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| £110,000 | £16,500 | £5,500 | £0 |
| £120,000 | £18,000 | £6,000 | £0 |
| £130,000 | £19,500 | £6,500 | £1,300 |
| £140,000 | £21,000 | £7,000 | £1,400 |
| £150,000 | £22,500 | £7,500 | £1,500 |
| £160,000 | £24,000 | £8,000 | £1,600 |
| £170,000 | £25,500 | £8,500 | £1,700 |
| £180,000 | £27,000 | £9,000 | £1,800 |
| £190,000 | £28,500 | £9,500 | £1,900 |
| £200,000 | £30,000 | £10,000 | £2,000 |
| £210,000 | £31,500 | £10,500 | £2,100 |
| £220,000 | £33,000 | £11,000 | £2,200 |
| £230,000 | £34,500 | £11,500 | £2,300 |
| £240,000 | £36,000 | £12,000 | £2,400 |
| £250,000 | £37,500 | £12,500 | £2,500 |
| £260,000 | £39,000 | £13,000 | £7,800 |
| £270,000 | £40,500 | £13,500 | £8,100 |
| £280,000 | £42,000 | £14,000 | £8,400 |
| £290,000 | £43,500 | £14,500 | £8,700 |
| £300,000 | £45,000 | £15,000 | £9,000 |
Typical minimum deposit at 15%:£16,500
Deposit with shared equity:£5,500
Always the bridesmaid never the bride 
Congratulations to Douglas & Gordon who were the winners in our category in this year’s Primelocation blog awards. Thanks to primelocation for organising the event and congratulations to our fellow runners up.
Next year ……
If you are like most people today you may well have noticed some rather strange-looking icons appearing in a number of marketing techniques. Even so, you might not be aware that these icons, known as QR codes, could be just what you need to help you increase your property sales. For those who are not familiar with QR codes, they are the latest technologically savvy way for prospective customers and clients to be directed straight to your website. All they need to do is use their mobile device to scan the icon. It’s that simple.
Before you begin slathering these bizarre looking codes over all of your advertising, it is important to consider some important elements. QR codes are primarily targeted at consumers who use Smart phones. Therefore, in order for this marketing strategy to work in an efficient manner, it is imperative that your website be optimized so that it can be viewed on mobile devices. Otherwise, all your efforts will be in vain. In addition, although QR codes have grown rapidly in popularity, it should also be understood they are still relatively new. Not everyone understands what these icons are, or even how they work. To reach that segment of your population, it is critical that you display some text alongside the icon which clearly explains users will need to download a reader from an app store and that the reader is free.
So, how can you incorporate QR codes into your real estate business? Let’s take a look:
Sales Boards
This is typically a great starting point for most estate agents. When these codes are placed on your sales board, it makes it possible for anyone who is passing by to easily and quickly scan the code and then be directed to a details page on your site regarding that specific property. Another great advantage is that each scan can be easily tracked, allowing you to keep track of your return on investment for every sales board.
Direct Mail
You can also benefit by incorporating QR codes into your direct mail pieces. As you are probably aware, tracking the success rate of mail-out advertising pieces has always been problematic. When using a QR code on direct mail pieces; however, each transaction will be automatically tracked. Furthermore, you gain the ability to customize each campaign to specifically suit local audiences. Consequently, it is easy to redirect users in various areas to experiences that are tailored just for them.
Business Cards
Business cards are among the most common used tools in the real estate industry. What if you could make your business cards do more for your business? With QR codes you can. It seems as though everything is going digital today. With QR codes, users can quickly scan your business card and then save all of your pertinent information to their mobile device. In addition, this is a great opportunity to make sure you stand out from the rest of the crowd by creating an experience that is truly memorable. For instance, consider including a video message on the page where users are redirected.
Property Information Sheets
This is yet one more example of how you can take advantage of the many benefits offered by QR codes. By simply scanning a QR code from property information sheets, users will be quickly redirected to pages that include a wealth of additional information such as rightmove estate agents interactive floor plans, video tours and more. When compared to boring and dry detail print-outs, this is a far more compelling and powerful experience.
Your Vehicle
Many estate agents take advantage of the opportunity to market their business by including bumper stickers are magnetized advertising on their vehicles. Why not take it a step further and include a QR code? The potential is enormous, considering the number of people that likely see your vehicle each and every day as you conduct business and go about daily errands. With a QR code on your vehicle, anyone passing by can easily scan the code and view a listing of all your available properties as well as contact information.
