Changing Times Week: Secrets And Lies

All this week we have been talking about the changing face of estate and lettings agencies and that new ways of doing business that the march of the internet has brought, and, how it will inevitably force a change in the way we view agents & what they do for us.

Secrets And Lies

The days of the estate or letting agent being able to charge exhorbitant fees for what amounts to very little service in many cases could be well and truley numbered.  This week I heard from a friend at who works for a large internet portal that the very large (and very famous) agents are desperate to hold on to the postition they have. So much so that they are considering trying to ENFORCE NAEA MEMBERSHIP as a criteria for listing on them, thereby making life difficult for many of the newer breed of ‘online agents’. This amounts to a cartel, pure and simple. And it’s most definitely anti competitive.

OFT Rides Again

The OFT have said that they  “have the customer or end user at heart”. Thank goodness someone does, because, THAT is their job, to protect consumers and NOT their members (Ombudsman Members where appropriate).

In acting in the best interest of the consumer, the OFT could perhaps flex a litle muscle over some of the ‘bodies’ of whom membership allows the wearing of a ‘badge of innocence and excellence’ (i.e. the NAEA ) when the fact is, in most cases, the person with the accreditation that entitles the wearing of the badge (usually in the form of a window sticker and some strategic stationery or logo-sploshing) probably hasn’t set foot in that particular office or indeed a vendors property for a number of years.

Badge Of Dishonour

Don’t be fooled by the badge in the window which may lead you to thinking that an agent is good and true. Just because they display a NAEA or ARLA badge does not necessarily mean they earned it or in some cases deserve it. The initial accreditation could have been set up many years ago with the agency founder, who could have since retired or moved on. This is a fact. The whole system is rife with corruption and anti-consumer at it’s heart.

Minimum Number Of Accredited Employees?

So here is my suggestion: In order to display the NAEA logo a minimum number/percentage of staff in a specific office must be ‘accredited’. This must then be enforced and checked by an independent body every few months to ensure that the agents who claim to be accredited deserve to be so, and are not trading on a former glory or ex employee who had some clout.

I wouldn’t mind betting the window cleaners will be busy removing sticker residue for a while.

The sad truth is that the vast majority of folks are not even aware that this situation exists and as always, it is the end user or consumer that gets the knife in the back. People within the industry tend to keep quiet because their jobs depend upon it.

Clean Up Campaign

Lets start a campaign folks!  To clean up the estate and lettings agency system, and to allow more competition in the market, thus releasing the strangle hold which of the large agents who spend their time schmoosing with government officials or commenting on the market for the media.

What do you think? Your comments are always welcome.

Finally, I will be putting out later today a round up of all the fantastic folks who have contributed to my blogs this week including:

Danny at Onelondonproperty

Sarah Beeny from Tepilo

Ben Harris from Housing Dabble

Baiju Solanki from Performance Coaching & Training

PS: quick reminder – next weeks blogs are all about the Dangers In Property. We have more great writers lined up waiting to comment.

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