Please ensure that you know how to load wallpaper before attempting to put it on your computer.

            For a definition of "wallpaper" click here to be taken to the Wikipedia site.

            To set up this picture as a background on your desktop follow the guidelines below:

            1  Right click on picture

Many Estate Agents say that accompanied viewings are a waste of time and money

At PJ&J, we encourage our clients to let us accompany prospective buyers when they want to view the property. Clients have the choice of course - they may prefer to do the viewings themselves, or want to be in the property when people come round. 

We like to provide this service because it works. We estimate that it gives us up to a 50% better chance of selling a property if we attend the viewing. One of our directors is a Chartered Accountant. Ask yourself – would a Chartered Accountant spend money if it did not produce a pay-back?

Many Estate Agents simply do not have enough staff to be able to do accompanied viewings, and it is more comfortable to sit in a nice warm office. And they would have to find another car parking space when they got back. (At PL&J we rent car parking spaces for our staff so that they can make the most efficient use of their time)

Research

Our research shows that people identify better with a new property if they do not associate it with the current occupants. They want to imagine how they would live there, use the space, make changes. Difficult if they are being shown round by the current occupiers.

People are much more comfortable asking an agent about the property, than asking the current occupants. They much prefer talking privately about making alterations to the property (eg changing the decor or replacing the kitchen) in front of the agent.

With our experience (and we have seen a few properties in our time) we can sometimes make helpful suggestions too. Many sales are won at this point. If we can talk openly with the buyers then potential misunderstandings can be quickly put right.

Being in attendance helps to develop a relationship between us and the buyers which can be helpful further down the process. If we understand the needs of the buyers and the sellers then we can bring both sides to an agreement much more easily.

And we get to know the property better too.

We send experienced staff out on viewings, not the office junior. Follow up calls are always made by us to gain feedback for our clients and to answer any further queries that may occur.

Waste of time and money?

We don’t think so.

We want to sell or let your property. Sometimes “old fashioned” Estate Agency does work best!

QR codes

What are they?

They are a bit like a bar code, as used by supermarkets to swipe your shopping with, but they can be read by a Phone App to take you straight to a page on a web site. It is a form of two-dimensional barcode.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, says:

A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera telephones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data.

The QR code was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed, and is just coming into vogue in this country.

Why use them?

To save time when you are looking for a property. Just download the App, point your phone at the QR code, and you will be given a direct link to the property on our web site. Click on the link and see the property particulars. Feels a bit like magic!

For instance, if you are looking at the particulars for one of our sales properties and you want to see the interactive floor plan on our web site, then this could take you straight there without having to type in www.PLandJ.co.uk and then search for the property.

Saves time. Encourages click-through. According to Righmove, more than 20% of property searches now take place using a “hand held device”.

And how will you use them?

They will be going onto all of our sales particulars.

We may use them on To Let and For Sale boards, if they are considered appropriate for the setting.

They could be emailed to people on our mailing lists

We are experimenting with putting them in the windows of our Worcester and Malvern offices to see if they can be read through plate glass.

Newsprint is different from printing things in-house, where we already know that they work, so we are testing them in local papers to see how big they need to be to work effectively.

.

So will they help you to sell or let my property for me?

We will have a go with anything new if we think may help you to sell or let your property.

We may have been around for a long time, but we are determined to move with the times – we were the first Estate Agent in the Malverns to have our own App for iPhone for example.

How do I get the App on my phone?

Go to your App store and search for a QR code reader. Download it – should be free, and then fill the screen with the QR code.

Some readers are better than others, and the Android App is the best one that we have found so far.

Malvern has been rated as one of the top holiday destinations in the world, and two years ago we launched its own self-catering holiday lettings agency.

Great Malvern Holidays was launched by Philip Laney & Jolly to help to boost tourism in the Malverns and to attract more visitors to shop in the Town.

Roger Barter, managing director of Philip Laney & Jolly, said that the new business was a natural extension of their lettings and “short lets” business streams.

“We have a steadily growing family of small business ventures based in the Malverns and in Worcester, and our latest addition is thriving well".

Great Malvern Holidays specialises only in accommodation in the Malverns – an area known well to Philip Laney & Jolly staff.

Bookings have been very strong recently, surprisingly for the "out of season" periods around the major holidays. We think that holidaymakers are avoiding the Mediterranean countries and staying somewhere safe this winter.

Local owners of self-catering holiday properties have been quick to welcome the new arrival and their properties can be viewed at www.greatmalvernholidays.co.uk.

“We have some really top quality properties available – for example, The Coach House at West Malvern has its own indoor heated swimming pool and glorious views across to the west”.

If you are thinking of turning your property into a self-catering holiday let and would like to discus the possibilities, please contact Tom or Kate on 01684 575100 or 01905 26664 or send an email to lettings@philiplaneyjolly.co.uk.

