One could argue that the more offices an agent has, the more exposure your property will enjoy. But would you really benefit if your agent has a branch in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Cardiff and Southampton as well as Bexhill? Highly unlikely! Don’t be impressed by the sheer size of an agency – the only buyers that matter to you are those who may be interested in buying your property and no-one else’s.
However, we find that one of our most effective “secret weapons” is the fact that we cover four adjacent areas each from its own dedicated but interconnected branch.
The way the offices work together is one of the reasons for our continued success in the area. This is because we recognise that buyers seldom actually buy the property about which they enquired. In practice they tend to buy a property which is often a compromise, falling slightly below the ideal criteria they initially hoped to achieve. Our research and experience suggest that the most common form of compromise is “location”. The effect of this is that we often register buyers who are initially attracted to one of our offices but end up buying a property offered to them via another.
At Oakfield Estate Agents, we go to great lengths to understand our buyers’ wants, needs and aspirations. Our four offices located in Eastbourne, Bexhill, Hastings and Tunbridge Wells can then liaise closely in order to find a way of delivering results for our sellers whilst expanding the possibilities for our buyers. So when you are next thinking about which agent to choose – think twice, as four heads are not only better than one, but usually also better than a hundred!
Neil Newstead, FARLA, MNAEA
CEO Oakfield Estate Agents