I’ve been kicking this idea around for some time but earlier in November I decided to see if it had ‘legs’. Good news, it seems that it has legs like Rita Hayworth!
The idea is simple;- charge £150 per week plus VAT for an advisory service for those looking to buy a new home or who want help with their existing property.
The response has been flattering to say the least. Ten people so far have asked for help. One wants to find a £500k property to do up as a development project. A lady has two large buildings in London – one part let one vacant worth in excess of £7m that she would like to sell to provide a retirement fund. Another lady has 5 acres of development land that she’d like to build an exclusive development upon. Each person would like to know what their options are who to talk to and how best to proceed.
Of course there may be other fees to be paid in due course – architects, planners, decorators and so on but I have already helped on person negotiate a competitive fee with a estate agent that saved more than my fee would be for a year!
Is there a market for a pocket agent? Time will tell but the internet is driving costs down across many industries and yet despite house prices rising over the past decades fees have remained static by and large. Private sellers are becoming more common place but selling on your own is not without risk. For some people just having help and reassurance seems to be worth the money. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the next year but two weeks in I can say … “so far, so good”.
If you’re interested in learning more, call or email me. My contact details are below.