Lancaster & Morecambe 01524 843322
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2017
I’m a researcher. Trust me, I have tried it for shopping. I even tried online supermarket shopping last week. It was convenient. To be fair it arrived on time. However all my fresh items have such a short shelf life date on them, I simply won’t get chance to eat them. I also tried ordering from Next online last month. They promise following day delivery. However after paying, I discovered that my item wasn’t due in stock for another 3 weeks. It has just arrived and it doesn’t fit. And please don’t get me started on trying to book a holiday. I’m now communicating by telephone with a travel agent. The only thing I seem to be able to successfully order are products where I know exactly what I am getting – in my instance, Bobbi Brown make up! Interesting many of my friends have had the same experiences. So how does this tie in with the property market? Are we really all internet shoppers?
A little while ago, I read an interesting article. The consumer group Which questioned 2000 recent buyers to find out how they actually found their home. It may come as shock, to find out just over 40% of buyers first saw the house they bought online. Buyers aren’t just relying on the property portals for their biggest purchase. Many are reverting back to local estate agents. Traditional methods are still essential.
Take a look at the above graph. You can see the original on the which.co.uk website. The above got me thinking. How did our local buyers find their home?
Don’t under estimate the power of a sale board. People drive around looking in the areas they are keen to move to. A prime example of that is a bungalow in Newlands. The board went up prior to the details being made ready. That board alone generated 4 viewings requests and a great offer!
On the above graph, 22% of buyers come directly from the estate agent. 11% of all buyers quoted the estate agents window as the place they saw the property. It’s a good job we have huge windows and a prime high street position. You’d be surprised how many people still come in asking for the details they have seen in the window. Balmoral Road sold this way. Make sure the agent you choose is highly visible with lots of passing footfall.
The other 11% of the 22% shown on the graph, received the details directly from the estate agent. Now this is really interesting. Ask your estate agent how many active buyers they currently have registered. Online agents can’t simply offer this service. You’ll also find smaller agents have smaller lists. Many of our sales are to pre-registered buyers. For example, we contacted a client about a new listing on West Road close to the train station. A viewing was booked and we agreed a sale for the full £420,000 asking price. Another example is a bungalow in Scotforth. We telephoned 4 people who we knew would be keen. It too sold for the full asking price.
You’d be surprised by the power of a word of mouth and recommendation. People talk. They might see the board and tell their friends, family or colleagues. They may see it pop up on social media and share it. We shared a house on Barley Copp Lane on our JDG Facebook page. 7 people shared it. It was seen by over 5000 people. From that alone we got 5 viewings and more importantly the house sold!
I’d love to know how you found your home. The property portals are a great research tool, hence we choose to advertise on all of the major sites. However at JDG we still believe the traditional methods are best. It seems buyers feel the same!
Can we help you move home? If you would like a free, no obligation chat, call us on 01524 843322 or 409100. My name is Michelle Gallagher. At JDG we are here to help to you.
