Wednesday
Although conveyancing practices are still open, albeit on a reduced staffing level and with many working remotely, estate agents were one of the first businesses to be told by the Government to close their offices.
Many estate agency staff have been furloughed and some are working remotely. But whereas conveyancing can continue up to a certain point, estate agents are also in a difficult position as their sales can only proceed to that same point. They can follow up and chase their existing pipeline of agreed sales, and as we know, some are still completing which gives the agent some income, but there are very few properties coming onto the market.
I admire the way estate agents think out of the box as many are posting video tours of houses. I believe that most people buy a house on a feeling and only partly on what the house looks like, and we know that the photographs for advertising a house can be taken in such a way that a room looks bigger. Agents will be hard hit by the current crisis. Although they will be able to push matters through to exchange where possible, they will have a period of time with no new sales agreed. No new houses going on the market, no one able to look at a house, no surveyors able to value or carry out a survey, and it means that agents will be quiet for some considerable time when the market reopens.
So when the restricted movement measures are lifted and estate agents open their doors and start calling for updates, please remember that they are also dealing with chains falling apart, people deciding not to move due to job losses and they, like us, have that time when there is no new work to fall back onto.
Work with estate agents and perhaps in the new world that we will live in, there will be more co-operation between estate agents and conveyancers, and we can work together to achieve the best outcomes for the client.
More compassion, less judgement. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate
