Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2009/January 2010 | Page 18
life
PROPERTY
PROPERTY
with Sam Biles
Taking Stock and Season's Cheer
Christmas and New Year are a time for taking stock. For many
taking stock. Perhaps a good time to review things is when their
they are also a time when the home is the focus of the family
property is decorated and looks it best and they are surrounded
celebrations. As Estate Agents take stock of 2009 they will be
by family and friends. Are they happy with their agents -
reflecting perhaps how much better things appear than they did
are they confident that their agent is enthusiastic enough,
at the end of last year - the activity levels of viewings and of
pragmatic enough and experienced enough to give them the
sales have dramatically increased since August.
right advice and to achieve a sale in what is still a challenging
People who have their homes on the market will similarly be
market.
The Christmas holidays are for many a natural deadline – ‘we
need to move by Christmas’, or ‘we will have a last Christmas
here before moving in the New Year. This means that the run
up to Christmas is often one of the busiest periods for Estate
Agents and Solicitors. Whilst the number of viewings may
slow down, the hard work of assisting each sale through to a
successful conclusion really takes over. Tempers can become
frayed as survey results come in with bad news, chains falter,
mortgage offers fail to arrive or deadlines pass. This is were
agents really earn their money: keeping everyone calm, assisting
in delicate re-negotiations and putting sales back together. This
is when experience and teamwork count. Teamwork between
client and agent and between solicitors and agents. Have you
got the right team in place?
Estate Agency at its best is a partnership between client and
agent who are able to synchronise their objectives and work
to mutual benefit. At its worst it can be a headache for both
parties, the client feeling that they make all the running and
that the agent is not doing their job. If this sounds familiar to
you then it may be a case of New Year - New Agent?
Sam Biles and all the team at Creasey Biles and King would
like to wish all their clients and buyers, past, current and future
a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
www.creasey-biles-king.co.uk
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