#MyPropertyStories: a light hearted look at agency life
I think we can all agree that 2022 has been a challenging year for estate agents and with predictions swirling for 2023, it’s easy to be dragged into a future that hasn’t even happened.
As an industry, agents have traded through all manner of economic conditions and no matter how fussy the vendors, how scarce the buyers, how fraught the conveyancing and how tricky the mortgage market, they have always managed to enjoy the lighter side of sales and lettings.
Viewber’s #MyPropertyStories series on YouTube is a fantastic reminder of the moments that have raised a wry smile and watching our vlogs is a great way to pick up advice from the industry’s most successful figures. Here are just some of the highlights:
Board wars, 1993 style!
For his property story, Lee Wainwright – CEO of Focal Agent – looked fondly back at a prank that involved a competitors’ swing sign. He takes us to 1993 when he was Branch Manager at Dixons in Redditch. It was a hugely competitive time, with agents using very creative strategies to get ahead of the competition.
It’s a Bank Holiday weekend and property rival, estate agent Nigel Poole, had left its swing sign out on the pavement, despite the branch being shut. Having been inspired by a similar stunt, Lee took Nigel Poole’s swing sign and transported it to a beach in Weston-super-Mare. The sign was laid down on a towel, sunglasses were added and sun cream applied, with Lee taking photos of the scene.
Using the technology available at the time – a photocopier and not Photoshop – Lee created a number of tongue-in-cheek flyers that suggested Nigel Poole really wasn’t open seven days a week and its staff were lazy. Although the joke wasn’t shared with any vendors, the rival agents were riled enough to retaliate. In the days that followed, Nigel Poole himself drove around the streets of Redditch, taking down any Dixons boards he came across.
Although good spirited, Lee highlights how the actions laid bare how important market share was at the time but also added that it led to a new level of mutual respect between the agents.
Watch Lee’s #MyPropertyStories here.
Cooperation and trips on Concorde
Michael Stoop, the Chairman at Belvoir and board member of TPO, started his property story in the 1980s – an era when there was far less regulation, and a greater sense of freedom in both social and professional settings. It was a time when a phone, a Filofax and a set of index cards was all an agent needed, with Reapit not even a twinkle in George Stead’s eye.
What stuck with Michael was the cooperation between agents – which is quite at odds with the competitive atmosphere in the 1990s noted by Lee. Perhaps unimaginable today, Michael explained how if you didn’t have a house on your books suitable for a potential buyer of yours, you would wander down to another estate agent’s office, have a look in their filing cabinet to see what properties they’d been instructed on and strike up a deal with the rival agent on a half commission basis.
Michael says it was a time when your word was your bond and agents trusted each other implicitly, which left him with the feeling that his job was more like a hobby – unsurprising given he was showing some of London’s most lavish houses to rockstars and Chelsea footballers. Michael’s accompanying photographs will either evoke feelings of nostalgia or bemusement, based on your age, so do take a look.
Watch/listen to Michael’s #MyPropertyStories here.
Always ring the doorbell first
Michael Day, of Integra Property Services and Director at Teclet, chose to focus on viewings when creating his #MyPropertyStories entry. As a young agent, Michael learnt the hard way about the five Ps: prior preparation prevents poor performance. In the case of one viewing, where he was showing an older couple around a bungalow, he realised that prior preparation didn’t just mean researching the local market and gathering the right documents.
Using keys to let himself and the potential buyers in, the viewing progressed smoothly, showing the kitchen and the lounge. It was when Michael opened the door to the master bedroom that events took an awkward turn. There on the bed was an amorous couple il flagrante. Michael explained there was a hasty retreat and a sense of embarrassment all round.
It transpires that the home’s owners were away and their young son thought he’d make the most of the empty property, unaware that Michael had been left a set of keys and given free rein to show potential purchasers around. From that point on, Michael always rang the doorbell before opening the front door, sparing anyone else’s blushes in the future.
Watch Michael’s #MyPropertyStories here.
#MyPropertyStories features a number of other amusing tales, as well as top tips and insightful advice from agency experts. Head over to our YouTube channel to hear business growth specialist, Christopher Watkin, reveal why a wake will ever be associated with one valuation; why Simon Bradbury, the Managing Director at Thomas Morris, still follows the wise words of a professional poker player, and how the best piece of business advice ever given to Rajeev Nayyar still shapes how Fixflo operates today.
