The company, which Brogan started in July with his brother, gets an independent, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors-qualified surveyor to valuate its stock; properties are then advertised at 10 per cent below the valuation price.

Brogan says this encourages potential buyers to take a look. “It works a bit like an auction,” he notes. “The discount can effectively be seen as the reserve price when in many cases we achieve sales above the asking price.”

Discount Property Shop appeals particularly to distressed sellers. Brogan explains: “A lot of our people are losing their jobs or finding it difficult to pay the mortgage. Many of our clients are people who have inherited a property, are sitting on a large cash amount and want to sell it as quickly as possible. Many are divorcing and need to sell the property quickly in order to go their separate ways while a lot of people are facing repossession.”

Having proved the model works, Brogan is now heavily advertising the business to take advantage of the current economic situation. “We’re selling four properties a week when the national average, according to RICS, is 0.88,” he says. “We hope to be selling to 15 or 20 properties a week within the next six to twelve months.”Related articlesHow to thrive during a recessionThe credit crunch: see the funny sideGordon Brown on the recessionPicture source

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