Social housing
Those of you who follow me on Twitter may well be fed up with hearing about my efforts to buy a house.
To cut a long story short, we sold our house in February and moved to a rented flat for what we thought would be a 6 week period whilst our house purchase went through. But, to cut more long stories short, that deal fell through close to completion, as did the next one. A few grand lighter, with blood pressure that bit higher, we’re no further on than we were when we started looking for houses last September. When they say buying a house is stressful, they’re not wrong.
What’s gone wrong? We’ve been pretty unlucky – both deals looked straightforward but both vendors then acted in ways which were anything but straightforward. The technical term is that we were shafted, twice. Some of that behaviour, I think, comes from the fact that the housing market is in a complete state. In the 11 months we’ve been looking, there are plenty of houses which have taken months and months to sell, or haven’t sold at all. Meanwhile, there are a handful which have sold within days. We’ve gone to closed bids on at least four houses – with each selling for above the asking price, in a supposedly depressed market. Dysfunctional doesn’t begin to describe it.
And what of our old friend the Estate Agent? Traditionally people haven’t been so keen on them largely because they make a fortune out of you whilst seemingly not doing a great deal other than drive around in souped-up Minis. Who couldn’t sell a house in a bouyant market, where all buyers believe that the worst that can happen is that they’ll move on in a couple of years, with a tidy profit? But how do you serve a market which is on its knees?
You don’t, as it would appear most Estate Agents believe, just carry on as if nothing’s happened. I have seen very little evidence that they have adapted at all to changing circumstances, other than the inevitable redundancies and closure of branches. I am not aware of much reflection on how they could serve their customers differently, in order to keep the market moving.
Here’s an idea for starters. Could they maybe be a bit more frank in how they describe a house? I know it’s a standing joke (“opportunity to stamp your personality = house is a wreck etc) but it’s actually not very funny when you spend hours looking round houses which, if you’d been given an honest appraisal on Rightmove, you wouldn’t have gone anywhere near. Estate Agents are obsessed with the outputs – aka viewings – so that they can show the vendor how hard they’re working. Maybe if they worked harder at understanding what buyers really want, and then tried hard to find people who were really interested in a house, then they may more likely achieve their desired outcome – a sale.
I have lots more ideas (I feel like I’ve undertaken in-depth undercover research into the housing market – there is nothing I don’t know now) but don’t worry, I won’t bore you with them now. But this is a classic example of where what we don’t need, in my opinion, is a social enterprise to enter the market. What we need is an Estate Agent that recognises that it could have positive social impacts – both in terms of happier customers and, potentially, stronger communities – if it was to start to think how it could really add value to an area.
I believe that to continue to have a role in an online world where the likes of Tepilo, Tesco and Rightmove will make the traditional Agent pretty redundant, they are going to have to think of how they can really make a difference to customers and to the communities in which they sell houses.
Hey, a social enterprise estate agent – now that would be a novelty. I’ve moved house twice in the past 26yrs and last time, 1998 decided never to do it again.
But a social enterprise estate agent could do so much more than just sell houses. They could provide repairs and maintenance, gardening, dog walking, baby sitting and indeed everything you need when you move to a new neighbourhood. And of course each and every one of these servicves couls be provided by a social enterprise . . . . . wow!
I’ve only bought and sold two houses and neither time used an estate agent. I’m not a fan of them and can’t defend them – or the legislative context in which they work.
But after my sister married one I’ve learned to see things more from their point of view.
What I’ve seen is that this estate agency (a small business in a Midlands town) has excellent local knowledge, which they use to guide customers’ decisions; they understand people are going through life-changing events, and offer thoughtful support; they have to work hard with people who are stressed out. They live in the town they work in, and it’s a place that matters to them. They guide people to the plumbers, gardeners, dog-walkers, babysitters, local authorities. You’re right – ideally they can, in real ways, add value to an area.
I’ve noticed too how their work is rarely noticed or valued. I saw this starkly, when they helped my parents sell their house – they did a professional job and my parents simply didn’t see or even understand the huge burden that the estate agents. Many people think estate agents are rolling in cash, but at least in this case their income is really modest – it’s a struggle for the family to live on it, their own house is too small and if they have a holiday it’s a week in a caravan in Britain.
Your experiences have been awful, and too many people go through similar. As you say, ‘viewings’ don’t count for anything – sales do. I’m interested in your thoughts about how the ’social’ part of buying and selling houses can be maximised, to make it a good experience for everybody, resulting in people living in homes that are right for them, and with everybody involved coming out feeling a measure of respect for each other. That’d be good, wouldn’t it?