Around Valentine’s Day it would seem that there’s a fair bit of love involved in estate agency! Estate agents are, if anything, matchmakers after all. And just as people fall in love with the right person, so buyers also need to fall in love with a property if the sale is to succeed.
Just as a good matchmaker will not put people on a database and expect them to enter into a long term loving relationship, so our job is far more than a simple broking service. That’s why we go to great lengths to understand our buyers’ needs, preferences, hopes, desires and aspirations in respect of their future home. Only through this understanding can we guide them to the right property.
Of course, our matchmaking brief may be to find a Scarlett Johansson or George Clooney for a buyer which, in property terms, can be ambitious! Buyers tend to have up to ten factors on their wish list that they seek to fulfil. However, in our experience there is usually an element of compromise on around four of these. Interestingly, despite location being the first on the list of preferences, it is often the factor that is compromised first, with many people buying slightly out of their preferred area in order to secure a home that fulfils more of their other desirables.
Speaking of desirables during this Valentine season, whilst we don’t recommend that you necessarily fall in love with your estate agent, it is important that you choose one whom you actually like. Are they professionally attractive? Do they listen to you, do they understand you, are they transparent, do they call you, are they honest with you, and do they respect you? So often relationships with agents can fail for the same reasons as any other relationship. But if you ask our clients, you’ll find our love is expressed in some very practical ways.
Happy Valentine’s Day!