Why sell with Isle of Wight Homes?
1) We operate the same as any other conventional agent, we provide our market appraisal, press advertising, sale board and telephone service
(from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m – 1.00 p.m. on Saturday) and coverage on our Internet site & many other Internet sites including the largest national property site Rightmove.
2) We offer discounts if you are willing to show people around your property – a lot of people prefer this as they know exactly who & when buyers are visiting.
3) Our Sole unaccompanied fees are - (Currently Negotiable with the onset of HIP's ) + VAT minimum fee £900, payable on completion. All visits & negotiations are always arranged through this office. (We can offer accompanied viewings - but this is dependant on the existing number we have on our books - we never take on more than we can cope with, to the obvious detriment to our existing clients).
Multiple agency terms are negotiable.
4) We have no time related contracts – we ask for 10 days / 2 weeks grace to allow cancellation of three particular National websites we upload to, and also the local press advertising (we usually work at least a week in advance to allow for the County Press printing deadlines).
5) Buyers phone & often require a house on the Island and are not town specific giving full Island coverage gives us a real advantage.
6) We are very security conscience & we don’t disclose addresses & refuse to arrange visits until buyers meet our identification procedures.
7) Most sites have limited text space & one or two poor quality pictures. We built the site specifically to display as much text and as many pictures as your home requires.
8) Our website has a “slide show facility” & Google map "zoom down to roof" on all our properties - the first on the Island!
9) We upload to this main site throughout the day, from our own offices, so it is totally up to date. We receive a lot of complaints about other sites; because buyers want to view properties that appear “For Sale” but have they have already been sold.
10) We are a truly Independent Island company developed and run by Islanders.
11) The founding Directors are both members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).
12) Our Internet site is unique – no one else can take so many pictures of such quality & provide such comprehensive details, to show your home at its best.
If you would like a market appraisal then please e-mail us info@isleofwighthomes.com or telephone 01983 721831
& we will arrange to visit you, take details and pictures and upload your home on a no sale no fee basis.
Thinking of Selling? - General advice
1) Get a number of valuations on your home – so you are entirely happy about the selling price. This is not an exact science - opinions can differ substantially. (Lots of our clients have advised us that they went with the agent with the highest valuation then where tied in for 16 weeks + 2 weeks notice = 18 weeks & the price was reduced within 4 weeks to the price the other agents had suggested!)
2) Signing, “Time related Contracts” – Always remember they are entirely for the benefit of the agent, not the seller – why sign up?
3) We have seen people sign up to contracts with sole agency rates of 3% - why do it?
4) The County Press (the Island's newspaper) provides the highest coverage to Island buyers, it is read by over 90% of Islanders. Periodically other property papers start up on the Island & fade away, they never achieve the County Press’s circulation or standard. Choose an agent who always advertises your home every week in the County Press.
5) “I want Island wide coverage” – to most sellers this means you go to the big agents, as all the High Street agents offices should share all your property details. Each office works often independently with its own budgets etc & if one office shares details with another office they usually have to share the commission too! So you won’t get Island wide coverage.
6) A small independent Island agent nearly always tries harder to sell a property than a National agent. An Independent should foster good relations within the Island for its own survival, can quickly alter according to market conditions & can only survive by selling houses. National agents have different priorities.
7) Your agent should be a member to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) as a set of minimum standards applies – telephone 01926 496800 to check (you will be surprised who isn’t).
8) Don’t watch too many television programmes encouraging you to spend more money to encourage a buyer – we have had clients spend thousands of pounds upgrading their (perfectly ok) bathroom to hear that it was all ripped out within a few weeks of completion.
9) Never give out your telephone number to a prospective buyer – we have had sellers being pestered at all times of night, once the sale doesnt go through.
10) Always remember - you are the seller, you are important, you should be in control at all times & never be pressurized by your agent.
(if you have any to add please e-mail info@isleofwighthomes.com )
Buyers
1) Please remember that all offers for a property have to be passed on by the selling agent by law, it is not within the agents discretion (insist you get written confirmation of the outcome). If the agent is a member of the National Association of Estate Agents they should also always confirm to you in writing that your offer had been accepted or rejected.
2) If you had your offer on a property accepted or show any interest in a property, the sellers agent will always offer their services, don’t fall into the trap of thinking they will be the best ones to sell your own home – it is always the easy option, but not always the best.
3) Don’t think estate agents are all bad - They have to act for the seller at all times, & it is the client’s ultimate decision which offer is accepted.
Letters & e-mails from our clients
17/11/07
Dear Pat, Georgina & all the gang at Isle of Wight Homes,
Thank you so much for your great service & tenacity in helping this difficult sale go through. C & I are very grateful to you for keeping it going. If we return we will visit you first.
