancer who also have to absorb lost costs when sales fail, will actually in real time be interconnected, rather than sitting waiting for ‘something’ out of their control to happen. Whilst not all sales can be saved, pre- qualification of buyers, and pre-registration of properties, and an integrated, interconnected and transparent process which the agent and the other stakeholders are equally a part of, may well with the new technology that the millennials and generation z take for granted, move the industry away from the old model. A model where agents sell property, solicitors do the legals, to a more enlightened, transparent and collectively biased process where all parties board the train at the same point and have a ticket to the same destination. Now that is a train ride that most estate agents whose margins are being squeezed would definitely like to be on.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 05 November 2019 06:36 AM

Is it time that Countrywide got rid of its rotten apples. Back in August 2018 Himanshu Raja - Chief financial Officer at Countrywide, was until it was voted down to receive £7M of company shares, and Paul Creffield Group GMD was to receive £8M of shares. This was at a time that the scandal of the £10M funds was known to the company, but not disclosed to the shareholders. Then in early Spring 2019, Countrywide were fined £215,000 for Anti Money Laundering lapses, and now they have been fined another £100,000 for financial irregularities. Given that Mr Creffield is himself fully supportive of RoPA, and a single regulator. Is it not time for him and Himanshu to do the honourable thing? Two months ago Mr Creffield when asked about RoPA said, … 'We're really supportive of regulation because we believe it will help create a level playing field with all agents expected to have the same expertise, It'll be good for the consumer too.' More worryingly for all parties, including perhaps Baron Best who heads up RoPA is Mr Creffield's further comments regarding RoPA, ' Because of Countrywide's scale, we've been consulted frequently (by RoPA) on proposals during their preparation, and we've conducted some pilot projects.' Now if the new regulatory framework that a forthcoming government may back comes into being in the form of RoPA, should some of its architects be coming from Countrywide's top management team. For me they would be the last people I would look to. If Paul Creffield advocates root and branch industry regulation - then Countrwide should itself be a beacon of this industry change, at present it is a bonfire of vanities, which given the proximity of November the 5th is very apt. Matches anyone.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 October 2019 19:11 PM

Liquidity of the company or not is certainly a factor for shareholders, though at less than 4p a share for some time I do not think many people have been buying CW shares. The equally disturbing factor is the lack of governance - and what have the financial officers of the company been doing - or not doing? With a multi-million pound rescue cash injection last year, a great chunk of which has been eaten through with monthly running costs of this great lumbering beast, when the 10M is subtracted from any 'cash' at the bank - will Countrywide have to 'sell the silver' to raise capital to continue trading? For me it is a race against time, sell off assets and cut offices, or wait and the costs of running the business will eat you and the assets and some offices will be sold or rebranded. Though I am not sure who apart from the incumbent staff in the form of a MBO, would want to buy the company as it clearly will not be making profit anytime soon.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 October 2019 08:05 AM

Over half a billion pounds spent / invested in online agents in the UK. Profit ZERO. Reason - the cost of capturing a new client and running the online model costs 23% - 32% more than the fee being charged. That is why Purplebricks have just hiked their fees up by another £100 a unit, closing the gap between online fees and traditional fees. All online agents continue off the back of upfront fees and referral fees, sale or no sale, those online agents seeking no fee or no upfront fee will be out of cash within 12-months. Traditional agents are still mainly going down the no sale no fee route. Personally if I set up again today, I would go the 'charge the client for the service provided' route with regular monthly payments for work done so far. £x for listing, £x for exposure on websites, £x for viewings, £x for agreeing a sale, £x for qualifying buyer, £x for dealing with sale up to exchange - which in terms of hours is most costly part of process, £x for exchange, £x for aborted sale. So as the weeks tick on - the vendor is incentivised to reduce price, if the property has been fully and professionally marketed without a buyer being found. This would mean agents could charge 'lower' fees as they would be invoicing all vendors, rather than just invoicing the 50% of vendors who get to exchange and building in the cost of the 'other' property that they marketed but failed to sell. Eg, you list 10 at £400,000 at 1% = 10 x £4,000 potential fee or £40,000. You sell subject to contract 7 and 2 fall through before exchange, so you invoice 5 at £4,000 = £20,000. So you have shouldered the cost of marketing the other 5, and got no money from the vendor as a fee. In the alternative version you list 10 at £400,000, and you charge all 10 a fee based upon the work you actually carry out. 12 viewings, one aborted sale and then a re-sale, 30 hours of sales progressing etc. Five sales go through and five do not, but because every vendor is paying something then the fee to all could be less, so instead of 1% payable to the 5 who exchange, you charge in real terms 0.6% to all 10, so that is 10 x £4,000 x 0.6% = £24,000 income in and each vendor as an average is paying 40% less than the a 1% fee. Happy vendors and more income in, as well as a steady income flow, if all vendors are billed on a monthly cycle, much better than waiting five months for a fresh instruction to become a paid for invoice.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 October 2019 07:48 AM

I mentioned Vic Darvey CEO of Purplebricks who is a very bright man, and so I thought it right to show some balance on pay upfront online models. But, when he says things like the company is ‘not for sale’, or the company is going to change how it charges customers - the question I am going to ask is … Is Vic there? As I think he might be a little light on strategy. For me, the only great thing about Purplebricks for investors in its shares, was that on paper it seemed to be the mother of all cash cows. It appeared, and that was always the illusion, that with a positive cashflow from upfront fees, that it would once established make huge profits, without a costly bricks and mortar empire of offices, populated by expensive employed staff. The truth, now the smoke and mirrors are no more and the business model is clear for all to see, is that you can strip out the staff costs, the managers the negotiators etc who sell property and just have listers (even better if they are self-employed), but if your business campaign runs on a multi-million pound spend on television, web, radio and every media medium – it does not matter how much cash you are getting upfront, if the spend per unit listed far exceeds the cash you get in. Close scrutiny of the annual accounts of Purplebricks show a worrying conclusion that gross profit runs at about 45%, but when ‘marketing costs’ and ‘admin’ costs are added in that 45% gross profit becomes a negative figure. Purplebricks were closer to making profit when their turnover was 50M plus, they made a 5M loss. They then bragged that when turnover doubled, they would hit profit. Instead the 5M loss grew into a multi-million loss. The only thing keeping the Purplebricks empire afloat is the model of cash upfront, win or lose for the vendor. This pays the Local Property Experts and covers some of the costs of the business. If Vic feels that he is going to change the model, the cash input will dry up, and if the company has to wait 5-months for properties to sell and complete, from point of instruction, those multi-million monthly costs will eat the company and Vic alive. Perversely, I am not a luddite, I like new technology, and online agents (in concept) but I think that proptech should deal with the backroom stuff, as it does for many online and traditional agents. Allowing estate agents to have more time to be agents, to spend face to face time with clients, rather than be a replacement for them.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 October 2019 16:54 PM

Peering through the smoke and mirrors, this is an average upfront fee model of £1,039 (if there are 10 viewings) per listing. Plus referral fees on top for I assume conveyancing and finance. The 140 sales is an irrelevant figure, as the business runs I assume on instructions and upfront fees. So, 140 sales is probably 200 listings in 6 months (140 = 70% of total listings the rate of unexchanged sales generated). That is 33.3 instructions x £1,039 = £34,598 + referral fees, approx. £11,500 = £46,098 income a month. Or £553,176 per annum income - not profit. Costs - 25 members of staff, average salary £25,000, plus car or car allowance plus taxes etc, £687,000 a year. 40 outsourced staff, average £8,000 a year, £320,000. Total £1M. Typically wages = 60% of company costs, so running costs for all other parts of company will be another £665,000 a year. So total costs a year for company to break even are 1.65M, or £137,500 a month. To break even - at £1,384 a unit, they need to list 100 a month, at present they are listing 33.3, so they need to triple their instructions to break even (and that is without paying any of that 1.2M back). The other kicker is that the pay upfront model - has failed - even Vic at Purplebricks has seen that the general public will not do repeat business if they pay in advance and get no sale, and have to pay twice with a second agent who charges on results / exchange of contracts. Especially as in the industry agents on exchange on half of their stock. I assume and it is not clear in the piece - that Imovehome is a pay up front and pray model, rather than a pay on results model, if not - well an awful lot more than 1.2M is going to be needed to be injected in the coming months. Even if you could triple your through put of instructions - what else will increase? - yes you got it - staff costs and running costs, so the break-even will be in excess of 2M, which means no profit ever.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 October 2019 16:37 PM

I am with Trevor, back in the day, in the mid-1990's once a sale was agreed, we would get the vendor and the buyer to attend a meeting in the office and discuss the sale, including estimated timescales for key events, including a likely exchange date. We would then get the parties to shake hands and send out the minutes of the meeting, to all parties including both solicitors, with the memorandum of sale. Often we would get solicitors on the telephone suffering from apoplexy, and we would say that the minutes reflected the wishes of the parties and we were hopeful they could comply, especially with the time-frames.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 October 2019 09:37 AM

Is Vic There? Maybe not for long?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 October 2019 09:27 AM

Does this mean a 'buyer' can make an offer - and the vendor then receives the offer. But, the buyer has not be qualified in terms of ability to proceed, etc. So, potentially the vendor receives a bid at 750k full asking price, only to be told later by the agent that the 'buyer' has a property to sell not yet on the market. Also, is the viewing feed-back going to non-filtered? I ask this because honesty may be the best policy, but if the vendor is offended by the brutal reality that their lovely cottage smells of damp and the 40-year old bathroom needs to be ripped out - it could make the vendor want to change agents. Sometimes a more tactful - it was not for them - keeps all parties happy. Maybe the agent could trial the vendor and the viewer swapping each others mobile numbers and emails, this would speed things up? From experience that would be an interesting whit knuckle roller-coaster ride …

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 October 2019 09:20 AM

Whilst I respect Iain's viewpoint - the real possible abuse that is arguably at play, is the fact that Rightmove charge agents different amounts, for the same service. So a new agent that wants to use Rightmove, pays more than an existing client for the identical service, and though it would seem sensible to discount to a multiple branch enterprise, many agents would be staggered at how little some agents in their town, village or city are paying, when they are paying substantially more for the same service. Now Rightmove can use any model they choose - if agents are unhappy - well they can choose not to list on Rightmove, but this economic advantage/disadvantage plays fast and loose with agents who are at present under considerable financial pressures. Maybe agents should set up an anonymous forum and post how much they are charged per branch/office and what level of service they are provided, I think this would be enlightening for all. No-one minds paying for a product or service, but some argue that the many customers at Rightmove may be subsidising the minority. Personally, I think that within 3 years Zoopla who are re-aligning their model and who are substantially cheaper than Rightmove, may well offer 'self-listing' for the general public. As one of the online property portals jockey for market share and domination. Given the cost, I think many agents would 'eat' the fact that they are listing on a site with the 'self-listing' general public, as Zoopla's cost base is much lower than Rightmove. If Rightmove tried to launch this iniative, it would possibly cause a rebellion as agents would not want to pay a premium rate and compete with self-listing vendors. Estate agency, and by this I mean the whole property sector - is undergoing a period of change, just as other industries are. New technology is pushing this along and the customer or consumer is king (or queen) once again and they want service at the click of a button. And if enough of them want to market their own homes, because it is easy (obviously I know it is anything but easy) then this sentiment may change things. (E-A-I-S)

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 October 2019 08:40 AM

I think that Adam Day is and was a giant in the way he thought about agency, he was the torchbearer for a new type of estate agency, and it saddens me that he is now recruiting people who in about 16-months will possibly find they have poured their money into the eXP adventure, with a nil return. Can I back this up? Well, the industry has four main models (with some variants), model one,self-employment, set yourself up and work for yourself possibly employing staff . Model two - corporate agency/or independent agency where you work for the 'boss' - this can be very lucrative and is low risk, many earn more than self employed estate agents running their own show. Model three - franchise agency, pay a lump sum to join the club, then a percentage of turnover (not profit) every year to be part of the group, in return receive training, CRM and have red tape dealt with. Model four - Umbrella - a hybrid of the franchise system, a quasi-franchise/self employment. To my mind and I know there are many exceptions, the winners in these models are - franchisors - they are taking a constant amount of money regardless, if franchisee fails they get another to fill the space. Employed people, they get job security no risk of their own money being lost - yes they can lose there job, but re-employment is very easy in the agency sector. Then and it is more tricky to say who are winners - the self employed can be real winners - but they can be losers, if not financially they may not enjoy the pressures of running a business and being an agent. But, I have always thought that at the bottom of the list, those with most to lose are your eXP type agents. Probably not capital rich, and yet they will have to pay money out and at the same time they really are in the self-employed mode, so a double whammy. Thoughts anyone?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 October 2019 10:55 AM

Rollo BEA - Bedroom agent - I am often a bathroom and in the middle of a field walking the dog agent. The real nut to crack is - cost effective technology which allows more customer face to face time (or talking on the mobile) - I think the working space - does not matter - not to the client - unless lettings in which case you arguably need fixed premises.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 October 2019 16:35 PM

Actually Amanda Rendle's background may well be useful, with a past including HSB, Masthaven Bank? (yes the experimental one) and currently a non-exec of The Royal Mint and Keep Britain Tidy, she may have access to copious funds - which CW desperately need, and if there is a rout, then at laest she can help clean up the mess. It does astound me why the strategy at the top is - get someone from the outside of the industry to solve our problems and calm the stock market - Alison Platt - prime candidate - property industry knowledge zero - MD of Bupa - that was a good fit. Here is a suggestion - why doesn't CW put together a 'think tank' (I know very 1960's) of estate agents - and move the company forward that way. Where can they find these calibre of people with industry knowledge? - well - there are thousands of them in their business and if the look at the people they 'let go' in the past 60 months there is probably enough top talent there to make a start. My thoughts - share price will implode in Spring 2020, when CW looks for another life saving injection of cash, and then piece by piece CW will be sold off. Thoughts?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 October 2019 15:37 PM

First off, I like Rollo's thoughts and I enjoy hearing different view points, but, I am a little lost at the his thought that 'self-employed' is the new future for estate agency, as there are 8,700 self employed estate agents out of 17,800 agents in the UK, ie, private individuals or partnerships who run their own businesses. Many of these self-employed agents have been in place 30 years or more, some more recently. Then there is the franchise model, a person sets up, either under their name or a brand name, and they pay a fee to join the franchise, 1k to 50K as a one off payment, they then pay 5% to 35% of turnover (money banked to the franchisor, usually with some kind of override, say paying an extra 5% or more of any monies banked over 150k in a year. The franchisee gets all the red tape dealt with, CRM provided, training and the support of the company and other branches. The other model is corporate agency, a person goes and works for a large network of offices owned by a bank or building society, or a self-employed person who has grown his or her kingdom so large that there are many offices, and there needs to be an army of people to run the empire. There is an umbrella model, which is currently on trend, a hybrid of the franchise system. Where I do embrace that there is a change in the industry is that there appears on the face of it a left wing revolution taking place - and stay with me while I explain. I am fully aware that property is not exactly a Marxist goldmine. It may be the millennial generation or generation Z, but in many industries, people want as Rollo so aptly puts it 'freedom' to do their thing, as well as do work when it fits in with this. Also, as property grandee Chris Watkin has been teasing out in his debates, managers of estate agents and listers of estate agents seem on the face of it to be generating the wealth but only getting a small amount of the reward. So, here is the socialist rhetoric - the ownership and non-ownership of the means of production is central to his distinction between capitalists and proletarians. So the manager or the lister may be creating tens of thousands of pounds of profit through their labour, but it is the estate agency owner - (or the mill owner in the classic theory) who gets the lions share. The vibe in the air is that managers and listers can cry freedom and liberate themselves by rising up and carrying out the work for themselves, and in so doing re-define when the work is done and how much they get paid for the work. But, this is utopian, as if you work for yourself, you need 118K of capital to set up and survive, until you get out of year two, as no cashflow in for first 5-months, or if you work under an umbrella or a franchise, you have to factor in maybe an extra 30K of costs to buy in plus another 30K each year you trade. So, you are in the grip of the capitalist system. Speaking as a retired estate agent with over 30 years of industry experience, who took the plunge and set up on my own agency, my advice - if you are the type of person who likes risk, is willing to work twice the hours of agents in corporate agency (many of whom are brilliant agents), then in year three you will earn double what you earn now, but, you will have to have deep pockets. The other factor at work, is that in theory with the advances in proptech (I am an advovacate and had in 1996 one of the earliest versions) a single person could run a whole agency on their own, supported by technology. But, the monthly cost or burn, of your CRM etc is usually far higher than employing two members of staff and using a couple of laptops. That is why the glorious revolution will never come, there may well be great managers and listers and property managers and negotiators who want to run their own business, but if and when they do - they will follow the same mould as the business they leave behind. Yes, they can take an afternoon off for a child's birthday, yes they can work from home, or their car or the coffee shop, but, agency is increasingly more about the customer - as the boss of IKEA has recently commented, and businesses need to spend more time with them and that means more hours on the clock, the exact opposite of the 'red revolution ideal' of working for yourself so you can fit me time in around the work. Andrew Stanton estate-agency-insights-strategies.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 October 2019 13:34 PM

Boost for Purplebricks? Let me see, is the online sector thriving? YOPA just lost 30M last year, after raising 16M from its current investors, 6 large online agents have closed or gone into administration in the last 24-months, the largest online rental agency has failed just this week, and one online agent is now doing it for free. So, in the short term a few more people will list with an agent who charges zero fees, and others will use Purplebricks. But, in the next 12-months, who will have any cash left to continue trading. YOPA have burnt through (invested?) over 65M since they started almost 50M in the last 2 years, and Purplebricks are eating through their cash reserve. 2020 is likely to be the decade of clear vision in more ways than one and the smoke and mirrors that has shrouded the 'disruptors' of estate agency may well fall away. Exposing a landscape of broken investors and disenchanted vendors and buyers, landlords and tenants. We shall see.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 October 2019 14:34 PM

