Richard Nicholls Property Shrewsbury Shropshire

 Trips around the country! The usual randomness of the next 7 days listings and valuations Stoke Ilkeston Mansfield Gainsborough Thetford Brighton Worthing Portsmouth Tooting Norbury Liverpool Stockport Leeds Derby Chard

Parked up by the office after the school run and had two calls on the way in from HMO landlords looking to sell who had been recommended to contact us by peers in the property world. It's really important not to forget how lucky we are to get so much support from current and previous clients.

Thinking back to old reviews and the lovely little (short-lived) estate agency that I ran in Chester. This was before I moved to London and before my failed attempt to run a building firm! I'm glad to be in the industry that I enjoy and am good at again since 2018!  

Approaching the middle of February and what do we know so far about the HMO and tenanted investment sales market (from our experience). 1. Tenanted HMOs are still selling very well. If they’re priced right, they should get an acceptable offer within a week to 10 days. The only ones that we’ve not managed to sell so far this year have been because a little bit of icing has been added to the asking prices or there’s something out of the norm that puts tenants off (low rent care lease, R2R contract, no license, bad managing agent etc). 2. Completions and conveyancing in general is getting easier - we were knocked off guard like most agencies in 2020 by the uncertainty, the delays and higher than usual fall through rate but things have stabilised and expectations are managed all round now and ‘the market’ seems to know now how to navigate sales during a pandemic. “It’s not as bad as expected and we carry on” kind of thing. 3. Blocks of flats are extremely popular from small 2-4 units up to...

There was loads of chat this last weekend (as there usually is) on the estate agent forums about ditching RM and how to cope without them. There always seems to be a fascination with it - whether it’s agents being upset by their price increases and terms, wanting to be the agent who can ‘prove’ they are more than just RM or whether it’s about looking for better results for their outlay. We get amazing results from Rightmove and the outlay, at just over £1,000 per month, produces the results we’re after. From one listing, we usually get 10-25 enquiries from investors before the property sells. Out of this number only one can buy the property (assuming it’s not already sold to a buyer we know or on one of our other portals or databases) so that means that Rightmove, when more properties are taken into account, can add up to 100 good investors a week to our database (quality controlled, vetted, and timewasters removed). That’s a very cost effective way of growing a database of active buy...

I am celebrating our completions and results more than usual at the moment because it's taking double the effort just to keep sales alive, clients happy and transactions alive. I would say "F@&K COVID" but I'd rather stay positive and say "well done team, your hard work is really paying off" #richardnicholls #richardnichollsproperty #richardnichollsshrewsbury #richardnichollsshropshire  

Reviewing the Reviews It's important to reflect on the good work you do in your business and appreciate the comments and repeat business you get from doing a good job. I can't thank my clients enough for helping me build such a great business  

HMO flips We’re working with an increasing number of HMO developers who then sell their finished HMO to our cash buyers - I’m valuing around 5-10 of these a week currently and the demand is there too to sustain the sales. Key points: Q: When do you need to let us know about your HMO flip? A: We work with developers currently up to 12 months in advance of the HMO being finished, giving advice on potential sale prices, likely buyer types and feedback on the layout/style of the project. Q: When do we engage with potential buyers for the HMO conversion sale? A: The optimum time is around 4-6 weeks away from completion on site where we can whet the appetite of the potential buyers but not delay them too long so they lose interest. The ideal scenario is that we secure a ‘subject to’ offer as the build is bearing finish and get a committed buyer lined up at this point. We visit an do a ‘coming soon’ video and release more information incrementally as the builders are finishing. Q: Do you nee...