"I really want to express my gratitude to Nony and Sam for their excellent service.

There are a lot of estate agents to choose from in Winchester all vying for our business, so how to choose was a dilemma for me. In my career I had been involved in setting estate agency standards so ethics were important to me. I also know that those giving the highest ‘valuation’ or offering the lowest fees are mostly to be avoided. Also target driven chains don’t often offer the best service. I therefore asked my estate agent son who had previously worked in Winchester, but had moved away, who he would suggest. Without hesitation he said Nony.

I was surprised as she has a relatively low profile. He said don’t worry about that, she is big online. Plus most importantly, from what he has seen on Rightmove she converted more of her instructions into sales than the others did and priced properties realistically.

I therefore took my son’s advice and called Nony. She and Sam visited me and discussed an asking price. I knew roughly what I thought the house was worth. She came up with lots of local comparable sales evidence which showed we were in both of the same opinion and agreed a sale price. I thought her commission was a little higher than other reputable agents but I know that if you save a bit on commission you can then end up dropping your price by a lot more if it is badly marketed or overpriced.

At that time we were in the usual summer lull in the market, but with interest rates rising i didn’t want to wait and see what the market was doing and miss out.

From the moment I instructed Nony, it was a real personal service. Nony and Sam spent a whole morning with a professional photographer ensuring the photographs were perfect and from the most flattering angles. No lifted loo seats or inadvertent clutter. I hardly recognised the place.

When the house went on the market there were only a handful of viewings, but they were all ‘hot to trot’ and in fact the first person to view bought the house at the asking price. Once agreed, any pre contract issues were quickly dealt with by Nony and nothing was taken for granted. On moving day, she was there offering her support as I moved out and to greet the new owners and hand over the keys.

I have to admit that I have moved house many times in my life but this was one of the swiftest and certainly the least stressful that I can remember."