If anyone wants to set up their own agency - here are the figures based on an office in the high street, if you go serviced office or work from home, or coffee shop, broadly speaking costs are about the same as you pay more in terms of online presence for your business to grow the brand. The question is why would you want to pay 30k a year to KW on top of this? Here are the figures; it costs 30k to acquire premises and kit the office out and have all the IT hardware, systems, and office furniture in place. Then it costs 18K a month to cover the overheads, for a team of four-sales people and their salaries, cars, website costs, and all other costs to run the office and sell properties. A traditional agency trading 50-miles from the capital will then market and sell property in all price ranges, mostly from £200,000 to £600,000, and as the brand matures they may specialise in both the mid-range and the top end range £800,000 to £1.5M. On average they sell property at an average price of £360,000 and they charge 1.1% plus VAT, or around £4,000 plus VAT, £4,800 in total on a no-sale, no fee basis. In the first 12-months of trading – Year One - if they sell a property day one, the cheque for the completed sale arrives five-months later, and as they spend the first month getting property stock on the market, it is in their second month real sales begin. So, after six-months of trading they have spent 30k on setting the office up and 108k on running costs, that’s 138k, and probably they have received only 5k in on commission from completed sales. Over the next six-months their outgoings are another 108k, and the commission from completed sales dribbles in, plus VAT, at a rate of, 5k month six, 7k month seven, 10k month eight, 12k month nine, 14k month ten, 18k month 11, and 20k month 12, total 86k. So, 236k spent out, and 86k cash flow in. Profit; what profit? there is no profit, they are now minus 160k for the first year. Over the next 12 months – Year Two - office costs are 19.5k a month, and income from completed sales is 26k a month. So 234k spent out, and 312k cash flow in. Profit; 78k for the second year. In the next 12 months – Year Three – office costs are 20k a month, and income from completed sales is 28k a month. So 240k spent out, and 336k cash flow in. Profit ; 96k for the third year. On a serious note if you have a business that is in the doldrums or you are in the first stage of running your agency business, just reach out and I am more than happy to give free advice. That is right, free advice backed by 34 years of agency experience, all of it in the UK.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 October 2019 12:02 PM

I agree with Simon - go it alone - it is cheaper - the brand is not KW - it is you. I do not think that Mr Vendor in the UK is going to be too interested in an agency with its foundation, roots and philosophy in Texas. A few days ago I had the KW model explained to me by Russel Quirke, and I think it was: - if you join KW, you pay 30k a year to KW. This covers all costs, then after banking 150K of fees in any given year you give 10% of banking's over 150K to KW. So, year one total banking's for 7 months (as no money in month 1 to 5) is 65K, minus 30K to KW = 35K minus - your salary, car and all other costs for 12 months means you are minus 25K. Year two, by some miracle you bank 200K (not make profit but bank) you pay another 30K to KW and 10% of 50k of banking's - 5K, total 35k to KW. So, at the end of year two KW has 75K of your money. By the end of year two - most cold start estate agency enterprises break even, (unless it is an online cold start in which case it never breaks even) but the KW candidate will be sitting on a 75K mountain of debt, which in year three with another 30K to be paid to KW plus a 10% over ride on turnover not profit, will have most KW candidates chipping out in about month 14 of the operation. Unless they have a large amount in the bank. Russel if I have got this wrong, please let me know and perhaps layout in this forum the 2 year cost to a new KW candidate, and the upfront cost to 'buy in'.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 October 2019 11:50 AM

Congratulations to both parties, living in Winslow I am fully aware of Ella's local dominance in the rental sector and the reputation of George Thomas's operation. In fact with the Wilkinson Partnership also based in Winslow headed up by Simon Wilkinson, with a second office in Leighton Buzzard, which has won multiple awards and deals with top end property and land and development, I am blessed to be in an oasis of estate agency excellence. Whilst there is definitely change within the property industry, and much debate about its future, with online agents, proptech, and millennials and generation zero re-shaping how business is done. It is telling that when I walk my dog Zara around a village like Winslow, what the general public actually want is great service, provided by local sales professionals who are rooted in the community. Word of mouth recommendations and peak performance, year after year, solid and uncompromising, is the way that many leading independent agents continue to thrive, their aim is not dreaming up the next best thing in the industry, it is to cater for the needs of the clients, by listening to their needs and delivering.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 October 2019 06:39 AM

Good news that Countrywide has appointed a new person, potentially bad news Bruce’s very successful career to date, appears to lack any experience in the property sector, unless home DIY can be counted and of course Dixons. I do hope that in the words of Britney they have not ‘done it again’ as Countrywide had previously installed a CEO the infamous and long-departed Alison Platt whose background was also anything but estate agency. During her four-year reign there was a 90% drop in the company’s share price. At least with the current share price at 3.9p, no-one can really harm the present fortunes of the company. True Bruce and Dave Lewis as a double act turned the fortune of Tesco around, following a programme of redundancies and re-modelling. But, the difference between Tesco and the Behemoth of Countrywide, is that Tesco when turning its fortunes around was in the top three of retailers in the world, Countrywide sadly is not in the same league as many of its competitors. The jury is out on whether it can survive, (as an ex-employee I hope it does) or it will have a programme of asset stripping and be consigned to history as yet another example of ‘big business’ failing to adapt to the realities of the ‘click generation’ who want service, and brands that deliver.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 October 2019 07:42 AM

I want to start by saying that I admire anyone who gets off their bottom and tries to do something, as in the case of hardworking Ashkay. But, I think the words 'endless possibility with the internet' is a truer reflection of what is now gripping the business sector, as there is an awful lot of misdirection and as Mr Trump likes to put it fake news out there. For a kick off - I do not think Ashkay is a millionaire, and I am sure he will not mind me saying this, he has sold shares in his jointly owned company for over £800,000, and he and his family member retain a substantial amount of shares. But the company is not listed on the stock exchange or the AIM so the shares he holds are without value. Regarding the present value of Doorsteps, I think the annual accounts are due in September so I reserve judgement as to what profit has been made in the last year, but I would be surprised if it has made any profit. Which means that Ashkay has lots of shares in a company that does not make any money and is propped up by crowdfunding. What I am trying to convey is that - a lot of harm has been done to estate agency, because the outside perception of the general public is that property professionals are millionaires, when in fact most are for the hours they work on a minimum wage. Perhaps, then, people in the public eye such as Ashkay, would be better off encouraging the 'youth' to focus more on having a solid education, rather than dreaming up the next big thing on the internet, which inevitably these days seems to be funded by numerous individuals who dig into their own pockets and fund enterprises which never make a profit or give a dividend to them. Personally, having qualifications and a degree, back in the day when only 5% of the country had degrees, opened doors for me, so I still think that as a back up in case the internet does not bring riches … get as much education and learning under your belt.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 August 2019 06:54 AM

Well Taylors in Kingston (a few miles from Central Milton Keynes) has closed in the past few months, so that is one less branch, and I have heard 'rumours' that others are about to. My thoughts are that to staunch the losses, closing offices is the only solution, but the cost of redundancies and ongoing leases, usually far outweighs any 'savings' for about 3 years. So, it will still be too little too late if there has been or will be a programme of mass closures. Another worrying thought if indeed hundreds of branches are for the chop, usually this is a precursor for a sale, and maybe that might be the real objective. Make countrywide more appealing as a target for asset striping from interested parties. Time will tell. Countrywide has been sleepwalking into this mess for nearly half a decade so hardly news in some ways. A real shame, but every business has its glory days and then the cycle continues downwards, unless top management has strong direction and can deal with the challenges and changes, unfortunately, too many decision makers who are out of touch with what estate agency looks like at grass roots level. They would do well to sit in some of their branches for a week and see the reality of doing business in 2019, it is all very different from doing agency in the 1980's.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 August 2019 09:54 AM

I am not sure that a firm decision either way will help, in fact adding stamp duty burden to the buyer will make for more expensive property ticket prices. I really hope that Boris has a better time dreaming up a Brexit plan as moving the stamp duty burden just raises selling prices for all, and squeezes the first time buyer at the bottom who has no property to add the stamp to. What do I mean? Mr Vendor you now have to cover stamp duty cost on the sale of your property as Boris feels this will stimulate the property market. What you want to increase your asking/ selling price by an amount to cover this proposition? Excellent news, that will stimulate the property market by increasing the sale price of your 500k instruction to 515k overnight. Also, it will help all of those nice national homebuilders who offer to pay the stamp duty as a deal sweetener already, they would need to offer a further incentive to stay ahead of the curve, which of course would be absorbed in even higher selling prices, brilliant Boris ideas, sounds like a real stimulus to the industry, ever thought about asking estate agents for their views? Maybe if a housing minister was in post for more than 5 minutes - that would be a start. Soon be Halloween and things will all be … a dark, scary nightmare and I am not describing - autumn's seasonal celebration.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 August 2019 16:39 PM

I hope that Boris has a better time dreaming up a Brexit plan as moving the stamp duty burden just raises selling prices for all, and squeezes the first time buyer at the bottom who has no property to add the stamp to. What do I mean? Mr Vendor you now have to cover stamp duty cost on the sale of your property, What you want to increase your asking/ selling price by an amount to cover this proposition? Excellent news, that will stimulate the property market by increasing the sale price of your 500k instruction to 515k overnight. Also, it will help all of those nice national homebuilders who offer to pay the stamp duty as a deal sweetener already, they would need to offer a further incentive to stay ahead of the curve, which of course would be absorbed in even higher selling prices, brilliant Boris ideas, sounds like a real stimulus to the industry, ever thought about asking estate agents for their views?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 August 2019 16:30 PM

Obviously trade bodies and training entities look to embrace further regulation, as it is their interest, but what amazes me is that the very people, the people in the frontline doing agency every day, are never consulted. This ivory tower approach goes a long way to explain any muted response as Graham calls it from agents. I re-state again that the opening premise for further overarching regulation as set out in the ‘new big ideas’ from a 70 year old peer, is that the public do not trust agents. My experience is that overwhelmingly vendors, landlords, buyers and tenants in the main do trust agents that is why there is so much repeat business. Maybe, it is time that trade bodies instead of embracing more regulation, regulation which might actually undermine their present power base, actually took time to positively put forward to the ‘doubting public’ the real solid hardworking and professional way that 99% of the agents conduct themselves at present. I think it is high time that agents actually educated the general public into how complicated agency is, then the perceived ‘disconnect and distrust’ that is the genesis of the latest government recommendations might be stopped in its tracks and instead the government might actually do things that help an industry which performs a very vital role, both to the economy and on a personal level to millions of people. Thoughts.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 July 2019 07:41 AM

There is always one - and usually it is me but if the article is a simple case of arithmetic, then let's start by getting the figures correct. UK completions do fluctuate annually between 1 million to 1.2 million, so correct. The number of agents 16,500, I think that a little low, but close enough, and of course 5,000 pure rental agents who from time to time sell the odd property. But, 10% of property that completes each year does so with no agent involved, so David Westgate's main thrust is in fact even more pertinent, lots of agents chasing 900,000 completions. Where will it end? - Well they always say that what happens in America, comes across the pond, and did you know 75% of realtors only sell 2 or less properties a month, and only the top 5% of realtors earn over 300,000 dollars. So pretty slim pickings (not the cowboy). This then could be the future - in the UK. As could the American multi-listing system … I fully agree that there is more competition - Since 1985, when I first became an agent, there has been a 500% increase in estate agents and only a 74% increase in housing stock. In answer to how many how many estate agents are trading within a 10 mile radius of large town, which I use when discussing with my clients the need to sharpen their approach to getting new stock, in say a town of 180,000 inhabitants, I tell my awe inspired clients that there are 221 Estate & Letting Agents, 71 Letting Agents only, 71 Estate agents only 363 agencies in total – trading in a 460 sqm radius which is an agency every 1.25 miles. (Plus online agents.) But, I am not sure that in the future there will be less agents, I think there may well be more, and these will be single individuals 'property people' who list and sell and are at the core of a geographical area, the property specialist, low overheads, hi tec, but also available, knowledgeable and charging a fee that covers costs and a margin on top to make it worth while to do the job. Vendors and Landlords do not want cheap fees, they want service and value for money, perhaps Proptech can be the salvation of the industry after all.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 July 2019 14:06 PM

Having just read the 56 page report, it seems based on the premise that as the general public do not 'trust' estate agents and property professionals there is a need to regulate. Lord Best who oversaw the report I know has a major background in property matters - but not perhaps a working knowledge of the industry at ground level. Apart from the obvious new levels of red tape, the cost of the new regulator to be paid for ultimately by the agents and property professionals, and the cost for training that the new report calls for, which once again will hit the profitability of all agents, I am struck that the report is saying that the present bodies who regulate the property profession are not fit for purpose, not really a ringing endorsement for those hardworking people. Given the government has not resolved Brexit, after three years, I think that this issue of more regulation for the property industry may well be kicked into the long grass as other more pressing issues come to the political fore. especially after next Monday evening. As a person who helps and develops agency businesses I am all for training and professional standards and codes, but - why does the government want to add more regulation to the property sector? Should car sales people, double glazing sales people and MP's not also have extra regulation based on the same premise that this report has, that a low percentage of folk do not trust them. Many MP's when elected have zero training or competency of being an MP, and yet they make decisions from the first day they arrive at the house, decisions that have ramifications for their constituents, maybe they need to have formal qualifications and annual tests to prove they are a 'fit' person as detailed in Lord Best's report on estate agency professionals.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 July 2019 07:29 AM

Absolutely brilliant. The asa look into the fact that a property is shown as being available when in fact it under offer. So the agent has carried out its primary function and no doubt the vendor is happy. In contrast purplebricks runs yearly campaigns stating that it charges clients no commission, yet every single instruction that is listed a 25% commission is paid directly to the ‘self-employed’ local property expert, but the asa do not see this as a breach. Purplebricks also continue to state they convert over 80% of instructions into sales they produce, a myth perpetuated by their ex-CEO. Maybe it is time that the asa looked into this online agent which has failed to make credible profits, rather than sequence which makes multi-million pound profits year after year because ... it sells property ... which was the starting point for complainant. I sympathise if a buyer sees a plumb property for sale and it turns out to be sold, but with over 600 branches I am sure that from time to time there are lapses.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 17 July 2019 09:14 AM

Genius idea. Mr vendor you now have to cover stamp duty cost on the sale of your property, what you want to increase your asking/ selling price by an amount to cover this proposition. Excellent news, that will stimulate the property market by increasing the sale price of your 500k instruction to 515k overnight. Also, it will help all of those nice national homebuilders who offer to pay the stamp duty as a deal sweetener already, they would need to offer a further incentive to stay ahead of the curve, which of course would be absorbed in even higher selling prices, brilliant Boris ideas, sounds like a real stimulus to the industry, ever thought about asking estate agents for their views?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 July 2019 06:33 AM

Michelle, as you seem to know all regarding purplebricks, perhaps you can confirm that at the point a new client signs up to use purplebricks, it is made clear to the client that a referral fee is in existence. If purplebricks do not disclose the referral fee, they may well be in breach of the new code as set down by the estate agency trading standards unit. Also, how can lpe s be self-employed if all their work is supplied to them by purplebricks, and they are trained and recruited by purplebricks, and they do no work outside the work they do for purplebricks. These are genuine questions, i look forward to your knowledge and input.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 July 2019 23:16 PM

Asset stripping, it will all be done by September. Question is, will other large agencies follow suit. Those who wait too long may wish they had acted sooner.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 July 2019 22:52 PM

Watch the wires.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 July 2019 22:47 PM

Where to begin, having seen Purplebricks, burn through 90M of its cash reserve, in a year, 7.5M a month, and the exit of the Bruce brother's and a long list of key executives in the UK and in Australia and America, and the share price dropping by 80% from its height, I am not sure why anyone would be mad enough to risk putting money into Purplebricks, who has never paid a dividend to any investor since it began trading. As to stamp duty - as average sale price of Purplebricks is £261,000 this attracts at present a minimal amount of stamp duty, so if Boris does become PM, and if he does play around with stamp duty, no impact here for Purplebricks. Regarding Foxtons - yes - stamp duty has impacted on the number of bigger ticket sales, but the imposition of extra stamp duty on second purchases is the bigger area of damage that was caused by the last government interference with stamp duty, and this is unlikely to be repealed. Looking forward, even if Boris does become PM and he does tweak stamp duty, and if he does achieve Brexit - will the resulting crosswinds that come - interest rates rising - and continuing big business failing with the resultant unemployment make for a vibrant housing market. My advice, keep your money in you pocket and do not invest in estate agency stock, you may well need a cash reserve to help weather the next 12 months of political and economic instability coming our way.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 July 2019 08:10 AM

Where to begin. The ex-CEO actually goes on record and confirms that Lpe’s are employees, and not self-employed. This will be no surprise to other estate agents, but does pose a tricky problem when HMRC and trading standards pick up on this point. As lpe’s are supposedly self-employed. I broached this point - the employment status of lpe’s with the estate agency team trading standards in Wales, about a month ago and I would hope that the ex ceo’s comments might get some fresh traction on the subject. The more that actually comes to the surface regarding the real business model of purplebricks as confirmed by persons who ran the operation, the more dubious it becomes. On a second point I offered a £1,000 reward to anyone at purplebricks or a former employee so Mr Wainwright is a candidate, who can prove that 80% of instructions listed by purplebricks go through to completion. I offered this reward for a month and it has been over a week and there are no takers. I will keep all informed if anyone comes forward in the next three weeks and claims the £1,000. Lastly, and I wonder if Chris Watkin could ask mr wainwright, when an lpe is with a potential client/vendor does the lpe disclose he/she is going to get a referral fee or set commission from signing the client up. Or does the lpe have to disclose as he/she is self-employed, but, 75% of the fee the client is about to pay goes as a referral fee to purplebricks.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 July 2019 22:36 PM

Chris, you spoke about Australia - and the need for agents to change their approach - you are aware that Purplebricks just lost millions there and closed down their operations? And in the U S. Maybe the world just does not understand the bright future of online agents.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 July 2019 08:47 AM

