For the final interview in this summer series… welcome Savvas Verdis, founder of innovative Rankdesk, a new tech launch which rates homes for their investment potential. We were delighted that Savvas, with so much going on this week, found the time to chat.

Savvas, before we talk about Rankdesk, I was wondering if you could say something about your own and your partners’ backgrounds. It looks like you’ve enough letters after your names to write a novel.

Well, quite a few of us started in the architecture trade and hence why we take the quality aspect of residential properties so seriously in our ratings. Priya, who is heading our research, has a background in real estate investment analysis and has tried to bring the in-depth nature of commercial property data into the residential sector. I came to Rankdesk following 10 years in a family-run property investment firm. I also teach urban planning and urban economic development at the London School of Economics on a part-time basis.

Rankdesk is pioneering the property ratings industry. Our aim is to develop a standard measure, which will help buyers make more informed decisions when purchasing a property in cities such as London, New York, Hong Kong & Sydney. If we succeed, our ratings system should be as easy to understand and trusted as the star-ratings used to classify hotels worldwide. It's very early days but we are progressing well.

It took us a year to develop our initial algorithm. We launched our Beta test site in December 2010 and have just launched our full product line-up, after great feedback from the industry and consumers.

Click here to read on.

We continue our series of summer interviews with this chat with John Tighe, the man behind interesting, unorthodox online estate agency House Hop. Read on for John's take on launching an agency business while transactions are low, outstanding customer service and a very nice estate agent joke.

John, I was wondering if you could say something about your background? Is it in property, sales, technology? And how/when did you start work on HouseHop?

Actually, my background is in law. Before founding House Hop I worked in the City as a corporate lawyer. Then, in mid-2008, I lost my job. The outlook (and hence job prospects) in the City went from bad to worse during the course of 2008 with the UK officially going into recession and September seeing the collapse of Lehmans, the AIG bailout, and the Lloyds takeover of HBOS.

By December I was pretty frustrated to say the least. I remember thinking to myself “I can’t do another six months like this” – especially since there was no obvious end to the country’s economic problems.

That’s when I decided to launch House Hop. I’d always wanted to start a business and I figured I really had nothing to lose! Plus, it was a way of taking back some control over my life.

As one of Lord Sugar’s obnoxious pals might say… what’s the elevator pitch? What makes HouseHop unique when there are other online estate agencies around?

Read the rest of the interview by clicking here.

Nigel Lewis is an experienced property journalist and head of content for the Digital Property Group (the owners of FindaProperty, Primelocation and Globrix). Read on for an interesting take on why Brits are obsessed with property, the future of home-ownership and Government confusion.

You began working, as a journalist, covering the property market right at the start of the most recent boom. Property prices were leading the news and everybody seemed to want to claim their stake in what appeared to be something of a gold rush. Did you “happen into” property journalism… or was the market something you were already interested in?

I had covered a variety of subjects before coming to property, including fishing, motoring and personal finance, but was then invited to join a property dotcom during the late 1990s called smove.com – now defunct – and I immediately warmed to bricks and mortar. But I was then offered a job at the Daily Mail working on its property pages. I love writing about bricks and mortar because it’s so wide ranging, covering personal stories, celebrity moves, government policy and construction, planning – I could go on. But I don’t remember readers and the media being quite so obsessed with house prices then as they are now.

I am old enough to have witnessed and worked through two property downturns and during the run up to the current one, or the ‘gold rush’ you refer to, experiences from the previous downturn were ignored by both home owners and many in the industry, not to mention most property writers and that included, sometimes, me. When people’s homes are rising in value so fast, it’s hard to persuade national newspaper editors to calm down – it is a good story at the end of the day.

Read the rest of the interview by clicking here.

A regular contributor to the Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, FT, Daily Mail, Independent, Guardian, Observer and others, Graham Norwood is without doubt the UK's most prolific property journalist. We're delighted he agreed to take part in this summer's Rat and Mouse interview series.

If nobody’s ever described you before as the James Brown of property journalism, arguably the hardest working writer in the business, then let me be the first. When and in what circumstances did you start writing about the residential property market?

James Brown huh? Nice compliment but way too flattering - any freelance journalist making a decent living out of writing has to work a lot these days. I began writing about property back in 1999 as I was leaving the BBC and just as the British love affair with home ownership was being consummated. Since then, it’s been full time residential journalism, with four books along the way.

