Most readers will know that I'm embarking on the journey of writing a book called Sold, Subject To Chaos. The title speaks for itself.
The thing that boggles my mind after nearly 30 years in the property space, is that the industry needs a book like this.
As many other sectors have moved forward over the last 20+ years, the British property market is going backwards - and it doesn't show any realistic signs of the trend reversing.
Worse, the people advising government on what needs to change don't understand the problems blighting the market well enough to advise appropriately. Expect to see similar chaos unfolding as happened with the disastrous implementation of HIPs and, more recently, the Renters Rights Act.
Which leads me to the point of this newsletter - an untenable situation maintained by inaction. If there's one problem with the government announcing proposed reform, its the professional resignation that then kicks in amongst those who have been doing their respective roles longer than they care to remember.
Those with a long enough memory know that the government is not going to fix the systemic problems that exist. In fact, its highly likely they'll actively make matters worse.
But that doesn't mean those problems should be allowed perpetuate because many feel they're too big to solve individually.
It's true that a single individual acting alone isn't going to change things. But an army of likeminded professionals coming together with a determination that things can and will change for the better?
That's how revolutions happen! (https://themaverickmovement.co.uk)
And right now, there's a huge problem unfolding which many independent solicitors and agents are oblivious too, yet we feel needs serious examination. We're repeatedly told some of the biggest corporate names are coming together to solve the British housing market's problems. A noble cause.
But let's be realistic for a moment - the large corporates, backed by larger financial interests - aren't spending hundreds of millions of pounds altruistically.
They're doing it to own the frameworks. And with enough influence at state level, they'll own the very systems that the independents will have to use if they want to deal with property.
On a smaller level, we've already seen an attempt to put the Mortgage Lender's Handbook behind a paywall so conveyancing solicitors are charged every time they need to reference it. Something that's been free to access for decades, is now being gatekeepered for financial gain.
Agents have already seen an initial free-to-use portal become their most expensive "staff member" over recent years.
And one of the biggest problems we're seeing right now is the larger corporates being free to act with impunity - regardless of the cost to the wider market or society as a whole.
When a Panorama investigation highlights conditional selling for the entire nation to see, it becomes another nail in the coffin for public trust in estate agents. Let me be clear - ALL estate agents were affected by the media attention of that act - the good and the bad.
And personally, I think that's unforgivable.
Those agents who work hard to support their clients in one of their major life transition events are now seen as untrustworthy. Those who stay late and work weekends to hold deals together are tarred with the same brush of "dishonest practice".
Worse, the regulators and trade bodies have done nothing to hold the offenders to account.
All this to say, this is why higher standards are so vital in today's market. We haven't got to this point of market chaos by accident. We've arrived over years of bad practice, declining standards and a laissez faire attitude towards the most expensive asset people will ever own.
The property industry has reduced human beings and a major life event to targets, stats, case files and commissions. It's employed the McDonald's effect to get the requisite tasks done by the lowest paid members of the team. And its treated consumers with contempt by not being honest about the journey ahead because its easier to focus on winning the instructions rather than giving the advice that might cost you them.
Working within a broken system is fine if you're happy with the results a broken system delivers. Waiting months to get paid. High consumer risk of sales falling apart. Huge hits to pipelines when a buyer walks away. Drowning under the burden of live case files and the endless onslaught of progress updates. Bearing the brunt of client frustrations when they've eventually had enough. It's all not very Maverick.
The Maverick Mindset shift starts when you refuse to accept the decay that low standards produce. The major problem with low standards is their infectious nature, undermining all who come near them. Change happens when high standards are set and the team is aligned in their achievement.
Of greatest importance, there needs to be a clear dividing line between the low performers who accept low standards without question and those Mavericks who set high standards and relentlessly work towards them.
That's essentially the foundation of The Maverick Movement which will bring multiplied rewards to those Mavericks who make the grade. And it requires far less work than the current exhausting cycle of professional dysfunction the market has imposed upon itself.
If this speaks to you, I welcome your application: