Selling Your Property in 2015?

Spoilt for choice. When searching for a route to sale you will come across various “private-sale” sites who will charge a small fee to promote your property on their website, and any other partnered websites or property portals. Their entry-level services will be limited with a simple photograph of the property stock; some headline text, and not much more. Any partnered sites that are included will offer a small amount of extra buyer-attention individually, but when combined can command notable traffic volumes. A growing number of estate agents have taken to the digital marketplace and there are quite a few offering to market your property at a much lower fee than the traditional high street agent. They can afford to pass on this saving because they enjoy the low overheads of a digital shop front. These digital agents are likely to charge you around £400-£500 for the privilege of their expertise.  You could also consider advertising direct to property portals whom, for a fee will upload your property to their site; however the top portals will depend on agents as their core customer base and refuse individual property owners without an agent’s involvement. It may seem that agents are ‘getting in the way’ of you directly advertising your property to potential buyers but don’t forget the reason they are in business in the first place; the benefit of using an estate agent is that you get access to their knowledge of the market. They already understand the types of properties selling, at what price, and why.   Presentation, presentation, presentation. To sell your property independently you will need to do some homework. Get to studying on sites like Mouseprice and obtain some working knowledge of your local property market. You’ll need to comb through sold prices in your local newspapers, Mouseprice and Landmark Analytics for similar Properties, which are close to where you live.  Property portals will give you an idea of where agents are positioning their property stock in the market, but keep in mind that these aren't the actual final sale prices achieved; which are commonly 5-10% lower. You will need to take bright and descriptive images of your property, inside and out. Cutting corners in this area could mean your property remains unsold for weeks or months, as it is all a potential buyer has to judge your properties worth and first impressions are key. Research simple composition in photography or advice from market leaders on how to photograph your home. Applying simple research tips to this initial presentation of your property will really pay off as the enquiries start to flow in thick and fast. Also, prepare a full description of your property for uploading onto websites and portals. Include every detail of each room, from the number of electrical sockets to the styling of the window sill; and measurements of each space.

Be Safe. Be Smart If you present your property well you will have people contacting you to see more, so be prepared. Be flexible with viewing arrangements to accommodate potential buyers who will be viewing multiple properties and are likely to lose interest in yours if it’s too much hassle for them. Remember buyers often need to cancel their viewing appointments so it’s best to arrange group viewings so that cancellations don’t pose much of a problem. Obtain full details of everyone wanting to view your property and don’t allow viewings when you’re on your own, this is vitally important to your safety as you’re inviting strangers into your home. During the viewing be aware of what the buyer is looking for, the kitchen and lounge are the key rooms for most buyers and will greatly influence a buyers decision; show these rooms first.  If you want to be really strategic you can ask for honest feedback about your property to understand how you can improve things and get a better chance of a sale. After a few successful  viewings, be prepared for the ensuing offers; preparation is  important as offers will come in via email and over the phone.  When receiving a telephone offer, preparation will prevent your knee-jerk reaction sounding like “In your dreams mate” to a particularly low sounding offer. Don’t accept or reject an offer immediately, instead give yourself time to make an informed decision. Put together a checklist of information that you will require, such as Personal Details, Offer Price, Mortgage details, solicitor details, and timescales for moving.  Around 30% of sales agreed never reach completion for various reasons, so keeping a keen eye on progress will help to make sure that you are not in that category. You should be contacting solicitors, estate agents and your seller at least weekly to ensure the sale is progressing. This is the time to get pushy and ensure none of the relevant parties slack off from securing your dream! The Home-Straight. Final Checklist Seller Instructs their Solicitor Seller mortgage application submitted Survey on your property completed Seller mortgage offer issued Exchange date agreed Completion date agreed The benefits of selling through an estate agent is that they only receive payment once the sale is complete, whereas selling independently online will demand your time, attention and upfront costs to be recouped. The choice is yours; happy selling!

Metropix named among top ten firms in ESTAS Supplier of the Year Award 2015

We are proud to confirm that Metropix has been named a finalist in the 2015 ESTAS Supplier of the Year category: the biggest award of its kind in the residential property industry. 

The ESTAS determines the best agents and suppliers in the industry by asking customers a series of questions about the service they have received from their agent or supplier.  This years’ competition saw 25,000 surveys completed.

