Looking back on 26 years of selling houses

In 26 years of being an estate agent,  the core ethics and practices of estate agency haven’t really changed, certainly the house moving process is much the same as it was all those years ago. There have though been a lot of other changes, changes in market conditions, changes in property prices, and lots of changes in how estate agents work.

One thing that has changed is the technology we use every day to promote  our properties. Back in 1985, we thought sticky back colour photos on details and colour adverts in the local paper were revolutionary. Fast forward to today, and Facebook, twitter, smart phones and the internet are for many of us part of our day to day lives, and sometimes it’s hard to see how we would function without them ! So how did we communicate with clients, and promote our products in the days before Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook, and Steve Jobs and the guys at apple thought they may be on to a winner with their iphone. Well back in the 80s the local paper was the internet, and agents took multiple pages every week to ensure their properties got the maximum possible exposure. Back then printed media worked extremely well for agents, and many a house was sold through an advert in the paper. These days however, the majority of agents have retreated from this media. As they say today’s news or in this case advert is tomorrows chip paper, and the internet now gives us 24/7 coverage to the largest possible audience 365 days a year !

The internet has transformed how people look for property, and how agents engage with their customer base. Back in 1985, our target audience was primarily contacted through our mailing list. Once registered with us, potential buyers would be bombarded with posted paper details on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. We literally sent hundreds of mailers, I remember taking boxes of envelopes to the post office. Today’s buyers can make their own choices, conduct their 1st viewing online, and then compile a short-list of potential properties without leaving home, or having unnecessary junk mail through their letterbox from the local agents.

So what about prices, how have these changed over 26 years. To give you an example, the first house I ever sold as a fresh faced 18 year old trainee was a terraced house in Maidstone, Kent sold for the grand sum of £24995 !! I remember the guy that bought it was a milkman for Unigate (remember milkmen ??) and it was right at the top of his budget. What’s interesting is that the average salary in 1985 was £9000 so this house was less than 3 times this amount. Having checked online today, houses in the same street now sell for around £150000,  a whopping 600% increase on the 1985 value. Perhaps more importantly though this is 6 times the average salary of £26,000, so you could say these properties have doubled in terms of affordability over the period and maybe one factor why more young people are struggling to get onto the property ladder today.

Another reason potential first time buyers remain in the rented sector today is the lack of lending and difficulty getting mortgages. Clearly the amount of deposit needed now is relevant, as 10% or more of £150000 is a lot of money, especially when you compare it to the £1500 or so deposit that our milkman friend probably had to find back in ’85. That said, the base rate in 1985 was 14%, compared with the historic low of 0.5% today. Over the years I have seen huge ups and downs in the mortgage market, and lending coupled with consumer confidence, is I believe the key to unlocking the problems of today’s market. I am not advocating we go back to the silly days of 100% and even 120% mortgages as we have seen the repercussions of this irresponsible lending, but we need to get the first time buyers back somehow.

So what does the next 25 years hold for us agents, and the moving public. Well if I had a crystal ball I wouldn’t be here writing this blog ! What I do know is that we will need to adapt to new fast moving technology and how we communicate with the next generation of buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants. Some things won’t change,  people will still move as their life circumstances change, and properties will still only be worth what Jo Bloggs is prepared to pay for them !