"For Sale" Board Wars

1. Estate agents boards proliferate in a recession. “They reflect desperation,” says Ed Mead, of Douglas & Gordon, an estate agent in London. “When the market is really flying, you don't see many boards because properties sell quickly.” But when sales are slow, boards are left to linger even after the completion of a sale. Although the law requires agents to remove their boards within 14 days of a sale or let, some deliberately ignore the regulations as they compete fiercely for business in a difficult market.

2. Certain agents say that as much as 40 per cent of new clients come to them because they have seen boards in the area in which they wish to buy and sell. At a cost of about £6 for a board and a further £3 to put up, boards are cheap and effective advertising. Matthew Rothery, of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, says: “They can be particularly useful when a property comes up on a desirable road where it is rare to see properties for sale. It increases word-of-mouth inquiries, where a person who is not seeking to buy themselves points out a property to a friend or relation.”

3. But not all boards are selling homes. In an illegal practice known as “fly-boarding”, some agents put up boards to make themselves look busy and successful. Buyers are fooled into thinking that an agent has lots of properties on its books while sellers are lead to believe that the agent is doing good business. A few years ago Foxtons had to apologise to Alastair Campbell, then Tony Blair's director of communications, for erecting a board outside his home - which was not for sale.

4. Similar ruses are employed online. Given the shortage of properties for sale, agents with little stock have listed competitors' properties as their own. Some have gone even farther, particularly in the lettings area, and listed dozens of properties to let that were not available, simply to increase their profile on the most popular property search engines.

5. Back on the streets, there are cases of agents tearing down rivals boards and sometimes replacing rival's advertising with their own. The “board wars” were rife at the height of the market in the late 1990s. But some London agents say it continues today and that they frequently have to re-attach boards that have been torn down.

6. Fly-boarding is most common in London, but abuses of this kind are by no means confined to the capital. Bill Spreckley, of the buying agent Stacks Property Search, says: “One of the worst abuses I have seen in the Surrey area is agents sponsoring school fêtes and sports days and then putting up boards in parents' gardens advertising the event. These are their ‘for sale' boards with different writing in very small letters, giving the impression that they have a load of houses for sale in the area.”

7. The wording on boards can be misleading for other reasons. What agents mean by “sold”, “under offer” and “sale agreed” varies. Roger Wilkinson, of Wilkinson Grant & Co in Devon, marks his boards with “sale agreed” after a buyer has committed to a survey. But many agents mark their boards as “sold” when what they really mean is that the property is under offer. The words “subject to contract” is often in tiny print.

8. Too many “for sale” signs are unsightly and can damage the brickwork. They can also lower the value of homes in an area. Heather Wimshurst, of Stacks Property Search, says: “It usually indicates that it's difficult to sell and sellers have to keep bringing down their price so that they are the lowest. But it is very useful for an investment buyer looking for a bargain.”

9. As the market slumps, homeowners are taking action to stop the build-up of boards. Residents' complaints have prompted the London boroughs of Islington and Harrow to ask agents to remove excessive boards under “responsible retailer” agreements. In Brighton and Hove, the East Brunswick Residents' Association has launched its a crusade against boards by asking residents to be watchful and contact the council if they think that an estate agent is in breach of the regulations.

10. Agents are allowed to display only one board, no bigger than half a square metre per property, but joint agents often skirt round the rules by erecting two boards on one post facing opposite directions. Some agents, such as Douglas & Gordon, have been calling for a ban on boards altogether. Boards have already been banned in conservation areas, most notably parts of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

SOURCE:TIMESONLINE