Britons are peculiarly individualistic. Owning a book and leaving it to gather dust after we read it is much more popular than borrowing one and passing it to others afterwards, hence the demise of some libraries. Likewise we prefer owning a home over renting one - even if in some circumstances (early and late adult life, in particular) the flexibility of renting makes more sense. But it’s changing, slowly.

Ironically Thatcher made home ownership a symbol of achievement, and then her political lovechild Blair tried to get us all to feel good about it. Now David Cameron’s term in office may see the rise of rental accommodation - if for no other reason than that he appears reluctant to get financial institutions to lend to younger buyers.

Read more from Graham after the jump.

Apparently, "letting is the new sales", the Government missed a trick in 08 by failing to create "a more interesting bank" and the public need to get used to the idea of selling for less (and buying for less, too). Kicking off this year's Rat and Mouse interview series, somebody we've quoted many a time in the past but never before had the chance to chat with, so… so we've been exited about this. Douglas & Gordon's Ed Mead is one of the country's most outspoken and interesting estate agents, an expert on the London market, he's on the board of the Property Ombudsman and he's the man I'd want overseeing the sale of my house.

I love this, from your blog’s “About me” page: “I've been an agent for over 30 years now and have gained a good reputation for saying things as they are. This can occasionally commercially disadvantage me, but really I don't give a t*** as at least I can sleep at night.” The suggestion is that you’re a bit of a lone voice. Critics of the market have long accused journalists and agents of being co-conspirators in propping up the market. Any truth in that?

I know some journalists and some estate agents are arrogant but in the same way King Canute thought he could stop the tide anyone that seriously thinks they can affect the market is mad. Everyone is tired (and it’s partly why people think all estate agents are thick) of hearing agents talking the market up. What’s wrong with giving accurate up-to-date info?

What led you into estate agency?

I got chucked out of Bristol Uni and didn’t have a huge number of options. Luckily I have a brain so have done okay.

Is it a tough job if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like to toe the line? Or are there circumstances in which standing out a little can be an advantage?

Read the rest of the Ed Mead interview, after the jump.

Regular Rat and Mouse readers will know I've been doing this annually for a few years now... taking a couple of weeks off in the summer and running a series of interviews with the great, the good and the downright infuriating of the UK property scene. In the past, it's proved extremely popular, and so I'm hoping this year's series, kicking off very shortly, will be fun for everyone concerned. There won't be a new post every day (expect two or three new interviews a week), but I'll be back and covering the occasional breaking news story when I just can't help myself. See you soon... x

Ben Harris - who blogs at HousingDabble - works daily to help agents move with the technological times. Here, he talks to the Rat and Mouse about new search and old agents.

So, what's your professional background?

I began my working life as a negotiator and passed through the ranks in estate agency before leaving to do what I had always wanted to do – become a sales rep! I was lucky to be able to do this in property and in the last nine years have worked on some great products and services for the profession, all focused on bringing additional profits to agents.

Over at your Housingdabble blog, you describe yourself as a 'property geek'. What are the more exciting ways the property business and technology are intersecting?

The most interesting crossover for me is the change in the way people search online for property information. By this I mean not only the type of information they want and how they find it, but also their means for searching and the actual devices they use to do so.

And presumably it’s creating new opportunities for specialization? Your own work, for example, wouldn’t have existed ten years ago.

That’s right, many agents simply aren’t technology-minded. For example, recent research has shown that around 50% of estate agents don’t even know how many visitors they have to their web sites.

The good news is that many of the tools they need are free to use provided they can learn how to do so and can commit the time. The alternative is to outsource some of these tasks to companies that know the technology and the property profession.

How much of a challenge is it to work with the agents? Estate agency, particular in the UK, seems very conservative and slow to change… and perhaps there’s a reason for this: consumers might be quicker to experiment with new ways to buy smaller-ticket items, but buying a house is not just giant purchase but a long term financial commitment too. Are agents reluctant to change the way they do things?

Continue reading, after the jump.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

While the rest of us have been talking sup-prime, double-dips and the credit shortage, a group of landlord-entrepreneurs have been busy launching a property-related start-up... Rentbuddy.co.uk, for landlords who like to do it online. Continuing our series of summer interviews, we chatted with co-founder Dawood Ahmed, about security, networking with tenants, and valuing our landlords.

Rentbuddy.co.uk … what’s the elevator pitch?

RentBuddy is a web-based service that helps landlords manage their properties from anywhere in the world, all they need to do is log in. Features range from providing standard legal documents and recording financial transactions to, uniquely, communicating with their tenants online, and soon, with their tradesmen.

