Sunday 14th March 2021 – Happy Mother’s Day!
Good morning and happy Sunday! And Happy Mother’s Day.
Okay so I have snuck downstairs to write this update blog whilst the family are still in their beds, and before I get showered with cards, chocolates and flowers. And maybe I am also dreaming a little, as this year will be a little different to others, with one of our daughters unable to visit due to lockdown restrictions. But it does remind me of a really funny story (absolutely true) when my sister had only recently given birth to their first baby. Mother’s day was approaching. I called my brother in law to remind him about the coming day, for which he thanked me, and assured me that he had it covered. I called again a couple of days later … and was given the same assurance. So I relaxed, knowing that my sister would have a super first Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day came, my sister called. I asked if she was having a lovely day. She was a bit disappointed as she didn’t receive anything. I couldn’t quite understand it and asked if she was sure as her husband ‘definitely had it covered’. (To be fair, he seemed a bit irritated that I was reminding him). “Oh yes”, she replied, “He was surprised and couldn’t quite understand why so many people were reminding him”. Turns out that he had somehow forgotten that my sister was now a mother, and had taken heed of all the calls from friends and family and sent flower to his mother, who was delighted. This didn’t happen again …(!!).
However, I do bear a thought for everyone out there who may not be able to see their mother today, or who might have passed away. It is a poignant day, I do know, and I send you my love and best wishes. I know of one friend whose mother is no longer with us, who always buys a card, and puts it on her mantlepiece to remember her mother on this day. Lovely idea.
Meanwhile and back to property which, as you know, is the core very being – oh this sounds a little dramatic but it is true. I simply love the job I do and, where some get endorphins from chocolate, or exercise, (note the order in which I place those two!), I get mine from doing the job I do, and knowing that the customer (buyer and sellers) are happy.
As you know, I have two sides to my new, no longer high street employed, estate agent world. I am an independent agent, whereby I help source properties for specific clients (I am on the search for a particular property for a gentleman in Stoney Lane, if anyone has anything??!); I help price properties which clients are offering on, to help them offer the right amount with whichever agent they are buying through; and I freelance as a sales agent to sell and market properties, which I do under Martin and Co. As such, and it has only been about ten or eleven weeks, I am absolutely thrilled that I have now listed and ‘sale agreed’ ten properties. I have three more currently on the market, and three in the holding bay awaiting launch.
My model is to endeavour to only ‘list’ two or three properties a month, which MAC are happy to agree. This enables me to give those clients the best service possible – a ‘boutique’ 1:1 service whereby I immerse myself in those homes 100%; oversee the photography, deal with all enquiries, carry out the viewings personally, agree the sale, and manage each one through to exchange and completion with all the solicitor liasing being undertaken by me. This way, I take full responsibility for the transaction, get to know the owners, and buyers, and the house itself, and all parties feel that they are being fully looked after and represented. It is all down to best value. The cheapest service does not always offer the best value. I might not be the cheapest agent but all my clients believe that I offer them the best value for the service they receive. After all, people don’t go into The Ivy, have a burger, (oh that makes me hungry), and offer £3.19 because they can get a burger down the road for this at a different establishment.
I was delighted to receive two particular reviews/recommendations in the past couple of weeks, of which I am really proud and wanted to share with you –
“I first met Nony when she was a kingpin at Charters in Winchester, when she showed me a range of five properties on or around my specification; I bought one of them the very next day. So as someone to buy from she is clearly brilliant at actively selecting and putting the right choices in front of the customer. Now, I am selling through her and it’s the same story of accurate understanding of the market, excellent presentation of property, from stills and on video, and a refreshingly direct manner and a total lack of b****. Aside from being very personable, she is very focused and a bit of a dynamo. Sold my place within two weeks of going to market, tells you all you need to know really. Formidable! Absolutely no hesitation in recommending her!”
And another –
“One of a kind….and you’ll be in the safest hands! Met Nony recently, who apart from being an amazing personality is also completely switched on in regards EVERYTHING property-wise. Nony has ‘looked after’ many friends and contacts in the area, and the reports are always similar in that she always delivers, works very neutrally and provides advice you need and want to hear! She’s a hand holder and you won’t want to let go. She is very much a doer….and lives and breathes, selflessly, the property market. A credit to her profession”
Feedback such as this is why I love doing what I do. Giving this level of service is not something that you learn, it is just something that you are.
Have a wonderful Mothering Sunday, and I wish you a lovely week ahead.
