A grounding lunch and considered advice

Every weekday at 12pm I have lunch with my long-term friend and business partner at NVP, Patrick Alvarado. For many years we frequented La Picena, an Italian deli on Walton Street, but in recent times we have shifted to the boardroom of our Knightsbridge office on Montpelier Street. There we share lunches we have prepared at home and discuss opportunities, what’s going on in the market, anything exciting or concerning. It is a continuous conversation that we have been having for 20 years.

For us, it’s non-negotiable and God forbid anyone should attempt to put an appointment in the diary at that time. We are there for half an hour, perhaps an hour if there is a lot to discuss. It’s a grounding tradition and, in the market we find ourselves in, a reassuring one.

With Andy Burnham installed as the new Prime Minister, there are fears, yet again, as to what this might mean for the property market, and prime central London in particular. But as Patrick and I have learned over the years, there is always another challenge or hurdle to overcome. If you worried about all of them, you would never do anything.

We are asked for advice by our clients, many of whom we have known for years and with whom we have built long-standing relationships and friendships. Indeed, we spend a lot of time advising people. We are estate agents offering everything under one roof, from selling and renting to managing a flat or a block, but at times we feel like an advisory firm, thinking long term with our clients. Of course, we sell and rent properties, but the conversations we are prepared to have can be to the detriment of our immediate financial benefit. That we can do this is testament to our partner, John Van Vlissingen (JVV), the ‘Van’ in Nicolas Van Patrick, who died last year. We were hugely fortunate to meet him when we did. He gave us the ability to think long term and to build a business by being ourselves.

As to whether clients should worry about Prime Minister Burnham, no one knows for sure, but neither can we change the situation. What we can do is be the voice for the day-to-day reality as estate agents navigating a difficult market. We cannot afford to be in a continued suspended position waiting for something to happen and hoping for the best. Nobody can live their life like that or run a business like that.

If someone is thinking of selling, we will ask why now, when perhaps it is not the best time, unless they have a particular reason to do so. We always believe in London long term, but in the short term it would be unprofessional to try to predict what might happen and tell someone what to do, because no one really knows. What we can do is listen to what clients are thinking and then create a way forward. Sometimes they may decide to try and sell with another agent at a higher price; sometimes they might say that on reflection they’ve decided not to do anything for now; or they might say that they hear what we are saying but want to try anyway. We are in a fortunate position where we can have those conversations. We are here to do business, of course, but we don’t need to cut corners.

Which reminds me, it’s nearly lunchtime. Let’s see what today’s menu of topics brings.

By Nicolas Pejacsevich