Could you explain PMP²?

Actually, we’ve listened to the newest RentBuddy landlords and dropped the PMP² name for the more self-explanatory Property Manager to complement the straight talking nature of our key partners. The Property Manager is an on online property management programme that facilitates communication with tenants, i.e. by way of sharing payment information and documents and recording maintenance requests.

Why does a landlord need Rentbuddy?

It is a one-stop powerful platform where you can manage and keep on top of all the information relating to your properties and we are constantly looking to improve the Property Manager application through development. As we build out a broader set of applications, we will move towards providing the whole plethora of services in a joined up way that is required by the modern landlord, from credit checking tenants to listing properties on the landlord’s very own customised profile page.

Your background’s in law, right?

Read the rest after the jump.

"It's such a worry," says the up-market central London estate agent today. "I am in an office of young commission-driven sharks. With this lack of stock, even when I've agreed a sale, they are showing it to their applicants. Every deal I do, I am waiting to be gazumped by my own office." But surely, I say, you mark it "under offer" on the web etc? "Nope, management won't allow until exchange. They were successfully sued by a gazumped buyer who had in writing it was off market, but the vendor then sold to a friend." Caveat Emptor. The agent you deal with may be a smiley dolphin but beware the shark-filled sea in which he swims...

Tracy Kellett runs leading buying agents BDI Homefinders. Follow her on Twitter, here.

Tales from the property front line... the art of estate agenting [July 12, 2010]

Yes, I'm still on holiday... but couldn't resist posting this guest contribution. Interviews continue tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Continuing with our series of summer interviews, we're delighted to have had the opportunity to chat with Merryn Somerset-Webb, editor-in-chief of Moneyweek, author, radio and TV commentator, and always a lively, interesting voice on the economy in general, and property in particular. Here, Merryn discusses who knows what, how our obsession with property damages the UK economy, and the worst financial decision of her life.

I’ve been doing a little research into your professional background (nothing stalker-ish… just a Google) and noticed you were a broker before you were a writer. Could you describe that period… what you were doing and why you moved into journalism? Do you think having a practical investment background gives you a better perspective as a financial journalist?
 

Yes. The one thing I know that not all financial journalists know is just how little most of the City knows…

You were early to warn of the impending property price bust in 2007, having been bearish on property – against the tide of opinion – for a while. Indeed, didn’t you sell at the beginning of the year and rent? What were the (most compelling) warning signs?
 

We were recently looking through old editor’s letters and I'd say that back in 2001 I was incredibly bullish on property. I was really pleased to see it as it reminded me that I am not bearish just for the sake of it. That said, I was too early – I turned bearish in 2004-ish I think and even tried to sell my flat in 2005. Luckily no one would buy it and I was then able to sell in 2007. The warning signs then? Massive overvaluation, low and falling yields, whole city centres full of empty flats, ludicrous over-confidence, the signs of the beginning of the sub prime crisis in the UK…. We rented until last week when we moved into our new house. We have bought purely for family reasons – we want a longterm base. But I fully expect it to be the worst financial decision I have ever made.  

 
Do we – as a nation – have a problem when it comes to property? Sometimes it seems as if we define our personal success by the entire false measure of how much our houses are worth. Is it time we separated our sense of home from our sense of wealth?

Read more, after the jump.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Hamish Beeston, a film-maker with an impressive documentary TV background, spotted (in fact, helped establish) the market for “movie particulars”. And with experience in the wildlife documentary arena, he was well equipped to cope with the movers & shakers of the property market. Now running Beaston Media, he produces creative, big budget property films, using the high-end equipment normally associated with broadcast television. He chats with the Rat and Mouse about the advantages, challenges, nuts & bolts of the property film.

You’ve a proper TV background, I believe. Could you describe your work prior to getting involved in property?

I was in TV for 13 years. As a producer/director, I made everything from primetime BBC1 shows such as Vets in Practice, Life of Grime and DIY SOS to big budget history and wildlife documentaries. Towards the end of my broadcast career, I started actually doing the filming as well directing, and found that I really enjoyed the hands-on craft element of filmmaking.

What motivated you to make the move? Did you always have an interest in the mechanics of the property market?

In 2005 I worked on a series for Discovery Channel called Superhomes, in which we travelled the world filming amazing multi-million pound properties. It struck me just how well video captured the light, space and spirit of a house, compared to a traditional printed brochure, particularly when filmed with high quality broadcast cameras and edited with a clear storyline.