While they may appear somewhat strange, QR codes are making tremendous headway in the world of high-tech marketing. They have already quickly become a powerful influence in major marketing campaigns.
This post was written by guest writer Andrew Potter. Andrew runs My Online Estate Agent and regularly contributes insightful articles to the online property forum.
Managing multiple rental properties can be challenging, but it’s the responsibility of the landlord to take out landlord insurance and ensure everything’s running smoothly. Every house, flat, bungalow or studio must be looked after with care and should be up to scratch to stop tenants jumping ship.
Here’s how to manage multiple rental properties successfully:
Keep a separate file for each property
Make sure all paperwork is well organised by keeping a separate, well-managed file for each property. File away contracts, legal documents, utility bills, references, and letters from tenants together for each residence and use dividers to mark off each section. You really don’t want to be sending tenants the wrong information, so make sure you stay on top of the game.
Use the same labourers
If you’ve a trusted electrician, plumber or painter, why not ask them to carry out maintenance on all your properties? You might get discount for a bulk contract and will be able to streamline repair work a lot easier. Ask a reputable labourer to come with your when acquiring a new property and get professional advice before parting with your cash.
Inspect your properties frequently
If all your properties are in one area, schedule when you’ll visit each residence and seek permission from the tenants. Inspect every property regularly (without invading anyone’s privacy) and keep track of all visits. If your properties are spread out all over the place, you’ll still need to check up on them, but devise a route that’s convenient for you and let everyone know your plan.
Return calls
Failing to return calls or respond to letters is a sign that you’ve taken on more than you can handle. Either put someone in charge of admin, or step up your game to satisfy your tenants. People won’t be happy if they’re left waiting and might move out when their contract expires. It’s your duty to provide an efficient service, so always try to answer questions and respond to complaints.
Take out landlord cover
Landlord cover could save you time and money and will protect you in an emergency. Tenants can be irresponsible, so make sure you look after your investment. Reputable companies will cover damage to your plumbing and electrics and will make sure you meet your legal gas safety regulations. Safeguard you properties and make the most out of your business.
Being a landlord can be stressful, but it can also be rewarding if you put the effort in.
At last, someone listened and we are getting better ads from the portals. Findaproperty have a new look site with a new look ad which is more modern, funnier and generally an all round massive improvement!
It was announced the other day that Property Drum Ltd had aquired the Negotiator Magazine. The parties didn’t say ‘for an undisclosed sum’ but then they didn’t say how much!
When Property Drum burst onto the scene back in 2009 the Owl was a little sceptical and asked whether a 100 page magazine could stay afloat. Well, they have and through recession and I for one applaud this move. The Negotiator is a good ‘brand’ name and has a loyal following. I have always maintained that its strength was the ability to produce quality interviews and articles with the people one wants to read about and if they can develop this strength, grow it online and harness the social space that remains largely unexplored for property people they ought to be the dominant player.
I guess the real question is whether they can continue to run as separate brands ? The writer believes not for two reasons (1) pure economics and (2) they need to embrace the online space with gusto and this acquisition positions them perfectly to expand into said space with an overall product that has quality and depth.
One magazine, one dominant news and reviews brand, one social space for property people (and dare I say just one portal!).
Anyway, good luck to them, I am off to join the communist party.
We are today nominated as a finalist in the pretigious Primelocation Blog awards 2011.
Thanks to those who voted for us and I guess I ought to write something now to carry us past the winning post. Runners up in 2009 and 2010, could this be our year ?
We are in good company and fellow nominees are as follows. We know most of these guys so good luck to you all. Hopefully Primelocation will lay on a party for us
According to the EAT Rightmove say that their customers want ads. I am sorry, but since when does any online customer actually ‘want’ to see an ad?! A term exists; ‘banner blindness’ which means many users have become so used to ads they just don’t see them. I think if you asked all online entrepreneurs the vast majority would say they would rather not have ads on their site, but the money is sometimes hard to ignore.
Why can’t Rightmove just be honest and say Lloyds (who are advertising on the Rightmove site) offered them a significant deal that was too good to turn down. Instead, they provide a weak ‘… statistics show that our customers would like to see …’ statement. Please show me these statistics that categorically say Rightmove customers want third party ads.
