As our Southern Counties expert, the team and I had a busy 2023, especially the summer in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset – including four successful acquisitions, all now completed, totalling over £18.5m. All of these properties were off-market, with an average saving of 4.5% on the asking price.
I am often asked how The Buying Solution offers our clients ‘the winning edge’ with their property search. So, I’d like to share an example of how we offer clients a competitive advantage on my patch.
Being a buying agent is all about being proactive, tenacious and on the front foot. We can’t sit still and wait for the opportunities to come to us. It’s so true that ingenuity and tenacity open doors, and without these attributes, it makes finding a dream home for our clients extremely hard.
I recently had a client looking for a very specific property on the South Coast between Poole and Chichester, where prime waterfront properties are notoriously scarce. Each year, only a few come to the market.
These clients had already been looking for two years and were introduced by friends whom I had successfully bought a waterfront property for the year before. Their brief was for a 4,500 sq ft + house with an extensive sea view and swimming pool.
Having dismissed all properties that were being offered by selling agents both on and off-market, we set about a more targeted strategy. All other properties that met the criteria and had appropriate sea views were identified from our database and Google Earth. I then investigated and researched each house individually to ensure their suitability and targeted the owners directly to see if they were potential sellers.
Of the properties approached, we got a handful of positive responses, from which two became opportunities. Thankfully, their preferred option was buyable at a realistic price following sensible negotiations.
Our clients’ feedback demonstrated how impressed they were with our creativity, discretion, and market intelligence. This was echoed by the text message I got from our client at Christmas, saying: ‘It’s paradise, we thank you every time we come here.”
If you need help with your search, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me here, and I’ll be delighted to discuss your requirements.