At this point, several paths drew me away from broadcast TV. Firstly, I had become increasingly uncomfortable with editorial pressure to manipulate contributors for the sake of ‘drama’. Phrases such as ‘casting for conflict’ were heard everyday in programme meetings. By nature I like to celebrate a subject, not stitch it up. Secondly, at 35, I had an itch to start a business of my own. And thirdly, I’m naturally nosy (some might say obsessive...) when it comes to checking out cool houses and architecture. Being 6’4”, it annoys my 5’5” wife hugely that I can peer over walls to discover things that she is oblivious to!

So, in October 2005, the business was born, to produce primetime TV quality property marketing videos.

TV industry vs property industry. Which has the most sharks?

Read more, after the jump.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Kicking off this series of summer interviews... Lucy Searle, property-obsessive-in-chief at Channel 4's 4homes website, on the crash, Brits and their homes, and a vacuum-stealing landlord.

4homes certainly gives the impression of being one of Channel 4’s busiest and most energetic offshoots. How long have you been working for them? How separate does it feel to the rest of the company?

Wow, big question to start with! Despite its big presence and ever changing, informative and up to date content(!), we’re actually a tiny team. Jackie (Hillsdon) deals with the Channel 4 end – sponsorship, deal making and other stuff business-oriented - and I take care of the editorial – which is no mean task considering how many pages we have. Rich (Payne) and Emma (Jones) more than ably support me and also do all the On TV pages. And what I lack in technical wizardry, they more than make up for. I’ve been editing the site for about three years – before that I launched 4Homes magazine for Channel 4. As for how connected we feel to the rest of the company, we’re a tight knit team, but we certainly esteem those ladies and gents at on the 4Food and 4Beauty websites – and of course, we worship the ground that the 4Homes talent (Kevin McC, Kirstie, Phil, George, Sarah B and so on) walks upon.

Are you all property fanatics?

Well, I can’t speak for the others, but it’s the only industry I’ve ever worked in. Over the years, I’ve bought, renovated and sold lots of flats and houses, been a landlady and own a property abroad. So, yes, guilty as charged.

Describe a typical day.

I tend to start off with emails from the night before. We get a fair few from viewers asking anything from where Kirstie bought her tights to where in the country they should house hunt. Rich and I try to answer all of them – and I particularly love it when someone asks me for decorating advice. I give it and then sometimes they follow up with pics of their new room a few days later. After emails I’ll have a think about what I want to put up on the home page – I try to get a spread of subjects across the week and of course the lead feature is subject to seasonality and topicality, but often I just put up a feature that I’ve found really interesting and want people to see. After that, I’ll put up more new features, update old ones, edit copy, commission new features, speak to freelancers and occasionally get out to see PRs to spread the word about the site.

There’s been a sense that some of the 4homes shows didn’t just reflect the property price boom of the 2000s, but encouraged, perhaps even caused, it too. Is that fair?

Read the rest of the interview... including 4homes' reaction to the crash - after the jump.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

The Rat and Mouse is officially on holiday. (I can tell, because I've a burnt ankle, where I "missed a bit".) But that doesn't mean there won't be anything to read. Encouraged by good feedback from last summer's experiment, I've arranged another series of interviews. We'll be chatting with an entrepreneur setting out to prove there's never a bad time to launch a good property-related business; a top name at Channel 4's 4homes; an expert in the area where new media meets the property business; a property film-maker, no less; and one of the country's most controversial and compelling economics journalists and more. Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Tracy Kellett, of BDI Homefinders, takes the time to talk homesearch, the market and lighting up Twitter, and leaves us with our favourite estate agent joke yet.

So I hear you’ve bought and sold a few homes of your own in your time?

I’ve moved 26 times since leaving home at 18. Mainly around London and the south of England, but also a very Hicksville part of Southern Texas, the Amish part of Pennsylvania and Chicago. Let’s just say I have a low boredom threshold.

And your background is as an estate agent… what kind of an experience was that? Does it give you more or less “sympathy for the devil”?

I enjoyed the work but was never very good at taking orders, so I knew I was never going to pick up my pension. As a result, though, I strongly believe that a good etate agent can add enormous value, and not just monetary. On the other hand, it has also left me with very little tolerance for the bad eggs and I can be very vocal about that.

When did you start BDI Homefinders? What was the inspiration/impetus? What does the BDI stand for?

