HOMES
NEW
gained from working with so many successful housebuilders over the last twenty years.” He also points out that the expertise his
skyline plaza BASINGSTOKE
LocaL expertise and strenGtH However, agents still offer market reach that the portals can’t. Kevin Ellis, Director of New Homes at Romans, says that successful developers look beyond the associated fees and understand the value added services above a High Street presence “as the range of services goes far beyond portal marketing. This includes providing an all-encompassing service, with everything from staffing a development through to detailed marketing strategies, which would incorporate the leading portals amongst the many concepts.” And he says that while many property
searches begin online, agents’ proactive marketing can short-cut the process. “We deliver targeted direct marketing, rather than just mass marketing which is what a portal would offer,” he says. “Developers value the fact that we’re communicating directly with the most motivated buyers. Because we’re bringing so many properties to the market, new buyers are registering with us every day, and we’re in personal contact with them.” Chris Browne, believes Zoopla competes
more with the print media than with agents. “New home developers have marketed properties directly to buyers for a long time,” he says, “and portals like
Zoopla.co.uk offer a far more efficient way for them to do so than traditional newspaper advertising, given that portals are where most buyers start their home search.” The market has always had a mix of
direct and indirect sales, and that is unlikely to change. “Agents continue to play a significant role in marketing properties
4,650 sq ft apartment in London for sale through Hamptons at… £11,995,000.
Romans are selling Berkeley Homes’ Skyline Plaza in Basingstoke. They also arrange the mortgages and manage the rental units. Agents can double their income by having a new homes site.
on behalf of developers,” he says, “and portals help agents in this area. Portals do not compete with agents, they are an effective and efficient marketing tool.” While the national developers might be
able to make a hundred per cent of their sales directly, smaller housebuilders lack the marketing resource. “We deal with a number of national builders as well as regional and smaller builders,” says Kevin Ellis. “They all share the same goal, to maximize values. Depending on their needs, we provide a bespoke service, and this can include responsibility for the whole marketing process, from brochures to advertising. But what they particularly value is extensive local knowledge. This is the essential ingredient in the marketing mix, and ensures that the product they build is one that will sell. Our value is through the depth of knowledge that we’ve
£11,995,000
team has developed in the New Homes market can make the difference between selling out a development, and having properties stuck on the market. That’s particularly the case when it comes to pricing. “New developments will sell, but they have to be priced correctly,” he says. “A lot of developers take on board what we say about price; it’s a case of getting the price right before you come to the market. The first four to six weeks of any release is where you’re going to gauge the interest, so you have to get it right to start with.” An agent is almost always going to be more up-to-date with house prices than any developer – especially at a local level, where the direct sell PLC developers may not have a particularly keen insight into the local market.
strenGtH in tHe customer base Peter Krelle agrees that agents know the customer base in depth. Spicerhaart has a database of 3,000 property investors; no developer is ever going to have such a strong information base. The new homes business can also use its links to Spicerhaart’s lettings arm; professional and corporate landlords are an ideal target market for new developments. “We’ve had a very good response to specific offers for corporate clients,” he says, but adds: “You’ve got to package it correctly.” Like Kevin Ellis, Peter Krelle believes in
direct marketing; he reckons that though Rightmove is perfectly correct that 80 per cent of initial searches start online, 70 per cent of visits to Spicerhaart sites are now being generated by direct emails to applicants on the database. But the devil, as always, is in the detail; “Your marketing needs to be bespoke, it needs to really focus on the USP of the development.” Duplication on portals is a particular
bugbear for him. Some developers use the same photos for every one of their properties on a given site. “It looks like desperation,” he says. That kind of scattergun approach doesn’t pay its way in his view. Instead, he has a very detailed,
quantitative approach to business. “You’ve got to look at your database and see what it’s telling you. Then you have to match everything from the branding onwards. For instance, it’s no use sending ‘young couple’ imagery to downsizers.
PROPERTYdrum OCTOBER 2010 11
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