Vic Darvey has obviously been speaking to Ashkay Rupareilia of Doorsteps who in his original pitch on crowdcube stated that by 2020, that's five months away online agents will have 20% of the property market. The reality is that Doorsteps has raised over £889,000 from poor private investors with two rounds of cash raising at crowdcube, and the company has failed to make a penny profit. I think it is time that 'fake news' regarding online agents as being the future of agency should be faded out - and people start to look at the reality. They tell me Ashkay is a millionaire, but is this true? His company is valued at 18M, (how?) and he has sold some shares of an unlisted company for £889,000. If the company stock/shares was listed on the stock market or even the Alternative stock market and the shares had real value, then the holding that Ashkay and his relative has would indeed make him a millionaire, but holding massive amounts of shares of an unlisted company - which is set to need further funding is just another empire built on thin air. Looking at the Purplebricks figures, just released Vic Darvey would do well to look at the actual running cost of the Purplebrick operation. In 12 months PB have burned through 90M of their cash. Or burnt 7.5M every month for the last 12 months. A year ago they had 152.8M of cash, now they have 62.8M. Regarding the UK arm of the company, the supposedly profit making part, the Purplebricks balance sheet is very creative. In the period 2017 – 2018 (3rd July) it states that in the UK it made 74.4M in revenue, and the cost of sales was 31.3M, giving a gross profit of 43.1M, or gross profit of 57.9%. But, then in the next line down in the accounts, when admin costs of 19.5M are added in, and marketing costs of 21.4M are added in the operating profit is 2.2M (not 43.1M). 2.2M as % of 74.4M revenue = 2.9% return. Also, it had 152.8M cash as a war chest to trade forward. In the period 2018 – 2019(3rd July) it states that in the UK it made 90.1M in revenue, and the cost of sales was 33.3M, giving a gross profit of 56.8M, or gross profit of 63%. But, then in the next line down in the accounts, when admin costs of 24.8M are added in, and marketing costs of 26.7M are added in the operating profit is 5.3M (not 56.8M). 5.3M as % of 90.1M revenue = 5.8% return. But, the company as a whole had no longer got 152.8M cash as a war chest to trade forward, this had reduced to 62.8M over the 12 month period. So, the company had burnt through 90M in 12 months, or 7.5M a month. Given that Axel Springer injected over 130M into the company in the recent past, when the share price was three times its present level, it is unlikely that a further round of funding will happen, which means that even with closing down operations in Australia and America, commissary to all those self-employed realtors, the cash burn will continue for the scaled down Purplebricks model, with over 30M a year used in tv and other advertising alone, to keep the brand alive. Even if the cash burn is only 3M a month, in a year that is 36M, and as can be seen increased revenue in the UK, has only yielded a wafer thin return, so even if the average fee was to rise another £100 and revenue was 120M in the UK next year, the admin and marketing costs will grow even larger, and it could be a case that they make a 5M profit, but the cash to trade forward will dwindle by year end 2020 to only 26.8M or less than 9 months of capital to trade forward into 2021. What the accounts actually show is that the true cost of the sale for the Purplebrick online brand is prohibitive, as in;- In 2017 – 2018 is 74.4M monies in, 31.3M + 19.5M + 21.4M monies out, or 74.4M monies in, 72.2M monies out. Giving a true cost of sale of 97% of revenue generated. And in 2018-2019 is 90.1M monies in, 33.3M + 24.8M + 26.7M monies out, or 90.1M monies in, 84.8M monies out. Giving a true cost of sale of 94% of revenue generated. So the other money or cash washing around Purplebricks – comes not from making vast trading profits, but from raising capital from private investors and then from investors, private and blue chip companies when it was launched on the Alternative Investment Market. The allure of the company and its perceived value is that it has few fixed tangible assets or employees, though HMRC are likely to think that the Pimlico Plumbers have a lot in common with the self-employed LPE’s, but without high street premises (those assets), the company is forced to continue spending a multi-million budget on reminding the public that they exist. Am I anti-Purplebricks and online agents? No, I just feel sorry for the investors backing them, and as each online agency fails, Emoov, Tepilo, etc they damage the reputation of the industry as a whole. Vendors losing upfront fees paid in good faith and self-employed hard working estate agents losing their livelihood and investors losing their life's savings. The only winners are the banks and finance houses and brokers putting together these online companies who are charging vast fees, that is where a substantial amount of revenue disappears to. Lastly, Chris from my experience most estate agents I have dealt with over the past 33 years do not have a mentality of get em on get em sold. The mentality is do a good job each and every day, the actual listing and selling part of agency is only a small part of the process, it is the other multi-component parts of an estate agents day that most agents take a great pride in. As most agents are sole traders or a joint partnership, these people take a huge pride in what they do, as it is their name over the door, and their money on the line if things get tough. That is why many independent agents deliver massive profits each year as they are part of the community, they do not need to fake it - they are it.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 July 2019 08:44 AM

Cash Management Cash Generation and Cash Burn. In 12 months PB have burned through 90M of their cash. Or burnt 7.5M every month for the last 12 months. A year ago Purplebricks had 152.8M of cash, now they have only 87.8M. Regarding the UK arm of the company, the supposedly profit making part, the Purplebricks balance sheet is very creative. In the period 2017 – 2018 (3rd July) it states that in the UK it made 74.4M in revenue, and the cost of sales was 31.3M, giving a gross profit of 43.1M, or gross profit of 57.9%. But, then in the next line down in the accounts, when admin costs of 19.5M are added in, and marketing costs of 21.4M are added in the operating profit is 2.2M (not 43.1M). 2.2M as % of 74.4M revenue = 2.9% return. Also, it had 152.8M cash as a war chest to trade forward as of July 2018. In the period 2018 – 2019(3rd July) it states that in the UK it made 90.1M in revenue, and the cost of sales was 33.3M, giving a gross profit of 56.8M, or gross profit of 63%. But, then in the next line down in the accounts, when admin costs of 24.8M are added in, and marketing costs of 26.7M are added in the operating profit is 5.3M (not 56.8M). 5.3M as % of 90.1M revenue = 5.8% return. But, the company as a whole had no longer got 152.8M cash as a war chest to trade forward, this had reduced 62.8M over the 12 month period. So, the company had burnt through 90M in 12 months, or 7.5M a month. Given that Axel Springer injected over 130M into the company in the recent past, when the share price was three times its present level, it is unlikely that a further round of funding will happen. Which means that even with closing down operations in Australia and America, commissary to all those self-employed realtors, the cash burn will continue for the scaled down Purplebricks model, with over 30M a year used in tv and other advertising alone, to keep the brand alive. Even if the cash burn is only 3M a month, in a year that is 36M, and as can be seen increased revenue in the UK, has only yielded a wafer thin return, so even if the average fee was to rise another £100 and revenue was 120M in the UK next year, the admin and marketing costs will grow even larger. And it could be a case that they make a 5M profit, but the cash to trade forward will dwindle by year end 2020 to only 26.8M or less than 9 months of capital to trade forward into 2021. What the accounts actually show is that the true cost of the sale for the Purplebrick online brand is prohibitive, as in;- In 2017 – 2018 is 74.4M monies in, 31.3M + 19.5M + 21.4M monies out, or 74.4M monies in, 72.2M monies out. Giving a true cost of sale of 97% of revenue generated. And in 2018-2019 is 90.1M monies in, 33.3M + 24.8M + 26.7M monies out, or 90.1M monies in, 84.8M monies out. Giving a true cost of sale of 94% of revenue generated. So the other money or cash washing around Purplebricks – comes not from making vast trading profits, but from raising capital from private investors and then from investors, private and blue chip companies when it was launched on the Alternative Investment Market. The allure of the company and its perceived value is that it has few fixed tangible assets or employees, though HMRC are likely to think that the Pimlico Plumbers have a lot in common with the self-employed LPE’s, but without high street premises (those assets), the company is forced to continue spending a multi-million budget on reminding the public that they exist. All financials taken from the Purplebricks - accounts as posted today.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 03 July 2019 21:53 PM

Well Trading standards seem to think it is ok. I wrote to them outlining the position that tens of millions had been paid and not even a cake in return for customers of Purplebricks, and Trading Standards position is that until customers complain no action can be taken. Maybe ex-clients of Purplebricks and other onliners, who received no sale could get a class action together through a solicitor and get the momentum required for the regulating bodies to wake up to a possible mis-selling scandal on a scale of the recent PPI scandal in the financial sector. Of course if online agents can prove they sell 80% plus of the stock they list, rather than 48%, then there would be less of a fuss, but even if, and it is a big if - an online agent sold and completed on 80% of its listings, that would still mean 20% of clients paid for a service they did not get, which with Purple bricks would be over 15M a year.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 July 2019 15:38 PM

If a double glazing company received an upfront payment/fee, on the promise that they would install a double glazed window, say at a cost of £1,000 to a client. And in a year they had 65,000 customers, but only installed 31,200 windows failing to put the other 33,800 double glazed windows in - I think the company would have major issues with trading standards. So, if an online agent receives an upfront fee, on the promise they will provide a service that allows a vendor to complete on the sale of their home, say at a cost of £1,000 or probably more. But only completes on 48% of sales - why does trading standards not take issue? When Emoov failed, twentyci, stated that sales rates of instructions to sales was low, and from this I extrapolated that completion rates would have been less than 40%, so 605 of vendors paying out good money for no return. I am not saying that online agents should not charge upfront fees, but they should give accurate conversion rates to potential vendors before the vendors part with their cash. Purplebricks say they convert at 80% from instruction to completed sale, I am offering £1,000 to anyone who can prove this, as I think they convert at nearer 50%, which means last year nearly 35M of fee was paid by vendors who did not get sold, or in the case of a double glazing company did not get a double glazed window put in. It is time that 'transparency' was the order of the day - if clients are paying cash upfront based on trust; on the no sale no fee basis, which over 90% of estate agents use -the trust is balanced the other way with the agent taking the risk that if they do perform a fee will be forthcoming.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 July 2019 11:33 AM

Simon - some excellent points - and having been trolled by Michelle - who said that I should enjoy my retirement - I also think she should do her homework.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 June 2019 07:56 AM

Well that's a thousand pounds I have lost - let us see Major Tom. I will let you know. And it is not just about an unfair competitive edge - think of all the shareholders who bought shares thinking that they conversion rate was over 80% only to find it is under 50% - that would be a real cake in the face -

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 30 June 2019 07:50 AM

Stanton’s £1,000 Purplebricks Conversion challenge. I have never been frightened to put my money where my mouth is, and in response to Lee Wainwrights ex-CEO of Purplebricks statement that Purplebricks completes on 80% of instructions they list. I Andrew Stanton – property analyst, consultant and journalist, from estate agency insights and strategies – throw down a £1,000 prize gauntlet to any former or present employee of Purplebricks, who can prove this statement to be true. Since 2017, from my own in-depth analysis I proved that Purplebricks only completes on 48% of the instructions they list or less. And I have repeatedly asked for proof that this is incorrect and found no takers. I can give you an up to date example, on Rightmove 27th June 2019, Purplebricks had in one area Meridian, a total of 3,159 properties showing as either for sale or under offer. 1,844 listed for sale, and 1,315 listed sold subject to contract, so only a 58% conversion rate, which allowing for a 28% cancellation rate on the 1,315, gives 946 completions or a conversion rate of only 29%. I am willing to lodge £1,000 with EAT, for 28-days, and the first person from Purplebricks, who can show the EAT team proof that Purplebricks does complete on 8 out of 10 instructions they list, will receive the £1,000. The only rules are that, the conversion rate must be over a 12-month period, and if any LPE seeks the £1,000, they must have listed for more than 12-months. So, Jan to Dec 2017, 96 properties are listed by an LPE, Stanton would require verification that 77 of these addresses completed having been sold by Purplebricks; at any point after they were listed. Purplebrick’s in their company annual statements have been stating that they have been completing at a rate in excess of 80%, and some months ago I contacted National Trading Standards Estate agency team, querying this. Stating they probably only completed on 50% or less of property listed. Which meant over £35M was paid out in upfront fees from vendors last year, who failed to achieve a sale. The response was that that until the public complained no action could be taken. I am not singling out Purplebrick’s about completion rates on property listed, this is just an industry norm that agents only complete on 50% of the properties they are instructed on. Given this ‘truth’ perhaps there might be merit in charging a marketing fee on all instructions, based on services rendered. Any person wishing to claim the £1,000 reward, please contact Graham Norwood who can act as referee, if I am incorrect I am more than happy to pay up and shut up. The clock starts ticking today the 29th of June. I will let you all know if I had to pay out.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 June 2019 11:50 AM

Stanton’s £1,000 Purplebricks Conversion challenge. I have never been frightened to put my money where my mouth is, and in response to Lee Wainwrights ex-CEO of Purplebricks statement that Purplebricks completes on 80% of instructions they list. I Andrew Stanton – property analyst, consultant and journalist, from estate agency insights and strategies – throw down a £1,000 prize gauntlet to any former or present employee of Purplebricks, who can prove this statement to be true. Since 2017, from my own in-depth analysis I proved that Purplebricks only completes on 48% of the instructions they list or less. And I have repeatedly asked for proof that this is incorrect and found no takers. I can give you an up to date example, on Rightmove 27th June 2019, Purplebricks had in one area Meridian, a total of 3,159 properties showing as either for sale or under offer. 1,844 listed for sale, and 1,315 listed sold subject to contract, so only a 58% conversion rate, which allowing for a 28% cancellation rate on the 1,315, gives 946 completions or a conversion rate of only 29%. I am willing to lodge £1,000 with EAT, for 28-days, and the first person from Purplebricks, who can show the EAT team proof that Purplebricks does complete on 8 out of 10 instructions they list, will receive the £1,000. The only rules are that, the conversion rate must be over a 12-month period, and if any LPE seeks the £1,000, they must have listed for more than 12-months. So, Jan to Dec 2017, 96 properties are listed by an LPE, I would require verification that 77 of these addresses completed having been sold by Purplebricks; at any point after they were listed. Purplebrick’s in their company annual statements have been stating that they have been completing at a rate in excess of 80%, and some months ago I contacted National Trading Standards Estate agency team, querying this. Stating they probably only completed on 50% or less of property listed. Which meant over £35M was paid out in upfront fees from vendors last year, who failed to achieve a sale. The response was that that until the public complained no action could be taken. I am not singling out Purplebrick’s about completion rates on property listed, this is just an industry norm that agents only complete on 50% of the properties they are instructed on. Given this ‘truth’ perhaps there might be merit in charging a marketing fee on all instructions, based on services rendered. Any person wishing to claim the £1,000 reward, please contact Graham Norwood who can act as referee, if I am incorrect I am more than happy to pay up and shut up. The clock starts ticking today the 29th of June. I will let you all know if I had to pay out.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 June 2019 11:48 AM

Stanton’s £1,000 Purplebricks Conversion challenge. I have never been frightened to put my money where my mouth is, and in response to Lee Wainwrights ex-CEO of Purplebricks statement that Purplebricks completes on 80% of instructions they list. I Andrew Stanton – property analyst, consultant and journalist, from estate agency insights and strategies – throw down a £1,000 prize gauntlet to any former or present employee of Purplebricks, who can prove this statement to be true. Since 2017, from my own in-depth analysis I proved that Purplebricks only completes on 48% of the instructions they list or less. And I have repeatedly asked for proof that this is incorrect and found no takers. I can give you an up to date example, on Rightmove 27th June 2019, Purplebricks had in one area Meridian, a total of 3,159 properties showing as either for sale or under offer. 1,844 listed for sale, and 1,315 listed sold subject to contract, so only a 58% conversion rate, which allowing for a 28% cancellation rate on the 1,315, gives 946 completions or a conversion rate of only 29%. I am willing to lodge £1,000 with EAT, for 28-days, and the first person from Purplebricks, who can show the EAT team proof that Purplebricks does complete on 8 out of 10 instructions they list, will receive the £1,000. The only rules are that, the conversion rate must be over a 12-month period, and if any LPE seeks the £1,000, they must have listed for more than 12-months. So, Jan to Dec 2017, 96 properties are listed by an LPE, Stanton would require verification that 77 of these addresses completed having been sold by Purplebricks; at any point after they were listed. Purplebrick’s in their company annual statements have been stating that they have been completing at a rate in excess of 80%, and some months ago I contacted National Trading Standards Estate agency team, querying this. Stating they probably only completed on 50% or less of property listed. Which meant over £35M was paid out in upfront fees from vendors last year, who failed to achieve a sale. The response was that that until the public complained no action could be taken. I am not singling out Purplebrick’s about completion rates on property listed, this is just an industry norm that most agents only complete on 50% of the properties they are instructed on. Given this ‘truth’ perhaps there might be merit in charging a marketing fee on all instructions, based on services rendered. Any person wishing to claim the £1,000 reward, please contact Graham Norwood who can act as referee, if I am incorrect I am more than happy to pay up and shut up. The clock starts ticking today the 29th of June. I will let you all know if I had to pay out.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 June 2019 11:43 AM

Mr Voice - try 70 hours plus a week , and try since 1986 - then you will get some idea how much industry knowledge there is on these comment threads.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 June 2019 14:11 PM

On the 18th of October 2017, I proved that Purplebricks converted only 48% of listings to completed sales, the full article is on my website estate-agency-insights-strategies for anyone who is interested. I was in contact with Anthony Codling at that time and sent him my analysis plus a comment that using PB was the same as same as flipping a coin, ie a 50% chance of losing your fee paid upfront. Anthony also did his own analysis based on tracing a sample of instructions and seeing what amount completed as recorded at Land registry. Despite requests from Purplebricks, they have never disclosed their conversion rate, but the failure of Emoov (1) last year does give some interesting insights into the online model. I also posted a comment some months ago that ... ' If you look very closely at this independent analysis commissioned by Purple Bricks by the data experts twentyci which cover the financial year 2017 to 2018, available online on the Purple Bricks website under investors on the title page, there seems to be some contradictory claims. In the twentyci report, and I quote 'Purple Bricks were looking for a reliable, respected and independent data source to establish answers to a set of questions about their performance in the financial year 17/18′ And Purple Bricks are … ‘No1 at selling houses: 81% of listings sold within 12 months’ Then there is a helpful graph in the same report which shows an annual picture of Purple Bricks results, it shows 64,000 new instructions, 48,000 properties sold subject to contract and it shows 38,000 properties exchanged. Now the ratio of exchanges to new instructions 64,000 to exchanges 38,000 is 59%, so Purple Bricks are not selling 81% of the instructions. But the worrying thing is, if the company gets 59% of vendors exchanged, it fails to get 41% sold or exchanged but still charges them on average £1,100 as an upfront non refundable fee, which is 41% of 64,000 vendors at £1,100 or 28.86M of fee for nothing. Readers of this are going to say the figures are wrong and skewed etc, but twentyci also did a similar report on Emoov and Tepilo, post the recent failure of these two online companies. And the WHICH organization recently had sight of this twentyci report and said that the conversion rate of the online pay upfront company was 53% of instructions to sold subject to contract, if you then discount the 53% by 30% the usual industry fall off for cancelled sales you get to an exchange rate of around 37%. This is available on the WHICH site online. In this piece by WHICH, it is stated that the ‘Major online estate agent Emoov, which also owns Tepilo, has gone into administration, potentially leaving thousands of home-sellers out of pocket by as much as £2,995. James Cowper Kreston, the firm appointed to act as administrators for Emoov, says the company currently has 5,000 properties listed for sale or sold subject to contract. Of this total, around 80% have paid upfront for the service and are at risk'. The big story is that instead of focusing on the financial sector and banking and PPI, maybe Trading standards Powys, should be looking at PBI - and looking to refund the 50% of clients who paid fees upfront in good faith and got a cake in the face. By my reckoning their are tens of millions of pounds paid by vendors in good faith that has been squandered on 20M plus a year media advertising on the brand alone, which should have been used to 'market' and successfully allow vendors to complete. This money should go back to all clients who received no sale. I think Chris Watkin is a top boy - and he injects debate into the property arena, what beguiles me is that the property bodies, and regulators sit on their hands whilst misery is being dealt out to vendor victims. I make my living out of analysing all aspects of the property world, but in a former role I personally oversaw the marketing of over 8,000 instructions, thousands of which I personally listed, and the conversion rate was always the same, list 10, sell 7 subject to contract, of which 2 fall through prior to exchange, 5 exchange - 50% conversion. In a very hot market, you might sell 8, but 28% are always going to fall through. So, if Mr Wainwright has any figures that he wants to show me, that contradicts the industry norm, please give me a call.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 June 2019 11:25 AM

