Josh's apprentice update month 12!

Already it has been twelve months since I started my Apprenticeship with Think Property. I find it strange to think I have been here for over a year already as so much has been crammed into my personal life as well as my life here at work.

From Ironman UK in Bolton to passing exams in Colchester it's been a hectic one to say the least. But it's one I'm sure to remember and build on leading into 2012. The start of the year saw my first year as a Letting Agent mapped out. I had 8 exams to pass (4 for The Sale of Residential Property + 4 for Lettings and Property Management) and an NVQ to complete, all worth a couple of A-levels which are always very handy to chuck on the CV. To make things a bit more complicated I had, at times, 20 hours per week of training to squeeze in for my maiden Ironman Triathlon in July. Needless to say my social life took a back seat for the best part of Jan-Aug 2011.

Think Property proudly first opened it's doors in August, and in February 2011 we were already nominated for a nationally recognised award! It was the 'Estate and Letting Agents Awards 2011'(The Esta's) hosted by Channel 4's Phil Spencer and we were in a shortlist of 10 up for 'Letting Agent of the Year' for the South East of England. Now, what makes these awards so special, is that it is down to our clients to vote for us if they choose to. They would fill out a feedback form from the esta's and mark us based on the service they received. So you can imagine our delight when in April, at a ceremony at Mayfair's Hilton Hotel, We were voted the 2nd best Letting Agent in the South East, and then to top it off, the 6TH best in the WHOLE of the UK - wow!! So, 2011 was already big year for us at Think!

Summer, apparently, came and went, and in July I took part in the UK Ironman Triathlon in Bolton. This was without doubt the most amazing (not to mention most painfull) experience I have ever had! Something I only hope to better by doing it again and again, but getting faster everytime. The World Championships are in Hawaii each year so may as well aim high eh?!

Back to work, and into the later part of this year. I've made great progress in my apprenticeship and I have passed all of my Sales exams which now makes me a fully qualified estate agent. I took my last exam on Wednesday this week and got my highest mark of 88% - my average is between 75-80% so I'm chuffed! I only have 2 more to pass for lettings which I'll take in January. I'm currently finishing up my coursework and then my apprenticeship is complete!

I have people to thank that have given me advice throughout my first year as a Letting Agent, most of them know who they are, but special mention to everybody here at Think and also Lynn Barta at DB training - despite having a very tough year herself, she still managed to make time to help us through our exams and NVQ.

Eat/drink as much as you can over the holidays and have a great Chistmas!

Josh Bowers MNEA

Mishas Blog

I have now been working full time for think for just under a month and have already learnt so much. I have been given the role of online sales consultant which involves marketing houses on portals on the internet opposed to the original style of estate agency.

When interacting with customers I am solely conversing with them over the phone and email so I find it very important to start a solid rapport with my client from the word go. I have always been a person who enjoys being social and interacting with the public so this job is proving just right for me.  I am really enjoying the challenges I have had to face over the last month and look forward to help building this side of the business into a strong and successful way of selling property.

Im really grateful to have the opportunity I have been give and enjoy working with my colleagues very much.

get selling before Christmas

Sell your home commission free this Christmas. It is no secret that the well documented economic uncertainty around the Eurozone crisis has impacted somewhat negatively on consumer confidence and has to some extent been governing the decisions of those looking to buy and sell their homes. Indeed, for those who have tightened their purse strings but are still looking to sell their home, what money saving option will save the day?

Relieving your financial woes, iThink Property, the award-winning online estate agent offers an easy, stress free alternative method of selling your home commission free - a perfect way to save money, particularly with the festive season fast approaching.

From as little as £345 (+ VAT), the iThink approach removes the middle-man, the high street estate agent, marketing your property directly, using the same online tools as traditional estate agents.

Peter Joseph, Owner of the established award-winning online estate agent comments,

“With the average high street estate agent’s fee for selling a property in the UK at £3,500, people looking to sell their homes are unlikely to be able to afford such a hefty fee particularly in times of economic hardship and, with the Christmas period looming in iThink Property can lend a helping hand to sell your home commission free.

“We offer the ultimate combination for a private house sale - an outstanding traditional estate agency with the latest full marketing on all the major property portals and online media sites, complete transparency and a service we feel is second to none for a fraction of the normal industry fees. For example, this month we have taken on properties that will save our clients somewhere in the region of a total of £70,000. On top of this we are hoping to double this saving in January next year and to forecast figures, I would be surprised if we don't save our clients about £300,000 in fees in the first 3 months of 2012.”

As the perfect stress free alternative to a high street estate agent that guarantees mass savings, you can select from three fantastic value Price Options starting from just £345 depending on how much you wish to pay upfront. In simple terms, you can submit your property details to iThink Property whose NAEA qualified team ensure the property is marketed on all major UK property portals including Rightmove, Primelocation, FindaProperty, Zoopla, Globrix, Nestoria and Fish4homes in addition to many more.

Utilising the popular Gold package of £345 paid up front with 12 months of flexible marketing and no other selling costs payable upon completion, you can save up to £4,150 in fees on the sale of a typical £250,000 home. In addition you will be assigned a qualified iThink Property Agent, a free “value my home” report, professional and unlimited photography, bespoke floorplans, arrangement of viewings, handling and negotiating of offers, full buyer check including verification of financial position and a weekly sales progression report once a sale has been agreed.

So if you are looking to sell your home commission free this Christmas and wish to save thousands of pounds in fees then visit www.ithinkproperty.co.uk today or call 0844 381 4787 to speak to your dedicated iThink Property Agent.

Thank you

Well I am sitting on the train on route to London and I have just come off the phone from a very happy vendor. Very much like the case written about in the Sunday Times last week we have just sold their house within a month; not so strange you may think apart from it had been on with a local agent for the last 3 months.
Our online agency ithinkproperty reaches more potential buyers than most traditional agents due to our extensive marketing.
I am very pleased for our vendor and I just wish to thank them as they are spreading the word.

If you would like any information about what we do, how much we can save you or for a free valuation, please get in touch.

Many thanks

Peter


iThink Property.
Thinking about keeping you informed.

As Featured By the Sunday Times

Hi, well some great news, we were lucky enough to be contacted by the Sunday Times who wanted to know all about our Online estate Agent. They contacted one of our many happy clients for a case study and the full page article appeared in this weeks Sunday Times.

So incase you didn't have a chance to see it, please see the link below, We are all very proud.

Many thanks

Peter

http://www.onlineestateagentsuk.com/press-releases/httpwww-thesundaytimes-co-uk/

Good news, Mortgages approvals hit a 2 year high

Increase in mortage approvals is this good news

Recent figures from the Bank of England have revealed that August saw the highest number of mortgage approval’s since December 2009. Over 52,000 were approved in August, the previous six-month average was 47,551.

Although this slight increase is encouraging to an extent, my concern remains that first time buyers are still struggling to get onto the property ladder, due to the lack of products and reasonable rates at the higher loan to value, loans.  Understandably lenders want the very safe cases where there is plenty of equity in the property, and in fairness there are some fantastic products available for those fortunate enough to be in this position.  However, to stimulate the housing market, we need more first time buyers to enter the market as we are still very much in a 'buyers’ market' and any slight increase in mortgage approvals is also likely to be as a result of increasing numbers of buy to let purchases to people already owning property, particularly given the recent increase and improvements in Buy to Let mortgage products.

Simon Compton

Independent Financial Adviser

Think Finance

Motivated staff wanted

Think Online Property Require Sales Negotiator / Sales Progessor for ever expanding Online Estate Agency. Please Private Message Me For More Details

Thanks Peter

 http://www.thinkonlineproperty.co.uk/