No-flies

[No-flies]

Hi Mr DovertheRoad.

Firstly let me say I can't help but think that your father was being a little harsh on traffic wardens.

Secondly, thank you very much for your kind words - we obviously agree with you about the high street agency model and we hope that we tick all the boxes for the web enabled agency - complete with non traditional name!

Now all we have to do is persuade all those house sellers out there before everybody else jumps on the bandwagon.

As soon as we work out the No-flies/pecker conundrum we shall be sure to do a blog post on it (Search Engine Optimised obviously).

If you want to put at least one face to the name there is a feature on us in June's Living South magazine.

All the best to you

No-flies

[No-flies]

For any homeowners contemplating selling their properties we hope the following blog post on preparing your property for sale might be of assistance - http://no-flies.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/08/prepare-your-property-for-sale/

[JDC]

I practiced conveyancing for 20 years with a nationwide client base and in all that time never came across a single estate agent in the entire country that I would have been prepared to recommend. It remains a very poorly regulated "profession" offering appalling value for money for what is involved and one that can be dispensed with in areas such as SE22 where properties sell themselves.

[No-flies]

JDC Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I practiced conveyancing for 20 years with a

> nationwide client base and in all that time never

> came across a single estate agent in the entire

> country that I would have been prepared to

> recommend. It remains a very poorly regulated

> "profession" offering appalling value for money

> for what is involved and one that can be dispensed

> with in areas such as SE22 where properties sell

> themselves.

As a commercial solicitor of over 30 years standing myself I have to disagree with you in a number of respects - however, at the end of the day, it is the market that will determine which of us is correct. Thank you for your post anyway. I see from your other posts on this forum that you are now a local builder - good luck in that venture.

[jrpfinch]

The problem with regulating estate agency is that you'd have less competition. The cost of moving house would be more in line with other countries (say the USA where buyer and seller in some states pay 5% commission each).

[jrpfinch]

This is also true for insurance. People pick the cheapest insurer on an aggregator and then wonder why the service is so terrible.

You can have cheap. You can have quality. Difficult (but not impossible) to have both.

[No-flies]

Hello JRP and thanks for your posts. I am not sure that better regulation of estate agents should necessarily lead to an increase in the cost of house moving. There are many examples of highly regulated service providers (such as conveyancing solicitors who are regulated by the Law Society) who, when providing services that are essentially commoditised, have to keep their fees low to stay in business. In our view estate agency is becoming more and more commoditised and therefore an increase in regulation should not necessarily result in an increase in fees. Your insurance analogy is an interesting one - you are right that those insurers who show up cheapest on a market comparison site do so usually for one of two reasons - less coverage and/or poor service. At No-Flies we are trying the difficult task of providing quality and a value price. To do this we have to focus our efforts and expenditure on areas of true value to the customer (personal service, clear and transparent advice, informative and attractive web presence, access to the major property portals) and not on things that provide little, if any, benefit to the customer like flagship high street offices and fleets of liveried cars - we believe it can be done.

[No-flies]

Anybody who is thinking of putting their property on the market might be interested in reading our latest blog posts on Preparing Your Property for Sale: http://no-flies.co.uk/index.php/category/blog/

[No-flies]

If anybody is contemplating holding an open house as part of the marketing of their property they may be interested in our latest blog post: http://no-flies.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/10/the-open-house-a-useful-marketing-tool/

[No-flies]

Our latest blog which relates to Downsizing - the secrets of success:

http://no-flies.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/20/downsizing-the-secrets-of-success/

[No-flies]

Anybody looking to downsize might be interested in our latest blog:

http://no-flies.co.uk/index.php/2013/05/20/downsizing-the-secrets-of-success/

[Aurorablast]

Applaud what you've written 'No Flies' and what you're trying to do (you can hear the But coming), but the company name is just ghastly and I just couldn't instruct an agent, nor have a board outside our house emblazoned with that. 'Fish Need Water' in Dulwich falls under that category too btw! I remember when 'Hotblack Desiato' started up in NW1 where I used to live and it really stood out against the Cluttons, Lane Foxes etc, but as someone hoping to sell their house come autumn 'No Flies' is a quirk too far. Good luck with the new venture.

[No-flies]

Dear Aurorablast, thank you very much for your post. All feedback is very important to us and you may very well be right about about the name. However, as the person that came up with the idea of the name I feel I have to offer some words in its defence.

When we originally considered setting up an online estate agency we did so for two principal reasons. Firstly we believed that currently people were paying too much for estate agency services. The service, particularly since the introduction of property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla, has become more commoditised, and with commoditised services my belief is that a buyer should be looking firstly for the best value and secondly for the best level of customer service they can get.

The second reason we believed there was a gap in the market was the level of discontent that people appear to feel when using estate agents. You need only trawl through this forum to understand that estate agents are, for the most part, hardly held in high regard and are criticised for, what some consider, underhand tactics or pushy sales techniques.

We wanted a brand therefore that encapsulated value and integrity and that was different from what was currently out there ? we wanted to avoid the random dual surname route (e.g. Marsh & Parson) or something that was designed to appear upwardly mobile and aspirational (the entirely fictitious ?Felicity J. Lord? for example).

In thinking about people that are attracted by excellent value we came upon the phrase ?There?s no flies on me?. After further development we also saw potential for ?No Lies? in the design of the logo. We did do some focus group work and it was overwhelmingly positive.

We believe that we offer exceptional value (currently we are offering 0% and will always aim to be cheaper than high street agents), we offer the same services as all the high street agents (including listing properties on all the property portals) and we will always be proactive and act with integrity in our dealings with both buyers and sellers. We felt the name encapsulated these values and aim to build our brand around them.

I am sorry that you do not like the name and could not contemplate a board with it on outside of your home (although I would point out that, with the exception of our current 0% offer, we would not insist on a board outside a property that we are selling). We very much like the name but I guess only time will tell whether we are right to do so.

Thank you again though for your feedback and good luck when you come to sell your home.

[edcam]

I think the name stands out, so is therefore a good one.

[Aurorablast]

Not having a board outside your property, imo, is missing a good marketing opportunity and I truly applaud what you're trying to do. The other flaw I've noticed most online agents have is that they also provide boards which effectively advertise their 'low cost' service. Having had an appalling experience with a local estate agent - marketing houses which have been withdrawn by the vendor - I'd love to use an online agent. I really hope you do well - the industry needs a shake up!

[No-flies]

Thank you edcam - we are glad you like the name.

Thanks also to Aurorablast for your good wishes. You are right that For Sale boards are a good marketing tool (in fact, in these Internet days, that is really their main purpose). We do encourage customers to display one of our boards (which do not advertise low cost) but we do not, and cannot, insist upon it save in circumstances where a customer is taking advantage of the current 0 per cent. offer we are promoting.