I am a great fan of Graham, and I find all that he writes gives both sides of the story, but I am a bit baffled regarding the figures quoted by Karl Rusk. Who I have no doubt is a very hardworking estate agent. The first point is that 'turnover' was £60,000 year one, £145,000 year two, £290,000 year three, and projected £400,000 year four. Was this Karl's personal turnover, ie, in year one did he turnover personally £60,000. Being 25% commission on the instructions he personally listed, with Purplebricks obtaining the other 75% of the fee or £180,000. Or does the £60,000 turnover year one represent, 61 instructions signed up at an average fee upfront of £975. From which Karl would have received 25% , or £15,000, but as he would have a guarantee over-ride of £2,000 a month he would have earned £24,000 as his turnover. Out of which he would have to run his car, pay his taxes and pay for his holiday and sickness cover etc. In year two if £145,000 turnover is the total fee earned, 25% to Karl, 75% to Purplebricks, at an average fee of £1,200 that would represent 121 instructions from customers paying upfront. So, Karl would have received £36,250 as his turnover before car costs and tax, given that all of these were his own instructions and not fractionalised instructions from LPE's working in his territory. In year three if £290,000 turnover is the total fee earned, 25% to Karl and 75% to Purplebricks, at an average fee of £1,300 that is 223 instructions from customers paying upfront. So, if all these 223 instructions were Karl's that would give a turnover figure to Karl of £72,500. But, if you work 48 weeks a year (as you take 4 weeks holiday) and you lose two weeks in December and two weeks in January as no one lists their home then, that leaves 10 months to list, so Karl is listing 22 instructions a month, which given that the industry conversion rate of MA's to instructions is 32%, means Karl went to 69 MA's a month. In year four if £400,000 was the predicted total fee earned, 25% to Karl and 75% to Purplebricks, at an average fee of £1,4000 that is 285 instructions from customers paying upfront. So, 100k turnover for Karl, but he was visiting 838 properties to generate his 100k. So 83 MA's a month. Having followed the rise and decline of many online agents, including Purplebricks, I do think at the heart of the business is the same muddled pattern when it comes to figures and profit and loss. Each unit that Purplebricks markets (and do not get me started on that) or lists costs Purplebricks the fee they receive upfront and an extra 12 to 18% more than the fee they charge, so although they have great cashflow, as no sale does not mean no fee, they can never make profit. And profit pays the bills, pays dividend's to the shareholders and keeps the share price buoyant. All I know is that from speaking to many ex-LPE's they annually turned over on average £24,000 to £28,000, out of which they had to pay for their own holidays and run a car, and they would go to around 100 MA's a year, not 838.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 June 2019 23:15 PM

Algarve Investor - you are so right. Brand awareness PR and perception. I deal with clients who make 400k profits out of a single branch - but they do zero active marketing of their success, imagine - if they actually had a 'brand awareness' like PB, together with a business model that works - well that 400k could be a million, but the need for deep pockets - or in the case of PB other people's pockets - often stifles the ability of a company to launch itself. A real irony, estate agents are great at marketing property, poor at marketing themselves.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 June 2019 13:25 PM

Truth hurts - hyperbole = are exaggerated statements, my statements are based on facts. So, statement one - market capitalisation was at its highest 1000m today it is 303M, statement two - share price today dipped to 96p at 11.48 am, its highest share value was 523p, statement three - all of the shares that the Bruce's held have been exchanged for money - so cashed in, statement four Michael Bruce has left the company as it has a new CEO, statement four on 3rd of June 2019 Woodford's investment vehicle was suspended for 28-days, and on 25th of June he is up to see the regulator to explain amongst other things his operations in Guernsey, and why he circumvented the usual financial norms risking heavily other peoples money, Statement five - closures - according to the FT PB ' in Australia, which last year the group predicted would be the first of its international markets to turn a profit, Purplebricks is leaving entirely. The US operations meanwhile face a strategic review and material cuts to investment in marketing and other overheads. The board will “more closely [consider] the opportunities and risks associated with a materially scaled back business” there. That leaves just the UK and Canada.' Statement six - Purplebricks complete on only 48% of the properties they list - this is perhaps the biggest statement of fact that everyone should get their head around, meaning that 52% of revenue is generated from clients who get nothing in return - not even a cake. Statement seven - well hopefully Truth Hurts you are getting the picture - the truth does hurt and that is why Purplebricks will soon have burnt through its cash mountain, with an annual 26M spend on brand awareness advertising alone - those cake adverts do not come cheaply.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 June 2019 12:43 PM

I think that the ratio of hours worked to profit made is not a simple one, and that a key point is that being open, is not the same as having the ‘brain’ of the company engaged. What I mean is this, if an experienced team work from 8 am until 8 pm and open 7 days a week, they will create marginally more profit than an agent working 9 am until 6pm six days a week. But, if the business owner or ‘brain’ of the branch, be it the new corporate manager wanting to show his or her prowess, or the journeyman who wants to become market leader, puts in substantial extra hours for say a 10 week period, driving new strategies and pushing the team forward, then this boost will pay dividends. Back in the day I massively improved the bottom line of over ten different branches in different geographic areas and marketplaces, by putting in the hours. So, long or short hours, yes with automated systems here is less of a need to have the front line office open all hours, but for top line management or business owners, Reid spells of long days will help you become market leaders, because success is linked to effort put in.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 June 2019 07:17 AM

I am amazed that purplebricks will be looking to put any money into an Olympic vanity project when its market capitalisation is down by over 60%, its share price is only 20% of what it was at its height, all the Bruce clan have divested themselves of their shares, Michael Bruce has exited the company, Neil woodford’s equity company has been suspended and he is up before the regulators later this month. Add to this the closure of most of the overseas operation of the company and the fact that despite taking millions in upfront fees from vendors who failed to get a sale the company has yet to make a penny profit or return a dividend. So, the Olympic tie up is being funded not from profits, but by the 50% of vendors who continue to pay upfront for a service ... the successful sale of their property, which they will never actually see. At some point trading standards will scrutinise the business model and realise this is not an equitable situation. Maybe if axel springer take the company private, and change the model, maybe actually employing the poor long suffering local property experts, and maybe adding some sales people to actually *sell’ the property that is listed then purplebricks might survive. If the share price goes below 96p the original opening price which seems likely, I think that the falling share price will underpin the recent d decline of this dot com business. Which may well go the route of tepilo, emoov, (version-one) hatched, etc, all of whom ceased trading less than 12 months ago, and did nothing but burned cash and lined the pockets of the advertising and marketing industry, and created losses for many unlucky shareholders, and created hardship for those who were not paid salaries when some companies closed overnight, unlike the orderly exit of hatched, which had an enlightened management team who decided to cut their losses and focus on traditional agency, which they do so well.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 June 2019 06:49 AM

1000m market capitalisation that should have read, not enough zeros, which is often the case for online agents.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 June 2019 16:03 PM

I would suggest that the Motley Fool analyst needs to remember that Purplebricks market capitalisation was 100m not so long ago and is now a third of this at around 325m, the share price is around 99p, down from a high of over 500p, Neil Woodford's Equity investment fund was suspended a fortnight ago and he is now being formally investigated by the regulators. PB has never made a profit and has closed much of its overseas operations, and it is possible that Axel Springer may take the company private. The reason Woodford is important, is that Purplebricks has been burning through its cash … and normally would look to inject more money by going to fresh investors, but given the shakey position of Woodford, the leaving of Michael Bruce, and the sale of the Bruce clan of all of their shares - as well as Woodford divesting himself as of the same, I do not see anyone wanting to buy shares unless they want to take a controlling interest of the company. I think the chap from Motley Fool could do worse than look at the ADVFN share chat, and get a real insight into what dealers and investors think about the financial health of Purplebricks, instead of making up some 'analysis' that says PB is in better health than some agencies who themselves are strapped for cash and could do with a large cash injection to keep them safe from the current difficulties that the property market is facing.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 June 2019 16:01 PM

Pricing and price falls is often a minefield of mis-information, are asking prices falling or selling prices falling? My own take on where prices are in the south east, is they will sell for about the value they did in mid 2017. At the point the government manipulated the stamp duty bands once again, which saw a spike in transactions and sales prices achieved, and brexit had yet to take a hold. Based on this I recently took advice from an excellent local agent derrick bell, from giggs and bell in Luton who dealt with the probate sale of a family member, and instead of listing at 2019 asking prices, we listed just above 2017 selling prices, the result a sale agreed in 12 days from being listed on the major portals. Yes, the final selling price was lower than the listing price, but a sale was agreed. The point is - statistics, and I spend my life as an property analyst, can be used to prove most things, and zoopla supporting a softening of prices is a general truth, but in a brexit housing market, which itself is based upon a market that has been rising since 2013, it is not unlikely that a boom bust price adjustment is likely, as house inflation tends to go in 8 to 10 year cycles. And I like many have sold in the 1988 broken market onwards, know that what goes up will come down ... a bit but over two decades property usually increases by two and bit times it’s original value, which even allowing for inflation is the best financial return out there, and a better return than renting.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 June 2019 07:50 AM

Though many agents are 'residential property experts' I think that having extra qualifications such as the Sava Diploma in residential surveying and valuation, definitely does help. One of my best friends did the course a few years ago, and when he worked with me his additional 'credentials' were definitely an asset, especially as we were dealing with high end clientele and property in excess of 1M. I know from running my own business for many years that deciding to invest over 10k in a course or similar seems a big ask, but it is not only about the qualification, staff retention and development of good people always pays off, especially with the current churn of property staff. When I started in agency in the mid 1980's I was a graduate and at that time only about 5% of the UK had degrees, and very few were agents. Now 41% of the new generation are set to have at least a first degree, that is brilliant as it means a better educated nation which can only be a good thing. Especially with the technological revolution that is currently sweeping the world. As a point of balance, many very successful property people, sales and lettings have very few formal qualifications, but are great communicators and extremely talented, so just as with other things in life, formal academic qualifications are not for all, but certainly within each 'team' to have at least one accredited person does help businesses stand out. Thoughts?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 June 2019 07:41 AM

First a wave of IT personnel redundancies, then branch closures, now sales progression personnel, very soon even the top executives in their ivory tower will feel the reality that making multi million pound losses is a really stupid idea and decide to exit or be helped on their way. If you look at the composition of the board and their lack of industry knowledge, or the sound bites that have been coming out since the departure of Platt from supposedly experienced directors - it is clear that this slow motion car crash could have been minimised 6-months ago. A one off - closure of non-profit making offices (a big list) the sale of some of the assets (a smaller list) a one off programme of redundancies - with perhaps franchises being offered to the brave who could make marginal offices profitable if not constrained by ingrained and out dated practices. Countrywide - the clue is in the name - maybe it should be less of huge flabby loss making empire sprawling across the country - and cut itself down to size - and become a lean keen selling machine. Another major problem it has, is that CW t is top heavy with many middle aged and older personnel - I am not being ageist I am 56, but young blood often helps, because in 10 years - the usual cycle of a successful business these people become the mature advocates whose core values carry companies into profitable times. In the mid 1980's when agency exploded in the UK with banks and building societies buying up small independent agents to sell their financial wares, lots of 20 something estate agents joined the industry, and their work, motivation etc powered the movement. Many of these people are now in high places, but estate agency has changed and CW is a classic example of a business being run as though we were back 35 years ago.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 12 June 2019 11:25 AM

Countrywide failed because less than 4 years ago - the top directors of CW most of whom had never run an estate agency - decided to get fresh blood into the company - then installed a person with zero industry knowledge who was chosen as they happened to be in the right place at the right time in their previous job. Then all the talented team who opposed the new CEO were fired/resigned - same thing - leaving CW to lurch from disaster to disaster. If CW had followed my model, high fees, high levels of service, high rewards for top performing staff - then they would not have failed. In a way that is the beauty of new start company's they do the right thing intuitively, they are so driven and focused on surviving that they push forward and adapt, most large company's have a life cycle of 10 years, they then adapt and morph into something new or die, it is the first 36 months that establishes the brand.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 June 2019 20:36 PM

The most common gripe that agents have - 'I have an online agent in my chain and they do zero sales control/progression' and I personally know of a situation where it took 8 days for an online agent to verify the position of their buyer, even though their vendor had been sstc for 2-weeks before they made an offer through a traditional agent. Qualifying buyers and keeping the sale together, is about 80% of the work of a good agent, cash flow depends on completions - unless of course you get paid at point of listing - in which case - cash flow depends on listing - the defining difference between online upfront fees and no-sale, no-fee.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 June 2019 20:26 PM

Axel Springer - that is the interesting factor - they paid for shares a year ago at three times the level they are now able to buy shares at - so on the one hand - a great time to gain control of the business - but on the flip side - having a controlling interest of a business that does not make profit - is that a logical step? Well done to the Bruce's - Purplebricks has been Goldenbricks for them, and even Mr Woodford is ahead of the game (in terms of getting money out of Purplebricks), though it is questionable that his daytime job - running an investment portfolio of only a limited amount of companies - which has dropped by over 60% in value in recent times - will be scoring points with those investors who invested with him). Purplebricks if it survives in its present form might limp along hoovering up those vendors who want to play Russian roulette with an upfront model, which pays off 50% of the time, if the property listed is 260k in value or less - but a pure online agency - is not going to be the system of the future for a 'contact sport' like estate agency - the human factor is still an extremely important part of the mix. Countrywide - less than 4p a share - when it was over 530p a share in the last 5 years, this leviathan is already dead, it may make it to September - but I think a fire sale of any assets will come well before this, together with a mass of closures. A real shame - but out of this will come the new wave of agency - many capable survivors will set up and provide excellent service and be rewarded with financial rewards many times greater than they now earn, as they will follow their own path, utilising the skills they have and the training that corporate agency gave them.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 June 2019 20:17 PM

With a media frenzy around Neil Woodford - apparently even Radio 2 Jeremy Vine is commenting on NW's fall from grace - the only question is - will a new investor jump in? Will Axel Springer buy more shares, or will the 'online disruptor' become another dot com dream and be allowed to rest in peace. As stated previously with a traditional agent, 160K of seed capital utilised to start and fund a cold start estate agency branch will in 36 months be paid back in full plus a profit of 5%, in 48 months profit will be 20% plus. Given the tens of millions that 'online disruptors' have squandered, with 5 large online concerns closing or failing in less than a year, I could have used all the lost money and have built a traditional 1,000 branch agency in the UK, and would actually be paying a dividend to shareholders. Until people realise that tech is moving forward in every industry, and just to say we have an online model that is better than a traditional model - does not cut the mustard, especially when online estate agency is actually more expensive to run than traditional estate agency. After nearly 5 years, PB has never made a profit, still charges all vendors an upfront fee, and still only completes on 50% of the properties it lists, and the need for more funds to prop it up as it burns through millions on advertising to keep the brand name alive is one of the reasons that it has failed. If the public thought PB was a good thing - it would not need to rely on running adverts telling everyone how brilliant it is because it does not charge commission.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 June 2019 07:23 AM

The online sector is in fact most agents as all agents list online. Pure online agents with no 'real office' will probably as a sector grow to 12%. This is because only 12% of vendors are fee sensitive when it comes to choosing an agent. So, if an agent allows a vendor to list on all the major and many minor portals, then they will hunt out the online option. The thing to watch is, will the big boys and they are an endangered species continue to put millions and millions into advertising the brand and utilising google? If the stop the brand stops, if they continue they may well be the last large company in the arena, but if their spend has been £50M to get and the annual profit moving forward is zero or a few million, then what is the point? As they disappear, the smaller online agents will fill the space, catering for the cheap fee crowd, who if they own property at 250K and under will probably get sold. But, another question is would a traditional agent sell them for bigger money, less hassle and spend 60% of their time helping the sale progress post the point the sale being agreed. Thoughts?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 May 2019 10:03 AM

Has 99Home changed their model to a no sale no fee model, for some customers, I thought they always offered this option? For sure 99Home raised hundreds of thousands of pounds through crowdfunding only 7-months ago, so if they are now emphasising a reliance on a no sale no fee model I wonder where this is all leading? Is it a case that the general public as a whole have fallen out of love with the online, pay upfront and pray for a sale model, and 99Home have realised this? On a positive is you want to cheer yourself up, I suggest you log onto the 99Home website - and look at Dave's explanation of their business model, it contains lots of wigs and a confusing amount of Dave's … but it certainly is entertaining. It is always good to be different - well done.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 May 2019 07:46 AM

So Countrywide's strategy - 'we have no strategy' - continues; let the whole property industry watch as we unravel. Time for vision and action, but with the share price likely to be 100th of what it was 5-years ago, there is likely to be a major fire sale of any 'profit making' components of the brand. In some ways Countrywide echoes Woolworths and other companies that woke up to find that the world had moved on and they had become a relic of the past. Just because the way business is conducted is ever changing, this should be seen as an opportunity, rather than an annoyance. Burying ones corporate head collectively in the sand, rather than confronting change and planning future growth is the top sin of many companies. Many will be watching Countrywide's demise with shock, but, the real shock may be that their own businesses are also more like Woolworths than businesses ready for trading in 2020, where clear vision - no pun intended - will separate profit and loss making concerns.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 May 2019 07:22 AM

Paul, I totally agree that business or how business is done is changing, not just in the property sector, but the point is that CW had a mountain of cash and so were 5 years ago ahead of the game and they fumbled the ball. They did not future proof, they walked like zombies into the future, for sure Alison Platt did not help, but maybe they should have asked then listened to the front line team in the branches and adapted to the new 'needs' of vendors and buyers, landlords and tenants, all the raw data is and was there, instead middle aged men and one woman made decisions from a huge ivory tower a million miles away from the changed reality at the sharp end of the business. Being a middle aged man myself - you realise - you can either do things the same way you did in 1985, for the next 45 years - the Countrywide model, or observe, absorb and adapt as the climate changes and be king of the jungle, or at least be nearer the top of the food chain. Capitalism is very fickle as you say Paul, but it also has many rewards for those who seize the opportunities.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 May 2019 11:38 AM