Moreover, Rightmove continues to miss opportunities to build relationships with their other customer base, their agents. Love them or hate them, Rightmove are top with almost every agent feeding stock into the rightmove machine. How does rightmove engage its agents customers? I think many would say it doesn’t, there is no ‘community’ of agents. On the contrary, most see the rightmove machine as a necessary evil. So why oh why isn’t rightmove trying to engage the hands that feed it? There are a myriad of advertising models that could be worked on with agent clients that provide ancillary services such as mortgages. And these are all local, so the advertising opportunities are endless.
Rightmove have taken the easy (greedy) option.
Becoming a landlord can be an extremely rewarding move, both financially and on a personal level, but being a successful landlord requires an understanding of the key factors behind letting out a property. Indeed, a failure to understand these issues can mean you end up getting things wrong and seeing your investment backfire. First and foremost, it is important to take out landlord insurance to protect this investment. Shopping online is a great way to purchase landlord insurance as you can compare landlord insurance policies before buying, including features and prices, to ensure that you track down some of the best deals out there for your requirements.
Under the Landlord and Tenant Act (1985), landlords have a legal responsibility to make sure that health and safety measures are up to standard in their buy-to-let property, in order to keep their tenants as safe as possible. However, even where precautionary measures are taken, there is always a risk that something could happen to your tenants – in the event of a fire, for example. Landlord insurance can protect you and your tenants should any unfortunate and unforeseen events occur. Taking out a suitable landlord insurance policy could potentially save you a great deal of money down the line should a tenant make a claim. There is a range of insurance options to choose from and many landlords tend to take out multiple insurance policies such as buildings insurance, contents insurance, landlord’s liability insurance and legal cover insurance.
Successful landlords tend to know their target market and know it well before they start renting out their property. Be sure to undergo sufficient research prior to letting out your property and base your next moves on these findings. For example, it is important to make note of the rental prices that similar properties to yours in the same area can command and how quickly they are getting scooped up. If they are still available after some time on the market, this may be a sign that the landlord has priced it too high and so you should perhaps price yours slightly lower to maximise your chances of success. In addition, if you are considering using a letting agent to help advertise your property, be sure to research the different agents out there to ensure that you are getting the best deal for your money.
Finally, arguably the most obvious way to prepare your property before letting it out is to ensure that it looks as attractive and welcoming as possible. It is no surprise that the nicer your property appears both inside and out, the higher the rental value you may be able to charge.
One of the most annoying things of all portals is when they display out of date stock. This is not really their fault of course because agents normally provide the portals with stock and such stock is sometimes woefully out of date.
Poor old customer spends time searching for property, drills further down and at some point realises this property is no longer available. Infuriated, customer x then looks on another portal and finds all the same out of date properties. Both agent and portal look bad and customer adds yet another bad mark against the home buying process.
So how does one encourage agents to update their stock? I spotted a small but powerful function on Zoopla that may just address this issue. I am calling this function agent stats as it would appear not to have too much said it about it. Indeed, it may be new or just on trial and I have stumbled upon it and it has been there for ages, but I think this little function could make a huge difference to customer satisfaction.
If you click on the Agent details for each property you will see a new range of stats, namely, number of properties for sale, average price and the all important one, average sale listing age (ditto rental).
This is not a rate it card (like Zillow launched and then withdrew) but a real tool that will allow the customer to see how long an agent takes to shift their properties. If agents don’t update their stock it will effect their average, simple!
I like this idea and I am not sure why it is under the radar at the moment. Perhaps Zoopla are waiting to see what noises agents make, but I for one think it will only help the customer experience and is an excellent addition to the growing functionality of the Zoopla brand.
It has been a while since I attended one of these functions and I was treated like royalty by the lovely people at Zoopla. Not only did I have the best seats in the house for the awards, but they gave me champagne as well. So thanks to all at Zoopla.
The Show
I was hoping for something to jump out and excite me at the show, but I must say that whilst there were many good companies, there was nothing well …. super innovative. Zoopla aside, Dezrez and others still look impressive within the software market, but where is the young talent who have created a super app or wizzy thing that makes us all go wow, that is pretty neat?
Maybe the customer base isn’t there or maybe property is just not sexy enough, but with Zoopla pushing the portal solutions there is room for other elements of the industry to aspire to greater things.
The awards
The women made the show for me however and perhaps this is where the future of the UK real estate industry lies, female kind. They seem to have more passion! Some photos below of the winners and all the photos on the now working facebook page:
Rightmove were absent although I did see Miles Shipside behind the Zoopla VIP section (maybe next year Miles?!)
The show was in a lovely venue by the way, the Bobby Moore Suite at Wembley, so well done to the organisers.
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