Upping sticks and moving to the Cotswolds countryside is a dream for many house hunters; and with picture postcard villages, honey-coloured cottages and breathtaking views stretching out from every angle, it's easy to see why!
Whether buyers are looking for a forever home, a project, or even business premises, it's a particularly competitive market, but having a buying agent like Hannah Edge from Cotswold Property Finder on your side can open up properties you may never have discovered – and make the whole process a lot more efficient and a lot less stressful than going it alone.
SoGlos rounds up seven reasons why having a buying agent gives you an edge in the competitive Cotswolds property market.
Local intel
Having a buying agent based in your target area has huge benefits, with their in-depth local insights proving especially valuable for people looking to move from outside the area. Hannah from Cotswold Property Finder lives in the Cotswolds and has children at local schools, giving her sound knowledge and experience of important factors like local amenities, transport links and schools – because while you can, within reason, change your property to suit your situation, you can't change its location, so getting this right first time is key.
As well as being an experienced buying agent and a former estate agent for a national firm, Hannah is also a qualified rural surveyor, meaning she can bring a wealth of knowledge and skill to property searches in the Cotswolds, from negotiating for both buyers and sellers; understanding the intricacies of the property buying process; to assisting clients to find help with further aspects such as planning and building surveys.
Access to off-market properties
Having a buying agent acting on your behalf means you'll leave no stone unturned with your property search. Hannah at Cotswold Property Finder may know about off-market properties which buyers wouldn't have otherwise discovered – and gets the heads-up on properties soon to be launched, giving her clients more time to consider a property before it hits the property portals online.
Hannah's professional and personal network gives her impressive local connections, with both estate agents and individual vendors, who often contact her to find clients who may potentially be interested in properties before they hit the open market.
Speed and responsiveness
Having a buying agent like Hannah means you have someone to act as your eyes and ears in a property search – and to cover the miles so you don’t have to. Whether buyers don't live locally, or are time poor due to work, family or other commitments, Hannah can carry out initial viewings and report back to clients with her findings, saving them time, hassle and wasted trips.
Hannah can also conduct negotiations, helping at every stage of the process, making buying a property considerably more efficient and less stressful for her clients.
Truly independent advice
Cotswold Property Finder is truly independent, acting purely for the buyer and always keeping their best interests at heart during the entire buying process.
While Hannah has fantastic links with local and national estate agents, she is not directly affiliated with any of them, meaning she can provide completely independent advice to her clients.
Bespoke searches
For anyone without in-depth knowledge of the market, finding your dream property might feel like looking for a needle in a haystack, but thanks to Hannah's background in property sales and qualifications in rural surveying, she can assist with a diverse variety of searches, from family homes to second homes; grand country houses to cosy village cottages; renovation projects; to farms and equestrian properties.
Only working with a handful of clients at any one time, she's also careful to avoid conflicts of interest, so each client she takes on receives the priority and time they require to find the property they're searching for.
Impressive connections
While finding and securing a property for their client is the key role of a buying agent, it is becoming increasingly important to build the right team of professionals and tradespeople for clients who may be new to the area, or who just don't have the time to do all the research themselves.
Hannah's extensive and trusted ‘black book’ of local professionals and trades means she can point her clients to the right people quickly, from surveyors to plumbers; solicitors to holiday rental companies; architects to interior designers, builders and even accountants. There's no obligation to use any of her recommendations, but it can be a speedy way of getting queries answered so if buyers do decide to offer, they are making an informed decision.
Staying one step ahead of the competition
On top of access to off-market properties and a wide network of connections, property finders often get preferential treatment from estate agents who are eager to work with them because they know they're acting on behalf of serious and proceedable buyers; and will often do all they can to push an agreed offer through to exchange as efficiently as possible. Good buying agents ensure clients have all their ducks in a row and are ready to act quickly to make their offer as attractive as possible for vendors – and it's not always the highest bid that wins the day, it can sometimes be the overall package the buying agent presents which appeals to a seller.
And if the property needs work, or the buyer is keen to extend or make alterations, Hannah can reach out to her contacts before they make an offer, to get quotes for any proposed works and investigate planning requirements, so clients can offer with the knowledge that they're making an informed decision, rather than bidding blindly.
To contact Hannah to discuss your move to or within the Cotswolds, email hannah@cotswoldpropertyfinder.co.uk or call 07833 431117; or for more information about Cotswold Property Finder, visit cotswoldpropertyfinder.co.uk.
