Fine & Country | North Cumbria
OUR WAY OF WORKING Welcome to
your property – including stunning
Fine & Country
designed sale brochure – to
photography and an individually
North Cumbria
negotiating the best price and seeing
Our business here is family owned
detail is overlooked.
and operated, and is part of a national and international brand. This unique combination gives our clients the best of both worlds - we are the local agent with the regional, national and global audience. We specialise in selling individual, distinctive and higher priced properties, in the city and in the countryside; properties whose owners want to achieve the best result when they sell. In my experience, at the top of the home mover’s wish list is having someone to trust and advise; to provide some hand-holding during an
the sale through to completion, no
Our business is all about relationships with our clients and with the buyers who are looking to find their dream home. My colleagues are motivated by the desire to do the best for every client; in that way we achieve outstanding results. No-one is paid a commission on individual house sales, so you can be certain that any advice or guidance you receive from us will be entirely in your best interests. When you trust us to sell your property, you are investing in an experience.
often demanding and stressful
We are constantly vigilant about
process. In essence, that is what we
standards, and time-honoured values
provide.
of integrity and service are at the
We will look after you, your family and
heart of everything we do.
your property, whatever the reason
We believe passionately in doing
for your move, be it work related,
estate agency the ‘right way’. This
family growth, downsizing,
means always working in the best
bereavement or changing financial
interests of the seller but, vitally, on
priorities.
terms that the buyer is happy with.
We deliver market leading service
There is no hard sell.
and personal support, creating the opportunity to sell your most valuable asset on the best terms, utilising highly effective marketing tools. We’re plain speaking, constructive
We look forward to welcoming you as a client of our business. Helen Miller Managing Director
and transparent in all our dealings, putting you first at all times. From the way we present and market
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OUR SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM At your service; we’re a close knit team of professional and empathetic people who complement each other with diverse skills and personalities, all working together for the good of our clients, through best practice.
HELEN MILLER - Managing Director Born and raised in an Eden Valley farming family, Helen has been an estate agent for over 20 years. After working abroad as a ski instructor and language teacher, she developed her property skills working in estate agency in London and Carlisle, before settling locally with husband Nick. Helen leads the business on a day-to-day basis, carrying out valuations and advising clients on all aspects of the sales process. She is a top class negotiator, securing the best prices for our clients, and is the inspiring leader of our exceptional sales team.
NICK MILLER - Chief Executive Nick has been involved with property all his professional life, with over 35 years experience in the sector as a property lawyer and estate agent. He has overall responsibility for managing the company, with particular emphasis on strategy, standards and finance. He is passionate about the benefits for clients of selling properties in the right way, supporting them through the process and creating exciting visual marketing for their properties. He has unique insight into making things happen in the legal process.
PIERS MORTON - Operations Director Piers is an accomplished and experienced property agent with over 15 years’ experience and professional knowledge. His role with F&C is as lead valuer and as business manager across all sales activities, working closely with the other directors on strategy, sales, marketing and finance. Clients can rely upon his proven negotiation skills in seeking the best value for their property. Piers is an avid Newcastle United fan and also loves Formula One motor racing. He enjoys spending time with his family and walking his border terrier, Doris.
JEN JAMIESON - Marketing Director Jen plays a vital role in the ongoing growth of our business. She is primarily responsible for spreading the story of the Fine & Country brand in North Cumbria and securing new enquiries from sellers, which is a wide ranging and dynamic task. In addition to a portfolio of marketing responsibilities, she liaises with the Media Centre at head office in Park Lane, London, securing PR and advertising nationally and locally for our clients. With over ten years of focussed relevant experience, she is a natural people person and is at the forefront of developing new connections and strategic partnerships for the business.
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THE FINE & COUNTRY MARKETING SUITE
The Fine & Country Marketing Suite is an exclusive, innovative and unrivalled collection of marketing materials designed to maximise the presentation of your valuable home and its’ exposure to the right buyers. This isn’t about using every latest gimmick, but spending time and effort to create a unique vision of your special property, by paying attention to personality, style and detail. The result highlights the most desirable features of your home and its’ situation and attributes, presenting it as if it was our own. This is coupled with an insight into the lifestyle which is enjoyed there. Enhanced presentation and marketing exposure are two key elements of achieving the best price for your property. The third is excellent service - advising and supporting, reviewing and acting always in your best interests. We keep a smaller sales portfolio which allows us to treat each property individually. Our straightforward agency contract is easy to understand, has neither a minimum contract period or any withdrawal fees, should your circumstances change. All costs are completely transparent and agreed in advance – with no hidden extras. Our sales commission is dependant on a successful sale on terms you are happy with.
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MAXIMUM EXPOSURE APPRAISAL OF YOUR PROPERTY The starting point is to provide you with a valuation of your home, gain an understanding of your personal and financial objectives and offer you comprehensive and clear advice on the current market conditions, presentation and how to maximise value. PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY Our photographer will capture the best of your property, producing exciting visuals to inspire buyers, showcasing style, the best features and the lifestyle it offers. These can include aerial and videography to show property setting, and twilight images, when desired. FLOOR PLANS & ENERGY PERFORMANCE Every home for sale must have an EPC before full marketing can commence. We will obtain this on your behalf, in addition to high quality detailed measured floor plans, which are essential information for buyers.