About seven years ago an estate agent colleague was selling a house to a very lovely couple who were placing a lot of trust in him. They were paying a good £200k more than they needed to. It left a bad taste. It dawned on me that there were many people like that and that it was a wholly unfair and one-sided market place. Being able to look after buyers’ interests, saving them money and advising them professionally, seemed like the perfect win-win business model. For them and me. BDI’s name came from two thoughts. One, I have no intention of sharing, far too rude. But the other is a pun on ‘beady eye’. At the time, I thought it was really witty. More fool me: no-one ever gets it.

More fun than being an agent?

Read the rest of the interview, including our favourite estate agent joke to date, after the jump.

Technorati Tags: estate agents, property, real estate, real estate agents

More interview fun... this time Ciara and Anouschka from Royals of Rent, a rare and valuable blog aimed at the tenant by two self-confessed tenantistas. Read on...

I believe there are two of you writing Royals of Rent… how did you get together? When was the blog born, and what were your motivations for publishing it?  

Anouschka: There are two of us behind the blog, two old friends:) We share a common interest - love for architecture. Property had been a popular subject, since Ciara had been working in a property investment firm. As we were both renting, we would often discuss the related problems.

Ciara: We had our share of problems as tenants but thanks to my job I had met people who's experience couldn't be compared to ours. I'd heard a lot of horror stories from young first-time renters, foreigners, and professionals who were too busy and too trusting. Knowing that so many London renters suffer simply just because they don’t know their rights, the possible threats and opportunities... that's how the idea of Royals of Rent was born. It was in October 2007 when we decided to join forces and start by writing about renting in a less formal way in a bid to help spread information that would be useful for tenants.

Do either of you work in the property business?

C: Neither of us are currently working in the property business but the past professional experience does give me the ability to look at problems from different angles.

A: I’m a designer by profession and have had to work closely with property developers.

Many experts agree that we all need to re-think our attitude if we’re to achieve a healthy UK property market. We need to be more like the rest of Europe and kill the stigma attached to renting, and the assumption that only buying is an investment in the future. Is Royals of Rent part of this? Does it have any political agenda? Are you tenantistas?

Continue reading, after the jump.

Our interview festival continues. Some of you may be familiar with Property Investment Project... rants, raves and rafts of useful information for landlords. But especially rants. The man himself, a kind of buy-to-let Stig known only as "The Landlord", kindly agreed to answer a few of our questions. "Just... keep it clean," we demanded.

Tell me about the background to the Property Investment Project… am I right it started out as a specific challenge but changed direction to become what it is today?

Well, it wasn’t so much of a challenge, but more of a shameless cry for help. I had some cash lying around and I knew I wanted to invest in property. Unfortunately, at the time I severely lacked industry knowledge. In retrospect, I’m amazed at how out of my depth I was. I started an online diary, documenting my story, hoping people with experience would find my site and help me along the way.

The site wasn’t built to help others; it was there to help me. It was all about me. Of course, that’s far from the case these days.

So… you’re young and you’ve lots of property. How young? How much property?

Funny, these days I don’t feel young. I’m 25. Is that even considered “young” anymore? I think I started investing when I was 20. Maybe 21. It’s all a blur.

I don’t actually have many properties. I currently only have four in the UK and one in Dubai. I’m not what you’d call a high-rolling landlord. The most I’ve ever had at one point is five. But I’ve learned a lot, especially about being a landlord. The buying/selling process is so mundane to me. I do, however, plan on shopping this Christmas.

So how did you get the finances together to start building a portfolio?

I literally just worked and saved. There was no special formula. I wasn’t being a scrooge or anything; I still maintained a very healthy social life. But, I also saved each month.

I think at the age of 18 no one really thinks about saving for a house, most people just spunk their money up the wall on prostitutes and alcohol.

Continue reading, after the jump.

Melanie Backe-Hansen is the House Historian... residential history-sleuth for Chesterton estate agents. What? That's right... an estate agency historian. Tweed jackets, Twitter and Miss Moneypenny... we asked the questions, she answered them...

So it’s possible you have the single most interesting job in the residential property market… how did it come about? I believe you’re a proper, kosher, qualified historian?

Yes, I do feel thoroughly spoilt, having what I consider as the best job ever.

My role came about when, around four years ago, the management of Chesterton commissioned a strategic review of the company and one of the key strengths highlighted was the heritage of the company (Chesterton dates back to 1805), as well as the heritage of the houses we deal with. It was decided to take a bit of a risk on this previously untapped aspect of the heritage of property and its potential to raise the profile of a house and even the value of the house.

