F e a t u r e s
It Takes Courage, but it’s Worth It…
by Jo Kitching I
t was while on holiday in France, at 4.30am, that I made the decision to leave my full time job as an estate agent. I’d been awake all night worrying
about what I was going to do with the children for the rest of their school holidays – my husband had been posted, at short notice, to the Ministry of Defence and he had, as a result, lost any hope of the leave I had (so rashly) taken for granted.
Fortunately, family and friends stepped in and helped me out but the guilt of not seeing my children, or rather my children not seeing me or their father during their holidays, was something I didn’t want to experience again.
By Christmas I had left my job, had a month off and had decided that my new plan was to become a property search agent, working from home. I had noticed while working in Chippenham that the housing market favours the vendor rather than the buyer.
The process of house buying is complicated and stressful, and although every good agent will provide advice to a buyer when asked, the agent’s client is the vendor and they will do all they can (quite rightly) to protect the vendor’s interests.
I saw a gap in the market for good
property search agents who know the area well and can find the best property at the right price and can then follow the sale through from initial negotiations to completion.
Buyers particularly need help when they are moving location. There is so much time wasted viewing properties which on paper look fantastic but which are actually adjacent to a petrol station or have a pylon, all just out of sight, or are on a really busy road. These buyers need someone to take a brief and view those
properties for them, bringing them back to the few which really do match the requirements.
Once I’d made the decision to do it, putting the plan into action was almost easy. I had been advised by my previous employers to talk to a recently retired house hunter who happened also to have been the wife of someone serving. This was incredibly helpful and I was given some great advice, most of which I’ve followed.
The next step was to commission a website. Once this was ready I booked three adverts in Country Life (not as expensive as you might think), arranged public liability and personal indemnity insurance, checked the Commanding Officer didn’t mind my running a business from the quarter, and waited for the phone to ring.
While I waited I put my website address onto as many free listing sites as I could, told everybody I knew what I was doing (quite shamelessly) and set about collecting contacts such as solicitors, interior designers, surveyors, mortgage advisers – all people I could recommend to clients.
After the first advert I had a couple of calls, Unfortunately one lady found herself a property the following weekend and I initially felt very disappointed but after a while realised that this is what business is – you win some and you lose some, and you just have to keep going.
The phone continued to ring, with calls from solicitors and interior designers who offered to work on a client share basis, ie you recommend me and I’ll recommend you, which is great, and probably one of the most productive ways of working. I had also gained a couple of clients in the meantime, one a friend from a previous posting and one a relative.
I asked not to be paid by either of these initial clients as I needed the experience, and they allowed me to get going. I have made them both promise to give me a great testimonial (and a couple of bottles of wine) in return for finding them a great house! I’m now up to four clients, including one military, so I’m being kept busy enough at the moment.
I would especially like to help Forces families and offer a significant discount on fees. Moving location is what Forces families spend much of their lives doing but there comes a point in many people’s lives, usually when the children reach school age, when the thought of moving into yet another quarter, in yet another place, becomes unbearable.
We reached that point ourselves a couple of years ago. Once my husband’s stint in London ends we will be buying a (small!) house around here and he’ll do all he can to keep his postings to within commuting distance. So what happens if/when he’s posted miles away, or even abroad? I’m not quite sure, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
By starting my own business I still don’t see much of my husband, who stays in London during the week, but at least my time is my own now, I can pick the children up from school every day, I have every weekend free and in fact I answer to no-one other than my clients. If I want to have my hair cut on a Thursday morning I can. I’m much happier than I’ve been for a long time, doing something which really interests me, is good for the family, and incidentally has the potential to be financially very rewarding.
To view Jo’s website go to:
www.joanna-wade.co.uk.
12
Autumn 2009
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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