I think this is a brilliant idea, I know that it goes against 33 years of agency experience to suggest that the process can be boiled down to the click of a button, but as all the pre-purchase process remains the same, the need for a property to be listed and shown, the speed of transaction for at auction some is great. I personally am looking to buy at auction, and at least you know you have 'bought' a property, rather than waiting 16 weeks, with fingers crossed that the sale will happen. Auction is not for everyone, typically as most sales are by private treaty and so buyers in a chain, who are not exchanged and are going to stump up 10% and complete in 4 to 6 weeks, as unlikely their chain will accommodate / auctioneer would accept them as being in a go position.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 May 2019 08:13 AM

A swathe of closures imminent, what a sad thing to see, five years ago this company was awash with money and the top management team squandered the opportunity. I really feel for those about to lose their positions, good luck, and maybe now is the time to go it alone, as agency really is a profession where you get out what you put in. With Proptech, less of a need for a high street office, starting up has never been so cheap, so maybe a silver lining here for some. Countrywide's decline is a symptom of the changes to all industries, crazy moves like making 150 IT staff redundant to cut costs? rather showed the company was out of touch with the needs of any modern company. On the positive it will embolden other companies to offload non profit making offices. Maybe they might sell some offices off, rather than closing them - opportunities here to generate income - Hamptons? Thoughts.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 May 2019 08:03 AM

I wish you well with your new enterprise, but I would advise a different approach to selling property for no fee. I deal with a huge volume of new start businesses and give them advice and usually they do low fees in an attempt to gain business. Many are started by seasoned professional persons such as yourself who if employed would command a large salary due to their experience and expertise. So, why would you work for nothing? The other point is this, vendors on the whole do not want a cheap fee, surveys suggest only 12% of vendors are fee sensitive searching for the lowest deal - hence online agency having 7% to 10% of the market. What vendors want is a proper agent, be it bricks and mortar, hybrid or online, they want service and a sale, if you can provide this you will develop your brand and make profit. At present every agent unless they dominate an area will go out to 10 market appraisals and 3 and a bit will come to the market with that agent, a 32% conversion rate. That conversion rate is the same if you charge zero fee or 3%, the reason being that fee is not the determining factor - the person sitting in front of the vendor is the determining factor and I am sure Dean that you and your team are very good at what you do, so why do it for nothing? I always say to my clients when they ask what fee they should charge this: - breakdown your true running costs of selling a property including the cost of marketing the 48% of property you fail to sell, so cost of office real or virtual your overheads, salaries, marketing, tax etc, plus a 28% margin for your gross profit. Usually the figure is around £2,800 - there will be regional differences, I then say to the business owner, each time you achieve under £2,800 as a fee you are running at a loss, above this you are making money. It is up to you if you want to do selective discounting to achieve market share, but profit is the one thing that every business must achieve to survive. One of my clients adopting this attitude, banked an additional 42% in the first six months of their next year, having explained to the vendor at market appraisal the cost of sale and what level of service they could provide if they charged a realistic fee. Some agents do cheap fees and if that works great, but people forget that many dominant agents charge high fees, because vendors trust the brand because the agent has for years done a great job.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 May 2019 10:40 AM

Hi Ashley I totally agree that all vendors should pay for the service sale or no sale, but all agents would need to adhere to this for it to work. In that utopia - fees would actually come down, as each fee on completion covers the cost of sale of that property plus the profit on top, plus all the costs of the 48% of listings that do not get sold that the agent has to carry the cost of. A bit complicated but you list 10, sell 7 sstc, and complete on 5 as 2 fall through. So you get paid on the 5 you complete on but that fee has to cover the cost of sale, plus profit, plus the cost of marketing the other 5 you fail to sell.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 May 2019 21:54 PM

Hi James, some very valid points, but I am amongst other things an analyst and I look at lots of new starts, particularly Proptech companies, but also any new businesses that show up on the block. Many have new ways of doing business, and often they are in their second or third round or funding, but what 95% of them have in common I find is that when you look at their annual accounts or annual reports, they make zero profit at best or a massive loss which grows year on year. From beer brewing companies - yes lots of revenue - but tiny tiny profit margins, to well online only estate agents. I think in a decade people will look back on the present and see that just because someone has an 'idea' it should also pass the bank manager test, ie, would your local bank give you money to help fund this idea (I know these days you would never see a bank manager - but you get my drift). I am all for pushing the envelope, but more and more angels or shareholders are being encouraged to part with cash with no chance of a return, because there is a whole industry making folk feel that the next big thing is around the corner. If a business idea is a good one, does it need a 500K initial investment to get it up and running?, and if it does would the local bank have said yes to lending their funds?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 May 2019 09:29 AM

Justin as you say - Paul Pindar - ex Capita - ringing bells for anyone?, I think he parachuted out in 2014 … and 18 months later … mayhem- well as they say history often repeats itself. And how many directorships has Mr Bruce now had? And where are the companies he left behind now? On the flip side he is probably in a personal capacity the richest and largest 'disruptor' in the estate agency realm. He certainly has disrupted lots of investors, and the German communications giant Axel Springer, who has has lost 69% of their 120M plus investment - by buying shares at the wrong time. Also of course there are hundreds of LPE's whose lives have become disrupted, and finally I think 48% of all vendors who paid Purplebricks money upfront, they have definitely felt the disruptive force of Michael, as they did not even get a cake, let alone a successful sale. Maybe they should start a PPI style mis-selling campaign and ask trading standards if they can claw back their money plus interest. Personally I think Michael with all the millions he got from selling his shares, will be extremely glad to be out of the firing line, a bit like Cameron post the Brexit vote. Though I am not sure the PB board members will be as resilient as Mrs May though, more likely to see some industrial throwing of people under buses in the coming weeks - metatheoretically.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 08 May 2019 08:50 AM

Hi James - regarding a change of strategy, PB should first employ a sales team to market the property they list, second instead of apologising to shareholders for mounting losses - PB should refund the 50% of vendors who paid upfront and only got to eat cake (hang on didn't some French lady come up with this idea - just before 'the great terror' caught up with her). My thoughts are that PB's cash burn is so rapid they will soon be looking for yet more cash from a new round of investors/victims. That will be the real tragedy.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 May 2019 23:06 PM

No online agent will make a penny profit in 2019, and with 5 large online agents closing or being forced to close since last September, it is likely that those brave online agencies still burning sometimes as much as £1m a month, may well decide enough is enough. The fundamental flaw is that estate agency like all business is certainly becoming high tech, but the cost base of a sale is still on average £2,500 to break even, and listing property on portals is not the same as having a sales team selling them. So, under-charging clients, relying heavily on tech, and deciding not to have a sales force to ‘sell’ property is always going to result in loss, lack of engagement with the clients and buyers, and an unsustainable business model, always looking for another round of cash from shareholders. It costs only 160k to cold start a single traditional estate agent, typically producing 95K revenue in year one, breaking even at the end of year two, (so all seed capital returned) and then making profit year three, and 20 to 28% profit by year 4 onwards. Just think of the tens of millions pumped into Purplebricks, and others, it could have set up a national chain of 120 branches, with the money it has used as cashflow. Many of them would have paid their investment back and actually be paying dividends to shareholders. Maybe that is why 96% of estate agents are not purely online. Thoughts?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 May 2019 10:11 AM

Purplebrick's epitaph will be: - we took millions of pounds from vendors and never sold their property, and we ran a massive TV advertising campaign involving cakes in the face. More of a cheap circus act, than a sustainable, profit making enterprise.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 May 2019 09:43 AM

So, share price 685p, at its height, now share price 7p down from 10p in recent weeks. Tell me again why after a multi- bailout less than 12 months ago anyone would buy shares in Countrywide? The remaining shareholders will sell their stock, and with no buyer wanting this huge,flabby company, the best pieces will be sold off, the remainder closed, leaving a very depleted rump of an agency which will trade on, losing money hand over fist until it closes, or the thinking at the top changes. Very sad, maybe top management might stop trying to convince everything is fine, get a plan, make the necessary cuts and sell off what is required to recapitalize, take a look around at retail, here company's are either adapting their business model or calling in the liquidators, sure things are tough, but that is when really good executives shine. That after all is their job, rain or shine - return a profit, safeguard jobs and plan for the future. I would start with high fees, high levels of customer service and high levels of successful sales. The rest will sort itself out, if you have a product or service the public want it will not be google ads that make them seek you out, it will be your market share. Unfortunately, time has now run out for Countrywide and this Easter bunny is looking more and more like a steaming Turkey long before Christmas. The more the company says, we will not be selling off the profitable parts of the company, the more it sounds as if that is exactly what they must do to try to survive. Note also Purplebricks share price has in recent days crashed also, to sub 118p from a near 145p plus position only a few days ago, it seems the cruel crosswinds of reality are starting to blow in the face of lots of non-profit making property sector companies, whilst some companies in the sector will produce healthy profits by the close of 2019, as they have different marketing models that actually work.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 April 2019 05:53 AM

A month ago I foretold that the 120m cash injection that was pumped into countrywide, post platt’s departure was now all but eaten up. Now the day of reckoning is very close, the share price will probably collapse in very short order. If only the company had looked to the future 5 years ago, when it was cash rich and moved forward, instead of relying on too many board members who had zero property knowledge.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 24 April 2019 23:22 PM

Purplebricks share price is dropping like a stone, and there has never been a dividend payment. The American and Australian business is never going to make profit, and it is debatable if the UK division will make more than 4% gross profit on a turnover in excess of 100M +. Delprete has long been an advocate of Purplebricks, but he is backing the wrong horse. With increased transparency from Trading Standards based in Powys, and the fact that 50% of Purplebricks vendors pay upfront for a service they do not actually get - the completion of their property. There will either be a call for refunds (so a PPI scenario) or a public warning at point of instruction 'only one in two of Purplebricks vendors get their home sold by Purplebricks, the other vendor gets 'a cake in the face.'

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 23 April 2019 06:15 AM

I agree that new home builders can sell at a higher value due to help to buy, but on the flip side I have met many vendors selling their new home who enjoyed a large equity slice from buying a more expensive home, then sold and used the 75% slice of the equity to buy another home. Also, if a brand new home sells at an inflated value as it can sell to a help to buy buyer, does this value not help the second hand market as older property will also benefit from an uplift. Eg, if a new semi retails at 300k, then a 20 year old semi 500 metres away is not going to sell for 200K,

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 April 2019 09:16 AM

I am not sure why levels of transactions should fall, if agents educate vendors, for some it is a great time to move, sell for a little less and buy a larger property for a little less, and in fact the cost of move is less than it would have been in autumn 2017 the peak of house prices. Agents are in the market for the long haul, outside factors, interest rate rises, wars, change of governments, stamp duty etc all play a part, but the population is growing and people need to buy homes, so there is always a market. Typically for the past several years there are between 1 to 1.2M completions a year, that is a big cake of sales for everyone,

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 April 2019 09:08 AM

With the present shortage of property coming to the market, and given that repossessions are chain free, and often in the lower price bracket, it is of no surprise that they are selling marginally above suggested selling prices. Also, as the marketing prices are set after the lenders have very detailed and accurate information on likely sale prices, these properties tend to get more attention from buyers as they are more realistically priced at point of sale.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 April 2019 08:53 AM

The housing market is just that, a market. So, any intervention regarding restricting house price inflation or otherwise would to me seem to be a utopian concept. The reality is that with over 20 housing ministers in less than 15 years, and the lack of a cohesive housing/property policy, the government already regulates housing prices, often by imposing regulations and laws that are ill thought out and definitely lack input from those in the know. Case in point the Lettings ban, brought in to defend tenants, likely outcome, letting agents will charge landlords higher fees to absorb costs, and landlords will raise rents to cover this cost, who pays more - the tenant, maybe someone in Whitehall should talk to our industry before they do anything. So the thought of a government department being responsible to keep house inflation under wraps is just plain scary, let the market be, otherwise it ceases to be a market.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 April 2019 08:47 AM

With an uncertain market, and still months of uncertainty ahead, the auction route is a very positive solution for problematic housing stock, and an extra option that intelligent listers can add to their presentation when looking to gain new business. I have found that the prices achieved at auction are comporable to selling by private treaty, and of course the speed of transaction - the fall of the hammer, instead of a protracted 14 to 16 week sale process is also extremely favourable. Many agents would do well to educate their vendors about the benefits of going to auction, motivated buyers with finance in place, versus buyers in some cases in long chains with all the inherent problems that involves.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 April 2019 08:35 AM

It is good to see Ewe Move in the black, just. But out of all the franchises of Ewe Move how many actually made a profit themselves? All of them, 50%? And the 500k turnover figure sounds great, but what level of profit did it make, remember turnover vanity, profit sanity.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 April 2019 18:04 PM

So Purplebricks thinks traditional agents dupe the general public? When I read the article in the Times, I thought the article was going to be about online agents who take a fee regardless of whether they sell or not. As I see it PB generated over 90M last year, mostly from upfront fees, if they only completed on 50% of sales that means around 40M of the general public's money went into the coffers of PB but with nothing to show but a cake in the face. Maybe Mr Bruce could furnish us all with proof that he provides a transparent service, starting with whether or not the 'self-employed' LPE's tell the vendor in front of them that they are getting an instant referral fee the second the vendor signs on the line that is dotted. If no disclosure Trading Standards in Wales will be very happy to investigate.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 April 2019 17:59 PM

It will be interesting to see what route the government takes regarding regulations, will it be another way to introduce even more red tape into the industry? Or will it help estate agents? Personally I think education and industry experience is as important as any new qualification. We all know that many of the branch administrators who have been in situ for years have probably more 'knowledge' than most of us.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 April 2019 17:49 PM

I think Professor Andrew Baum, would do well to actually spend some time in the industry he talks so condemningly about. A couple of years ago I remember him stating from his ivory tower that “The process (buying and selling property) is not satisfactory from anyone’s point of view. Estate agents aren’t aligned with the vendor, they aren’t motivated to get the best price or best execution, [they just want] a fast sale,” he says. “There’s a lot of money to be saved and therefore a lot of money to be made from tech platforms that can make that process more efficient.” Andrew then went on about Purplebricks and other online agencies being the start of a Proptech revolution. Well my thoughts are that agency is a contact sport, and that is why some agents, the ones who have spent years in the same community and have worked countless hours, are making very large profits. Why? Because they do look after buyers and vendors and they do take a professional pride in what they do. In contrast the new boys (onliners) are raising tens of millions, spending far more than they raise and offering the clients - buyers and sellers a bargain discount level of service. Years ago in the mid 1990's I was using an automated system alongside a really good team of sale people, so Proptech is great, but like having a bespoke suit made by a tailor I am sure a robot can be programmed to make a suit, but the personal dynamic would be missing. I like and embrace technology, but I think that just because billions of dollars is being put into start up Protech in America does not mean that any definitive solution will be found anytime soon.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 10 April 2019 17:36 PM

Many agents and new hone companies do recommend inhouse solutions regarding finance, but the alternative is often waiting a fortnight to get in to see your existing lender who will of course only advise on their own product. It is of course not permissible that an agent makes a buyer use a certain mortgage solution recommended by them, as a condition of buying a property through them, and buyers must have the freedom to use who they want to. But, on the flip side the vendor or housebuilder does want a transaction to go through, and if the selling agent has control over the finance, a key element in getting to exchange, is this such a bad thing? If there is transparency regarding any referral fees I think that inhouse advice should be seen as a service, rather than a way to get the buyer to use them. Yes property finance is a multi million pound industry and financial services makes up a large amount of some estate agency companies income, but if agents and housebuilders did no 'inhouse' advice where would the buyers go to get their mortgages? and would these providers be the ones making profit out of this service? For me it is like buying a car on finance, if I wanted to go down that route, every large dealership has an inhouse 'finance' person ready to quote, I can choose not to use them, but it acts as a starting point in my exploration of finance options, and if I use them, well probably someone gets a fee for getting me to speak to them, but is that not commerce?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 April 2019 08:49 AM

Having raised 300k 3-months ago on Crowdcube - stating that the company was worth 9.8M (where do people get these capitalisation figures from) and now looking to change their business model, ie, get self employed local property experts to expand their empire, I think they just need to concentrate on getting more people to invest in them and forget the agency bit. Endless rounds of raising capital for a failed business model seems to be working, not so much for vendors who want to sell, but for the people who put themselves out their. How about some hard facts, how many properties listed at £99 has the company completed on, or properties rented out at £49? A quick look on 99Home's webpage shows that the investors money is in safe hands. I am not against a new business model in estate agency, maybe even the one where experienced agents are replaced by the internet, but until someone shows me a profit making model, year after year, I think that 95% of the general public are going to stay with the 'traditional agent.' Being an online agent does not give a company a commercial edge, as All agents are online. It just so happens that many also have offices in prime locations with experienced teams, who come rain or shine create great profits, by just doing their job, which they take a pride in.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 April 2019 08:27 AM

Sadly, I think Countrywide will soon run out of money, people forget that in the last 12 months they had a 120M cash fillet from new shareholders just to keep the company going, and in 5-months they will be through this, and the company will then need to asset strip, close offices and pray that the market improves. Instead of a 3 year back to basics plan, the COO needs a 6 week call to arms, as that is the timeframe for the 'best market' of 2019, before we hit June and holiday season. I used to work within this company, what went wrong?, when was the strategy and vision lost, five years ago the company had the finance to push forward into the future head on, instead it is defeated, deflated, and undercapitalised, cutting back on IT and Proptech at the critical point winning companies are utilising these tools to takeover huge swathes of the day to day business, freeing up salespeople to engage in what they do best sell. Madness, and I don't mean the band with Suggs as the lead singer.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 28 March 2019 12:19 PM

Obviously, I am biased but Chris & Co are bang on the money, in that agents should be using a large budget to market themselves, just as they would if they were a cold start office. By putting extra cash into evolving the frontline business, a company can ensure a profitable future. I often ask my clients what is their annual budget for getting new landlords, vendors, and aligned business revenue streams on board? and often it is a tiny fraction of turnover. Agency is based upon instructions, lettings is based upon landlords, so what strategy is in place to generate these? Before I became a consultant and analyst helping companies to see the wood for the trees, I was an agent for 30 years. And I know that to take time out to plan, to look at the shape of your business and evolve, is a rare occurrence as their seems to be no spare time. But, by working 'smarter' I have helped many business owners to work less hours, make more profit and enjoy the challenges of the differing markets. Many agents are now in the Brexit bunker, going through 'groundhog' day and as my mentor once said, and I think he attributed it to Einstein, 'insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.'

