Snail sales gather pace

Jan 22 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

THE residential property market is widely tipped to move at a snail’s pace this year, but, as MIKE PARKER discovers, for two brothers in Thornaby, that suits them fine...

A MICHELIN-TRAINED chef and a former petrol station franchisee seem unlikely candidates to front “the world's leading estate agency”, especially when you consider they have just one outlet in Thornaby.

But, as an internet-based company, the world comes to Snail Homes.

A subsidiary of KRD Associates - a business with a growing residential property portfolio - Snail is fronted by Russell and Duncan Belton - the one a former cook and larger-than-life Leeds publican, the other, a mild-mannered property speculator.

“We had our own portfolio of residential properties which we rented out as well as buying houses to refurbish and sell on,” says Duncan. “A couple of years ago, I bought four houses from a developer in Thornaby which I rented for six months and then decided to sell.

“I sold the first and then decided to sell the other three using an agent. They were just rubbish and I thought ‘I’m sure I can do better than that’.”

“For every viewing we get for a client, there is an 85% chance of the viewer putting an offer in. Sixty seven per cent of properties that come on our books sell in four weeks.”

Which might have something to do with the extraordinary detail they get clients to go into if they want the brothers to sell their property.

They insist on homeowners laying the tables for dinner and arranging breakfast on patio furniture.

Duncan says: “What we are trying to create is lifestyle and ambition rather than just the bare bones of a house. You need to let people see themselves living in those surrounds rather than leave it up to their imagination. That's how we get such a good offer rate compared with the number of viewings. The way we present the houses cuts out the timewasters.”

Their biggest challenge is raising awareness that there is an estate agent with a difference in the market.

Russell says: “We’re getting good organic growth and the more people who come in to contact with us the more the message gets out.”

To widen the pool of potential clients, both brothers are heavily involved in networking with Russell a passionate advocate of BNI and Duncan opting for the more civilised timing of evening networking events around the region.

Snail Homes plans to take on the commercial property market in due course and is currently expanding into the rental market - a move part-driven by revenue and partly by the desire to get as many of its distinctive boards out on the streets of the North-east.

“Boards breed boards,” says Russell.

Ultimately, they hope to franchise Snail Homes in specific postcode areas.