This week in five seconds
- No news to report
- It's quiet out there
- Get ready for September
- Government review into estate agency concludes it will do… nothing.
No news
The news this week is that there is no news. We can’t even show you any interesting data charts as it's all just a straight line left to right.
In fact we’ve had to dig so deep we’ve reviewed the government paper on estate agency for you!
For a bit of tabloid fun you can review the to-ing and fro-ing of debates led by Russell Quirk on “will they won’t they” debate about the mighty CheapBrick. “...is it the end for Purplebricks”.
Please note our recommendation on CheapBrick is that you are better off using FreeBrick (Stripe) if you want to go down that path. Better to pay nothing for no service than real money.
Movewise article: “Should you use an online agent”
Its quiet out there
Agents have found this week to be far quieter on viewing numbers and on listings with many people taking the opportunity to take a holiday. Although we are seeing the traditional low August viewings numbers, the buyers that are still looking are very keen and committed so are making strong offers on the right property. Listings have also dropped off this week although we are seeing a good level of vendors who are preparing to market their property towards the end of the month/start of September.
Get ready for September
If you are considering selling your property, ask your local agents what numbers of buyers they have looking for your type of property. It is important to try and time your listing for when a good level of buyers are actively looking. You may want to consider arranging your marketing material in advance of a listing so that you are ready to list at the best time.
We note that September is a good time to list, so get ready now. Here’s more reading if you want some proof:
Movewise article: “When is the best time to sell a property?”
Estate agency regulation update
We noted that the House of Commons library was updated with a really hot new read: “Regulation of estate agents”. 💥
Key highlights included:
- 20% of people trust estate agents. This seems to be down on PropertyMarks 2019 statistic of 30%. Come on agents, wrong trajectory! 📉
- The government found no need to introduce licensing of agents. 🤠
“Our view is that there is not a strong case for introducing more regulatory structures and rules in this sector. We are not, therefore, recommending positive licensing.” - Will the government make buying and selling a home easier? No.
“It concluded that there was no “silver bullet” – no single fundamental change which would improve the home buying and selling process.”
So it seems to us that the only way to truly make selling your home easier is…
...to use Movewise.
Have a great week!
The Movewise Team