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 27 March 2019 06:54 AM

I have not checked recently, but it used to be the case that Purplebrick's had either a 5 star review or a 1 star review, on Trustpilot. But, never a two, three or four star review. So, does a 5 star mean my home got sold and 1 star mean I paid over a thousand pounds but only got a cake in my face? And with thousands of reviews surely someone would give a 2, 3 or 4 start review. On a personal level having suffered from a negative fake review on Trustpilot in my agency selling days, from a 'reviewer' who had not used my services, and it took me 6 weeks to get the review sorted, I do wonder if large company's are doctoring negative reviews as logistically it would be a huge undertaking on the part of Trust Pilot and the company concerned. Maybe the jury is still out on this?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 25 March 2019 10:32 AM

Whilst I am all for clarity for the general public, is trading standards going to ensure that all service industries that estate agents use, tell estate agents about referral fee agreements? As in the world of commerce there are to my knowledge hundreds of financial referral systems in place, and the poor downtrodden estate agents should be protected from these 'money grabbers', feeding off of them. I really do not understand why estate agency is viewed with such contempt, we work extremely long hours, have a smile, and have to deal with lots of red tape, ineffectual government and housing policies dreamed up housing ministers who hold their position for about five minutes. I think there have been 15 housing ministers in the past 20 years. End of rant, taking Zara the dog for a walk, quietly hoping that no-one takes advantage of me by gaining a undisclosed referral fee out of my shopping habits over the next week or so.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 20 March 2019 12:11 PM

Good for the MP and good for the young entrepreneur. But, which year will Doorsteps make a profit? Will the MP be asking this?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 March 2019 10:05 AM

Anything that reduces fall throughs is great. But, sales fall through due to; - death of vendor or buyer, lack of ability to raise finance vendor/buyer, chain breaking above or below, vendor deciding not to move, vendor deciding not to move, the list goes on. So, tying parties to exchange will never overcome quite a large list of reasons why sales go South. In my books the average time that a sale takes is a big factor, 18 weeks - from sold subject to contract to moving in, that is also a massive stumbling block. Thoughts anyone?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 March 2019 10:02 AM

Brexit may be a factor - but the usual boom bust cycle of the UK property market should also be taken into account.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 March 2019 19:01 PM

First time buyers are the main buyers at present in many areas as they are seeing prices dropping in real terms.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 16 March 2019 18:59 PM

Having adopted Proptech in 1996, not a typo - in my own agency, the leverage it gave us was that each sales person was in fact creating the business of two. We were quicker and more responsive and the general public loved our innovative style blended with traditional service levels. But, the cost of the bespoke software, ongoing service/maintenance/updating systems and time given to all of this, including headspace time given by the company owner has to be factored in. If you have multiple branches Proptech is a good solution, but even now I find there is very much a one size fits all approach, ie, I have a solution Mr Estate agent to all of your woes, without spending a day with Mr Estate agent and finding out how his or her empire actually works. Bespoke solutions for bespoke businesses will be the way forward.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 March 2019 09:30 AM

This article re-enforces what everyone in the industry knows, roughly one in three sales fall through. I know it will be a small study group, but if 16.66% of buyers pull out and 11.11% of vendors do the same then that is a cancellation rate of 28%. In a more buoyant market that rate fluctuates to 30-35%. I am not sure regulation by the government or any organisation will change that situation, buyers circumstances change, so too does the vendors. Chaining down either party pre-exchange with reservation agreements is just another level of red tape. Also, given Brexit, I think that MP's are the last people I would want to be tinkering about with the house selling process in the UK, some of whom are talking strongly about resurrecting the HIP's system. I am all for keeping sales together and making agencies profitable, but a think tank of estate agents who do the job day in day out - would be where I would start for good pointers - rather than persons who have never sold property, or used to but are now living in ivory towers, oblivious to the needs and wants of vendors, buyers and estate agents in 2019.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 March 2019 09:09 AM

Has anyone got an up to date set of accounts for YOPA? As I am not sure what the profit and loss situation is? On company's house it appears no accounts for 2 years, or maybe my eyesight is failing me. It would be nice to think they were turning a profit, but without figures who can tell? You know what they say, turnover vanity, profit sanity. For me being a big agency, really means nothing if it is by volume of listings rather than the bricks and mortar offices you have, as we saw with Emoov 1, once the computer is unplugged the agency fails to exist and residual assets are minimal.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 March 2019 08:55 AM

So, share price 685p, at its height, now share price 8.5p down from 10p in recent weeks. Tell me again why after a multi- bailout less than 12 months ago anyone would buy shares in Countrywide? The remaining shareholders will sell their stock, and with no buyer wanting this huge,flabby company, the best pieces will be sold off, the remainder closed, leaving a very depleted rump of an agency which will trade on, losing money hand over fist until it closes, or the thinking at the top changes. Very sad, maybe top management might stop trying to convince everything is fine, get a plan, make the necessary cuts and sell off what is required to recapitalize, take a look around at retail, here company's are either adapting their business model or calling in the liquidators, sure things are tough, but that is when really good executives shine. That after all is their job, rain or shine - return a profit, safeguard jobs and plan for the future. Get a piece of A4, list what is going wrong, list what is going right and list what is about to go wrong, then do a second list with a solution to things that are going wrong, and execute the plan. No deviation, keep the message simple. You would be amazed. I would start with high fees, high levels of customer service and high levels of successful sales. The rest will sort itself out, if you have a product or service the public want it will not be google ads that make them seek you out, it will be your market share.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 09 March 2019 09:04 AM

With the sales pipeline down by 20%, Countrywide's first quarter revenue will also be down by a fifth, add the loss of revenue due to the lettings ban which will start soon, and then transparency on referrals, I think that unless 30% of branches close, by this time next year there may be no Countrywide. Also, this nonsense about a 3 year plan and back to basics, this sounds very confusing. A three-year plan sounds like a communism and back to basics sounds like the conservatives. I turn clients businesses around in 6 to 8 weeks, if I said I have a 3 year plan to cut your debt and increase your profit, most of my clients would rightly tell me where to go. I like Countrywide, because in 1986 one of their brands made me a manager after only 14 months in the business, but back then they had a structure, and a strategy and an identity, that made them unique. Also, most importantly, they sold huge amounts of property and their fees were sometimes twice that of the competition and they loved the fact that they were the agent of choice. Last month I personally called over 150 agents as an exercise for a client, in those calls I spoke with a number of Countrywide offices, and they seemed to have two voices, either condescending and in your face or disinterested and beaten, there were plenty of other agents who had the same voice also. In contrast, the agents who were market leaders in their areas, either corporate agents or independents, had the same voice on the end of the telephone, professional polite, non-pushy, and interested in what I had to say. Many of those were mature agents who clearly were loving their job, or young men and women who reveled in customer care. Maybe, the COO's of this corporate should ring their branches, not to spy on their front-line team, but to understand that if prospective clients call and are greeted by negativity or a sales team who do not listen, then the business will not make profit. Sure, Proptech means only 7% of business comes directly from a telephone call, but if a branch has never made profit in the last 5 years, and by profit I am saying 28% gross profit on turnover in all disciplines, then maybe the front line troops are confused, badly trained and possibly in the wrong profession and the buck for that stops right at the top. Worringly, when top management say we are not going to sell off part of the company, that is very similar to the PM saying I have every faith in a certain MP, which often as not is followed by the said MP resigning. My diary is a little busy at present and I am away in sunny Barcelona on holiday until next week, but if Countrywide would like some sound advice, I can certainly impart it, and they would not need to wait another 24 months to start turning around those loss making offices. And those vulnerable offices about to go the same way with sales revenue and other revenue streams about to be cut. As a point of balance though I was an independent agent for half of my 30 year sales career, I also did time for another corporate who recently posted profits, more than twice those of Countrywide. It comes as no surprise that all the managers and teams I was privileged to work with, were always on it, and the management teams through to the COO's had a strong, strategy based on customer service. Also, though it was a corporate, each branch felt like a premier league independent agent, and had enough autonomy at branch level to make the customer feel the same way. And that is a very hard thing to accomplish.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 March 2019 18:53 PM

I think Savills always saw YOPA as a punt, rather than the future of agency, otherwise Savills would have tried the Countrywide conversion scheme mooted by Alison Platt, wisely it has stuck to high value for money service. But clearly, if they write down the value of YOPA or not, the value of online only agents is falling in more ways than one, both share price - see Purplebricks, and confidence in the model. In a tight market vendors like the comfort of a proven marketing model, and traditional agents are just that. Agency, sales and lettings is changing, following Fintech, multi-millions are now being poured into Proptech, and possibly in the next five years the new model of agency will come into being. But, the online model of a Local Property Expert covering multiple roles, lister, negotiator, etc just does not work.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 07 March 2019 07:09 AM

Hi Graham, thanks for that advice, I am fully aware of who can complain, but as I am not likely to be a customer of PB, I will not be triggering that issue.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 March 2019 09:17 AM

Why has the ASA not looked into the fact that my favourite online brand Purplebricks advertise on TV no commission, yet the self employed Local Property Experts, earn commission from each property they are instructed upon, with a further commission for accompanied viewings. So, they get a fixed commission on every listing. Or should ASA be looking at all the LPA's who trade mostly as sole traders or the instructing estate agent, and make sure the LPA's tell the client that there is a 75% commission being paid to Purplebricks for listing, not selling the property. The big thing the ASA should look at is if PB UK list property by taking a fee upfront and that revenue in 2019 is 120M to 130M but only half of the clients get a service, eg get sold, then PB are getting 60M plus upfront for doing nothing, with no refund policy. NOW THAT IS CAKE IN THE FACE.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 March 2019 08:15 AM

smile please - I think that will be the final pb model - self listing. the other thing to look out for is this - with referral fees about to be the hot topic - will pb have to become transparent? In that will the self employed lpe have to say to each new prospective vendor 'mr vendor I get an immediate 250 pound fee when i sign you up as an instruction' 'I was referred your information from a multi million pound intial tv and online spend by a separate company pb' 'I also give pb a 750 pound plus portion of your fee as a referral fee for their service to me' - anyone at trading standards in Powys like to comment?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 March 2019 15:43 PM

I do not understand why people are investing in online agents? I did an article in 2017, showing the business model is flawed. Emoov ceased trading, leaving 5,000 vendors stranded, and LPE's without pay, and now son of Emoov has been resurrected a bit like the son of Frankenstein, a badly put together monster but on a smaller scale.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 March 2019 08:00 AM

A great piece Graham, perhaps now trading standards who appear to be on steroids will at last look at the claims of Purplebricks that they complete on 80% of the properties they list. Your story underpins the fact that 50% of vendors pay money to have a cake pushed in their face, ie, they pay a fee upfront, and get nothing but to dive head first into a cake. 'Cakemissery' In October 2017 I wrote a full article about online agents, in it I discussed Easy Property, Tepilo, Emoov, Housesimple, Hatched, Yopa and Purplebricks, I showed statistically that all of them completed on 50% of their listed sales or less, and that their cost base would kill them off. Easy property never got started and morphed into something else, Tepilo closed, Emoov closed (son of Emoov now opened) Housesimple appear to be on the brink and Hatched closed. This leaves Yopa and Purplebricks, well both of these are not making any money. The bottom line is always the bottom line, list two properties, complete on only one. Any agent who says they can complete on 8 of the ten houses they originally list is misguided. And with the new wave of Trading standard protocol upon the industry, all agents traditional and online will need to be declaring their referral fees - which will for online agents prove very interesting. I attach the first three pages of an article I wrote in October 2017, so the data is from that period - but my hypothesis about onliner's still holds true, over 40% of vendors pay for a service they never receive, and you can not run an estate agency with only 'Listers' doing the job of a manager a lister a negotiator, an administrator and a sales Progressor. By 2020, traditional estate agents will be dead, and online estate agents will sell half of all property in the UK. Written by Andrew Stanton - (Estate Agency Insights & Strategies) Oct 2017 This is a common enough headline and I thought so too, until I looked at the facts and realised; no online agent is making a profit, many online agents are propped up by large, regular injections of fresh capital, and the mature online estate agency model has no asset base and so no brand value. Let me explain my hypothesis, the business model behind traditional bricks and mortar estate agency is that they get revenue from, fees on completed house sales, usually on a no-sale, no fee basis. They also get further revenue from arranging mortgages and life cover and other insurances, or receiving fees for passing clients to providers of mortgages, revenues from solicitors for referring clients, and other add on services like the provision of EPC’s, etc. Now suppose you want to start a brand new traditional estate agency, how much profit will it make and when? and how much does it cost to set up and run? Here are the figures; it costs 30k to acquire premises and kit the office out and have all the IT hardware, systems, and office furniture in place. Then it costs 18K a month to cover the overheads, for a team of four-sales people and their salaries, cars, website costs, and all other costs to run the office and sell properties. A traditional agency trading 50-miles from the capital will then market and sell property in all price ranges, mostly from £200,000 to £600,000, and as the brand matures they may specialise in both the mid-range and the top end range £800,000 to £1.5M. On average they sell property at an average price of £360,000 and they charge 1.1% plus VAT, or around £4,000 plus VAT, £4,800 in total on a no-sale, no fee basis. In the first 12-months of trading – Year One - if they sell a property day one, the cheque for the completed sale arrives five-months later, and as they spend the first month getting property stock on the market, it is in their second month real sales begin. So, after six-months of trading they have spent 30k on setting the office up and 108k on running costs, that’s 138k, and probably they have received only 5k in on commission from completed sales. Over the next six-months their outgoings are another 108k, and the commission from completed sales dribbles in, plus VAT, at a rate of, 5k month six, 7k month seven, 10k month eight, 12k month nine, 14k month ten, 18k month 11, and 20k month 12, total 86k. So, 236k spent out, and 86k cash flow in. Profit; what profit? there is no profit, they are now minus 160k for the first year. Over the next 12 months – Year Two - office costs are 19.5k a month, and income from completed sales is 26k a month. So 234k spent out, and 312k cash flow in. Profit; 78k for the second year. In the next 12 months – Year Three – office costs are 20k a month, and income from completed sales is 28k a month. So 240k spent out, and 336k cash flow in. Profit ; 96k for the third year. And more importantly at the end of year three, true break-even is achieved, all the start-up capital, that £160,000 pumped in and ‘lost’ in year one, has been repaid and from here on in they have a profitable business standing on its own two feet, with no need for further injections of capital to keep it trading. So, 160k ‘loss’ (start-up costs) in year one, plus the 78k profit year two, plus the 96k profit year three, means a 14k surplus on the venture after 36-months. In next 12-months - Year Four – office costs are 20.8k a month, and income from completed sales is 30.8k a month. So, 250k spent out, and 370k cash flow in. Profit; 120k. So on a turnover of 370k generated solely from commission in from completed sales, a gross profit of 120k, or a 23% profit margin. By year ten gross profit could be 400k. Now on this example I have purposely, not fed in the other revenue income streams, revenue from mortgages, life cover etc, because in the start-up phase, a lot of these income streams are neutralised by the start-up costs of an extra member of staff and new equipment, IT etc. For instance, a mortgage advisor costs 40k to sit in an office, and will take a year to cover his basic cost, earning no profit, but in year three of doing business they might generate 80k of profit, similarly an estate agency might set up lettings, again it will not become profitable until it has 40-properties let and managed, and so it will produce a negative cash flow for its first period of trading, but in year ten could generate 250k of profit. In a mature 10-year model, financial services can add up to 40% gross profit to the business annually and lettings can add 30%. So, if in year ten, selling property generated 400k gross profit from commission from completed property sales, moving on from the 120k of year four, then financial services would add 160k gross profit and lettings another 250k gross profit, plus solicitor introductions, re-mortgage business, new homes, so a total gross profit for the one office 800k plus. Now, if you opened 10-cold start offices, two would not make great profit, two would make super profit and the rest would be a mixed bag, due to local competition, lack of a good sales team etc. But, in the real world, statistically a 10-office cluster of agents will constantly generate at least a collective 2.4M gross profit, which ties in with the notion that a single office in year seven of its development should produce a 234K profit. Having looked at the traditional estate agency model for generating wealth, there are three other important factors at play; most ‘traditional’ estate agents only charge a fee on exchange of contracts, so on a no-sale no fee basis; nationally, 50% of all the property that an estate agent lists (takes to the market) in a year they fail to sell; estate agents get paid huge commissions which is unfair. The no payment until the job is done means that the agent is highly motivated to find a buyer; otherwise all the marketing costs are lost. Also, as their agency agreements are time specific as time passes, estate agents are more and more pressured to find a buyer before the vendor goes to a second agent. The fact that half the property stock does not sell means that the fee charged by the agent actually covers, all the cost of the sales of the property that have exchanged, and all the cost of the properties they listed and failed to sell. So, list two properties, sell and exchange on one, lose the other, and the fee from the sold one covers the marketing costs of both, plus profit margin. Interestingly, of the 50% of properties that are not sold by the first agent, over 60% of these are sold by the next or third agent instructed, so over 80% of property does get sold if it stays marketed. So, as an example if an estate agent generates 320k of revenue excluding VAT in a year, just from completed sales, that is, 80-completed sales at an average fee of £4,000 plus VAT, which is around 1.1% plus VAT of a 360k property sale price. This £4,000 plus VAT fee is in fact covering the cost of selling the property and the cost of marketing another property that was never sold, (one of the dead loss 50% which they lose to the second or third agent). The old chestnut that the agent gets paid a huge commission is debatable. Individual sales people may get a 5% or 10% commission of the fee, which is a huge incentive to sell the property, but their basic salary will be at a low level, and they will usually work at least a 50 to 60-hour week, and they will in the main be extremely skilled in their profession. So, if you start to work out their hourly rate, factor in their low basic salary and then factor in they earn commission at a rate before tax of either 5% gross of the £4,000 fee, so that’s £200, or 10% gives them £400, they are not going to be buying a yacht anytime soon. Also, I have illustrated that the onerous office costs month in month out, also mean that many managers or owners earn a reasonable amount, but again there is little fat in the business. The vagaries of the market, government intervention on stamp duty, general elections, etc, can often skew trading patterns, so with a good team a mature estate agency might trade on a gross profit of 30% plus. But, many agents trade on a margin of less than 10%, despite being number one in their areas, which is not indicative of inflated commissions being charged. Now, suppose you want to set up an online estate agency, how much profit will it make and when? And how much does it cost to set up and run? To my knowledge no online estate agency has yet made a penny profit as of October 2017, and some have been trading over eight-years. So, I am going to look at Purplebricks (UK), to illustrate the online business model and give an insight into how they trade, as from what I can see all online models are a variant on this company. Purplebricks (UK) or (PB) is less than three years old, and follows in the footsteps of Hatched and Tepilo some of the original trailblazers which were created five-years or more earlier. (PB) ‘the property market disrupter’ are by far the biggest online estate agency, claiming they will make a profit of around 6M in 2019. At present according to Rightmove, they nationally have over 28,000 properties listed online, over 16,000 for sale, and 12,000 under offer, an impressive tally. Though not profit making, they dwarf the online opposition in the number of properties they have online. Their share price is through the roof, as they generate a huge amount of cash through put, but no profit has ever been made. (PB) charges £849 including VAT, to list your home, and £1,199 including VAT in London, and their intention is to sell the property, but the fee is fully payable should the property fail to sell, unlike the traditional estate agents no sale, no fee proposal. On the surface the business model is low cost with many traditional estate agency elements stripped out, such as no bricks and mortar premises, and it is front end cash generative. There are no dedicated employed sales teams, as per the traditional estate agents, instead they have instruction getters or listers, termed Local Property Experts, (LPE’s) who are self-employed, and receive a commission per instruction listed. They then earn additional commissions from selling add on products and services such as; accompanied viewings, conveyancing leads and financial services etc. A big part of their business model apart from the ‘low fee’ is that they advertise they do not charge a commission, just a fixed low fee. Well given that the LPE’s get an instant commission somewhere in the region of £400, per property listed, a fixed percentage of the overall fixed fee charged to the vendor. This model strikes a strong chord with the traditional employed sales person sitting in a cosy office being paid £400 commission for a successfully sold and completed sales transaction. I wonder if vendors are aware that the nice young lady or gentleman sitting in front of them stands to personally earn an instant - £400 of the £900 plus VAT fee they are charging each time they get them to sign to sell, (even if the property fails to sell). I also wonder, and I know there is a Gig economy vibe out there, but will the tax man soon think these 450-people are really employed, rather than self-employed?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 March 2019 07:46 AM