PROPERTY BROCHURES We design a bespoke printed sales brochure for your home. This is designed to enhance our online marketing and support the quality and value of your property. PAGETURNER AND EMAIL PRESENTATION Our online pageturner version of the property brochure brings your property particulars to life on the web. This is a very effective way to view a digital brochure, to maximise impact and generate as many enquiries as possible. ONLINE MARKETING Central to our strategy, since our online presence brings the most buyers to us, in the first instance. Our exclusive website fineandcountry.com promotes only individual, special and higher end properties. We also have advertising contracts with the main property portals to ensure comprehensive online coverage.
PARK LANE WINDOW DISPLAY Have your property displayed in our 40ft window display in possibly the best location in London. It is the largest estate agency shop frontage on Park Lane and displays some of the most elite properties from around the world. This exposure gives you access to the lucrative London market
OFFICES AND WINDOW DISPLAYS We have invested in prominent and welcoming sales offices in Penrith and Carlisle, from where we cover all the CA postcodes. These provide focal points for buyers and a perfect environment for conversations about ‘all things property’.
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THE BEST SERVICE SOCIAL MEDIA BOOST
Fine & Country make use of social media, such as Facebook, to bring buyers to our properties and to feature individual property stories. This is done both at a local and national level, bringing a wide range of interest to our clients’ properties. NATIONAL PRESS AND THE ‘REFINED’ MAGAZINE Fine & Country routinely advertises in The Times, Sunday Times, the Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph, showcasing some of the best properties on the market and bringing buyers to our brand. Fine & Country regularly publish the company’s national ‘Refined’ magazine, which includes properties new to the market. This is circulated in print and digitally to all registered buyers. PR PITCHING AND TARGETED MARKETING Based in Park Lane, London, our Media Centre has close relationships with journalists at national newspapers, magazines and online property or lifestyle publications - creating the property stories which you see every week. Through the Media Centre we promote our clients’ properties, providing material which may attract a feature in one of these publications, whose editors are always looking for high quality content for their readers. We are also able to introduce regular content to local publications, for their property sections.
OUR SERVICE TO YOU COMMUNICATION The sale of your property can be a stressful experience so we will do all we can to mitigate that for you. The best way we find to achieve this is regular communication. To that end, we will be in touch on a regular basis and will agree with you a plan so that we can review marketing and make any changes we agree are required. SALES KNOWLEDGE AND ACCOMPANIED VIEWINGS Our sales staff will visit your home and we’ll prepare viewing notes, with your input. Specialist viewing staff will show your property to interested parties. It’s a vital part of the selling process, so that buyers are as well informed as possible. PROPERTY MATCHING AND SELLING The establishment of good relationships with buyers is the foundation of successful sales. To some extent, this is about having a good buyer database and use our knowledge of their needs and preferences to introduce them to their dream home. However, it is also about working with buyers who are known to us and who we work with to bring them to new properties as early as possible.
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THE GOLD STANDARD SALES PROGRESSION This is an important part of the process, once we have a buyer. The conveyancing process has become more complex and time consuming. Whilst it is primarily the duty of your conveyancer to progress the legal process, we follow the sale through, and are on hand to help resolve issues. . Nick’s extensive experience as a property lawyer is invaluable in this regard. LEGAL FITNESS The time taken to complete a property sale has grown, due to issues arising with the legal process, which add avoidable cost and stress. Presale legal checks can help - relating to the legal title, boundaries and such matters as planning and building regulation compliance. Examples of avoidable issues which have arisen include title boundaries which did not include all the property, deeds revealing a restrictive covenant against a specific use and a property with no documented right of way from the road to the front gate! This is available an an optional extra at separate cost.
EXPERT NEGOTIATION We usually earn our commission in the negotiating process, improving offers made, to secure you the best result. All negotiations are carried out at a senior level, overseen at Director level. We will only recommend an offer to you when we are happy with the terms. We also qualify the buyer’s financial position. CONVEYANCING We work with leading local solicitors who provide conveyancing services to Fine & Country clients. It is vital to have lawyers who communicate well with us and seek to progress your sale as effectively as possible. PURCHASE SEARCH HELP If you’re moving out of the area, our branch network allows us to highlight your requirements to the right Fine & Country office, which can help you with your onward move. COMPLIANCE There is an increasing amount of regulations imposed on the property selling sector of the economy, which includes strict anti-money laundering requirements. We must conduct checks on our clients’ identity before we do business with them. The same applies to buyers who agree to buy your property. To ensure that this is covered, we have invested in digital systems and we also check and obtain your property legal title from the Land Registry. FOR YOUR ASSURANCE We are confident that we will provide you with the service that you expect, but should anything fall between the cracks, one of our directors is always available to deal with any issues. We also belong to The Property Ombudsman Scheme and maintain professional indemnity insurance for the benefit of our clients.
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Fine & Country | North Cumbria Fine & Country Penrith One Little Dockray Penrith Cumbria CA11 7HL T 01768 869007 E cumbria@fineandcountry.com W fineandcountry.com/uk/north-cumbria Fine & Country Carlisle 50 Warwick Road Carlisle Cumbria CA1 1DN T 01228 583109 E cumbria@fineandcountry.com W fineandcountry.com/uk/north-cumbria
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