Oh, and yes, I am actually a proper, kosher, qualified historian!

Apparently you’re the first estate agency historian? Are you still the only one?

Yes, I am the first historian to work for an estate agent, and I am still the only one. It’s quite fun to shock people when they ask me what I do, but it does genuinely impress when we can claim to be the only agent to offer this unique service.

How have the estate agents – the real foot-soldiers and key-janglers – reacted to finding an academic in their midst? Do they feel they’re getting value from this… that it’s making a property an easier sell? Do they find it interesting anyway?

Continue reading after the jump.

Continuing our series of Rat and Mouse summer holiday interviews we welcome Henry Pryor, arguably the hardest working ex-estate agent in showbusiness, a regular market commentator on radio and TV and the creator of pithy email newsletters which always brighten the Rat and Mouse inbox. We were delighted when he agreed to answer a few questions. Pretty girls, poker players in Minis, and annoying the Establishment. As always, he didn't hold fire...

Estates Gazette characterized you as somebody who’d crossed over from “the other side”… the outspoken ex-estate agent on a mission to irritate the establishment. Any truth in that?

To the extent that I am not keen on the pompus jobs-worths who refuse to acknowledge that ours is an industry and not a profession. The membership ‘clubs’ (NFoPP and RiCS) both think that they represent everyone involved in the business. They don’t and the latest RiCS inquiry into fees illustrates the arrogance of an organization who don’t even admit how many residential estate agent members they have.

Savills 1983-1993; Strutt & Parker 1993-1993; founded The London Office 1993-2005; founder of PrimeMove.com, The Register of Estate Agents, The Hip Exchange and buying agent 2005 –to date.

I LOVED it. I have been very fortunate to work during a period where doing deals was more important than how many years you’d held the wrong end of a tape measure. At Savills, a culture of enterprise and inititive was encouraged and I’m sure it was responsible for my deciding to go off on my own with the then untried ‘Affiliate’ idea that was The London Office. Strutt & Parker was I think more surprised that they had hired me than I was that they had done so. I think it would be fair to say that I was a square peg in a round hole. The firm was culturally a decade behind Savills and Knight Frank and I was never going to contribute to a tweed jacket and steaming Labrador type environment having just come through a flotation experience at Savills. My loss – S&P’s gain, I’m sure.

A 3.00am idea. Why not give the great provincial firms who were by and large run by old mates who had worked in national firms the one thing that stopped them getting the big instructions? The chance to put ‘London’ on their note paper. I think I did just two things that were clever – the name and employing pretty girls. The first office at the top of Berkeley Square still rates as some of the most enjoyable times. As with almost all my ventures, I have been incredibly lucky to have had huge support and encouragement from others who have tolerated my ego, arrogance and sharp tongue. I hope that the experience hasn’t been just one way! After 12 years, it was time to move on. Others had come along like The Mayfair Office and The Guild of Professional Estate Agents and they were better run, better resourced and above all, set up in such a way that they could progress the business. The Guild were so clever setting up Fine & Country. Something I wanted to do at The London Office but that I couldn’t make work.

Like many I had been mumbling about it for months but I ‘came out’ in the FT in January 2007. At the time it was like suggesting that Princess Diana was a trollop. The Establishment closed ranks. The RiCS put out a release contradicting me but the Today program had a slow news day and so I got on that. Unlike all agents and mortgage brokers who can’t voice a negative thought as it will drive clients away, I had no such restrictions and since there were few skeptics and even fewer prepared to say so publically, I got more than my fair share of airtime.

Continue reading the Henry Pryor interview, after the jump

We were delighted when the lovely Sarah Beeny - bang in the middle of her most compelling series of Property Ladder yet, and in the midst of a website launch - agreed to kick off our fortnight of interviews.

Prices falling, developers hurting... is this the series the viewers have been waiting for?

When Property Ladder was first made, I remember the original commissioner saying: It's good now but it will only really come into its own when the market's not so hot. So, yes, in a way this is what Property Ladder's always been made for. People's decisions actually count... they're not just being rescued by the market. But sometimes it's been terribly painful to watch... they might have been a bit silly going into some of these projects, but the reality is very sobering.

How recently were you involved in a property development project of your own?

We [Sarah runs an investment company with her husband] have an investment portfolio, and we do bits and pieces, but I've been a little concerend about the market for a few years. From about 2005/6, particularly the 12 months leading up to the failure of Northern Rock, just the speed at which the market was going up worred me. We probably got out of the market - or at least slowed ourselves down - a little too soon.

