Wednesday, February 10, 2010

You just can't beat local contacts


I've written much about the changing face of estate agency and how the internet will allow buyers to source properties online.

However, I have always said that estate agents will adapt their roles and change their services rather than become exctinct.

Here's a good example why.

I have some clients arriving shortly who are looking for building land in or around Cognac. I have trawled the market for them and have some good plots lined up to show them.

Yesterday though I found two additional plots, both of them not yet on the open market, both of them superb.

The first came from a conversation I had with someone in my village. We were just "chewing the cud" when they suggested I call someone they knew who was going to sell some land they had inherited. I called the chap and it's a prime building plot in a beautiful location. He's in no hurry to put it on the market but would be happy to sell if a buyer fell into his lap.

The second came from one of my favourite local estate agents, a really go ahead chap called Jerome Desset (see his agency here). He knew that I had been looking for land and he called me on my mobile to say that he was just about to take on a beautiful plot in the heart of one of the prettiest villages around - did I want to visit it with him.

Neither of these are actively being marketed, let alone visible on a property portal.

The changes are coming for sure but there will always be a place for expertise, professionalism and local knowledge.

www.cognacproperty.com

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