A NEW style estate agent that has the endorsement of former Changing Rooms host Carol Smillie is looking to shake up the property market in Wokingham borough.
Ewe Move, which has offices in Molly Millars Lane, started in the north and is moving down south. It says its big innovation is being available all day every day, seven days a week.
Bryan Partington, one of three branch directors of the Wokingham office, said: “We live in a 24-hour society, as a service provider we have to be there 24/7.”
And this means that the agency, which is a network, offers valuations and viewings at 3am if needed.
“It has happened, not to us, but it has happened,” Mr Partington added. “It doesn’t happen every day, but we will be available when our clients want to view. We do want to take the strain away from the seller.”
The agency aims to offer a bespoke service. Each vendor is appointed an experienced personal agent and its team are always at the end of the phone.
“Call us and you’ll speak to real people, not machines. Yes, you can book viewings online, but you can speak to people all the time. This is a real people business,” Mr Partington explained.
With no high street branch, the Ewe Move can be seen as an internet agent, but this is not the case.
“People think we’re an online agent, it’s not, absolutely not,” Mr Partington said. “We put skills that we’ve learnt from the high street, but with none of the ridiculous overheads that the high street has.
“Ewe Move as a brand is a big innovation,” he continues. “There’s nothing like it in the industry.”
New customers are given the chance to find out more about the process by being giving a copy of The 39 Steps, a guide to selling a house, which contains an introduction by Carol Smillie.
“We’ll go and meet with them, value their house and book automatic appointments,” Mr Partington said.
But for those who are a bit shy, or just researching what they’re doing, the company offers a free online valuation service: a report is sent via email detailing how much other local homes have sold for and how much the company believes your home is worth.
“It’s a unique product within the estate agency business,” Mr Partington said. “We give online valuations using analytics to give a good starting point and a four to six-page valuation report of their home. Major mortgage companies will use it and it is fully GDPR compliant.”
The company also offers something that it says is unique in the industry: no minimum contract term with no cancellation fees.
And if there’s no sale, there’s no fee.
Fellow director Gary Macdonald said: “It’s a big USP for us. When someone wants to put their home on the market, they’re not tied to us for any point of time. The message is this is a fantastic service that we provide.”
And the company is also proud of its excellent rating by TrustPilot users, with Mr Partington saying they’ve had hundreds of five-star reviews.
“TrustPilot is brilliant for us,” Mr Partington said. “We are on the top three on there.”
