Rhuthun's Estate Agents—2
Along with taxmen, traffic wardens, car salesmen and telemarketers, estate agents are a loathed profession. Try as they may to be transparent and professional, the level of trust can at times be stretched. Surely Rhuthun/Ruthin's are different.
Cavendish Ikin's strapline is "The difference is our people". One thing you have to say about Cavendish's Rhuthun staff is that they're steady. All three main players have been with the firm since it opened in St Peter's Square in 2000. If residents felt they were charlatans, Cavendish simply wouldn't be in business. The suave manager, Hugh Evans, who started his career with Wright Manley (later Cavendish Manley) moved to Rhuthun's Beresford Adams, from 1987 to when he joined Cavendish Ikin in 1998 to open the Yr Wyddgrug/Mold branch. He has been involved with local property almost since he graduated. He's been in the residential sales business so long that the smooth talker even believes his own patter. His favourite phrase is "to be fair...".
Beresford Adams sold out to the Nationwide building society in 1987 before being bought out by the current owners, Countrywide, in 1994. As befits a large chain seller, staff at Rhuthun's Beresford Adams have tended to churn much more. Its longstanding Rhuthun branch is part of a large conglomerate with corporate tactics very different to Cavendish Ikin's. For one thing, Beresford Adams operates partly upon commission. This makes them more driven. But it also means that some prefer Cavendish Ikin's less confrontational approach.
Williams Estates is still something of an unknown in Rhuthun. Clough & Co tends to specialise in agricultural land and associated property and, as such, is a minority player in terms of residential sales. Its staff are nevertheless longstanding and experienced.
When last I put a house on the market, I invited both of Rhuthun's then major estate agents for a valuation. I was surprised and alarmed by the difference in their assessment. It struck me that there was no science to this at all and it was all guesswork.
Or perhaps it was a black art.
The higher valuation was actually an incredible 25 per cent more than the lower. Now, of the two, which agent would you chose? Obviously, the higher. In the event, we decided that the asking price should be about 20 per cent above that quoted by the other agent. We soon found we had to drop the price to attract interest, eventually to within two per cent of the lower valuation.
Did Agent No. 1 deliberately inflate the house value to attract our custom away from the more realistic Agent No. 2 knowing that we would have to accept a lower offer anyway? Was this simply a dirty trick?
Along with taxmen, traffic wardens, car salesmen and telemarketers, estate agents are a loathed profession. Try as they may to be transparent and professional, the level of trust can at times be stretched. Surely Rhuthun/Ruthin's are different.
Hugh Evans, 1987 vintage
Williams Estates is still something of an unknown in Rhuthun. Clough & Co tends to specialise in agricultural land and associated property and, as such, is a minority player in terms of residential sales. Its staff are nevertheless longstanding and experienced.
When last I put a house on the market, I invited both of Rhuthun's then major estate agents for a valuation. I was surprised and alarmed by the difference in their assessment. It struck me that there was no science to this at all and it was all guesswork.
Or perhaps it was a black art.
The higher valuation was actually an incredible 25 per cent more than the lower. Now, of the two, which agent would you chose? Obviously, the higher. In the event, we decided that the asking price should be about 20 per cent above that quoted by the other agent. We soon found we had to drop the price to attract interest, eventually to within two per cent of the lower valuation.
Did Agent No. 1 deliberately inflate the house value to attract our custom away from the more realistic Agent No. 2 knowing that we would have to accept a lower offer anyway? Was this simply a dirty trick?
Tags:
Housing