Simon Whale and David Mintz came together earlier in the week to review the exciting, action packed property year that was 2021. Based on a short 6 question survey for our loyal podcast listeners they were able to take your views into account and find out who the heroes and villains of 2021 were!
Are you ready to find out the answer?
Q: Which suppliers stood out for you in 2021?
2021 was a year unlike no other for estate agents, and it is fair to say that nobody saw it coming. So whilst you were all busy pushing through those completions before the stamp duty deadlines, there were some suppliers that really seemed to stand out this year.
In third place were FixFlo with a lot of our respondents talking about the efficiencies that the repair and maintenance management system continues to deliver,
In second place was well known industry trainer Stephen Brown. As well as being recognised for his outstanding charity efforts (more on that later) Stephen is a much loved and trusted estate agency trainer that has helped many agencies over this period.
Drum roll please…..
In first place were the lovely people at Sprift, with our respondents commenting that they are easy to deal with and currently offer a full featured solution across Sales and & Lettings. They had a phenomenal year and were grabbing headlines for the right reasons.
Mintzy would like to give a special shout out to the property data specialists including Homesearch, Spectre, Sprift and TwentyEA and there seems to be lots of innovation in the data arena. Payprop was also another name that keeps getting love from satisfied agents.
Special mentions for the Mancunian powerhouse, the Street Group; Acaboom and Goodlord, Iamsold, The Able agent, Alto, Vouch, Starberry, ASAP, Moneypenny, Giraffe 360, Rent Profile, Inventory Base and Kerfuffle!
Who in the world of property had a terrible 2021?
A certain online agent seemed to get a whopping 80% of the votes, having dominated recent press headlines with well-documented difficulties surrounding their lettings process.
Thankfully, everybody else in the industry kept their nose clean, although we were amazed ARPM wasn’t been bigger news. It seems that the fallout from that seems to be minimal.
The furore surrounding the Simplify data security failures was also a stand-out story of the year. In an industry that is so reliant on data, whether you like Proptech or not, whether you are an old school agent or not - data is your business ladies and gentlemen! You are sat on the data of the properties, buyers, sellers, renters, and landlords, meaning you must keep your IT secure and up to date.
Whaley’s simple IT security tip: If you are sat at your desk with 6 post it notes full of passwords, Kerfuffle would suggest you look at ramping up your Cyber security!
If there is one lesson to be taken away from this podcast get Cyber Insurance!
Robert May added – ‘I feel the entire industry would lay an egg if they knew just how available that data is’
There are some fabulous services that secure your data – Take a look now
Which Agency had the best 2021?
Let’s jump straight in with the first-place winners… Michelle & John from JDG Estates Agents in Lancaster! It’s always great to see a fabulous a small, independent estate agent crush it at the EA Masters, taking the top gong. Michelle is famously, the only person Chris Watkin allows to post Rightmove pie charts. JDG reported their sales for the year have seen over 300 properties completed, which is amazing.
There has also been lots of support for Location Location, Knightsbridge, in particular, Luke St Clair who is a huge industry advocate and always up for sharing his ideas and resources.
What were the biggest challenges of 2021?
1st place - It's the word of 2021 – Stock, Stock, Stock! Which will also continue be the message of 2022...
In 2nd place we have recruitment, which was no surprise. The challenges around attracting new talent and retaining existing staff continue to change the way that Estate Agency businesses are forced to look their staff culture and recruitment efforts.
In 3rd place its pressure on fees. As the volume of new instructions shrink, the pressure on fees is there as some people try to race to the bottom.
4th place is Sales Progression. In a year as busy and as reliant on the conveyancing process as 2021, it is no surprise that Sales Progression is a hot topic.
At the bottom of the list was Covid! By and large, estate agents have demonstrated that that have coped, adapted and implemented safety measures really well and sensibly. Certain value adds that have now become industry standard as a result of the Covid management measures were things like virtual valuations and video tours which are now a standard feature of everyone’s property marketing.
News Stories of the Year 2021
If there's one thing our industry has demonstrated that it can do really well, is pulling together in the name of charity! A few standouts for 2021 have been Susanna Mavity raising an incredible £10,000 walking up Mount Kilimanjaro; Stephen Brown's Computers for Schools Campaign; Jerry Lyons and his fabulous work with his Karma club. Plus, a massive shout out to Kristjan Byfield, the Viking himself raising money for Do It For Dom.
Not forgetting Pygott and Crone's 100km run, which is on again this year and raised an amazing amount last year, you can take part yourself this January!
Property personality of the year 2021
In the runner’s up position, for all the wonderful work he does for the industry, is property journalist and broadcaster Christopher Watkin! Taking the big prize, we have Stephen Brown! After an extremely difficult period personally, Stephen has continued to concentrate all his efforts into his Computers for Schools campaign. All the accolades that Stephen continues to gather, are well deserved and he has brought the property industry together to help us, help our local communities.
A massive Happy New Year from everyone at Kerfuffle!
Thank you to all our suppliers and agents for your support in 2021, we look forward to being able to help in 2022.
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