The ‘Best in Sector’ winners and the Supplier of the Year will be announced by TV property expert, Phil Spencer, at the 12^th annual ESTAS ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane on 17^th April.  

Phil Spencer said “I think these awards help us all to focus on customer service for the greater good of our own businesses as well as the wider industry.  We must all drive standards higher, raising the bar in terms of the quality of advice we offer and the level of customer care we deliver”. 

Simon Brown, who owns and runs The ESTAS added: “There are a huge number of suppliers to our industry and our aim is to highlight those that provide the best service and the most value to the agents they work with. Voting for this category is based on the same formula as that used for rating agents, namely feedback from customers.” 

Brian Farrell, Managing Director of Metropix said: “We are delighted to be named as a finalist, particularly as 2015 marks our tenth anniversary since introducing 2D floorplan technology to assist estate and letting agents in marketing residential properties. Our business is founded on providing our customers with the highest levels of service so we greatly value the ESTAS as a way of gaining feedback from our customers to enable us to continue improving our floor plan products and services.”

For more information, visit http://www.metropix.co.uk/  or telephone 0845 838 5355.

2D or not 2D? That is the question for estate agents as Metropix celebrates ten years of floor plan success

It is ten years since Metropix introduced its floor plan software to the residential property market. Founded by former estate agent, Brian Farrell, Metropix enables agents to draw out 2D floor plans, giving prospective tenants and buyers an instant visualisation of the size and layout of a property. Estate and lettings agents have created more than 6.7 million Metropix floor plans in the past decade.

“In 2005 floorplans were a novelty, today more consumers demand to see a floor plan included in property details,” reports Metropix Managing Director, Brian Farrell. 

The Metropix PLANBANK® contains a wealth of ready-made floor plans, including unusually-shaped layouts, giving an insight into the wide variety of properties that have been drawn using the software. The smallest Metropix floorplan, created for a property in London, measured just 188 square feet, or 4.78m x 3.66m. That’s a living space the equivalent size of 24 shopping trolleys. The largest Metropix floorplan, created for a property in Auckland, measured an impressive 31,415 square feet: large enough to accommodate two Olympic swimming pools and still have space for furniture.

The number of letting and estate agents using Metropix floor planning software to help with marketing properties continues to rise. Some of the first to use the service include corporate clients, such as Romans, and independent agents, Slades Estate Agents, based on the South coast, both have used Metropix since day one.

The very first Metropix customer was Berkshire-based agent, Atkinson Keene, acquired by Romans in 2012. Peter Fuller, FARLA, Letting Managing Director at Romans, explains his reasons for continuing to use the software today, “We produce between thirty and fifty floor plans per week, via Metropix. Many of our competitors don’t include floor plans as standard and this makes us stand out from the crowd. We regularly hear from prospective tenants that they have been frustrated at not having access to a floor plan. We find that if a property is being marketed online across multiple agency listings and we’re the only agent who offers a floor plan, it gives us a distinct advantage. Including floor plans helps to improve our click through rates,” asserts Peter Fuller.

In a recent survey by property portal RightMove, over half of 10,000 consumer respondents stated that they would not instruct agents that didn't include floor plans as part of their properties marketing. The research also highlighted that one in five consumers would ignore property adverts that didn't have a floor plan.

 

Brian Farrell adds: “We would like to thank all our customers for contributing to Metropix’ continued success. Back in the early days, the market for computer-generated floor plans was agents who were looking to offer better marketing to their clients. Nowadays, we are seeing increasing consumer demand for floor plans on agents' websites, because it helps them to assess a property’s suitability. More agents are realising they are at a competitive disadvantage if they don't provide a floor plan to prospective buyers and tenants.” 

Throughout 2015, Metropix will be sharing fun facts and competitions; join in at: www.metropixten.co.uk or on social media, using hashtag #metropixisten. 

More information on Metropix can be found at http://www.metropix.co.uk 

Making the List: Supplier of the Year (Products)

With the short-list for the Negotiator Awards 2014 being revealed, we were delighted to see that Metropix - a Landmark Information Group service - has once again made the grade and been short-listed for the ‘Supplier of the Year (Products)’ category.

The entry focused on how, as a business, Metropix is wholly focused on the delivery of what our clients want. We regularly seek feedback to identify what areas of the Metropix offering can be improved further still and to understand what other services clients might like developed.

We wait with bated breath for the outcome of the awards – winners are being announced at a gala evening reception on 4^th November at the London Hilton on Park Lane. Do wish us luck.

