At Bradleys the computers say yes!

So many things are coming together all at once at Bradleys that we as a company are about to take a massive stride forward. In the last 7 days our fantastic new website has gone live with many ground breaking features. Our Customer Services team are now taking full advantage of our new telephone system by taking offices overflow calls and this has resulted in picking up many extra appointments which may have been lost when offices were already dealing with high levels of business, that is in addition to dealing with 2,500 on line enquiries every month. We have been upgrading all of our computers and last week saw the final 'lightning fast' machine installed in the final office. Another mammoth task completed and another enhancement to be able to deliver a better service. At Bradleys the computers say yes! We are being featured in a BBC2 show on Estate Agents which will be aired for the first time on Wednesday the 9th April at 8.00. Please see an extract from the Radio Times below for an idea of what the programme will be about. 

Under Offer, Estate Agents on the Job About to hit the screens.

It would have been easy to make this series a lot less kind. A different production company or a different channel might have gone for the jugular and made the world of estate agents look naff – it wouldn’t be hard to play to our preconceptions of divs in tight suits making a fast buck.

But Under Offer is more interesting than that. Take Exeter estate agent Lewis: “I’m like a David Brent-esque manager,” he announces. We see him in his car shrieking along to a Muse song, trying a bit too hard to bond with his underlings, and debating whether to call his new son Finlay or Finley – or maybe Stryder? And yet in the end he’s likeable, and his efforts make a real difference to a young mum moving house.

So, because the series empathises with its characters, rather than stitching them up, we care. Well, you may find you care rather less for Mayfair-based Gary, who comes across as a grandiose creep – but he’s documentary gold.

About this programme

1/6. New series. Documentary offering an insight into the UK's varied property market, following estate agents around the nation as they go about their daily work. Gary Hersham is in charge of selling a £39million town house complete with eight bathrooms, private gym and cinema in Mayfair, west London, while it's a very different world for Lynne Blaney in Spennymoor, Co Durham, where houses can start at auction for £1. In Exeter, novice agent Lewis Rossiter is trying to balance the needs of his pregnant wife with a demanding client, and veteran Dave Simms deals with two couples competing for the same Birmingham bungalow.

Francis Marshall says, “What will be really interesting for the British viewing public will be their ability to see how they judge these agents on screen and then compare them with their allAgents ranking. My bet is that the public perception will match the allAgents ranking which will further enhance the reason why every agent should care about what their customers think about them and make sure that customer service is the number one priority”. See the Bradleys reviews and ranking on the Estate Agents review site at www.allAgents.co.uk/bradleys-estate-agents/

If you like the sound of the developments going on at Bradleys and if you like the tone of the reviews you have read from our previous customers and are interested in selling your current property put our Customer Services Team to the test, ask them for a free valuation and see why Bradleys were awarded the title of the Best Sales Agent in the Country for Customer Service last year. Contact Customer Services at customerservices@beagroup.co.uk they are open until 10.00 at night on-line or just give them a call on 01395 224800

If you found this useful or know someone who would please feel free to share it and like it.

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

A Budget for Homes

The Budget last week certainly had an eye on making sure the recovering property market keeps going and the help was directed in to all the right areas.
The big news was the extension of 'Help To Buy' until the end of the decade. The Chancellor is well aware that the country is acutely short of homes and to avoid the price bubble some wrongly expect to come he has done his best to encourage the building of more new homes and to continue make them affordable to buy.
The plan is to encourage the building of another 120,000 new homes of which 15,000 will go into a new garden city in Kent. Further support for the construction industry comes in the shape of a £500m 'Builder Finance Fund' to help to support smaller house builders, which is very good news for us at Bradleys as we specialise in helping the small to medium size builder by providing them with specialist services normally only associated with the big national companies. Even more help has been provided with a 'Right to Build' scheme to help individuals who want to build their own home. The 'Help To Buy 2' scheme was not extended but will still run until the end of 2016 as originally planned for help to buy second hand homes. This is all excellent news, it will further aid the recovery and with the extra homes being built will lessen the chances of a price bubble by increasing the supply in line with the demand. 

The Budget headline was the change to pension regulations which is again excellent news for property. Now that you don't have to purchase a poorly performing annuity upon your retirement, people will look for alternatives and an obvious choice is property. It is very likely that an investment property will be within the reach of most pension pay-outs and that property will be a great investment with increasing value and a better rate of return than the annuities previously on offer. Clearly with something so important as where to invest your pension fund you will need the services of a very trust worthy and reputable estate agent who cannot only sell you a property but also advise you honestly on the best type of investment depending on if you are looking to maximise your investment for growth or yield or combination of both.

