Mark Readings – Why

I am an estate agent.

I love being an estate agent. I say it with pride and enjoy my work.

I started in the industry 16 years ago with the sole purpose of improving customer service. I was 28 at the time, and I had just sold a property through a high street estate agent, but I did not enjoy the process. I showed viewers around my home, I negotiated at the appointment, and I only heard from my agent two times before exchange. I felt exposed, with limited support and communication was not what I expected.

Now, this could have been one lousy estate agent, so I researched the market and spoke to family members, but everyone reported that this was in general, ‘normal’. The most positive comment was ‘best of a bad bunch’.

I set about trying to solve the problem and assisted over 13,000 sellers, but there was still something missing. Time.

Buyers and sellers need guaranteed time from their chosen estate agent. The person they first met and trusted, not a junior staff member or a team of agents they have never met.

Most estate agencies work on volume, listing as many homes as they can and making it a numbers game. They are transactional, not relationship-based. They impose strict targets on staff, which encourages bad behaviour, and they close when most people have returned home from working all day.

I have launched my agency to create relationships, to limit my customer base, guarantee my time to a select few, be available until I go to bed and deliver US customer service. It’s personal.

I am doing this to create a legacy for my family, for my three boys, to make them proud and follow my dedication to helping people. That does not mean they have to become estate agents. I would prefer they find what ‘they’ love doing, but I want them to understand the meaning of hard work and dedication, to care.

Sound different? – Great.

I am happy to offer any property related advice, so get in touch for a general chat!