Quote from Gosling CEO of House Network - in 2017 “As more people feel comfortable with the online model, we expect online agents to grab a bigger slice of the UK estate agency market. Currently, online estate agents have around 5% market share. We believe this will increase to 15%–20% by 2020,” In 2016, the business received £13m of investment from Carphone Warehouse founder, Sir Charles Dunstone. The Reality in 2019 So far this year - online agengies are only 5.2% of all new listings, with many big online brands going South since last September, together with 10's of millions of institutional investors / private investors money. The ever growing list includes, Tepilo, Hatched, Emoov - though son of Emoov has been born and now probably House simple. Unfortunately there will be more to follow, Doorsteps at £99 an instruction are looking vulnerable- they will need to crowdfund again soon to bail them out, but this time I think that the investors at crowdcube will think 800k invested, zero profit … time to keep my money in my pocket especially with the winds of Brexit upon us. Of course there is still PB - yet to make a penny profit. But the good times - well average times, judging by share price may be at an end, especially as all agents are about to come under scrutiny due to the new Trading standards for estate agents, calling for transparency over fees. No longer will PB be able to say no commission, or commissary when they have to explain the 25% referral fee that every self employed Local Property Expert trousers per pay upfront instruction. I foresee cash flow drying up when prospective vendors are made aware, sale or no sale, the person in front of them is about to get an instant £250 just for listing their home. Now that is misery, cake in the face anybody?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 02 March 2019 10:44 AM

Just a thought, but ... Under the new guidelines - when a local property expert - (who is a self-employed individual) goes and list a property for Purplebricks, will he or she have to say to the vendor, as soon as you sign this agreement I get £200 plus as a referral fee, and if you have accompanied viewings I get £X, etc. And each time Mr Vendor I sign a new listing up, I annually receive a referral fee of £40,000 (well in the good old days) from Purplebricks. Might this be the death knell of online agents? It is one thing for a traditional agent to say we get £120 as a referral fee for using our solicitor should you want to Mr Vendor. And quite another to say, I get £200 plus as a referral fee from Purplebricks the moment you sign up, sale or no sale. If the Local Property Experts were employees the fee, would not be a referral fee, it would just be a fee, but as the LPE's are outside of the company framework, this fee, or commission, I know PB do not like the word - will need to be disclosed to vendors every single time before a vendor signs on the line that is dotted. So the NTSEA transparency drive may be the start of Purplebricks hidden commissary coming out into the open. Maybe that share price is about to get hit again.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 March 2019 01:13 AM

I am not about to become paranoid, but following on from an earlier comment I on an EAT piece about about Countrywide's woeful balance sheet, we now have as Graham puts it the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team, confirming that in its opinion - to be tested by case law - that failure to tell prospective clients about referral arrangements could make all estate agents (including Countrywide) face criminal charges. Pandora's box is at last open, in the name of transparency, those very helpful folk at the NTSEAT feel that if estate agents for instance fail to tell a prospective vendor that the solicitor they are recommending, gives that agent a fee as a referral, then the agent could be open to a criminal court action under the CPRs and probably action by NTSEAT who could close them down. As Graham has also so aptly put, the new NTSEAT (14 page) guidelines are that estate agents must be transparent and plainly communicate to a prospective client: - '(a) The price of its services, including any “compulsory” extras; and (b) Where a referral arrangement exists, that it exists, and with whom; and (c) Where a transaction-specific referral fee is to be paid, its amount; and (d) Where a referral retainer exists, an estimate of the annual value of that retainer to the estate agent or its value per transaction.' This sounds on the face of it a really good idea, let the consumer know all. But, if you are a huge corporate like Countrywide, Connells, etc, and you do refer your solicitor business to a certain solicitor, how will it sound if the agent has to say, 'Mr vendor we feel you may want to use XYZ solicitors, you do not have to, but be aware we get a £120 referral if you do, and annually (and this is the kicker) we as a company receive 2M a year from that solicitor for recommending them.' Do you think the agent will get many takers? It is not just solicitors referrals, that the NTSEAT are talking about, it will cover everything where a referral exists, EPC's, surveys, you name, the agent will need to declare a monetary interest and an annual sum that they receive. In Countrywide's case I am informed that for every £1 of revenue generated by the sale fee, an extra 40p of revenue comes from other income streams, solicitors, mortgages etc. So, I assume that referral fees are at play in this 40p of revenue. What happens if this golden goose, stops laying? On a separate topic, what I find most fascinating in the NTSEAT guidance notes is the sentence … 'Plainly the most important information in deciding whether to accept a service is the price of that service' So trading standards want to protect the consumer, as the starting position for all consumers is knowing the price of the service? My thoughts are, consumers would actually like to know the quality of the service, relative to the cost. And what I mean is this. An agent gets £120 for referring a client to a solicitor, and the company earns 2M a year in referral fees. So, that could look to be a questionable practice. Much better that the client uses some other solicitor, and the agent earns no fee and there is tie up between the agent, the conveyancing of the sale, and the vendor. Is that a better system though? A vendor uses a solicitor who is unknown, they may be great they may be not too good, they may speak to the agent as the sale progresses, they may not. Or, an estate agent recommends a company that it has a massive connection with, yes it receives a referral fee, but due to the huge volume of business, there is also a commercial incentive to get Mr or Mrs Vendor exchanged. Not only this, - there are highly developed software and hardwired processes in place, and management teams both within the estate agency and the solicitors, all with a common aim of getting as many properties exchanged. This interdependence I think is not a bad thing; having had solicitors and conveyancers over the years who never return a call or seem to do anything at a pace (not all) I would rather place my clients sales in the hands of a fully focused large solicitor practice who has the staff and the technology to perform. Luckily, those days are behind me, but my fear is that in the pursuit of transparency, agents might find they are 'pushing' clients away from using their preferred solutions - a brilliant solicitor solution, a brilliant survey solution - and 'pushing' clients out into the unknown. I could be wrong, but if clients no longer take up the recommended suppliers of other related services, because of the money that the estate agent gets as a referral fee, then this lost revenue stream could see many agents struggling. Lastly, referral fees exist in many, many areas of commerce, so will trading standards be searching these out and making the world transparent for all folk, including the beleaguered estate agent?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 01 March 2019 00:49 AM

Purplebricks are ahead of the curve, for sure, the curve being get all clients to pay upfront. When the 50% who pay upfront never get to completion and the news leaks out, and new vendors feel this is not a great idea, and cashflow dwindles, then countrywide who made a 5% profit or lsl can swoop in and buy them? That sounds very likely, after all there must be many traditional agencies out there itching to buy a company that has never made a profit, and if anyone quotes to me the fact that the uk part of PB is making a profit, if you add the non uk losses, which are mounting daily it will be interesting to see where the share price of PB is by June. My advice, have a good look at the final balance sheet of Emoov and the monthly spend these onliners seem to need, bearing in mind they have no branches, very little staff, and yet they rack up huge debts, each sale unit actually making a loss. The only disruptor online agents seem to be, is to shareholders bank balances. Maybe Axel Springer will buy more shares, their original investment has dropped by nearly 40%, maybe they have more money to burn. After all with a slowing market, less property coming to the market and a business model which relies upon new vendors paying cash directly day one into PB, it is might be a great idea to be the biggest owner of shares just at the point the share price drops below 100p a share, five times lower than a share was worth 36 months ago. To mis-quote the Prime Minister, when a company has a share price going through the floor, and although the revenue keeps increasing year on year, if each year your losses also get bigger and bigger, then the business model is flawed and does not work - simples.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 27 February 2019 07:15 AM

Well, I am surprised that it has taken this long for the poor investors in PB to realise that despite increasing revenue every year, a company that does not make profit, can never generate a dividend. The true cost of a sale for any estate agent, be it a corporate, a person trading out of their bedroom, or an online agent is the same - over £2,000. So if you let vendors have the service for less than this, you never make profit. After years of being in the wilderness, explaining to everyone that PB do not 'sell' 81% of the stock they take on - and only convert about 48%, maybe someone will ask the company to publish their true instructions to completions ratio, and maybe refund the poor vendors who paid up front and got nothing extra. Thoughts?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 21 February 2019 17:30 PM

Stephen, I am sure it was a typo but it is only £7,500 annual gross profit per branch I am afraid - 850 branches x £7,500 gross profit a branch =6.375M gross profit. So that is £625 gross profit a month per branch, time to sell coffee and sandwiches perhaps? Or maybe not with Patisserie Valerie having a bad time … is nothing sacred?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 February 2019 10:38 AM

A 5.26% gross profit is not a sign of success, most successful one branch agencies trade on a gross profit margin of 28%. A national company should be aiming for 12% to 14%. If sold prices reduce nationally by 5% in 2019, then Countrywide fees will reduce in line, which is very likely. Also, if the government bans referral fees from mortgage finance, solicitors and survey business, this lost revenue will also impact on Countrywides bottom line, as I think solicitor referrals alone is worth a large sum each year. I hope that Countrywide do weather the storm, but I would advise closing branches that have never made profit or marginal profit, and put resources into the profit making offices, and perhaps, develop staff and employ great mangers at branch level. Put it this way, if you went to a crowdfunding site and said I have great idea, we are going to generate 627M of revenue in 2018, but only see a 5.26% gross profit, you probably would not have any takers especially if you said the brand was a mature one dating back decades. Thoughts?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 February 2019 10:31 AM

Whilst I do not think online agents can be seen as a Ponzi scheme, in that some vendors have seen a return on their investment, eg they got sold and completed having paid into the scheme, for many though that is not the case, and increasingly some people are feeling that paying upfront may be the next PPI scandal in the sense that vendors are paying upfront for no return. So I think Purple Bricks and other pay upfront online agencies are going to come under increasing scrutiny as many vendors appear to be paying upfront and receiving nothing in return, and the figures appear to be very large. If you look very closely at this independent analysis commissioned by Purple Bricks by the data experts twentyci which cover the financial year 2017 to 2018, there seems to be some contradictory claims. In the twentyci report, and I quote ... Purple Bricks were looking for a reliable, respected and independent data source to establish answers to a set of questions about their performance in the financial year 17/18′ And Purple Bricks are … ‘No1 at selling houses: 81% of listings sold within 12 months’ Then there is a helpful graph in the same report which shows an annual picture of Purple Bricks results, it shows 64,000 new instructions, 48,000 properties sold subject to contract and it shows 38,000 properties exchanged. Now the ratio of exchanges to new instructions 64,000 to exchanges 38,000 is 59%, so Purple Bricks are not selling 81% of the instructions. But the worrying thing is, if the company gets 59% of vendors exchanged, it fails to get 41% sold or exchanged but still charges them on average £1,100 as an upfront non refundable fee, which is 41% of 64,000 vendors at £1,100 or 28.86M of fee for nothing. Readers of this are going to say the figures are wrong and skewed etc, but twentyci also did a similar report on Emoov and Tepilo, post the recent failure of these two online companies. And the WHICH organization recently had sight of this twentyci report and said that the conversion rate of the online pay upfront company was 53% of instructions to sold subject to contract, if you then discount the 53% by 30% the usual industry fall off for cancelled sales you get to an exchange rate of around 37%. WHICH states that … ‘Major online estate agent Emoov, which also owns Tepilo, has gone into administration, potentially leaving thousands of home-sellers out of pocket by as much as £2,995. James Cowper Kreston, the firm appointed to act as administrators for Emoov, says the company currently has 5,000 properties listed for sale or sold subject to contract. Of this total, around 80% have paid upfront for the service and are at risk of losing money from the collapse.’ Also, WHICH states, ‘Exclusive data provided to us by TwentyCi shows that over the past 365 days, Emoov had approximately 8,000 new instructions. The firm accounted for approximately 0.5% of the estate agency market in 2018. Around 53% of new instructions received by Emoov typically went on to be ‘sold subject to contract’ and the average price of a property listing was £375,000. Tepilo’s figures are rolled into this data as its activity is merged with Emoov. Now for a very long time I have been saying that online pay upfront agents should be telling potential clients the true conversion rate of their service, and I wrote a recent article using data from Rightmove on – Tuesday November 13 – (prior to the collapse of Emoov and Tepilo). It is roughly gives a market snapshot of the then six major online brands (two under the ownership of Emoov). These were the figures from Rightmove. Doorsteps – 2,054 properties listed, 1,321 for sale, 733 under offer not exchanged, 28% conversion of listed to sold subject to contract.(Minus 30% cancellation rate gives exchange rate.) Yopa – 5,501 properties listed, 3,539 for sale, 1,962 under offer not exchanged, 35% conversion rate. Purplebricks – 37,531 properties listed, 21,142 for sale, 16,389 under offer, 43% conversion rate. Emoov – 2,504 properties listed, 1,696 for sale, 808 under offer, 32% conversion rate. Tepilo (owned by Emoov) – 1,740 properties listed, 1,162 for sale, 587 under offer, 33% conversion rate. HouseSimple – 1,140 properties listed, 763 for sale, 341 under offer, 30% conversion rate. You will notice that Emoov and Tepilo, had a conversion rate around 32%, which if you take the 53% figure being instructions converted to sold subject to contract as in the twentyci report, and then say the normal fall through rate for the property industry of 30% between sold subject to contract and exchanged was slightly higher for these two brands, say a 35% fall through rate you get to the 32% exchange rate, reflected in the Rightmove figures which would mean 68% of vendors mostly paid upfront for nothing. Also the auction/estate agent who 'bought' the Emoov/tepilo listings has said that many vendors actually paid nearly £1,500 upfront, rather than less than a £1,000 as was the low headline figure being offered by the onliners. The added upfront fees were for viewings and other services.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 18 December 2018 10:28 AM

I think that is a brilliant idea … surely there must be plenty?

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 December 2018 18:52 PM

The Purple Bricks data is on their website, scroll down to investor on the bottom of the front page and find the twentyci report it shows their conversion rate. It talks about 81% conversion but then you look at the graphs a few pages on and you see that exchanges are not 81% or anywhere near. Hope that helps.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 December 2018 18:51 PM

I think Purple Bricks and other pay upfront online agencies are going to come under increasing scrutiny as many vendors appear to be paying upfront and receiving nothing in return, and the figures appear to be very large. If you look very closely at this independent analysis commissioned by Purple Bricks by the data experts twentyci which cover the financial year 2017 to 2018, available online on the Purple Bricks website under investors on the title page, there seems to be some contradictory claims. In the twentyci report, and I quote 'Purple Bricks were looking for a reliable, respected and independent data source to establish answers to a set of questions about their performance in the financial year 17/18′ And Purple Bricks are … ‘No1 at selling houses: 81% of listings sold within 12 months’ Then there is a helpful graph in the same report which shows an annual picture of Purple Bricks results, it shows 64,000 new instructions, 48,000 properties sold subject to contract and it shows 38,000 properties exchanged. Now the ratio of exchanges to new instructions 64,000 to exchanges 38,000 is 59%, so Purple Bricks are not selling 81% of the instructions. But the worrying thing is, if the company gets 59% of vendors exchanged, it fails to get 41% sold or exchanged but still charges them on average £1,100 as an upfront non refundable fee, which is 41% of 64,000 vendors at £1,100 or 28.86M of fee for nothing. Readers of this are going to say the figures are wrong and skewed etc, but twentyci also did a similar report on Emoov and Tepilo, post the recent failure of these two online companies. And the WHICH organization recently had sight of this twentyci report and said that the conversion rate of the online pay upfront company was 53% of instructions to sold subject to contract, if you then discount the 53% by 30% the usual industry fall off for cancelled sales you get to an exchange rate of around 37%. This is available on the WHICH site online. In this piece by WHICH, it is stated that the ‘Major online estate agent Emoov, which also owns Tepilo, has gone into administration, potentially leaving thousands of home-sellers out of pocket by as much as £2,995. James Cowper Kreston, the firm appointed to act as administrators for Emoov, says the company currently has 5,000 properties listed for sale or sold subject to contract. Of this total, around 80% have paid upfront for the service and are at risk of losing money from the collapse.’ Also, WHICH states, ‘Exclusive data provided to us by TwentyCi shows that over the past 365 days, Emoov had approximately 8,000 new instructions. The firm accounted for approximately 0.5% of the estate agency market in 2018. Around 53% of new instructions received by Emoov typically went on to be ‘sold subject to contract’ and the average price of a property listing was £375,000. Tepilo’s figures are rolled into this data as its activity is merged with Emoov. Now for a very long time I have been saying that online pay upfront agents should be telling potential clients the true conversion rate of their service, and I wrote a recent article using data from Rightmove on – Tuesday November 13 – (prior to the collapse of Emoov and Tepilo). As it roughly gives a market snapshot of the then six major online brands (two under the ownership of Emoov). These were the figures from Rightmove. Doorsteps – 2,054 properties listed, 1,321 for sale, 733 under offer not exchanged, 28% conversion of listed to sold subject to contract. Yopa – 5,501 properties listed, 3,539 for sale, 1,962 under offer not exchanged, 35% conversion rate. Purplebricks – 37,531 properties listed, 21,142 for sale, 16,389 under offer, 43% conversion rate. Emoov – 2,504 properties listed, 1,696 for sale, 808 under offer, 32% conversion rate. Tepilo (owned by Emoov) – 1,740 properties listed, 1,162 for sale, 587 under offer, 33% conversion rate. HouseSimple – 1,140 properties listed, 763 for sale, 341 under offer, 30% conversion rate. You will notice that Emoov and Tepilo, had a conversion rate around 32%, which if you take the 53% figure being instructions converted to sold subject to contract as in the twentyci report, and then say the normal fall through rate for the property industry of 30% between sold subject to contract and exchanged was slightly higher for these two brands, say a 35% fall through rate you get to the 32% exchange rate, reflected in the Rightmove figures which would mean 68% of Emoov/Tepilo vendors mostly paid upfront for nothing.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 14 December 2018 18:46 PM