This is where we come in at Bradleys, we can offer expert help with every element of buying the correct investment and then letting it to provide you with the maximum return and at the same time manage your investment to keep it safe and growing in value.

Read what our previous customers have said at allAgents.co.uk say thank you Mr Chancellor and then come and see us at Bradleys to make a very important investment.

If you would like to take advantage of our specialist help in this way contact your nearest office or Bradleys Customer Services at customerservices@beagroupco.uk or by calling 01395224800 and we will be pleased to help you with every aspect of your investment.

I mentioned last week I was going to race my Enterprise Dinghy again on Saturday for the first time since 2009. Completely unbelievably I won the first race of the season at Looe which wasn't too bad for an overweight 50something, so there must still be a bit of life in the old dog yet! If you have ever wondered what a first race of the season might look like you can check it out on YouTube . The Enterprises have the blue sails and I am in the red boat. You may or may not be interested.

 

If you found this blog useful or know someone who might please feel free to share it or like it.

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

Deposit Protection – How Much??

I returned after a week away from the office (well not emails!) to find on my desk the renewal notice for Bradleys Membership of the TDS, the government approved deposit protection scheme.  It was a good job I had already sat down as the bill was huge, but then I thought, actually our membership now protects about 1600 Tenant deposits to the value of £1.2 Million at any one time. It is when I looked at the number of disputes that were referred to the TDS Independent Case Examiner that it was confirmed that Bradleys were involved in only 1.25% of deposits sent to TDS pending a dispute and less than 1% went on to be resolved by adjudication. You will understand why, that in this day and age when we are all looking for value for money, I felt this it is a lot of money for a service rarely used in full.

Of course our membership of an approved scheme is required by law and provides complete peace of mind to both Tenants and their Landlords that, in the event of an irreconcilable dispute, there is access to a completely independent arbitrator to pass a sound award judgment.

Where we do get value from TDS however, is from an excellent source of staff training and helpful advice in unusual circumstances that can often arise in administering deposits back to tenants or awards to Landlords.

The real unsung heroes in all of this though are my Property Management Vacate Team in Head office. This team are dedicated to ensuring the right and fair result for all parties at the end of a tenancy. It is their commitment and tenacity that ensures that the disputes are kept to a minimum and resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned. I take my hat off to them. 

Tenants and Landlords can view the benefits of Bradleys’ membership of TDS Website www.tds.gb.com.

Lyndon Bent FNAEA MARLA
Director

Can you keep up!

It's all go at Bradleys. Comparing the first 11 weeks of this year to the first 11 weeks of last year, new instructions coming to the market are up 8.3% whilst sales agreed are up 32%. Abortive sales are down 1% and completions are up 34%. What does this all mean?

It means that the market is improving and Bradleys are performing well. It also means that we could run short of stock so more new instructions are needed. Perhaps if you are thinking of selling or even on the market with another agent who has not produced the result you wanted, give Bradleys a call. Either contact your local office or contact our Customer Services Department to take advantage of our free valuation offer. Send them an email to request a free valuation customerservices@beagroup.co.uk there is nothing to lose but everything to gain. You can contact us right up to 10.00 in the evening as we are working when it is convenient for you.

That’s fresh isn't it? Still not sure, then read what our past customers have all said about us at the Estate Agents review site allAgents.co.uk. Other things going on include the launch of our cutting edge new website is now just days away. Video content will feature highly as will full screen photos and even presenter led video tours. To have an early peek at the video content search for Bradleys on YouTube.

I have had confirmation this morning that the programme the BBC have been making about Estate Agents is due to come to our screens in April. Check out the BBC press release at http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/under-offer.html I haven't seen any of the content but I am sure it will be fascinating and will provide a great insight to those involved.

Away from work, sailing starts in Looe on Saturday and the breeze is due to be up so if anybody sees me hobbling around on Monday you know the reason why! I wonder if a slightly heavy 50 something can even still cut it, not having sailed for 3 years?

If you found this blog useful or think others might then please feel free to share it and like it.
 

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

Why I am backing the Buy to Let Market – by Chris Baxter

At the age of 39, I hasten to add, back in 1999! – my thoughts turned to future pension provision and reviewing my pension contributions to date I discovered a huge gap in my expectations of life after work in retirement and the bleak prospect of an under-performing pension plan! 

At that time, having sold my estate agency business, I decided to invest in something tangible which led me to my decision to purchase a portfolio of property to rent out.