In the meantime, we would also like to extend our congratulatory best wishes to all our estate agency and letting agency customers who have been selected as finalists in the various agency categories.

More details on the Negotiator Awards, can be accessed here. 

Whose Responsibility Is It Anyway?

From 26 April, the Mortgage Market Review comes into force, and brings with it stricter affordability rules.  As such, it increases lenders’ obligation to determine affordability – both now and in the future.

Some worry however that the rule change may see mortgage application fraud rise, in avoidance of more rigorous checks.  For those with income verification worries, there is concern they may target alternative mortgage products.

With self-certification ended, we have been warning clients to ensure that they incorporate strict fraud alerts on unregulated loan business.   In fact, Buy-to-Let is increasingly being mooted as the potential ‘replacement’ to self-certified loans; a straw poll by a broker magazine asked its readers whether any clients have attempted to buy property for residential purposes via a buy-to-let mortgage.  Out of 275 responses, 52% had witnessed such attempts.

Systems are in place with many lenders to detect this activity, however it is important that the industry remains vigilant. But who in the property purchasing chain is actually responsible for policing or reporting related concerns?  Where does the responsibility truly lie?

Estate Agents

At the start of the process, Estate Agents are in an ideal position to gather information on the purchaser and the property, including its potential for rental, and to understand how the purchaser intends to use the property.  Once a purchase proceeds the agent is less likely to be involved in the financial transaction – unless the applicant happens to use their in-house financial advisor.  Perhaps there is scope to incorporate feedback from agents in the process, so their initial findings can be analysed?  As unregulated professionals this may be a long shot, but there’s no doubt that most agents will know the purpose of a given purchase.

Brokers

Mortgage brokers are often considered to be in the ‘hot seat’ as it is their recommendations that will be adopted by the applicant in terms of which mortgage product they should opt for. It is therefore up to brokers to extract enough information on the applicant, their intentions and plans for the property plus their relevant financial history, to make an accurate judgement.  Brokers have a duty to report any suspicions they may have, whether related to falsified ID or income data.  We are seeing lenders tightening up their management of broker panels with some refusing to accept further business if fraudulent applications are submitted.   

Surveyors

We've spoken about the surveyor community as being the ‘eyes and ears’ of the industry, and believe they are in a strong position to identify any suspicious activities. Surveyors not only meet the current occupant during the valuation but also physically assess the property.   We believe this places surveyors at the heart of the risk management process and in a prime position to identify factors that may add up to a fraud referral when combined with other information sources.

Conveyancers

As the last line of defence, legal conveyancers have a responsibility to ensure the transaction is fully transparent.  As ‘gatekeepers’ of the mortgage process, conveyancers undertake detailed identity verification checks, have a view of the source of funds, and also have an insight to the property, including a range of detailed property search information. 

There has been some interesting debate over whether the data available to conveyancers could be used earlier in the purchase process, with obvious benefits for instance if lenders were able to make use of Land Registry charge information when deciding how to value a property.

Lenders

Lenders are of course at the heart of fraud detection and prevention with their profitability directly affected by bad lending, and now a strong focus from regulators not only on their processes and controls but also on capital requirements for different categories of lending.

Fraud teams walk a tightrope between ensuring that the customer journey for the majority remains smooth and trouble free, whilst at the same time investigating as many cases as possible, making it genuinely tough to gain approval for a mortgage when criteria are abused or significant suspicion persists.

The IT systems which today form a key part of lenders’ defences aid this process by analysing every potential loan at various stages, from the moment of application through valuation and even the conveyancer’s certificate of title process.

By analysing both applicant and property data – for example, looking at previous loan applications or the property’s transaction and listing history – risk systems can work together to issue alerts if the application meets specific criteria, as determined by the lender. Detailed investigations can then be undertaken by the lender’s fraud team before the application is allowed to proceed.

What this shows is that there isn't a definitive single body that is responsible for policing, detecting or reporting cases of fraud, and whilst lenders are clearly driving the process from the centre, each ‘link in the chain’ has the ability to influence the overall strength of the anti-fraud toolkit. 

Knowledge in this arena clearly equals power, and the provision of new data driven solutions that intelligently analyse all facets of the proposed transaction will enable the entire industry to make better informed decisions – first time, every time.

Richard Groom

Product Development Director

Financial Risk - Landmark Information Group