We own several properties but have always felt that dealing with estate agents was a painful experience. In addition, we were also aware that we were not necessarily seeing the best opportunities, because the agents were always pushing overvalued properties and trying to achieve the highest price possible for the sellers.
We were introduced to Jeremy McGivern at Mercury Homesearch and after several years of reading his market analysis and predictions, we enquired about membership to Mercury. It seemed to offer everything we wanted: access to off-market properties, objective advice on properties and valuations so that our time would not be wasted and an experienced negotiator who would be able to achieve a better price than we could.
Having joined, we are pleased to say that we would highly recommend that you become a member of Mercury if you are planning to acquire a property in London, because Jeremy delivered on all the promises he made.
Initially we were slightly concerned that he was recommending so few properties, but he assured us that we would be wasting our time visiting almost everything on the market, which showed that he had listened closely to our specific requirements and wasn’t simply trying to “sell” us a property.
All the houses he showed us met the criteria we had given him and what was refreshing was to see properties that were not on the open market, so we knew that we were seeing the best of the best.
There was one property that really stood out for us – a 4,500 sq.ft. house close to Sloane Square that was wider than average so only over four floors. It ticked just about every box we could hope for and wasn’t on any of the property portals, so we would never have found it ourselves.
However, that was just the beginning of the process. Jeremy had warned us that it would not be an easy negotiation because the sellers were going through an acrimonious divorce: they did not need to sell the property and it seemed that they were more interested in arguing with each other. In addition, it soon became evident that the agents did not have a good relationship with the sellers either.
The negotiations took several weeks and, to be frank, we didn’t think Jeremy would succeed in reaching an agreement at a price that would work for us because the sellers, especially one of them, were completely unrealistic. However, he found a solution and agreed a price that the agents didn’t think would be possible (Jeremy ended up speaking directly to one of the owners) and which was very favourable for us.
While previous buyers and the agents themselves had tried to convince the sellers with various “logical” arguments, Jeremy took a different approach which clearly succeeded. As he says, emotions often trump logic!
He then co-ordinated the entire process so that we didn’t have to deal with any hassle and he made sure that the sellers remained committed to the transaction, which didn’t always seem to be the case. He also answered all our questions swiftly and made sure that we had clear concise updates on progress.
As further evidence that Jeremy had our best interests at heart, the property was 28% below our maximum budget and the price he agreed was £335,000 below the maximum we had set for the property, so our investment in him more than paid for itself not to mention the wasted time and stress we avoided.
We now have a fantastic house acquired at a great price which will not only be a wonderful home but sound investment too. We will be recommending him and strongly suggest that you join Mercury Homesearch if you want access to properties that are not on the open market, wish to acquire your ideal home at a great price and would rather avoid the pain of dealing with the agents and all the other bureaucracy involved.
