Senior figures from the property industry have joined an advisory board created by BestAgent founder Charlie Lamdin. The board's objective is to shorten property transaction times and decrease the number of fall-throughs.
Among the new members are Verona Frankish, chief executive of Yopa; Simon David, group CEO of Thomas Legal and Equilaw; and Daniel Daggers, founder of DDRE Global. Rory Sutherland, president emeritus of Ogilvy Consulting, is also an adviser and investor in BestAgent.
The group will provide advice to BestAgent as it develops its approach to the home-moving process. BestAgent has set a target of halving transaction times and reducing fall-through rates, amid ongoing concerns about the duration and certainty of residential property transactions.
The government's Home Buying and Selling Reform Roadmap, published in June, indicated that the average transaction takes approximately 120 days from offer acceptance to completion. This is about 60% longer than in 2007, with around one in three transactions reportedly falling through.
BestAgent's strategy includes its Find Your Agent service, which enables prospective sellers to invite local estate agents to pitch for their instruction. Sellers can view short videos from participating agents before selecting individuals for a valuation and further discussion. Agents cannot pay for preferential positioning, and only the agent ultimately chosen by the seller is charged.