Point of View - Mark Bielby

I was reminded the other day how important it is to stay in touch with our clients.

It’s very easy to think that things stay the same when in fact matters can change in a matter of moments, just like the property market.

Recently I made a call to a prospective client who I believed was looking for a larger property in the area only to be informed that he had been offered a job abroad and that that might change everything. In the great scheme of things this is a minor change but a change nonetheless. There can be many important changes during the course of our lives and it’s important that we, as agents, remain flexible in our approach to your sale.

One of the bugbears of an estate agent’s life are viewings that go wrong. Not because of anything we have done, quite the contrary. We believe in fully preparing ourselves prior to a viewing with as much information as we can obtain, ensuring that we get the best possible feedback for our clients. It is when our prospective viewers let us down. Quite recently we had an out of county viewer who had multiple viewings and turned up at the wrong property at the wrong time. We managed to call all parties, rearrange and keep everyone calm. The first property was an accompanied viewing which I attended. Everything went well apart from the property did not suit the prospective purchaser. I sent them off with a cheery wave to their next viewing, accepting their profuse apologies for getting the timings wrong.

Now, I should have listened a bit more carefully as the gentleman had said that this had thrown all his timings out, but I didn’t think anything of it until I had a call from another poor client an hour later to say they couldn’t wait any longer for the viewer to turn up as they had to go out. What a let-down.

That same day we had two viewings at a property which had been a bit scarce on the viewing front. The first viewer called to cancel at 9.30am giving our client plenty of warning but explaining that they had had a think and the property really wasn’t right for them. The second viewer called 10 minutes before the viewing to explain that they had had a drive past and thought the property was too open for them, whatever that means. I don’t want to be picky but I get a bit protective of my clients. They have most probably spent the last few hours making their house look like a five star hotel with knobs on. Letting them down is completely deflating and I feel their pain.

We are continuing to be inundated with property enquiries and the usual suspects are three bedroom semi-detached and 3-4 bedroom detached houses which are avidly sought after. We have also had some great interest in our higher priced properties. Although new instructions are coming that little bit quicker, we still need more.

If you are looking for a progressive, productive agent who will give you the professional service you deserve, you need look no further. Please call us, we will be glad to help.

Mark Bielby FNAEA