Do you feel any genuine irritation when amateur developers ignore your advice and insist they know better? Or are you satisfied by the knowledge that it’s going to be good TV, and that’s what it’s ultimately all about?

I honestly don't think that much about the TV side, I let the others just get on with that. I suppose the reason I don't get really cross is that it's not my money. And ultimately I'd much rather they did what they think is right. Actually this series people have started taking a bit more of my advice and it slightly panics me. If you offer some advice and they don't take it you think: Oh, well, fine, whatever... and if it turns out at the end they should have done it, great. But if they change their plans and do what you suggest, that's when you feel a little bit more responsibility. I've had moments when I've been lying in bed at night thinking: That definitely was the right advice, wasn't it? It's not an exact science, and a little bit is about going with your gut. But there's a difference between me going with my gut, and somebody else going with my gut.

Is it possible to tell fairly quickly which developers have what it takes to make a career out of it, and which don’t?

Read the rest of the Sarah Beeny interview, after the jump.

I'm on holiday. As you read this, I'm quite likely to be sitting on a beach perusing local property supplements while one or other of my editorial assistants peels lemon for my silverbullet Martini. Alternately, it's possible I'm in a traffic jam in the rain. The Rat and Mouse will continue, however, with a series of original interviews with the good, the great and the inbetween of the property business. Most days will feature a new interview, so keep coming back... and enjoy. (I'll be picking up email and giving thumbs up/down to comments periodically, too, but it might take longer than usual, access here is sketchy, so please be patient.) B

Estate Agent Today... it may sound like the start of Have I Got News For You missing word round, but everybody who reads it - including the entire Rat and Mouse staff, religiously - knows that it's one of the most incisive and interesting property publications anywhere. Which is due, largely, to its experienced and talented editorial director Rosalind Renshaw. We were delighted when she agreed to talk with us.

So, you’re at a party, and somebody asks you what you do for a living. Does your answer tend to result in an anti-agent tirade? How do you deal with this?

Yes, I do often get anti-agent tirades, and not necessarily at parties. A few years ago, a journalist on the Daily Mail, who was at that time covering property, literally turned on his heels when I mounted a defence for agents. It is very difficult to persuade people that there are honest, nice and professional agents out there – and that they’re in the majority.

Could you tell me a bit about the background to EAT? Were you its launch editor?

Yes, I was the launch editor and never has there been such a rapid launch. I attended just one planning meeting where we all agreed we’d go for it – which we duly did about three weeks later – and threw around some ideas. It was partly driven by the fact that two weeks or even a month was too long to deliver news, and partly by the feeling that suppliers o the industry, struggling in the recession, might perhaps be interested in a fresh and much more cost-effective environment.Other than Rat and Mouse, which is largely London-oriented, there was not at that time a purely online national news service for estate agents. Yet the print magazines were clearly having a hard time, with advertising revenues plunging and production costs remaining high. Having experienced the recession of the early nineties, when I was working as a property editor and saw four of my five titles fold within the same week, I knew that traditional trade print mag
azines, which are wholly reliant on advertising revenue, were in for a prolonged and very savage ride. The launch was very exciting, as it rapidly became clear we had a winner. We made all the mistakes we would have made in a soft launch in public. We also played around with frequency, trying it daily, once a week and twice a week, before settling into a three-day week format (although the website can be accessed daily, and there is usually something new on it).

And this was after a long period at The Negotiator? What encouraged you to make the move?

The credit crunch and the desire to break new ground.

Who owns EAT? How does it make money?

EAT is owned by a tiny publishing group called Angels who are young and entrepreneurial, and busy bringing out other ‘Today’ titles. The idea is that they make (or at least, will make) money by offering a range of online marketing and advertising solutions. We don’t ever plan to charge subscriptions and we will always keep the editorial side of the site totally independent from advertising.

How many people write for the website?

I have as many staff as I did when I was at The Negotiator – me!

The rest of the interview, including Rosalind's favourite estate agency joke, here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Oh yes.

Technorati Tags: design

Something of a stealth success in the property and lifestyle magazine market, Country & Town House Magazine has - during the worst property market slump in a generation - shifted from free distribution in London's posher postcodes to news agents' and supermarkets' shelves. The Rat and Mouse talks to its editor, Lucy Cleland, about country bumpkins, city slickers and bridging the divide.

R&M: Tell me about the magazine... when was it launched and what's its USP?

