LUX Spring 2018

LUXLIFE MAGAZINE | 73 Spring 2018 What has been your most successful project to date?What has been the most important thing you have learnt from working on this? For our Sales department, our approach has meant that we have been able to sell properties where others have not. When instructed on a Joint Sole Agency basis with a larger Agent, Maskells has found the buyer for the property on 25 of the last 27 occasions. I think that speaks volumes for the hard work that the Sales Team do. For our Lettings Department, our most notable success is that having started the business in August 2013, we are now one of the largest independent lettings agents in the area and our revenue growth is just under 30% per annum, over each of the last four years. There is no short-cut to success and whilst we work hard, we must remain thankful and humble for the business we win. What does the future have in store for your industry? How do you see the real estate market changing over the next 12 months? Essentially, the increase in Stamp duty was a real set-back to sales in the London Property Market. Other markets have higher taxes (including higher annual property taxes such as New York) but London pricing is such that the capital value of the taxes can be a real deterrent for many. That said, we have found that Vendors are not prepared to sell at any price and are therefore de facto supporting the market which in turn gives price confidence to buyers. Over the past three years, our role has been one of price discovery and now in Q1 of 2018, we believe that there is an uneasy truce between vendor and applicant: and why not? In a market with a historic upwards trajectory, any buyer will usually want yesterday’s price and any vendor will usually want tomorrows. Pricing today is similar to 2013 keeping applicants interested and the need to “get-on” with their lives bringing Vendors to the table who have accepted that market pricing has now moved. There has been a lethargy in the market since the Tax increase and, subsequently to that, Brexit, however people’s circumstances change and they need new homes. Many will jump a rung on the property ladder and go from a one bed flat to a three / four bed house which takes a bit more time to save for – but are doing so in order to avoid additional transaction taxes. However, we are concerned about the high increase in property prices in areas with high mortgage balances as this will often denote that property prices have increased as a result of the availability of cheap mortgages and higher income multiples being accepted by Lenders rather than a true increase in asset value. Why? Because the question remains whether a home owner can withstand the payment increase from a current fixed rate available today of 1.2% to the standard reversion rate of 4.5% - an increase of 275%, remembering that the fountain of this cheap funding – the Bank of England’s Term Funding Scheme - is now closed. If a home owner cannot afford the increase, then they might be forced to sell. If a few are in this position, the result will be a decline in house prices in that area. This is because any new buyer would also need to pay the higher mortgage rates, and therefore would seek to reduce the amount they borrow, creating an upper price cap on property they can buy. Online vsTraditional Estate Agency Interestingly, this has been a point we have been considering for a while, not that Maskells will become and online agent, but the effect of this new type of agency on our business. Online sales in any industry work well for lower priced items and particularly those which are not unique. Agency at our level and in our areas, is more than just advertising a property: In fact, more than 70 % of the work done by the teams is post an offer being received and given some of the complexities of the deals, successfully managing multi-million-pound transactions is where traditional agency will always prevail. To that end, all of our Agents are Exam Certified by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) or the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) and the companies are registered with PropertyMark and The Property Ombudsman and abide by their code of conduct. What are your future aspirations for your company? Do you have any plans or projects you would be willing to share with us? Ultimately, our long-term goal is to become the go-to Agent in Prime Central London which is a tall task given some of the excellent companies operating in the area. That said, we believe that we have found a formula which works in this difficult market and we will look to continue leveraging that going forward. We remain openly acquisitive, particularly for Lettings Businesses, and have the resources to act swiftly, at the right price. This is secondary however to working successfully for our clients in this competitive industry. Company: Maskells Estate Agents Ltd Contact: Charles Curran Address: 71 Walton Street, London, SW3 2HT, UK Phone: 02075812216 Website: www.maskells.co.uk