Property-Porn Stars

Everything you need to know about the premium property market right now, in a few minutes...

A lot of this is worth sharing in conversation with homeowners, as well as considering for your own business, especially when taking on new listings. 

All stats are thanks to the man in the know, Simon Gates 🙏

In this episode, we sit down with Katie Solaru, MD of By Design in Cheshire's 'Golden Triangle', who stepped into the premium market around 6 months ago. We find out how she has grown so quickly, both in terms of market share, and team members, in such a short space of time. 

We cover: 
- Growing to a team of four partner agents in six months without ever setting out to recruit anyone
- A first market appraisal at £2.75m, off the back of one hand-written and hand-signed letter
- How margins match markets
- The social media system behind it all: three B-roll folders, local followers over vanity numbers, and how to reach the 97% who aren't moving
- Favourite or fool, and why being visible long before the valuation decides who wins the instruction
- The only canvassing she still does, and why the open house postcard brings her more business than the listing does
- Networking that actually works in the premium market, from weekly breakfast clubs to Pilates at the Porsche Centre
- The accidental staging and styling business that started with one client going on holiday
- Person-centred planning and how therapy training makes the price conversation easier
- Choosing to be the least experienced person in the room, and what made her move to By Design
- Imposter syndrome when the problem isn't your own self-belief but what everyone else might think
- Twelve years in the NHS as a speech and language therapist, and the first property investment that went badly wrong

And a lot more. This is a brilliant, open and honest conversation, and I promise you will come away with a lot of insights from Katie. Enjoy!

Slightly longer than usual... but hopefully for good reason, there are some eye opening figures in this months market report which might be useful when in conversation with homeowners... 

So, here is everything you need to know about the premium property market in 5 minutes (🤥😂), thanks as always to the man in the know, Simon Gates for the stats. 

A link to his (very comprehensive) full report is here, if you wanted a deeper dive into the numbers as well https://bydesignhomes.com/blogs/uk-premium-property-market-update-july-2026

We speak to a lot of agents in the premium market here on the podcast, but often like to engage with those in closely related industries as there's lots that can be learned from their perspective on the same market. 

In this episode, Nicholas Illingworth of Abels shares his insights, from what is arguably the most 'premium' removals company in the UK. We get into: 

- The Royal Warrant, demystified

- How discretion is the product

- What "white glove" actually means

- The "too cheap to trust" story

- How much more Abels cost, and why people pay it

- Turnkey, taken to the extreme!

- How recommendations are 85% to 90% of the business

- Why agents should care commercially...

- The premium view on referral fees

- Hire for attitude, and the multi-brand lesson

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Everything you need to know about whats going on in the premium property market right now, plus, a summary of what has happened so far in the first half of 2026. 

Stats supplied, as always, by the man in the know Simon Gates. 

Back next month with another update! 

Everything you need to know about the premium market in 4 minutes...

PLUS some good news (😮), the most important thing for premium agents to consider right now, and a dangerous foray into politics (Simon Gates sent me the stats 3 days ago, so I had to wing that bit 😂). 

Back next month with another market update 😁

PRIME CUT 2026 is here. In this special episode, David Lindley is joined by Simon Leadbetter, Simon Gates and Elaine Penhaul to break down the Voice of the Agent Survey and what it really means for the premium property market. We get into what premium sellers actually want from their agent (spoiler: it's not the lowest fee), why the biggest brands are losing market share, how AI should and shouldn't be used at this level, and why emotional intelligence is becoming the rarest and most valuable asset an agent can have.

This conversation covers: 
- What premium sellers actually want from their agent
- Fee is only important to a third of sellers, even below £500k
- Why the cheapest agent is often the most expensive
- Premium clients want advice, not updates
- The agent as conductor of an orchestra
- The biggest premium brands are all losing market share
- Breaking into the premium market and the moat around it
- AI: automate the predictable, humanise the exceptional
- Emotional intelligence as increasingly rare capital
- A two-speed premium market

We only release one episode like this a year, so don't miss out on 2026's PRIME CUT...

There's a fair bit going on in the world right now 😅

But how has that affected the premium property market? You might be surprised.

Everything you need to know about the current state of the market, and whats happened so far this year, in 4 mins.

Thanks as always to Simon Gates for the stats - and his full report is available at the following link: https://bydesignhomes.com/blogs/april-2026-uk-premium-property-market-update

Here is everything you need to know about the premium property market for March '26, as well as the year to date (and what a year it has been!) in around 4 minutes. 

The results might surprise you... 

Thanks as always to the stats-man Simon Gates for providing the information for this update (and apologies for my croaky voice!)

David is joined by Amanda Haworth, the Managing Director of By Design Horsham and Haywards Heath. 

In this episode, we cover:

Why Amanda fell out of love with estate agency entirely: The struggle to find a role that matched her experience while also working around family life, and why stepping away from the industry was actually the best thing she could have done.

How this podcast helped bring her back. Amanda was listening to Property Porn Stars while out of the industry, and hearing from other agents who'd made the move into premium was the catalyst that made her think "if they can do it, why can't I?"

The real differences between mainstream and premium agency. Fewer properties, higher fees, more demanding clients, 24/7 availability, and why it's fundamentally a different job rather than just a more expensive version of the same one.

Getting your first 2-3 premium instructions (and why they're everything). How to break into a market where you haven't yet got the track record, and why marketing, storytelling, and testimonials from those early deals build the platform for everything that follows.

Fees in the premium market. Why percentage fees are higher at the top end and how that changes the economics of your business, enabling a completely different level of service.

Gender in the premium property market. An honest conversation about whether being a woman in this space is an asset or a barrier, how you prove yourself, and what Amanda would say to the version of herself two years ago who was wondering whether to go for it.

Imposter syndrome and "faking it till you make it". Amanda's brilliant reframe: she's not faking the job, she's faking the confidence before walking into situations that feel uncomfortable. A subtle but important distinction that most agents will relate to.

Dealing with the bad weeks. Lost instructions, fallen-through sales, numbers not where you want them. How Amanda manages her mindset when things aren't going to plan and keeps coming back to "I do know what I'm doing."

Why referrals are the ultimate compliment. When a client puts their personal relationship on the line to recommend you, that tells you more about the value you're delivering than any metric ever could.
What's next for Amanda and By Design. Growing market share, potentially growing the team, and where she wants to take the business over the coming years.

And a lot more besides. This is a great conversation with a brilliant agent, and a lovely person, we hope you take away shed loads of value from this one... Enjoy!