Property Gold: What next for the phenomenal Yorkshire property market?

Property Gold is a monthly column written by independent property consultant, Alex Goldstein. With more than 17 years’ experience, Alex helps his clients to buy and sell residential property in some of the most desirable locations in Yorkshire and beyond. This month, Alex discusses buoyant Yorkshire property market – and what might happen next. 

There have been moments nothing short of insanity in the Yorkshire market recently, with exceptionally high prices being achieved, sealed bids, jaw-dropping competition and no let up.

As we exited the lockdown earlier in the year, the market very quickly (and as predicted) got instantly back up to speed. We then had the Chancellor’s ‘brain wave’ of overlaying a SDLT holiday – sending market activity through the roof. I have never experienced anything like it during my 19 years in the industry.

However, whilst the SDLT break provided a sharp shock to the market, the pace wasn’t just down to this. A positive from Covid (yes there are some!), was that it forced buyers to really analyse what they wanted. Companies realised that they could make substantial staff savings by having a remote workforce, family-work balance became more prominent and those in the cities realised they could be based further away from the office. As a result, Yorkshire has taken advantage.

Whilst we always had a strong local market, we now have large amounts of money being poured into the area from those relocating from London and the Home Counties, but also those based internationally. As I write, I have clients based in Singapore, the US and France – they are all Yorkshire ex-pats looking to ‘come home’ having been couped up in city environments.

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So with all this recent activity, what do I think the market landscape looks like into the near future? Most importantly, myself and no one I have spoken with is predicting a price crash or correction. I have long said that the gap between the North and South was closing and this is proof. The prices we have seen, now provide a new benchmark for the area and I feel that we will now see a steady and reassured step forward onwards from this.

Currently there is a shortage of stock in the market, however this is down to the school holidays and people quite understandably wanting a break. Come early September I feel the market will be back on and whilst not at the same raucous pace, the outlook only looks positive.

However, in order to secure your next home, everything comes down to your buying position – and being ‘Under Offer’ doesn’t have the same clout it once did. With legals and banks taking ever longer, vendors and estate agents are shying away from the associated risk and delays, to opt for buyers that are ready to go. The only question you need to ask yourself is when you are going to join the foray.

It’s an exciting time to be in the Yorkshire property market and this is the start of the wave!

If you have any comments or questions for Alex, please feel free to contact him on alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk

Property Gold: Playing the agency game

Property Gold is a monthly column written by independent bespoke property consultant, Alex Goldstein. With more than 17 years’ experience, Alex helps his clients to buy and sell residential property in some of the most desirable locations in Yorkshire and beyond. 

This month, Alex discusses the pros and cons of instructing more than one estate agent. 

 

Two heads are better than one, but in estate agency terms this isn’t necessarily the case when it comes to instructing agents.

Some vendors feel that by instructing two (indeed sometimes more), they think that they will have greater exposure in the market and more likely to sell for a premium. However, unless this is done under the right circumstances, in the right way and with great care, having two or more agents working for you can be counterproductive. Not only could you run the risk of appearing desperate to sell, but agents behind the scenes could be arguing about who found the buyer and not necessarily working in your best interests.

So under what circumstances should one instruct another agent(s) and how do you play the game?

Sole agency is as it sounds. One agent working on your behalf and for straightforward sales, usually the best route.

The polar opposite is multiple agency, where two or more agents are instructed, but only the winner gets the fee. This route is not worthwhile and actually dilutes your sale efforts, as agents will see the risks versus reward as too high and won’t bother selling your home!

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The middle option can be used if your sale is losing that original sparkle. To beef up your marketing, create a ‘marketing spike’ or just to get the original sole agent re-energised, instructing a joint agent could be worthwhile… but proceed with care.

Critically the new agent must be very different from the original agent, so that they fill in any gaps that may have been missed. The downside with two agents is that there is a higher commission rate, yet this needs to be balanced with what you could gain on sale proceeds.

Now here’s the tricky bit – how does one split the commission between joint agents? Yes 50/50 can work and both agents then collaborate and work together for you, the client. However in some circumstances it is worth weighting this towards the winning agent.

An extreme example of this I did recently, where a vendor asked me to get their original agent back on track, but they didn’t wish to disinstruct them given the work they had put in thus far. I brought in a joint agent, but specifically chose them as I knew both agents had a major personality clash and there was fierce rivalry.

I then weighted the fee 80/20 to significantly up the ante. The new agent aggressively went about their new instruction to prove a point and the original agent had a serious wake-up call. Needless to say we got a great result and the new agent won.

Instructing a joint agent can be useful to rejuvenate your sale, however it must be used with caution and done in the right way, otherwise you could be up in a worse position than when you started!

If you have any comments or questions for Alex, please feel free to contact him on alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk