Established Exeter Estate Agent In Receivership....

[Laura]

Falling house prices, fewer buyers and rising costs have taken their toll on a long-standing city estate agent who has closed his shop.

Probert's, one of Exeter's few independent estate agents, has gone into receivership.The firm was run by Gerald Probert, who has been in the estate agency business for 44 years.

Mr Probert said: "Sales were dropping off and the premises in Paris Street were just not sustainable.

"It was a large office and there were only three of us in the end. We could have operated in premises a quarter of the size. If we had done that for the past 12 months, then we would have made great savings.

"The trusted property supplement in the Express & Echo still brings in inquiries but having expensive central offices, at least for the moment, is no longer as important as it used to be."

Mr Probert still believes there is a future in the industry as he will now set up a less traditional business, using the internet more.

"I will be targeting some of the redundant staff to join me," he said. "I'm going to be creating a network of people who will be self-employed and selling to commission. It will still enable them to have a job. I'll be keeping on one member of staff covering administration and I've also got two people who are very interested in being negotiators.

"I and other agents will all be working from home. We can go to people's homes which I think will make it easier for them. We will not be restricted to office hours. People can get hold of us 24/7."

But Simon Cooper, chairman of the Exeter Estate Agents' Association, said: "Sellers want to use an agent with a shop or office. A minor proportion of houses are sold by internet-based businesses."

[psj]

"I and other agents will all be working from home. We can go to people's homes which I think will make it easier for them. We will not be restricted to office hours. People can get hold of us 24/7."

Bit hard to do business at home when you get evicted due to lack of sales...

[tentcity]

Falling house prices, fewer buyers and rising costs have taken their toll on a long-standing city estate agent who has closed his shop.

Probert's, one of Exeter's few independent estate agents, has gone into receivership.The firm was run by Gerald Probert, who has been in the estate agency business for 44 years.

Mr Probert said: "Sales were dropping off and the premises in Paris Street were just not sustainable.

"It was a large office and there were only three of us in the end. We could have operated in premises a quarter of the size. If we had done that for the past 12 months, then we would have made great savings.

"The trusted property supplement in the Express & Echo still brings in inquiries but having expensive central offices, at least for the moment, is no longer as important as it used to be."

Mr Probert still believes there is a future in the industry as he will now set up a less traditional business, using the internet more.

"I will be targeting some of the redundant staff to join me," he said. "I'm going to be creating a network of people who will be self-employed and selling to commission. It will still enable them to have a job. I'll be keeping on one member of staff covering administration and I've also got two people who are very interested in being negotiators.

"I and other agents will all be working from home. We can go to people's homes which I think will make it easier for them. We will not be restricted to office hours. People can get hold of us 24/7."

But Simon Cooper, chairman of the Exeter Estate Agents' Association, said: "Sellers want to use an agent with a shop or office. A minor proportion of houses are sold by internet-based businesses."

This will be the new way forward for estate agents. They will be more and more internet based and run online.

Edited July 14, 2008 by tentcity

[blankster]

Presumably some estate agents will cease trading before they go bust, just pay their bills, fire the staff and vacate their premises.

[Guest KingCharles1st]

...and when 50% of EA's close their doors, Labia suddenly introduce ..www.houseforsale.gov.uk

[bkkandrew]

Simon Cooper is also a Senior Partner at Stags Estate Agents, who are facing bankruptcy themselves. His words should be treated with more than a pinch of salt...

[Uriah Heap]

This will be the new way forward for estate agents. They will be more and more internet based and run online.

Would it be that difficult to write a javascript routine that would do what the agent currently does?

[Guest X-QUORK]

"I and other agents will all be working from home. We can go to people's homes which I think will make it easier for them. We will not be restricted to office hours. People can get hold of us 24/7."

Jolly good. Now then, about the availability of mortgages...

[Little Professor]

Now who's been spreading these nasty rumours? Own up...

Police called in over estate agent hoax

Huddersfield Examiner 2 Jun 2008

AN ATTACK by a mystery hoaxer, who claimed a major agent had gone into liquidation, has been foiled, it is revealed today. Police have been called in after the hoaxer send fax massages to more 500 key clients and institutions alleging long-established Ryder and Dutton was being wound up.

The hoaxer backed his attack with a falsified document claiming a compulsory winding up order had been presented and advertised in last Friday’s London Gazette.

On Saturday, the hoaxer e-mailed the company’s key clients with a copy of the notice which, after investigations by the estate agent’s directors and their legal team, proved to be a sham.

Ryder and Dutton have a dozen offices, including one in Huddersfield. Their main base is in Greater Manchester, including Saddleworth.

And another today...

Estate agent’s fury over rumour hoax

The Journal 14 July 2008

ONE of the North’s leading estate agents has called in detectives over hoax rumours that her firm is going into administration. Sarah Mains last night told how her staff have received anonymous calls every day for the past month from a man claiming knowledge of the company’s supposed plight.

But as the calls persisted to all her five branches on Tyneside, the rumours swept through the region’s property industry and led to an approach from a company offering its liquidation services.

Her solicitors, Mincoffs, have now written to other estate agents in the North East who are known to have passed on the rumours and are getting messages removed from internet message boards.