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Estate Agents never had it so good in the UK. Not glamourous , but it will be gold rush time for the sector once people start to realize this.
CDF Well done . I have been adding more yesterday .Certainly the current frenzy can't continue but what it will do for the next few months is put some hay in the barn .Take a bit of weight of the banks of their shoulders
Wading through the grassy acres on Zoopla there are many branches with over 50% of their inventory sold STC
Some of the Greater London brands like Alan De Maid clonking them out and many of these are priced over £600k
Https://www.zoopla.co.uk/find-agents/company/alan-de-maid-83/
These coming through this month and in October
Certainly a more attractive place to arrive for a new management to arrive and the scene set to raise £20m in the market to put them on a steady footing
Just took a clear £1,043.47 profit on a £650 investment back in May :-)
"So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?"
Really wouldn't like to go there on SP .You can't go broke booking a profit but for the first time in many years shareholders have every reason to be optimistic I am very hopeful but just a little concerned that unfurloughing will bring it all to a shuddering halt .On balance definitely hanging on in
. The heavy debt legacy of the foolhardy spending spree has weighed heavily but with the recent sales surge this should make the banks a little more relaxed as there should be plenty of headroom
With sales up more than 30% with more to come during the next 3 months as completions kick in .a country mile above last autumn
What is even more that is without Central London where the fairy dust has seemed to have passed a number of branches behind
Sloane Square John d Wood not 1 single property showing under offer or sold STC and very little action in Chelsea and Kensington Belgravia
What is pleasing is a bellwether like Mann & Co o Ashford Kent office Go and have a look on Zoopla very healthy
Should imagine another 30/40 office closures on the cards
This set of BODS have created no synergy whatsoever in fact the polar opposite
We can only hope that the departing executives don't leave some ticking timebomb with some dreadful appointments
Some proptech gadget king
I cant see Robin Paterson allowing that to happen
Exciting times ahead seatbelt on
Sain...whats you sp forecast end of year? I am looking to exit this asap...
Mann &Co Ashford Kent
Total current Sales Inventory: 47
An incredible 42 of that inventory has been freshly listed since the beginning of June of which they have 19 of those sold STC
No unsold properties from 2019
It's going to be a harvest moon with a truckload completions a plenty taking place in September,October and November
Today the current inventory is 20.474 with 34,911 including recently sold i.e. 14,437 recently sold
Compare that to the weeks at the end of Jan/Feb where sales had picked up where the figures were
21,219: 32,322 11,003 recently sold
21.302 32,587 11,285 recently sold
Significant increase and puts it into perspective
Some good research Sain. Trust from our PURP chat still in CWD here and holding firm. The housing bubble (and i say it most definitely is a bubble) is causing a huge state of flux in the market. It is strange competitors like Foxtons haven't caught up yet or lag somewhat, but some of their London branches are a bubble within a bubble. I hope everyone makes a tidy sum or has done from holding early days as i did on re entry. I plan on 'considering' exit over £2. Purely down to the furlough scheme ending in Oct2021 the unemployment wave is still not priced into our UK market as a whole IMO. Naturally there may be a slight retraction in the property bubble coupled with the stamp duty release until March. Now, i'm hypothesising but not without logic included. I am happy to be proved wrong and open to do so. For now and at least the next few months this is performing outstandingly.,and is backed up by the numbers.
GLA
Chase
Some of the branches showing a staggering 75% of their inventory sold subject to contract
Countrywide Scotland emerging from lockdown on the gallop
11 branches .
As of yesterday
265 out of a total sales inventory of 492 sold subject to contract that is a staggering average of 53+% of inventory
Only 11 properties throughout entire branch network chain been on the market for 12 months or longer and very few from last year
The branch office at Shawlands ,Glasgow have already stoked up 23 of their total fresh intake of 56 sales instructions in August alone
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/branch/countrywide-scotland-shawlands-sales-glasgow-28254/
As an ex-Estate Agent and Surveyor I know how rapidly income can increase across all areas of the business in a boom market - in the 2008 crash we lost 90% of our sales business in six months and lost a small fortune - when it goes the other way the results are just as dramatic so anticipate a rapid rise in income as completions start to increase assuming our legal friends can cope of course !
I’m standing by my 3.00 by the end of the year comment :). Let the good times roll.
Good luck to all that are in
Urban .True , firing on all cylinders Concentrating on Sales as its is the most visible but as you say all the other arms of the business must be ringing the tills with the possible exception of LSH
Great entry point for a new broom
However sales are the big variable and involve the most staff and that is the part of the business which has suffered disappearing revenue .So once you get past the fixed overhead the majority of the fees are mainly profit
An extra 3 sales per month across the board per office and that makes all the difference
With some of the sales inventories showing 70% sold STC and some of the brands currently showing over 50% that is a massive jump
It’s no surprise,
Everyone just focuses on Countrywide Sales, which is great, but they have more income arms to their bow than that.
The market is BOOMING!
Countrywide mortgage advisers can do mortgages through any agent.
Surveys and Valuations from mortgage advisors, irrespective of being a Countrywide Mortgage adviser, will generate income just on volume alone. I would imagine they also receive kickback on solicitor referrals.
If your a big player and have many forms of income, just by the market being crazy busy, even if sales are average, I would imagine them making huge profits.
Still moving up....