All the best
D & C M
27.09.07
To Georgina Pat & Team
Thankyou for everything, you’ve been absolutely brilliant!
N & E J
3.09.07
To all at Isle of Wight Homes Ltd
Thank you for all your hard work, dedication and sense of humour in bringing our move to a close.
We certainly picked the right estate agent – we say no more!!
Regards & Thanks
S & C
August 2007
Dear ….,
Thank you for selling our property. If friend or relatives ask us in the future to recommend an estate agent we will certainly recommend you
Best Wishes
Yours Sincerely,
M & P D
25.04.07
Just had a Thankyou card in the post today on a particularly difficult sale/purchase, its always great to be appreciated.
“Many thanks for all your hard work and kindness”
Mr & Mrs P
Just received another card
13.04.07
Dear Georgina, Simon Pat & Jill,
Thank you ever so much for all the hard work you put in over the selling of my flat. Of everyone who was involved, you were the ones who kept me informed about what was going on. In addition, you gave me help & advice when I required it.
Thank you again,
S
Just received a card through today from a grateful client
31.03.07
"Thanks so much to all of you at Isle of Wight Homes I was so impressed & pleased with all you did for me & have passed your number onto several people.
Thanks again”
KM
6.03.07
Hi to everyone at Isle of Wight Homes...
Its taken a while to settle in and get myself sorted out but I am
getting there at last...The home I purchased without actually seeing
beforehand hasn't been a disappointment at all. (phew). Although for
some reason I had the idea that the traffic might be a bit less up here
than on the Island but I was sure wrong about that....I won't be going
into Scarborough town very often, it's a traffic nightmare. worse than
Newport.
Anyway I am just writing to thank you all..with a special thanks to
Jill & Pat.... who were always so pleasant to talk to on the Phone and
did their best to keep me up to date and informed and who both have a
very genuine caring attitude.
All the best to you ...and you can be sure that if I should ever return
to the Island I will be coming to you.
Sincerely ......P J
6.03.07
Hi Georgina,
Yes of course I would be more than happy for you to use my comments.
I would certainly recommend you to anyone.. the only
problem with selling my bungalow was that the buyers were spoilt for
choice with so many bungalows for sale on the Island!! The truth is that
you guys did very well to find me a buyer at all.
all the best wishes
P J
Hi,
Just to let you know I have found a spare key for the post box now, so you can pick the keys up at anytime.
Also, we would both like to thank you all for all your hard work and effort involved in selling our house,
it really is appreciated.(we know we weren't the easiest of customers!)
It`s been a pleasure to deal with Honest Estate Agents, also thanks for recommending the Solicitor.
Thank You.
A W & P K
To Simon, Georgina, Pat & Jill,
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your help, advice & moral support through the sale of my home – not to mention the professional service!
You all made the process much easier for me & its much appreciated.
With kind regards
N.E.
Billingham,
Newport,
Isle of Wight
Hello Georgina
Thank you for taking the time to appraise xx …………….
Thank you also, to you and your colleagues for the work you did in the sale of Forest Way, I can't express enough my gratitude and thanks at having such a high level of professionalism from yourselves all throughout the entire process. Also, I'm pleased to have been able to pass on our old home to such a lovely couple as the xx’s.
Thanks again, and I look forward to dealing with you again in the near future.
Best wishes,
R.F.
Winford,
Sandown,
Isle of Wight.
To :- Isle of Wight Homes Ltd
Dear Simon and Georgina
Thanks for your letter - it arrived today. We are delighted to have sold our house and thank you so much for taking it on and doing the business! The best man (and woman) won!
It is a relief to finally be rid of one house so we can concentrate on buying another. We have……………
Many thanks again for your wonderful service and dedicated hard work. I would not hesitate in recommending you to any one who is thinking of trying to sell their house!!
Yours
J
Dear Georgina & Simon,
We are very pleased with the way you handled the sale, you cannot be faulted in any aspect of it you are truly experts in the property sales field.
The details and many pictures on your website are the best we have ever come across, and we visit many sites every week. We believe our property was sold to our purchases by your web site pictures and they only needed to visit to place their offer.
We will certainly use “Isle of Wight Homes “ when we move again, and recommend you whole heartedly to any one seeking to sell their property. Your fees are also very reasonable.
Yours Sincerely
JT & BR
Hello Georgina & Simon
We finally have a computer and are able to look at your website, its fab you can see why you managed to sell our cottage for us. Ross and I wanted to say a very big thankyou for all you have done for us not only did you sell our cottage but you also sold us our current beautiful home, I call that excellent work especially as we could not see either homes as we did not have a computer.
