Waiting for the Looe....office to open!

Well what a thing! I have mentioned previously that I thought there was just a tiny chance things are starting to pick up.

Looe office launched the new Barratt Homes site on Saturday and had a queue which went right through our office and up the street past the bank next door. That is something I haven't seen for very many years. It used to be common for a new homes launch to have multiple buyers waiting outside the office on launch day 10 years ago but nothing like this has been seen for very many year. So, just maybe, that is a little more evidence to say something may be turning in this market.

I guess it just goes to show that if you price the property correctly then the buyers are there.

Francis Marshall FNAEA

Bradleys Managing Director

Does one swallow make a summer...?

What a fantastic sales week we have just had. The best week of the year in a 4 day week and if I am totally honest it was quite unexpected. Normally the week either side of Easter can be quiet with many buyers and sellers on holiday and not quite as interested in property as normal. Anyway I am very pleased for all of the offices who have worked so hard this year often in difficult circumstances to start to get the results to make the hard work worthwhile.

Will it continue? Is it the start of the recovery in the market? They say one swallow doesn't make a Summer but I think we may see things start to improve.

As well as a good week for sales both Chelsea and Liverpool have made it through to the FA Cup Final and with me being a Chelsea supporter and our Chairman Brian a Liverpool fan, one of us will be happy in 3 weeks' time.

Francis Marshall FNAEA

Getting our skates on..

I have been on holiday over Easter and with 3 days of trailing around DIY shops looking for bathrooms for the house I am building I will be very glad to get back to work! Apparently every shop won't be beaten on price but when I quoted some of their competitors lower prices, the quality is not the same and therefore can't be compared! I think I might have heard that one somewhere before!

The run in to Easter was a bit quiet for us so we will need to get our skates on now if we are to catch up by the end of the month.

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Bradleys Managing Director

A sunny outlook?

So here we go into April, but with the recent weather we might feel like summer is here already. I have had another BBQ over the weekend taking the tally to 3 for the which is pretty good going. The property market has matched the weather and Bradleys finished March with some reasonably decent figures. We hit our new instruction and sales targets and beat our exchanged contracts target and rentals target. April has the potential to be a banana skin for us with Bank Holidays and quite a lot of people on holiday around the Bank Holidays. I have asked everyone to work extra hard to make sure our selling doesn't drop due to less available hours to sell in!  

The sun shines on the righteous!

The excitement builds as we head towards the end of the month, will we hit the targets or will we be just short or even over? It must be close because with only a few days to go I still can't tell.

The fiberglassing went well on Monday and I must have been good lately as the sun shone down perfectly to order all day. I am in Exeter, Torquay and Paignton today and am looking forward to seeing the progress in those offices, especially Torquay where we have a new starter who has sold something straight away.

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Bradleys Managing Director

Good morning sunshine!

The start of another week and business continues to be tough but going in the right direction due to lots of hard work in the offices. Personally I am taking the day off today as I have a balcony to fiberglass and the weather is perfect so I have to take the opportunity!

As we approach the end of the month targets come into sight and we are looking good on most counts, hopefully if we have a good sales week we will beat all targets for March. Our new 0% commission for sellers is proving to be popular and our new marketing is all coming together so I am looking to the future with some quiet optimism. Hopefully the sun will stay shining for several reasons!

Francis Marshal FNAEA

Bradleys Managing Director

What makes an Estate Agent happy? ...nothing apparently!

Bradleys had a great week last week with the best amount of new sales agreed in a week for a very long time. Being an estate agent, unfortunately I am never too happy and even with good sales agreed I can see that the amount of offers generated last week was lower than the previous two weeks so the sales may slow up a bit this week. This is the trouble with this market and it is proving to be sporadic with pockets of activity and other pockets of quiet. There is no apparent reason for the ups and downs we are seeing.

The good news is our 0% commission has gone down well and we will see more instructions coming on as a result.

If you see me out and about I haven't got a new car, I just put my personal plate that has been on retention for the last three years back on the car before the retention certificate ran out!

I am visiting Teignmouth, Exmouth and Taunton today. St Ives, Hayle and Camborne tomorrow so I will be well travelled again at the start of this week.

Francis Marshall FNAEA

Bradleys Managing Director