Bobby Singh set out to radically change the way estate agents do business. His brand – which promises a money-back guarantee if your home is unsold within 21 days – has become a major player in the Midlands with moves to go to London and beyond
As anyone who has ever bought or sold a property knows, the whole experience often plumbs previously unknown levels of stress and pain. Moving home is expensive and exasperating – but one very different estate agent has been rewriting the rulebook in Birmingham. Indeed, Love Your Postcode has been hailed on TV for changing the way estate agents operate in Birmingham.
Love Your Postcode are estate agents by trade but take an entirely different approach to the way they sell properties. They are the only estate agent that operates via a waiting list only policy. The man behind the brand is Birmingham’s Bobby Singh.
FULL ASKING PRICE
In 2009, Bobby realised estate agents were promising the world but under-delivering because they weren’t putting their clients’ outcome – or achieving the full asking price – as the priority. To offer a refreshing alternative, Bobby established Love Your Postcode. Operating as a brand rather than a traditional estate agent, they require no upfront fees and offer a money back guarantee if they can’t sell a house within 21 days – they only get their money when a seller gets their results. A bold claim, but they have the results to back it up. Love Your Postcode has maintained an average 99.1 per cent success rate on selling houses within 21 days and at the full asking price. The result of this success in what is traditionally a much-maligned industry is that Bobby is sought out by private clients, property developers and business leaders alike. He is frequently featured in premier luxury lifestyle magazines, on national media and appears as a keynote speaker at conferences.
PERFORMANCE FIRST
Bobby, who was a chartered account in the corporate finance division of KPMG prior to launching Love Your Postcode, said: “The thinking behind the business was that I had always had a passion for property but also people and performance. The property business is traditionally run by people who relied on their heritage. The whole thing about estate agents is about them maintaining market share – it is dominated by low fees and by over-valuing property. That’s how they draw people in and why so many customers have a difficult experience. Our product is all about performance.
“We are big on realistic sellers. We always say to our clients to get three valuations and take an average. That way they know they are asking a realistic price. We receive hundreds of valuations every week and we cherry pick the ones who we know we can sell. If we don’t sell within 21 days we don’t charge fees.”
POWERFUL MARKETING
Love Your Postcode are the only estate agent that operates via this waiting list-only policy. Bobby says the 21-day turnaround means sellers have the team’s full attention and the brand only ever puts forward realistic buyers to sellers, reducing the time wasted showing miss-matched buyers around properties.
The chances are that even if you aren’t buying or selling a property, you will have seen Love Your Postcode’s branding across Birmingham. The marketing material matches the brand itself in its distinctive and different approach. Bobby has placed himself at the heart of his brand with his self-portrait dominating digital screens and billboards at such high-profile destinations as the NEC and ICC. As a practising Sikh, Bobby says his image mirrors the religion’s values of trust, equality and dedication in everything the brand does. Appearances on BBC and Sky TV as well as on radio have also boosted the message that this is estate agency done differently.
VENTURE CAPITAL
Currently at the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, there are plans in 2019 for Love Your Postcode to expand into covering the London market before hopefully widening the brand across the country. “We are looking for the right venture capital to grow,” said Bobby. “Over the past nine years we have grown year-on-year, every year and in 2017-2018 we showed a 37 per cent growth in our turnover.”
Bobby added: “Our estate agents in Birmingham live and work near to you, thanks to the prominent central location of our main agency office. Love Your Postcode’s focus is on Performance&™; offering all the services of a traditional property agency but with a modern result-led approach.” This led to the business being named the three-time winner of the AllAgents Gold Award Winner: Estate Agent of the Year for Customer Experience award.
“Legacy is also extremely important for me – how much the business gives back to the community,” said Bobby. “We are sponsors of grass roots football and have a number of partnerships, such as with the Birmingham Film Festival.”