You both worked so hard to achieve our sale and purchase and you were always of good humour throughout some trying times.
We have recommended you to many of our friends and acquaintances and I note that one of the properties you have sale agreed on we spoke to the owners about how good you guys were, so well done!
We will certainly use your service again thanks
R & DH
Carisbrooke
Dear Georgina & Simon
We would like to thank you both very much indeed for selling xx Steyne Road for us.
As you know, I have worked in Estate Agency/Lettings for the last 20 years, and have been most impressed with your service. It has been most refreshing dealing with your company as your enthusiasm really shines through. We both have a passion for property and to be able to deal with like-minded persons in the buying and selling of property is a real bonus. I think that many Agents, particularly on the Island, have lost sight of their aim and this is a real pity. We will certainly continue to recommend your company to anyone wishing to buy or sell on the Isle of Wight. I wish that there was a company (with people like you to deal with) like yours in Brighton.
Thank you once again for all your help
Kind regards
Mr & Mrs S
E- mail feedback from buyers / potential buyers
Dear Isle of Wight Homes,
I have not contacted you before, and I'm not in the habit of praising estate agents (who is?) but having visited your website a number of times recently I feel I must tell you how good it is.
I'm sure you already know that, though I don't expect you'll mind hearing it from a potential customer.
My wife and I are moving to the Island next spring; we …………………….., like most people these days who are looking for information on property to buy, my first port of call was the internet.
I have trawled the websites of, I think, all the agents on the Island.
Some are awful, some quite good, but isleofwighthomes is absolutely in a class of its own; a joy to use.
Your photographs are many and superb (as a keen amateur photographer I'm tempted to ask what camera/lens you use - though I'm sure it's as much down to the skill of your photographer) and this is backed up by comprehensive information about the property even down to the measurements of the gardens -important to me as I'm also a gardener!
This info, and the links you give to maps and aerial photos give an excellent impression of what a home looks like and where it is. I can't get this from any other agent.
It's really useful to folks like us who live the other side of the water (as, apparently, do about 40% of buyers - according to IoW radio) and who want to know that what we travel to view, will pretty well meet our expectations. We don't want to devote time and ferry fares to see properties that turn out to be unsuitable.
My guess is that because of the quality of the information you give, you will have a higher percentage of viewings translating to sales than most other agents -and I say this with some experience of marketing property, having managed …….. County Council's property department for many years.
I can't understand why they aren't all copying your lead !
When we are in a position to buy - probably in about 3 to 4 months' time, we shall certainly be registering our details with you.
Many thanks for helping to make looking for a property such a pleasurable experience.
Yours sincerely,
Mr & Mrs S H
Fri 09/11/2007 17:35
26th June 2007
Dear Mr Broadhead.
I would like to thank you for your excellent website and comprehensive
coverage of your properties with both good photos,Floorplan and aerial
views.
My wife and I enjoy looking at your offerings and could almost decide on a
purchase with just your details.
We will most certainly use your company for our choice.
Our situation is at the moment we …….
We are looking for …… a countryside location would be an advantage.
Please keep up with your contact emails as we look with some excitement each
time you send us a new offering, although we do browse your site each day to
see if there is anything new and we have seen four or so properties that had
we been ready at the time we would have made an offer.
Thank you once again.
Sincerely
Mr L
12th February 2007
Letter from someone who bought one of our homes last week
I wish Isle of Wight Homes every success and would compliment you on the presentation of the web & paper details, which is way ahead of your rivals. This is particularly helpful when one is not local and are therefore unable to simply “pop” past the premises prior to a formal viewing.
Kind Regards
Yours Sincerely
F
Dear All,
Just a quick note to say ‘thank you very much’ for all your help (Pat & Georgina especially) in the purchase of the property at S……. Road.
We found that you were always very helpful and professional when we required to contact you and with your help the purchase when through smoothly.
We would definitely recommend you to other people.
Thanks again
Best regards,
K H & M B
9/01/07
HI!
Now that we are settled into our island home we want to take the opportunity of thanking you for helping us find it. An internet search led us to your site - the only one which gave any real details of the island properties on offer. We saw the one we liked and the website presentation was so clear that viewing was almost a formality. One visit to the island, one property viewed, one sale - job done (even if it did take us 10 months to finalise!). One day all estate agents will be like this ...
Keep up the good work!
D&J
Dear Team,
A short note to thank you for all your hard work in securing our new home for us. Over the past 7 months we have renovated the ground floor and it is definitely turning into our 'dream home'. We have never been so happy and are actually looking forward to the cold nights when we can snuggle up in front of our newly fitted open fire!! We cannot thank you enough - Thank you - thank you - thank you.
Keep up the good work
C & D M.