Fast forward to 2014 and comparing my traditional  pension plan performance (yes, I have kept up the payments) and my property portfolio performance it is very clear to me which of the pension provisions has performed to my expectations – yes, you’ve guessed it – my rentals portfolio.    

Looking forward again it seems obvious to me the time is now right to add to my property portfolio for three main reasons.  To explain:

Being a bit of a ‘stats nerd’ back in 1999, having reviewed house price trends since 1960, it was clear at that time that an exaggerated house price increase trend was overdue.  The housing market record between 2000 and 2007 is well-documented. Looking back at this graph and bringing this up to date we may be back to a similar starting point as in 2000.    

On the income front I believe there is still an overdue rebalance of the property market despite the Help to Buy schemes, low interest rates etc.  The volume of rental occupation versus home ownership is set to grow for the foreseeable future. 

My third point is that having come through a disruptive finance based recession where big question marks have been placed on the financial services industries, I feel I am better served with an investment I can touch and feel such as bricks and mortar, rather than a paper based investment that can be traded around the world and be at the mercy of middle men each taking their cut at each turn. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and no doubt in ten years’ time I will be either proved right or wrong!  However it feels right to be in this market place at this time. 

On a final point, being part of Bradleys Complete Property Service I will be using Bradleys Conveyance team for a purchase, insuring through Bradleys Insurance Services and letting through Bradleys Lettings.  If I decide to arrange a Buy to let Mortgage I will arrange this through Bradleys Financial Services. 

If like me you are thinking of purchasing a property to rent please give our local office a call to start your investment journey. 

 

Chris Baxter

Bradleys Land & New Homes Director

Photographs, Audio Tours or Videos?

Having read a recent article promoting the use of modern technology in estate agency and in particular the use of videos, it made me wonder why someone seemed so against the use of such technology when responding to the article, so here are my thoughts;

The traditional method of photographs have been taken to a new level with the availability of very good camera’s at a reasonable price and therefore even the poorest of photographers can take a reasonable photo, although they still are incapable of removing the tea towels from the oven front or wet clothes from the radiators! Professional photography again takes marketing to a new level but whether professional or otherwise, photography is essential in the marketing of any property. 

Audio Tours; a step up from photographs with the use of software creating a moving image and then a voice over describing the property. Without doubt, these tools are easy to watch, provide you with the basic information a buyer would expect to read in the particulars and definitely make a property look enticing. It adds an extra edge to the marketing and of course are easily shared via social media to friends and family. Perhaps a bit of a luxury but if it helps create a bit more interest and according to statistics, assist in the speed of the sale of a property, then I would suggest there is a definite advantage in the use of Audio Tours.

View one of our Tours








Property videos; the market is coming alive with different companies offering the use of videos to sell a home and with more and more companies offering them comes varying quality. I would advise anyone thinking of using a video to just check the quality of the provider first but what a fantastic marketing tool! At Bradleys we have done our research and have opted for a presenter led video, which not only offers quality, engages the viewer in the property and from what I am being told, often leads to multiple views rather than just the one. Again a luxury perhaps but when you look at the added interest, the fact that in today’s hectic world where people do simply not have the time to view every property they have saved to their favourites, then this would appear an obvious answer. Potential buyers can get to see the house they are interested in without having to take the time to visit in person until they know whether it is worth their time doing so.

Watch the video

In my view, I think that the more attractive a property looks, the more appeal it will have and the more interest it will attract. The more interest a property attracts, the greater chance of maximising the sale price. We have all of these options to our clients and explain the advantages of each relating to any individual property, whether it be simply photographs, audio tours or a presenter led video.

If you want to know more about the options when marketing your home and which would best suit your property then call Bradleys today for a free valuation on 01395 224800.

Jodie Dibble selected for England

There can be no prouder moment for a parent that having offspring selected to represent their country. I am very proud to say that my daughter, Jodie, has just been selected to represent England in the T20 cricket World Cup which starts soon in Bangladesh. She is part of the 15 woman touring party that is being led by captain Charlotte Edwards. Her selection follows a successful tour of Sri Lanka that she has just completed with the England Academy team. Her selection makes all those motorway miles I did as she was progressing so worthwhile! Girls cricket in Devon is very strong and the county has also produced Heather Knight who is in the same touring party. Heather was also part of the victorious team that won The Ashes in Australia recently.

Bradleys Estate Agents are heavily involved in local cricket and have sponsored the Bradleys East Devon Youth Cricket League for many years. Jodie represented Sidmouth in the League on a number of occasions.

Mike Dibble
Bradleys Director