Honestly, honesty?

We’ve all been there. We’ve all fallen in love with a house, only to watch it slip from our grasp and slide into the hands of some undeserving unknown. And don’t we all suspect that it was helped on its way by a few lies and a greasy slug of hair gel, courtesy of the estate agent.

Apparently 79% of people don’t trust estate agents and Mary Portas is one of them. In her new series Secret Shopper (Wednesday, 9pm, C4) she has pounced on one of the country’s most hated professions and told it to buck up and be honest.

Sitting at home, watching Mary stalk about London with a secret camera in her wig, it isn’t hard to get worked up by the jargon.

Being told that “west is the new south,” that a house overlooks “a prestigious turning,” or that “internal viewing is recommended,” does nothing to sooth us. We can laugh at the games we play with estate agents, but then we get angry.

So on the face of it Mary makes a useful contribution to the debate. She asks agents to learn about the history of the homes they sell and to take viewings seriously enough to justify their fees. It’s just plain common sense, isn’t it?

But this isn’t one of Mary’s specialist subjects. She’s used to selling fashion and is famous for dressing fabulous shop fronts. When she storms into a family owned business shrieking, “it’s just smoke and mirrors,” all you can think of are the windows at Harrods. Surely there’s a good helping of dry ice and tin foil behind those too?

For a woman who spent the last 30 years working for an industry that routinely airbrushes supermodels, she shows precious little regard for the clever photography that can entice viewings in the first place. Asking estate agents to tone down their jargon is one thing, asking them to give you the bad news about a house is madness. Does Cadbury print ‘Chocolate can make you fat’ labels for its products?

More to the point estate agents don’t choose their products, or indeed how they are presented. Mary seems to have misunderstood the phrase ‘houses sell themselves.’ She thinks it’s because estate agents are too lazy to sell our homes. In fact estate agents don’t really sell anything; they just bring buyers and sellers together safely and legally.

Mary is a clever lady with an eye for detail but she isn’t in the business of selling houses, and judging from last night’s viewing that’s a good thing. Regardless of how you feel about estate agents Mary’s strengths are clearly in the fantasy and frivolity of retail shops, not simply any business with a shop front.

Charlotte Razzell

Philip Laney & Jolly

LANDLORDS

Looking for the latest expert advice?

Just click on the link below and choose the "LETTING PROPERTY" channel. 

Programmes include:

All about letting properties: Everything you need to know about letting property.

Deposit protection: The inside track on protecting deposits and resolving disputes.

Inside inventories: Absolutely essential for a successful tenancy - we take you inside inventories

Making lettings pay: The insider guide for new landlords looking to invest.

Why choose an ARLA agent: NAEA and ARLA bonded agents offer new and established landlords many benefits.

Philip Laney & Jolly are members of the National Association of Estate Agents and employ members of the Association of Residential Letting Agents

Here is the link:   http://www.philiplaneyjolly.co.uk/philiplaneyandjolly.html

We have arranged for an emergency call out service when the office is not manned.

Carl from 24/7 can be contacted on 07787 108546 or 01905 616567

Please note that this service should only be used for emergencies by our property management  clients.

Philip Laney & Jolly now has an electronic version of our property magazine for you to see on line.

For our latest “page turner” please click on the link below,

…………and grab and turn each page!

http://agentmags.guildmembers.co.uk/index.asp?uid=jolly1

As you may already have heard, the Government announced in June that HIPS have been suspended, and will be abolished. 

However, it will still be a requirement to obtain an EPC and this should be commissioned before a property is marketed.

We are so delighted with the news that HIPs have effectively gone, that we are continuing to offer FREE EPCs when you sell with Philip Laney & Jolly.

For more information, please call Malcolm Foster on 01684 575100

The refurbishment of our front office is nearing completion.

Considerable damage was done when the building was converted into a building society, but the original mouldings have now been exposed and restored where possible, and chandaliers (with energy efficient bulbs) have been hung.

If you would like to see your property dispayed at 21 Worcester Road, Great Malvern, then please call Liz or Malcolm (sales), or Gemma or Lizzy (lettings) on Malvern 575100 

As an independent firm of Estate Agents we are not "tied" to any mortgage provider, as many agents are.

If asked for mortgage advice, we suggest that our clients contact Bamford & Associates, the local father and sons practice.

They can make your property purchase easier through the vast choice of mortgages that they can access. The aim is to give you flexibility so that you are able to choose a mortgage to suit you.

Their St. James’s Place Partnership approach to Wealth Management can also provide professional expert advice to businesses, to those who are already retired or approaching retirement, and to young people and their families. 

For free downloads on topics ranging from Inheritance Tax to Invesments, visit their web site by clicking on this link and then click on the "market update" button at the bottom left hand side of the home page. 

Click on the "Back" button if you would like to return to this site