It is said there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
As the General Election draws nearer and we head for political exhaustion long before Polling Day on May 7, this old saying will ring true many times over.
But that doesn't means statistics and surveys can be ignored, just tempered by a touch of realism.
The Property Academy Home Moving Trends Survey for 2014 asked 4,506 people about their decisions. The majority of respondents were female (the split was 58 per cent / 42 per cent) and their ages were roughly equally divided among four groups ranging from 30-39 through to 60-69.
What was interesting was that only one per cent claimed to have been influenced in their choice of agent asked to provide a valuation by whether the agent belonged to a professional body.
It's a figure that should have set alarm bells ringing at the NFoPP headquarters in Warwick. I'm a Fellow of both its constituent bodies, NAEA and ARLA, and have long believed they are a force for good.
Another interesting figure from the Property Academy report is that 20 per cent of people were influenced in their choice of agent by the agent's reputation, the biggest single influencing factor.
To me, reputation and professionalism go hand in hand because to have a good rating for the first you have to be highly accomplished in the second. This is where NFoPP's constituent parts may be falling down for the industry because the raising of standards through membership is not put in the media spotlight often enough.
It should be telling people that its member agents are encouraged to obtain professional qualifications that bring better standards and that, with Client Money Protection in place, consumers who use its members stand a far higher chance of getting their money back when things go awry.
I also think that membership of local property associations, and connection with fellow professionals in residential sales and lettings such as lawyers, conveyancers, and surveyors, is also important because it leads to the type of joined-up thinking that can make the consumer experience better. Likewise, redress schemes, although we now have a confusing proliferation, are great for consumers and therefore for agents if we can be bothered to promote membership.
Back in 2005, I took my then firm into the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme, now The Property Ombudsman, to become the 1,000th member firm. This year, TPO as the successor organisation, is 25 years old and the current Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, has probably done more to raise industry standards than any other individual since he took office.
I think we all need to be proud of our professional bodies and promote them to our clients, explain what they mean, and what they bring to the industry by way of improved standards. Perhaps they will then rate better in such surveys and, more importantly, influence industry behaviour but it's a long climb!
*Colin Shairp is Director of Fine and Country Southern Hampshire
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Comments
A sensible article and I agree with almost all of it. The exception is the, "The Valuation".
I have moved many times and have a small BTL portfolio. I despair at estate agents' valuations. Of course they can give an accurate estimate of what similar properties are selling for and with a few days practice in the same location I can do the same. They may even say whether or not their clients have set a realistic asking price but they will only let you know this if you have immediate cleared funds.
Information which estate agents seem incapable of finding out are a number of important pieces of information pertinent to valuations. The most common for me is leasehold details which are vital to know for a profitable BTL purchase. I have reached the point where I just walk out of estate agents office with the briefest of sad smiles when I meet this.
Another factor might be information about the crack in a wall which comes up from the foundations and goes to the roof. How does this affect the price The estate agent will still ask for the market price and value accordingly. Is this in the hope that the buyer will not notice
One of the worst situations I have experienced is agents setting too low a value and saying they can sell immediately - usually to a company opening up in the area. There are many connotations to this one but they lead back to the observation the agent is simply drumming up business at the seller's expense.
I have experienced all the above and more.
Unfortunately, whilst good agents are a pleasure to work with, if a bad agent has the property you want then you have to go with them. If you are selling then you can make a choice but most people will ask for quotes and commission rates and that will be it, job done. This is a British disease of course.