Firstly may I take this opportunity to say that I hope you had an opportunity for some time in the last few weeks of the summer with family and friends and that, like the team here, you are refreshed and ready for the autumn and winter seasons ahead.
The summer proved to be livelier than one might have anticipated in the property market with greater realism being shown by both sellers and landlords and therefore more commitment evident from buyers and tenants.
The estate agency industry is going through an interesting time with a seemingly endless volume of new online agents with low fees grabbing the headlines. In my opinion the public will soon realise that the old adage of paying peanuts and getting monkeys rings true. The concept of paying an organisation to list a property on the market whether it sells or not is either brave or foolish and certainly doesn’t align your interests with theirs in terms of working for a common goal.
Our business model combines huge online coverage via the major portals, social media and our own website with our large databases of prospective buyers and tenants and crucially joins all this together via experienced staff who understand the local market and spend all day communicating with sellers and buyers, landlords and tenants to match people with property.
Once a deal has been agreed a lot of our work really starts, negotiating, liaising with legal representatives, organising surveys and valuations, resolving issues and keeping a transaction on track for a successful conclusion. None of which is done by an operator who has already dined out on the fee they received just for putting the property on the market!
Remember that the cheapest agent is the one that gets you the best price not the one with the lowest headline fee. In fact there are many examples of properties being undersold or underlet and one can only assume that, with no incentive to do well, the appropriate advice and effort was lacking.
The combination of a strong online presence combined with High Street premises and quality people “on the ground” is, in our opinion, the way forward.
Why not put our experience to the test? We don’t charge to carry out a market appraisal and explain the best options open to you and we don’t charge unless a deal is concluded.
As we enter the important autumn marketplace with the kids back at school, now is a popular time to get moving. You could be in a new home by 2018 and with low mortgage rates currently continuing, for a lot less than you might think.
As always, myself and the team are here to help and look forward to doing so.
Yours
Michael Johnson
Managing Director