LC: It launched about two years ago as a niche title to offer those who love combining London and country living – whether that’s because they’ve got two homes or like to get out of the city at the weekends and stay in nice hotels or visit friends – a fun, informative and intelligent read about getting the best out of both worlds. There are so many magazines that just cater to either country bumpkins or city slickers, but none that aim to bridge the divide.

R&M: It recently had a name change? [It was originally called Country House Magazine]

LC: Yes, we felt the new name better reflected the editorial message inside. If you read it (which we very much hope you will!), you’ll find a good mix of stories about what’s going on in London and the countryside, from arts and events to fashion and interiors, plus property news and town and country houses for sale.

R&M: What do you know about its readers?

LC: We conducted a survey about a year ago and know that they’re an affluent lot, but definitely not all about money. They are making serious lifestyle decisions about what’s best for their children, how to get the most out of life, balancing work and leisure and knowing what’s important. They appreciate the finer things in life – but are just as likely to be seen digging the garden, making homemade jam and drinking in the local pub as eating out at great London restaurants and attending events such as Glyndebourne and Goodwood.

R&M: Clearly the magazine takes something of an unambiguous stance on the whole second homes/rural communities issue. How do you justify your position?

LC: It’s always a tricky one. Obviously the wealth of the City in recent years has driven an extravagant rise in house prices in desirable areas in the countryside, often pricing locals – who’ve been there for years – out of the market. On the flipside, they do bring money to the area to support local businesses and perhaps are even more mindful of their sometimes tenuous position within the community, so make special efforts to get involved and not be seen to just be the ‘down-from-Londoners’. I feel people are looking for a better way of life, a return to the enjoyment of the space around them, of growing their own food and getting out into the great outdoors and that’s a good thing.

Continue reading, after the jump.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

The Rat and Mouse is reaching out. From now on, some Mondays (not including Bank Holidays Mondays, Black Mondays, or Mondays when the sheer pressure of my other work means I simply haven't got it together) will feature an interview. And I'm delighted to be kicking off this series with Lockhart Steele - founder of New York's powerhouse property blog Curbed (currently in rapid-expansion mode and centrepiece of the Curbed Network) and editorial director for Gawker Media. Curbed is great, and if you've any interest whatsoever in the changing shape of Manhattan you should be reading it. Here's the interview:

Could you could give a little background about Curbed? When? Why? How? And what about that name?

Curbed grew out of my personal blog, LockhartSteele.com, which I started in 2001. I ended up blogging a lot about the Lower East Side, the neighborhood in downtown Manhattan where I lived. As people in the neighborhood came to read the site, I figured it might be fun to broaden things a bit and try to tell the story of all the city's neighbourhoods. That's how Curbed came about.

No great story behind the name. I came up with it during a brainstorm session, and our tech genius Eliot Shepard told me it was the best of an otherwise pretty shitty list.

Was there a business plan behind the website right from the start? If so, how has it (and the nature of the site) changed since you launched it?

Well, I'd say I had the hope that if all went well with the site, it would generate some income down the road. But that wasn't the primary reason for doing it - I really thought it would be fun. I ran the site the entire first year without advertising, but a dear old friend of mine, Alexis Palmer, was a partner in Curbed from Day 1 for the day when advertisers came calling. That started to happen in the spring of 2005.

Besides adding ads to the site, not much has changed on Curbed New York, though we've expanded to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and added spinoff sites including Eater (restaurant news for NYC, LA, and, soon, San Francisco), and The Beach (a sort of combo Curbed-Eater for the Hamptons), plus a new NYC spinoff launching later this month.

Lock answers the tough ones, after the jump...

Technorati Tags: blogging, Curbed, New York, property, real estate, Web2, Web2.0

As you've probably noticed, the property search engine game has been heating up like crazy recently, with new players joining our list of all-time favourites every week. Now here's Nestoria - a brand new engine, based on a Googlemaps mashup, but featuring all kinds of intelligent design features, including useful local geographical information taking in healthcare, schools and pubs. They've even added automatic reference to photographs bookmarked on Flickr. (Although I'm not sure, in practice, whether house vendors will welcome Flickr's interesting graffiti-heavy content in this instance.) So far, Nestoria's London-only. But - by picking off a limited area and going slow - the developers have created something that works fast, works well and is just uncommonly satisfying to use. Over the weekend, I contacted Nestoria developer Ed Freyfogle with a few questions, and he was kind enough to come back to me. Read the interview after the jump.