Major
Yes, current sales levels unsustainable but fee levels will continue to rise for September,October and November as completions kick in and they will be putting some hay in the barn.
The inner London offices still very pedestrian so maybe we might see some improvement there.
What it has done of course is ease the pressure with the banks and set the scene for them to raise some fresh capital .You would have thought that they should be able to make some decisions now which branches are going to be culled .
Maybe postponing that decision til a new regime arrives . That raises another concern their recruitment choices . History has taught us that this set of BODS have made a series of bad calls in that department . We can only hope that they don't leave behind a damp squib
I certainly would be very happy if Paterson steps up rather than some lightweight with little skin in the game
market is v strong but feeling its not sustainable-good time to flog of some assets though
sp broken new ground today reaching new high.
Now speaking from my pocket !
CWD have enjoyed an awesome August ,None more so than in sunny Scotland .The 11 branches operating under the Countrywide Scotland banner have taken fresh instructions on by the truckful
265 of a total sales inventory of 492 sold subject to contract that is an average of 53% sold STC . Boom.
Only 11 properties throughout chain been on the market for 12 months or longer and very few from last calendar year
Shawlands have already stoked up 23 SSTC those listed in August . A staggering amount from a total inventory of 85
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/find-agents/branch/countrywide-scotland-shawlands-sales-glasgow-28254/
Up early it must have been the excitment of the SP springing to 165p at the death yesterday .
There are still a number of branches still "temporarily closed " no doubt the majority of which are on death row some
desperately hopefully awaiting a reprieve .They will be losing instructions in the area and perhaps adjoining . This is a ponderous set of BODS never knowingly come to make a decision quickly.
Bairstow Eves 7 "temp. closed" .Abbotts 5. Blundells 4 etc.
Morale sapping for staff wondering if they have a job to return to . The best aren't going to be hanging around waiting to find out.
All very well mothballing awaiting decisions but it also makes life difficult for CWD brands in adjoining territories
You can imagine the competition using this to their disadvantage pitching for instructions
"You don't want to be instructing Abbotts / Bairstow Eves/Taylors etc as the office might be going the same way as the one in Smallsville currently "temporarily Closed, never to be opening its doors again .The Chairman and CEO are leaving the main board and they have no replacements ."
Testament to the strength of some of the brands that despite being handicapped by the BODS going great guns
Dixons Halesown office have already got 16 away freshly listed in August and its only a small office
Latest instruction by Bairstow Eves in Canterbury Listed yesterday "SOLD BEFORE GOING ONLINE"
It doesn't get much better than that !
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/56065750
A real opportunity awaits here for someone to get this by the scruff of its neck.The sooner the better.
Big buy. Looks good. Lots of house sales will be agreed over the bank holiday weekend. Gla
Good rise today, the free flowing sales market starting to reflect the share price. Sales sales sales
Having said "even the letting side is slow at Sloane Square" . They dont need to do many of these to pick up some lost ground on the sales front
Https://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/55406099
Keepit
Yes all very encouraging just tell the Directors to keep away and amuse themselves with a bottle of port in the boardroom and not to interfere
Both existing and a new management are likely to jettison Lambert Smith Hampton but very unlikely to fetch much in the current market where most of the major commercial property players are seeking to shred staff .
One thing in LSH's favour is that they have a strong logistics and industrial team which is flavour of the month
however the donkeys did nobody any favours messing up the LSH sale the first time around
That to me was symptomatic of the whole way this company has been managed
Be surprised if they get more than £20m. Splice in some new management at CWD hopefully Robin Paterson and they would easily raise £25m with all the recent sales activity.
That would bring the overall debt to a much more manageable level and get the banks off their back and let the bank strike up again
The problem they have with the uncertainty is that if things pick up some of their best staff at LSH will be off .They can't let them allow to sit on death row for too long
Residential
Inner London branches still haven't picked up much and sales still thin on the ground .They really do need to get going if this is going to sing again
You have to have some sympathy for the neggies in Dixons offices in the Midlands grafting away knocking out the £2-4k fees by the dozen supporting their cousins at Hamptons and John D Wood.
John D Wood Sloane Square office 23 instructions big fat 0 under offer
Hamptons Sloane Square office servicing just 30 instructions .Only 1 showing under offer and that was listed on the market last year
2 offices ,2 overheads same location both earning half of SFA and even the lettings side is slow
adding little to the party
Not even enough to pay for a trip to Pret a Manger for their lunch if it is still open
Some of the brands operating in Greater London like Alan De Maid are going great guns Dixons .R A Bennett romping away in the Midlands Bridgfords and Blundells in the North and even some of the SW offices improved not forgettng Mann Abbott Taylors and and Bairstow Eves
Morris Dibben Southanpton flying
How this translates into hard cash is difficult to guess but I would have thought a significant uplift is not too strong a word. to describe last 2 months
No doubt those who have destroyed value here will try and take some reflected glory as they leave the premises
The weakest part of countrywide Over the last 4 years has always been its sales arm. The current sales market is said to be like shooting fish in a barrel. A much needed cash injection for cw to get some more debt paid down. Onwards and upwards
"Analysis from NAEA Propertymark has revealed the average number of sales agreed per estate agent branch stood at thirteen in July, matching the RECORD HIGH previously hit in 2007."
This is certainly borne out by a quick sweep of the CWD brands on Zoopla and no let up in August either