Outspoken housing pundit Henry Pryor has criticised high street agents, suggesting they do little to proactively sell properties and that some deserve to fail.
He said on Twitter: “No wonder new online agents are eating the high street firms. There is no innovation, no creativity, they are still giving the sales patter I was spouting 20 years ago!
“They have got fat & lazy, forgotten how to market or ‘sell’ – many frankly deserve to go the way of Humberts.”
He expressed the opinion in a thread where he set a Twitter challenge.
He asked: “Have you used an estate/letting agent in the past year who actually ‘sold’ or marketed your property? Not just uuploaded it to Zoopla but did something to actually ‘sell’/’let’ it?”
Someone quickly replied: “I sold my house myself using an online agent as I knew that’s all our local agents would do – take pics and stick it on Rightmove.”
Pryor was also highly critical of four agents that had pitched to sell a client’s £2.5m home.
He said that they were among the biggest names in UK estate agency. All would charge £35,000-plus, take out an advert in Country Life, list on Rightmove and so some possible public relations.
“Woeful,” said Pryor.
Comments (17)
Hmmm… we’re like hamsters in a wheel. Or – is it fish in a barrel?
There seems to be a ‘basher brigade rota’ that Estate Agents are firmly stuck on. One week it’s car sales… the next, insurance… then comes dodgy builders – oh look – it’s our turn next.
Panorama this… Watchdog that… Jonathan Maitland et al popping up with atomic precision…
It’s never something ‘new’. The same, tired themes – and usually the same list of Agencies that come with them.
And on the back of those media hounds, there’s those that ride along for the few minutes of bobbing on the ripples they have caused on the property industry pond.
Enter Mr Pryor.
“They have got fat & lazy, forgotten how to market or ‘sell’ – many frankly deserve to go the way of Humberts.” – PropertyIndustryEye, this morning.
“Housing market commentator and buying agent Henry Pryor has stood by a remark made to the Telegraph that too many agents have become “fat and lazy”.” – PropertyIndustryEye, 5 July 2017
“Prominent buying agent, TV housing market commentator and hard-core tweeter Henry Pryor has accused traditional estate agents of becoming “fat and lazy.” – bog door, other pub, 23 November 2016.
…and several instances before, after – and inbetween.
Sorry, Mr Pryor – but we as an industry and the public in general are becoming immune to the SSDD rhetoric.
You should bl00dy well love “fat and lazy” Estate Agents. You should be hoping they get every listing, so that your superior ‘negotiating’ skills will earn you more commission on the humongous “saving” you would be able to make your paying clients.
So – why are you seemingly wanting to make your own job harder, Sir?
Yours, anonymously, from the pond.
PeeBee
Hey – what’s the worst he can do?
Block me on Tw@tter, perhaps…?
Oh – actually, that’s not an option open to him…
…he already has.
He really is a nasty little man.
Although there may well be some truth to his comments. People have lost their jobs and worked a whole month without pay.
I do think one thing people miss, and what clients pay for, is access to a qualified buyer database. This is what high street agents spend their money building up and is their single differentiator in the market. Get a good one and you’ll sell quickly. Problem is I am not sure many sell that concept, merely giving the ‘we’re on xxxx.com’ line. Did none of Henry’s client’s agents mention their database of buyers – be surprised if they didn’t?
Those of us who run small independent firms are used to being bashed. Our clients are the ones who we focus our attention on. Providing them with a good service brings us more business. Frankly, after 35 years in the business I don’t think I’ve worked harder. Henry is a former agent and used to run The London Office, so is aware, first hand, how tough this business can be sometimes. For some reason he seems to have become a ‘spokes person’ for the industry, yet with this kind of slating, his opinion appears to very firmly biased. Luckily, we can chose to ‘follow’ him or not!
Based on recent personal experiences there is validity to some of the points Henry raises.
A new role has dictated there is a strong need for me to relocate, with this in mind (and for the purpose of some mystery shopping) I personally visited 34 agents in 7 towns. What I found was alarming and hints at the laziness and lack of salesmanship in many of the High Street operators;
11 agents told me there was no point taking a note of my name and contact details and I should just keep an eye on Rightmove for new instructions!
1 Agent was exceptional
2 Agents were pretty good
4 agents contacted me by phone to discuss suitable properties within a fortnight of visiting
Rapport, understanding of personal circumstances, preferences, timescales etc. were never discussed with all but one estate agent….if this is a reflection of our industry is it any wonder the public perceives that all agents do is put properties online?
