If so, have you thought about what you are looking for from your Estate Agent??
Often the obvious answer will be, the best possible price and as quickly as possible. There are a number of factors which will help an estate agent achieve this for a seller. In the main, this will be achieved by using an estate agent who invests sensibly in marketing and advertising. Not only to ensure they expose their client’s property as much as possible, but when doing so, to create a huge database of buyers looking for a new home. This approach for you, and our other clients, will ensure we will always have a huge pool of buyers to always turn to.
Charles Barnard Estate Agents is a local firm specialising in residential sales. We sell all types of residential property, from flats to substantial homes with land. We will even manage an auction for you if the property warrants it. We are members of The Property Redress Scheme, and all our staff are either qualified, or training to become a professional in our industry.
We embrace modern technology, including professional standards in photography, including drone images when appropriate. Floor plans, bespoke brochures and the use of advanced estate agency software. Everything is included at no extra cost within the service we offer, and this is a ‘NO SALE NO FEE’ service.
We are committed to high levels of customer service, and the traditional values you will expect of a well-established firm of estate agents. We do not ‘rely’ on computers or technology, and unlike many other estate agents, we see the value in keeping in regular contact with buyers to ensure they are properly introduced to every property which may suit their needs. Old fashioned matching people to property. In this way, we are proud to be different.
We realise how important communication is, not only when looking for the right buyer for your home, but once a sale has been agreed. Too often estate agents forget how important this is. Your solicitor will be working hard to ensure you are covered legally, whilst we are busy chasing everyone throughout the chain to find a way to help the sale get across the line as quickly and as painlessly as possible.
Our current exposure includes adverts in the Somerset Life, the Bristol Property Live, Isle of Wedmore News and for the right property or when editorial is needed, the Western Daily Press. We also ensure our brand is seen in several smaller local booklets. Many agents will dismiss these smaller publications as they simply do not want to invest over and above the online property portals. We make no excuse for this as it helps to continue increasing our database of clients looking to buy.
In addition, we have a larger than average presence on the most relevant online property portals. This will change depending on the response we receive from each portal. But usually, it will include prominent advertising with the market leader ‘Rightmove’ where we have options to offer premium listings as well as the rare opportunity to have your property seen at the top of all local Rightmove listings as a ‘featured’ property. When this is relevant, it is offered at no extra cost to you.
We also invest in promoting homes through social media, an obvious choice these days. Although, it is not as simple as listing a property on Facebook. You still need to invest to boost the chances of making sure a home is seen by the right person. There is no doubt technology has improved our industry, getting the best results from it is now the most important factor.
When applicable, we will also consider advertising properties in the Country Life magazine. These adverts include selected individual properties which will be seen within their monthly property collection. When we use this special edition, which is a once a month feature, it helps us to attract further buyers to our database, importantly buyers from out of the area. When land or equestrian facilities are applicable, we can also advertise in the Horse and Hound magazine.
We also work closely with all of the local independent schools to ensure we are aware of their open days. Not only to be prepared for when new buyers are in the area, but to see whether we are allowed to leave marketing material on the day for parents new to the area to browse through.
We are constantly thinking outside the box when looking at other options for advertising. Unlike many larger corporate type firms, our budgets and methods are not restricted. As a local firm we can adapt our marketing and advertising to suit a particular property, hopefully your property.
We hope you can see we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure every property is seen by the right person at the right time. Selfishly, we continue with our approach as it also protects the number of buyers we are dealing with on a day to day basis. When sellers come to us, they immediately know we have a huge list of buyers to work with and one may be the perfect match for your property.
We remind you, all of this is offered on a NO SALE, NO FEE basis. If we are not successful in selling your home, we will not get paid a penny for trying.
Pricing plays an important role with a number of factors to consider. An independent assessment of your property will be carried out by a local property expert. During the visit we will explain how the market is performing, giving advice and guidance on how to maximise your sale price. You can book a free, no obligation valuation by calling us today.
Upon your instruction, we will arrange a suitable time for a professional photographer to visit the property in order to take photographs needed for marketing and our glossy brochure. We will also arrange for our staff to visit to take room measurements to create a floorplan and note down key information about your property. We will give guidance on how to prepare and present your property to its full potential.
Once we have completed the draft brochure and the particulars needed to list your home for sale, we will seek your final approval. Once this is obtained, your property will be listed for sale. This will see it instantly listed for sale on the property portals we feel are working best at the time. This will usually include the UK’s market leader - Rightmove. If agreed, we will also arrange for a “For Sale” board to be erected where appropriate and in the first 24 hours details of your home will be sent to our database of buyers searching for a home in your area. Following this we will create a marketing plan which will see your home listed for sale in any of the local and national publications we are using at the time, including examples such as the Somerset Life and the Bristol Property Live
As you would expect, prospective buyers are vetted before a suitable time for a viewing is agreed. To help qualify each and every lead, and to ensure we do not waste your time, we will attempt to answer all of the buyers enquiries before they visit. To obtain the most amount of feedback possible at the viewing, we ask sellers to go out at the time of their visit. This will give the buyers confidence to speak to us openly about your home. At all times communication is a key focus of ours, valuing the importance of providing regular market report updates, discussing the performance of your listing and ensuring that you receive prompt and accurate viewing feedback.
With each offer received, we will negotiate the highest possible price and assess the buyers’ financial position in terms of whether they are cash buyers’ or relying on a mortgage. If an offer is subject to the sale of a property, we will check the status of that sale and any chain connected to it. At the appropriate stage of the vetting process will ask buyers for actual evidence of cash being used (which must be in a UK bank account), a mortgage offer in principal and proof of ID and address.
Unlike many estate agents, we will closely monitor the progress of your sale. We offer a ‘no sale, no fee’ service and work hard to ensure you get paid, so we get paid. When an offer has been successfully negotiated, we will prepare and send a “memorandum of sale” to all parties (including solicitors) which will trigger the start of the conveyancing process. We will work as closely as possible with your solicitor to ensure that your sale completes as efficiently as it can. This will include regular updates whilst keeping in direct communication with the buyer’s solicitor, their mortgage broker, any appointed surveyors, and of course the buyers.
