Crayson resents selling agents who use vague phrases such as ‘everything’s fabulous’ or ‘refurbished to exacting standards’ in adverts. ‘We’re all about presentation and making it accurate. If it’s a hellhole, we’ll tell them it’s a hellhole,’ he says.
In a buyers’ market where pricing is crucial, overestimating value can lead to multiple price reductions that can ‘massively destabilise’ the London market, the consultancy’s founder says. Agents who ‘haven’t got the balls to tell clients how much their property’s really worth’ make matters worse, he adds.
Regardless of price corrections, the ‘diabolical’ effect of stamp duty on super-prime properties and a lull in the volume of transactions, the former Rothschilds man stays optimistic about London as a ‘blue-chip’ asset class: ‘It’s going to become the global centre of the world, no doubt about it.’
With a book of discerning entrepreneurial clients, Crayson says it helps to dissect the landscape like a banker: ‘We’re dealing with sophisticated
buyers and sellers who are constantly analysing data — why would they not do the same when buying a very expensive property?’
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The firm’s growing investment division, a circa £100 million property under offer and glowing testimonials from clients (one endorses the
founder, saying: ‘Use Crayson to get a realistic if not better price’), the rest of 2017 looks promising. ‘You’ve got to be positive about everything, otherwise why get up in the morning?’
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