I have often thought that categorising agents as either being online or traditional is wrong. A better way is whether the agent is proactive or reactive, as there are many high street agents who are entirely reactive and do nothing more than advertise the property online and hope for the best.
Very often, this approach is a consequence of necessity rather than design brought about by the endless race to the bottom on fees. As fees drop, agents are less able to employ decent proactive sales people and therefore have to rely on the portals to do the “sales” job for them. However, as we all know, the porals are simply a lead generation tool and relying on them to sell property is a mistake.
However, when a vendor is pitched by two agents, one proactive and one reactive, with the latter offering a substantially lower fee coupled with assurances that the web will do all the heavy lifting, it’s hard for the proactive agent to prove their methods and the benefits they bring including a higher sales price and quicker transaction time. As a result, vendors are easily fooled into opting for the cheap option.
This is where Trueview Property can really help agents prove their worth. Not only does the platform allow agents to provide vendors with instant, data driven feedback after every viewing but the report function allows them to showcase their sales successes (number of viewings/offers/price achieved) to prospective sellers.
Being able to tangibly demonstrate your service in this way is both an instruction winner and fee justifier and helps vendors to see the benefits you offer and as a result, make an informed decision.
I’m pretty sure Henry was complaining about Estate Agents who innovatively & proactively sold houses ‘closed market’ to the dissatisfaction of his clients who I presume were hoping they just popped up on Rightmove.
Yes, there are agencies who have decided to lower fees & service in the direction of hybrid & online, however there are plenty of agents moving the opposite way & justifying their fees to clients on a daily basis, so thanks for the concern Henry, but I think we’re OK.
Henry Pryor is odious. Presumably paid by Zoopla? I stopped following him on Twitter years ago – opinionated, one sided drivel that makes Trump’s tweets seem balanced…
He is convinced high street agents are dinosaurs, but never advocates the true virtues. Either; chip on his shoulder or sponsored by Purpleblocks.
Having said that, our local Humberts Office is a complete joke!
A touch disingenuous to say the very least.
Libelous to suggest that Henry is paid for his opinions and either way – why on earth if he WAS being paid to give opinions would a portal owner want to discredit their clients.
Again, anonymous posting is very questionable in terms of credibility.
Hardly libellous, I’d be interested to know, that’s all.
Most of his tweets are abusive towards estate agents, and supportive towards Zoopla and/or online agents.
Have you not noticed that whenever he talks about portals he’s “go to” is Zoopla.
Funny thing is, I don’t disagree with a lot of what he says; it is the vitriolic and damaging way in which he does it. There are lots of very good High Street estate agents – and thankfully my clients are willing to pay me handsomely for it.
Jonny
‘Presumably paid by Zoopla?’ The question mark is why this is not libelous, to suggest it is you are just ignorant of the law.
I agree that Pryor is odious and up his own backside. Just shows what happens when you get on telly a bit and have a decent (fawning) number of twitter followers. I blocked him yonks ago.
Publicity by comment is his fuel, and of course the Beeb or who will ever listen to him always want an edge to the message. He is a search agent, so he needs to be careful how many in the industry he upsets, as he will miss out on some of those off market opportunities. His clients aren’t the only ones out there! Although these days with his pocket agent, he will chase a fee down any low value avenue!!
He is milking a risk to the market which we currently face, he constantly talks it down…he wants to be the guru and proved right. He will fade away noisily, quicker if his doom and gloom about the market doesn’t result in blood on the streets. If it is correct, rest assured, people will be worrying about more important things. He won’t be pampering to the portals or onliners…his ego is too Henry centric!!
He started at Savills and was not the brightest spark, but there is a relentlessness to his style and a self importance, with wide elbows, that’s his style. London Office was a hollow window front exercise pampering to egos and small agents who didn’t have a big network. He did well out of LonRes
In a nut shell, if you don’t like him, ignore him. In the days of real world socialising, if the gobby bloke down the pub started, you wouldn’t give him the time of day. The internet only gives time to those who are the angry of the internet! More often than not their world is a vacuum anyway.
‘The internet only gives time to those who are the angry of the internet! More often than not their world is a vacuum anyway.’
Reminds me, where is Dom?
He has a point, as an agency we are a pretty slick outfit and we are incredibly proactive in our approach. We do however constantly come across utter ineptitude from the bulk of the agents we deal with, poor details, ill informed staff, lack of buyer qualification and sales progression. The biggest threat to the High Street Agent, is the High Street Agent, lazy agency has been lowering fees for years, not Online offerings.
Food for thought?
Defo. You pay for what you get Mister seller.
Not entirely true but then again, not entirely untrue.