WINNERS OF THE UK PROPERTY AWARDS REVEALED IN LONDON

Coast & Country Newton Abbot scooped a prestigious national award this week, when they were recognised as the best estate agent in Devon at the UK Property Awards. This recognised their excellent marketing and service and reflected the number of sales they have managed to achieve in the last twelve months.

The United Kingdom’s premier estate agents gathered at The Lancaster London Hotel, Hyde Park, London on Friday (October 28th) for the announcement of the winners of the hotly contested UK Property Awards in association with Bloomberg Television and Google.

These awards, combined with the other regional awards’ programmes for Arabia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia Pacific, form the globally renowned International Property Awards. Established 17 years ago, they are the world’s most prestigious property competition and cover residential as well as commercial categories.  Judging is carried out through a meticulous process involving a panel of over 80 experts and covering every aspect of the property business.

President of the International Property Awards, Stuart Shield, says, “I enjoy having the chance to meet some of the UK’s finest estate agents who, in spite of facing real market challenges, have been able not only to meet them but also to excel over them.”

COAST AND COUNTRY ATTENDING ESTATE AGENCY CONFERENCE IN CENTRAL LONDON

Newton Abbot’s Coast and Country Independent Estate Agent has announced today that they will be attending the Annual Home Sale Network Conference on Friday 18 November. Held this year at the Park Plaza Riverbank, London, the event is a national conference of Home Sale Network members, who are all independent estate agents across England, Scotland and Wales.


The 2011 Annual Conference will include a trade exhibition and glittering evening Awards Dinner. Keynote speakers include Douglas McWilliams, the founder of Britain’s leading commercial economics think tank, the Centre for Economics and Business Research; regular conference speaker and bestselling author of SUMO (Shut Up, Move On), Paul McGee; co-founder of the Intelligence Agency, John Knell; Director for the Future Laboratory, Tom Savigar; and brand consultant and social media expert, Alex Hunter.

With a packed business agenda, the exclusive line up of keynote speakers will deliver addresses on the current UK and global economies, technological trends including the use of social media, team motivation, changes in the workplace and shifts in customer experience.

The evening awards dinner, which this year is endorsed by leading UK relocation magazine, Re:locate, will welcome evening host and after dinner speaker, Alexander Armstrong. One half of comedy duo Armstrong and Miller and regular host on BBC panel show, Have I Got News For You, Home Sale Network looks forward to welcoming Alexander to this year’s evening event.

The beneficiary of this year’s charity raffle and silent auction will be the Kwagala Trust. The UK charity works with the Ugandan community to provide loving homes for abandoned, orphaned or deprived children allowing them to live fulfilled, productive and self sufficient lives.

Coast and Country said: “The Home Sale Network Conference provides an unrivalled opportunity to gain valuable business ideas and best practices, that will benefit our customers. Through the expert speakers and by exchanging tips with fellow Network members, the annual Conference is always a must for the Coast and Country calendar.”



For further information, please contact Coast and Country, 01626 366966, sales@cacia.co.uk

Slow Off The Blocks & A Sprint Finish

August was a great month for sales at Coast & Country. But for every experienced estate agent, there is something a bit special about September. Every year when the children return to school and the holiday season ends, we get excited. We look forward to a flood of new instructions, high levels of sales and a rush, as Christmas approaches, to ensure completions take place. Autumn is often the best season to buy or sell.




Just like every year on the 1st September, we expect 20 instructions and 10 sales. This of course never happens. The holidays aren’t actually even over. We begin to worry and wonder. Will all the additional advertising and promotions we have planned for our clients’ homes, be a waste of time? Each year, we try to recall what exactly occurred in the twenty previous years, when we found ourselves in the self-same situation.



This year we are doing more than ever, with a view to capitalising on our position as one of the top performing offices in the area. We are doing more advertising than any other estate agency office we are aware of, as we aim to promote our clients properties beyond those of other agents. We are using extensive Internet marketing and our largest ever team is working harder and longer for our clients. This means getting results is all the more important.



During the first half of September the phone slowly began to ring more often. We received positive feedback about our increased advertising and the valuations started to roll in. Once we had the opportunity of demonstrating to potential vendors what we do that the others don’t, these valuations turned into a selection of great new instructions. Good instructions, as all property professionals know, lead to sales. So in the second half of the month as autumn officially started so did the run of sales. We think it’s likely to be a record month for us, and that’s only the beginning of the best selling part of the year. Just like most previous years September was slow off the mark and is finishing with a flourish.



Looking ahead to next year, we must remember that September has a slow start. Of course by then we will probably have forgotten again. We will be caught up in the excitement and expectation every successful sales person feels, when they know they will be cutting deals, making sales and outperforming their peers.