Georgina and Simon.
Just to say, we have now been on the island a week. And we absolutely love it. Thank you very much for your help in our purchase. We personally feel, that if it wasn’t for your brilliant website. We would never of got a house to suit our needs, as all the high street agents seem to of sent us details of houses that had been sold, by the time we got the brochures. We would definitely recommend you to anyone, as we found you totally upfront, honest and professional, as well as very polite.
ps. we still keep looking at your site, as for the last 6 months we practically lived on it, hard to break a habit.
yours sincerely
john + karen g
Thank you for your message. We have now found a property and are moving in very soon. I would like to say how good we found your site and the service provided. We viewed one property and found that unlike so much estate agent "trick photography" the impression given by your pictures was very accurate.
We wish you all the best with your business.
F and P G
Dear Georgina,
Having just returned from our first week in our new home, I'd like to thank you f or the great service you offer.
An excellent website backed up by a very professional and honest approach – this is a rare find in the world of estate agency.
Wishing you continued success.
Regards,
Mrs J W
This is probably unusual feedback!
I am actually thinking of going into the estate agent market and have trawled and surfed many an agent website for ideas.
I looked at all the websites as a prospective buyer to check if they had everything I would want from both an agent and an internet site.
Yours is the only one I have come across so far (out of an estimated 50+) that has so much detail and so many fantastic photos.
When I want to buy a property, and as a busy full time working Mum, I don't want to waste time and the comprehensive interior shots help to quickly decide which houses to go and see.
Well done for providing a wonderful web site - by the way I'm based many miles away in South Yorkshire and visited the island recently for the first time because of your website!
Best wishes for the future
Mrs A A
I found your website almost a year ago because I was hoping to move house either to Devon or the island. I still hope to move someday. I regularly visit your site because it's fast, easy to use, and has houses to tempt me with sufficient detail for me to know whether or not I want to come visit the house. I really hope that you keep going and lead the way for other property agents, or indeed, spread your own wings.
Thanks for a wonderful site.
OH
Thank you for your reply. We think that your website is marvelous and I do assure you that we shall keep our eye on it. We are now retired and determined eventually to move to the IOW but firstly we must sell our large bungalow on the North coast of xxxxxxx. We have now found that we have a legal problem in connection with our property and have instructed solicitors to take action for negligence against the ones who acted for us originally so it will probably be September before we can consider moving, but we shall be back!
Regards .........K & D A
Great website - still haven't found THE home yet though. Plenty of pics and details about property - eg leasehold/freehold etc a really good feature. Saves asking about unsuitable properties.
Mr M
My partner who was born on the Island and myself are one day looking to return. Your wonderful site gives us much inspiration, we view your site on a regular basis knowing that one day we will return. Congratulation on what is a truly award winning site. Miss L and Mr G
Background
The two founding Directors used to work within Barclays Bank PLC for a total of over 40 years. They have a wide and varied training with all aspects of property, having taken legal mortgages over land & houses, bought and sold homes personally - (their most recent home bought in 1990 being a derelict house with no mains electricity) . Also for seven years Simon was a mortgage specialist, used to seeing valuations prepared by a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, on a daily basis. Ensuring sales went through smoothly by making regular contact with all the Island Solicitors & Island Surveyors.
This background knowledge has been invaluable when advising customers on a variety matters.
The whole company has been set up with the idea of treating people as they would like - i.e. being friendly & honest at all times & willing to give that little extra bit of time to give real customer service.
The founders of the firm Simon & Georgina (both Islanders) moved off the Island for 5 years & decided to move back & commute to their jobs on the mainland. They had a number of problems with mainland estate agents (they can clearly remember the stresses & strains & sleepless nights encountered when selling).
A brief resume is listed below:- They employed three mainland agents one after the other
The agents tied them in with contracts - they didn’t know you could get agents without contracts.
The first agent gave the highest valuation – they fell for it & signed up.
"The agents employed staff so young they had obviously never bought a house themselves".
"Our home appeared in the local press within the first few weeks of signing up & never appeared again".
"Some viewers that were shown around appeared to be “professional viewers”, viewing houses as a hobby".
"We were never told if the potential buyer had their own house on the market".
"We rarely received any feedback about the viewings - we always had to chase for up to a week for info".
"We all hope that this never happens to you
regards from Simon & Georgina"
We are the only agent on the Island that was specifically set up to help mainland & abroad buyers buy on this lovely Island
& share the better standard of living. So if you see a multi agency home on this site first
- please do contact us first – We get no money at all if you go to the other agent.
This family run independent agency is constantly striving to make improvements,
if you have seen any good ideas elsewhere we could include please do e-mail us
info@isleofwighthomes.com
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