For a kick off the share price of of PB has fallen from 320p in Jan 2018 to 154p in recent days, so that speaks volumes about the value of the company. And Neil Woodford's fortunes with his other top companies he has invested in such as a major housebuilder Keir have seen the share price drop by over 25% in the last week. Also Axel Springer paid 125M for 37,722,221 PB shares at a cost of 125M, so £3.07p a share – now 8 months later they are getting £1.50p a share – they are going to be very upset, as that is only 63M. Also, at start of year when share price was £3.22p a share Michael Bruce’s shares were worth 33.218,147 x £3.22p = £106M – now same shares worth £49M so he is not poor on paper but the second he or Neil Woodford tries to sell the price will get hit further. Neil Woodford whose investors holds 88,446,245 shares had in Jan £265M – now worth £132M. If Woodford sells more than 0.75% of a share this triggers an automatic red flag at the Alternative Investment market AIM, so he is unlikely to do this. In terms of inward funding, there was an initial investment of £7M, then through share raising they raised 25M and then another 75M when they decided upon the idea of going into other markets in the world. On top of this they have had positive cash flow (pay upfront model) in 2016, 2017 and 2018 of 18.6M, 46.7M and 93.7M last accounting year (ending in April 2018). Plus the 125M earlier this year from Axel Springer for 12.5% of the company, which after tax and other costs nets down to 100m THE 100m THEY ARE NOW TALKING ABOUT. So scores on the doors, 7M, 25M, 75M, 125M = 132M money invested in, plus 18.6M, 46.7M, 93.7M, positive cash upfront = 159M Grand total of money = 291M – and still they made 26M loss last financial year (off of 93.7M cash flow in) And they had a few months ago about 150M cash in the company, which sounds a lot, but a year ago they had 70M cash in the company, and if Axel Springer had not injected 125M, they might be sitting on 25M. 70M to 25M shows they are burning through capital very quickly, yes they have bought other online brands in other parts of the world – but they are generating zero profit, so on a spread sheet they are liabilities rather than assets. If the pay upfront/online model becomes a NO GO as trading standards think Emoov and Tepilo clients were stung, in the sense that according to WHICH they only converted 35% of instructions to completed sales, but had a fee upfront on most instructions anyway, then PB might have to go no sale no fee which would make their cash flow go from 100% positive to 50% in 18 weeks, ie half stock sells and it takes 18 weeks to get the completion money in - if you are lucky. Now it may not be smoke and mirrors but saying you have 100M to spend so that makes you untouchable is a dangerous gambit, especially if you have never made profit and your model is based upon cash upfront and in 2019 there will be less instructions for all so declining market, and less upfront fees. Remember also that other financial burden of the online model, you have to pay millions and millions on tv and other media because the second you stop your marketing spend your brand is forgotten and you do not have a single office in the high street. I think that costs and lowering revenues, and the reversals that PB are getting world wide may make them more vulnerable, and if that share price continues to drop - it was once in excess of 500p a share to the original 93p level then things are going to get interesting.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 13 December 2018 09:39 AM

Hi 43% of the online estate agents sector has ceased trading since September 2018. As the latest headcount on online agents listing more than 1,000 properties in 2018 is now just four companies, instead of seven. So the magnificent 7 is now in just 15 weeks reduced to the fantastic four, Doorsteps, Yopa, Housesimple, Purple Bricks. If 163 agencies have failed, that is a tiny percentage of the 17,000 estate agents now trading in the country. Also, there have been hundreds of new start ups, mostly from home, many so sole traders. The real contraction has been in the online sector, as 43% of the online estate agents sector has ceased trading since September 2018. As the latest headcount of heaveyweight online agents listing more than 1,000 properties in 2018, is now just four companies, instead of seven. So the magnificent 7 is now in just 15 weeks reduced to the fantastic four, Doorsteps, Yopa, Housesimple, Purple Bricks. Hatched, Emoov and Tepilo are no more- and although there are new online creations popping up, their lack of critical mass - or new properties to sell means they have hundreds rather than thousands of clients on their books. So without fresh capital injections they are going to be financially strapped very soon.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 11 December 2018 10:34 AM

With Pre-Tax (£ m) profit last year of minus 212.75M and a share price bobbling around 8.6p, I think a lot of deckchairs are going to be moving around the deck of HMS Titanic very soon, sad as I have fond memories of working at Countrywide in the mid 1980's. They should have stuck to high fees, high service, market dominance, and high paid staff which encouraged 'big sales hitters' to want to work for the brand, instead they have retained loss making offices for years, and played at being PB and offer loss making fee deals. They can change the top management but they should go and see the junior management in the branches - they are key, they are on the front line.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 December 2018 09:36 AM

Estate agency is a cottage industry, and will continue to be, good estate agents are divesting themselves from offices, and making good profit, and also there are many established bricks and mortar agents in towns villages and cities that have a great team who make massive profits year on year. The biggest revolution though is the agent working from home - and Rob Bryer's approach is brilliant - it is just what a confident sales person needs, freedom to list and sell with support on a daily basis. But, the estate agent working from home is really no surprise as many industries, surveyors etc have been doing this for a long time. Giving a choice if I started again would I have an office and sit in it on a Saturday or a Sunday, no I would rather be networking whilst having a coffee at the local, in between appointments a much better life balance which is why staff retention is such a problem in the industry at present. And working from home should mean bespoke service should mean the highest level of service and highest level of fees as Simon says. And the term Hybrid? all agents are hybrid, changing daily, all are online, all have to conform to new red tape, all have to adapt to the new property tech and communication channels that the public chose to use. Rant over where is my coffee? And then meeting with Zara (my dog) and some blue sky thinking whilst we trail over the countryside. Yes agency is changing - but it is still a service industry, customer is king and you can not get around those trading overheads, so which ever model you are working, build in at least 28% gross profit or probably you are doing a lot of hours for a small return.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 December 2018 09:05 AM

If there is enough pressure from the 2,000 plus vendors who have jointly lost over £200,000 of upfront fee, plus any upfront Tepilo lost fee, and Purple Bricks had to move to a no sale no fee model that would be game over. As PB get 100% of fee on every instruction at present and their average fee is now around £1,300. If they moved to no sale no fee they would only get paid on 50%, as they list 10, sell 7, cancel 30% and exchange on around 50%. And they would have the 16 week wait from point of sale to money in on completion that most agents suffer. The only reason PB keeps rolling on is that it has zero liabilities, LPE's who are 'sel employed' and lots of cash rolling in, the fact they never make profit seems to be a non factor, but in time investors will want a dividend on their shares. Given that market analysts including Motley fool who comment on the Purple Bricks 58% share price drop this year since Jan, things are not rosy at all. As Roland Heald from The Motley Fool put it today in his article ' The Purplebricks Group (LSE: PURP) share price has fallen by 58% so far this year. Should we ignore mounting losses? My colleague Graham Chester reviewed Purplebricks’ half-year trading update recently. I agree with his view that we don’t yet have enough information to know whether the firm will hit its growth targets this year. What I do know is that the near-term outlook for the firm seems to be worsening. One year ago, analysts expected the firm to report earnings of 2.3p per share on sales of £169m in 2018/19. Today, forecasts indicate a loss of 10.8p per share on sales of £173m. It’s a similar story in 2019/20. Forecasts for earnings of 10.4p per share have been replaced with an expected loss of 4.6p per share. One reason for these downgrades is that the group’s international expansion has been ramped up. In the short term, this means that profits from the UK business are being swallowed up by operations overseas. Is PURP a genuine disrupter? If the group’s global expansion is successful, this business could become a genuine disrupter, like Amazon. Personally, I don’t think this is likely. Purplebricks’ business model seems more like evolution than revolution to me. Its sales and property listings still depend on a small army of estate agents (630 in the UK). The only difference I can see is that they don’t have offices. Although the firm’s fixed-fee model is different to a traditional commission rate, I believe mainstream agents will be able to adapt their pricing to become more competitive if they need to. Purplebricks may well cause estate agents’ profit margins to fall. But I don’t think it’s a truly disruptive business. For this reason, I view the shares as expensive and risky.'

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 06 December 2018 08:42 AM

Countrywide’s share price is not the only concern, last year it made losses of over 220M, having made a marginal profit the year before of over 15M. It has raised 120M a few months ago by offering shares at an all time low, but this recapitalisation exercise will only sustain them for 8 months. I started with Countrywide in 1985, and so have fond memories, but the basic principle of the company then was: – high fees, high level of service and dominant market share, which attracted top flight well paid staff. We are now in 2019, well almost and Countrywide should have pruned back all offices that have never made profit, and of course not tried to re-invent itself as a low upfront model. They failed to do this over the last 3 years. The basic cost of selling a property and getting it exchanged is about £2,300, if you factor in marketing costs and sales progression. If you charge less than this your business will make a loss, obviously there are bolt on’s, financial services, solicitors introductions. But you can only charge a higher fee if your offices perform, and the public wants to use your brand, the recent woes of John Lewis illustrate that just because you have always done well historically, in 12 months that can all be wiped out. I wonder two things, has the present CFO ever been an estate agent? Has Himanshu Raja spent anytime in any of the 'back to basic branches' to see how despondent and beaten the sales teams are? I ask this question as not so long ago, most people on the Countrywide board including Aliso Platt had never done agency, and actually looked down on those who had.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 05 December 2018 06:17 AM

Simon I agree, Back in the day it always was the case that about 12% of potential vendors were fee sensitive, as to which estate agent they would choose. So probably 1 out of 10 vendors will go the cheap route, especially as PB for instance have average sale price of around 300k and in large towns and cities their model may work. Though in the last 15 weeks, 47% of the big or Magnificent Seven online agents have closed, (listing more than 1,000 properties apiece) Hatched, Tepilo and Emoov. Leaving only the Fabulous four Doorsteps, a newbie, Housesimple, YOPA and Purplebricks. Trouble is without the TV and other media spend which is massive cost, the onliners do not really exist.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 04 December 2018 09:39 AM

For clarity, in Tepilo's 2016 annual accounts they had a loss of 3.2M in their profit and loss column, and in 2017 they had a loss of 7.5M in their profit and loss column. In Emoov's 2016 annual accounts they had a 6.9M loss in their profit and loss column, and in 2017 they had a loss of 10M in their profit and loss column. So, why would a collective loss of 27.7M in 24 months mean that in 2018 a three way merger with Tepilo, Emoov and Urban make that collective business worth 100M. Especially as Urban was bought for 3M and only generates 40K a month? Probably time to get on Crowdcube - they love investing in 'new generation estate agency disruptor models'.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 29 November 2018 06:43 AM

I am a little lost why the Tepilo Emoov Urban merger would have cost 100M? The best I can come up with is that think a newspaper speculated some months ago that a tie up of Tepilo and Emoov would create an agency 'valued at 100K', (but not sure who would put that value on it.) I do know at the time of the tie up of the the two Tepilo and Emoov from the accounts last filed for Tepilo, no profit had been made. Emoov appear not to have made any real profit if you take out crowdfunding and other funding, and Urban well no profit there either. So a tie up of three concerns who do not make profit, but by getting larger they will now start to have critical mass and turn things around? Well Purplebricks certainly have a lot of critical mass, and have a huge amount of throughput of capital, mainly as all clients have to pay and many upfront and those who do not pay in 10 months or less. But still after year four, it has a collective loss of 47M. Maybe 2019 will be their year, but, their losses this year are far larger than last year, and their turnover has grown by the biggest margin so far. So cash into the company hugely increased, with also an injection of 125M for a 12.5% stake of the company, but the largest losses so far? Maybe it is me, but should the figures not be going the other way? I will be told that Purplebricks are acquiring other businesses, and when the model matures, all will be ok, but the present share price, at around 178p, well down from the heady 500p plus a share, tells me that the city is not so convinced. Thoughts? So, a bit like Doorsteps which valued itself at nearly 10M when it started trading, and is now offering it's services for a £1, having never made a profit. Yes it has raised over 1.2M in private fundraising, thanks to crowdcube, but you soon burn through that if the true cost of sale is around 2.5K, and you are charging a fraction of that. For me there seem to be two models, online agents who charge low fees, (but the cost of sale is identical to the traditional agents with offices) who keep on getting capital injections to subsidise the sums they do not charge the client. And traditional agents who charge on average in the UK around 1% or 3.5K, so a nominal 1K of profit per sale which allows businesses to cover their costs and grow.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 November 2018 17:55 PM

Hi John You are right … No online agent has made any money - they generate cash, but not profit, in last 4 years Purplebricks has announced collective loses of 47M. Despite selling 12.%% of itself for 125M this year. Their balance sheet though is awash with money. Unlike the final accounts of Tepilo which were a horror show, and that company has been trading many years so is a mature business. Now merged with E-moov it will be interesting to see what happens next. Then there is Yopa, which has a strong cashflow, but if you deducted the tens of millions that has been poured into it, like Housesimple, you would say that the future is not one dominated by online only agents. I think online agents will populate about 10% of the housing market, that is because about 10% of vendors are looking for a cheap fee, so there will always be a market for this type of agency. Regarding investors looking at figures, I do not think they ever do, for example Doorsteps, valued itself at nearly 10M before it ever traded a penny, and when it looked to sell less than a 5% share of itself on Crowdcube, it raised just under 400K in a few weeks, and then a year later it raised another 800K plus in a second round of crowdfunding. So over 1M of investment capital. But if you look at the annual accounts on companies house how much profit have they made and how much of the money they have been handed is still left? This means that the shareholders will not get a dividend so no return on their capital. Identical to Purplebricks - no dividend over the past 4 years. Hope that helps - Andrew

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2018 16:11 PM

Hi Property Road Everything is a bit shoddy, but I do not feel that this data is misleading, as 95%of estate agents list on RM, any skew will be very small, as most agents leave their 'sold' stock on the site for as long as possible. On the conversion rate of sold to for sale, I suggest if you have access to figures for a traditional agent you look at: - number of properties listed in last 12 months from today, number of agreed sales in that period, number of properties actually exchanged in that period. The ratio will be 100 listed, 72 had agreed sales, 30% fell through giving just under 50 sales exchanging. So list 10, and sell 7 subject to contract, and exchange on roughly 5. So conversion rate 48%. Have a look and tell me what you find (not the actual figures) - but the conversion rate, then look at your own listings on rightmove do they mirror your own conversion rate of listed to exchanged in last 12-months? I think they will. And I think that is why the online conversions are a true reflection of what they actually sell, which given they get fees upfront regardless might not be fair to vendors who could be using a no sale no fee model. Thoughts? So I fully embrace that traditional agents only sell about 50% of their stock, but they only charge the owners who get to complete. Thank you for taking the time to make a comment and read the piece. Andrew EAIS

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2018 15:42 PM

Hi Ben Data is data, and I do not feel that this data is misleading. Yes some agents do delist properties on exchange or on completion and many wait for Rightmove to take them off the site. But with such a huge amount of data - 95% of estate agents list on RM, any skew will be very small, as most agents leave their 'sold' stock on the site for as long as possible. On the conversion rate of sold to for sale, I suggest if you have access to figures for a traditional agent you look at: - number of properties listed in last 12 months from today, number of agreed sales in that period, number of properties actually exchanged in that period. The ratio will be 100 listed, 72 had agreed sales, 30% fell through giving just under 50 sales exchanging. So list 10, sell stc 7, exchange on roughly 5. So conversion rate 48%. Have a look and tell me what you find (not the actual figures - but the conversion rate, then look at your own listings on rightmove do they mirror your own conversion rate of listed to exchanged in last 12-months? I think they will. And I think that is why the online conversions are a true reflection of what they actually sell, which given they get fees upfront regardless might not be fair to vendors who could be using a no sale no fee model. Thoughts? Thank you for taking the time to make a comment and read the piece. Andrew Stanton I have Now I think that

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2018 15:36 PM

Hi Tom The 100,000 is the amount of properties listed by online agents in a year, not sold. So as Rightmove is snapshot of typically 6 months, if you add up the big six (those who list more than 1,000 a year) and double it to give a 12 month total, then add all the minor players who are online agents - that gets you to 100,000 instructions collectively. Hope that helps and thank you for reading the piece. Kind Regards Andrew

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 15 November 2018 15:21 PM

I admire Sajid for the iniative, like many politicians he will put together views and proposals and nothing will change. Moreover, politicians always look for new models, basing them on some other country - usually America or Norway, which is not useful. Quickest sale to completion, I dealt with was in 2002, only taking three-days. Cash buyer, buying freehold detached residence. This taught me if two motivated solicitors and two sets of clients are willing, then speed of transaction is not an issue. I know there was a hand search, rather than the normal local search, but in 2017, even that could be speeded up. Perhaps a 10% deposit on acceptance of offer, non refundable from the buyer - with vendor paying 10% to buyers solicitor, also non refundable should they not sell, would definitely focus both parties, with a twist that the agent having introduced a ready, able and willing buyer gets their full fee out of the deposit, as does the solicitor. depending . Thoughts.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 22 October 2017 13:45 PM

I think that all online agents use Rightmove, that seems to be a main driver for vendors to use their services. Certainly all of those listed in my article are on Rightmove. And I can see no logic for a client to have their property hidden from the mighty eye of Rightmove - as with no premises and really no sales people promoting the property - it is only Rightmove and Zoopla interaction that generates sales. For sure if there was a marketing model where property was listed and did not appear on the web - that would be a return to the 1990's - maybe I can get some crowd funding for that business model.

From: Andrew Stanton PROPTECH-PR A Consultancy for Proptech Founders 19 October 2017 22:58 PM

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