Some agents have introduced a number of concepts and innovations which they hope will impress you enough to sell your property through them, yet we do not believe that every apparent “tool” at an agent’s disposal is necessarily to your best advantage.

For example, some agents use virtual tours on their website, and on the surface this appears to be a reasonable and useful addition to a website. However, we choose not to use virtual tours of our clients’ property on our website. This is because we do not believe that anyone will buy your property unless they actually step inside and have a look for themselves. The purpose of a website is to encourage buyers to contact us and, following a qualification procedure in the interests of security, subsequently view your home. Virtual tours can even prevent viewings as there appears to be no need for the buyer to physically visit your home!.

Additionally, due to the limiting nature of lens technology, virtual tours can often make a property appear much smaller than it actually is. They certainly convey little, if anything, of the atmosphere that a property has to offer. Unfortunately, atmosphere is often the hidden “I’ll know it when I see it” quality to which buyers certainly do need to be exposed.

Our role as estate agents is to facilitate the sale by ensuring that maximum numbers of qualified buyers actually visit your property, and this has been a key component of our success. I know I’d rather give my property to an agent who has a great record of getting buyers through your door, than to one who has tried to automate what remains essentially a people business!

– Jude