Testimonials

Client buying in Suffolk with fulfilled wish list

Recently, I looked back at the wish list I put together before I first contacted you.  Back then, I remember feeling doubtful about how much of what I wanted was realistic or achievable, and steeling myself to be ready to make lots of compromises.   

I didn’t include ‘a view’, for example, having decided that this was probably a self-indulgent ‘ask too far’.  There were lots of other items though, and it makes me smile to see that I had listed ‘potting shed’ twice – clearly something of great importance. The two of you achieved every single item on the list and secured for me a lovely period house in an outstanding location, which I must admit I would not actually have bothered to view without your encouragement.  Beyond this, there are sublime and far reaching views from almost every window… and several potting sheds. 

I came into the buying process with some trepidation but asking Anthony and Gillie from Stacks in Suffolk to act for me was a really good decision.  You showed fantastic attention to detail, anticipated all eventualities, and provided timely and practical help and guidance every step of the way.  Above all, you supported me in making my own considered decisions, and I am so grateful to you for all your help in getting me to where I am now! 

With love to you both, 

Client July 2022

Without Nick the buying process would have been much longer and more complicated

As a first time buyer, before meeting Nick Cunningham, I was so confused about the house buying process. Nick helped me to view the house, negotiated the offer, introduced surveyor, explained the house issues in the survey report. Additionally, Nick built connection with my solicitor and the vendor solicitor and the vendor agency to facilitate the house exchange process. Nick acted on my behalf to talk to all parties when I was not able to due to my busy working schedule. When identifying problems in the searches, Nick liaised with both solicitors to clarify the issue and resolve. Nick was very patient to answer all the questions I have and reassured me when I was confused. Without Nick the buying process would have been much longer and more complicated. I really appreciate what Nick has done.

Jeramie

We would recommend the services of Ed Jephson unreservedly to anyone on a serious property quest

Moving house is often likened to the trauma of bereavement or the stress of a short prison sentence!

So to have had the services of professional house finder, Ed Jephson, turned the experience into an exciting and fruitful adventure.

Ed’s previous experience as an estate agent himself and his exhaustive knowledge of the area of the country in which we were interested proved invaluable.

In addition, his close relationship with local agents enabled us to often have first viewings prior to properties going on the open market.

The otherwise time consuming drudge of us having to do endless leg work was exchanged for concise, back to back viewings at convenient times to us and in the knowledge that Ed had whittled the listings down to our precise requirements.

As an added bonus Ed undertook the tricky task of negotiating property prices and contractual niceties on our behalf.

For the very modest fee involved we would recommend the services of Ed Jephson unreservedly to anyone on a serious property quest.

Dr James & Mrs Christine Willis

We highly recommend Stacks and Rachel Johnston!

Our experience with Stacks and Rachel Johnston in parti­cular!

We contacted various Buying Agents in our search for our next home in 2020 due to the highly competitive market conditions of houses selling so quickly. We wanted to be ahead of the pack if at all possible.

We chose Stacks over other agents as they were the most flexible in terms and reasonable in price; but most important for us, they listened, took time to understand us, how we lived and what we were looking for in our next home. We felt they genuinely wanted to help.

Initially we thought Stacks would be able to get particulars to us before they hit the general market, however this was not so much the case as the housing market was moving so quickly.

We were introduced to Rachel who met us and listened to our thoughts. We decided together that our first step would be a day out with 5 viewings to test our reactions to the differing properties, location, scope to develop or not. We went to this blind (a bit like Location, Location!) Whist it was fun, it was also clear we had a lot to think about.

Rachel then started to send us properties to looks at online, with her thoughts as to why they may be suitable or not. We also sent some to her and she appraised them. If we felt they were a good possibility, Rachel would go and view them first on our behalf and send us a brief video of the house, location even to the drive up to the property. However, more often than not this didn’t happen as speed was of the essence!

Once we discovered a property, viewings happened very quickly, we were usually first to view a property. Rachel accompanied us to the viewings with full property details plus lots of background info such as flood plains, future housing development, planning issues or other relevant info.

Whilst we thought Rachel would simply find us our next home, we had no idea at the level of involvement to help secure our home from the offer and numerous emails before acceptance, guidance on when and when not to increase the bid (although as with everything, it was our choice) dealing with the elderly vendors their agents and both sets of solicitors.

The whole process was flawless with minimum stress on our part.

Once the offer was finally accepted, Rachel went over and above, helping the elderly vendors complete forms, provide them with information and help explain the process and time frames.

When it came to moving day, she met us on site with a detailed photographic report she had prepared on how things worked. She had labelled all the keys read the meters and recorded the codes. She even provided tea, coffee, biscuits and a kettle & mugs until we unpacked ours!

The house we have moved into was in high demand and with a number of offers for the vendors to choose form. We firmly believe that without Rachel and her skilled negotiation we would not have secured the property.

We highly recommend Stacks and Rachel Johnston!

Client buying near Buckingham

“I resorted to contacting Rachel to alleviate stress from my already stressful situation. I was a complete novice with regards to buying a house. There was little on the market, I had a specific budget and a deadline. I spent a good six months viewing over 16 properties in various areas. I tried to purchase a house that ticked some boxes but it fell through. My anxiety levels increased and I felt I wouldn’t be able to secure a home without some professional help. 

After such a frustrating period, a friend recommended Stacks so I emailed Rachel, who dealt with my desired area. I had a reply within hours, where we scheduled a time to speak the next morning. By the time our initial conversation had ended, I knew I wanted to employ Rachel.  

Her calm demeanour, reassuring words and non-pushy manner immediately instilled trust in me. I had been overwhelmed about every aspect of buying a new home – finding it, securing it and completing the sale.

I instructed Rachel almost immediately and from the get-go she always delivered above and beyond what I had expected from such a service. Her hand-holding was exactly what I wanted and needed and having Rachel by my side from the beginning to the very end alleviated a lot of pressure and anxiety. Thanks to her dedication and – at times hourly – persistence, I have moved into a house I’m delighted I can call home.”

Client buying in Buckinghamshire

“We were not planning to use an agent to find us a home out of London… but it was the smartest decision we ever made.  

Rachel was an honest, steadfast and meticulous partner at every stage of our move. Her research was thorough and we never made a long trip out of London to visit house with Rachel that wasn’t a valuable learning experience. In the end we chose the house that we had seen right at the start of our search! But working with Rachel meant that we moved swiftly and with confidence in our decision, fully aware the scope of what else was on offer and that all areas of our move requirements had been addressed in detail. 

Our search had indeed been comprehensive, but Rachel’s vast knowledge and experience came to the fore in the delicate and diplomatic negotiations throughout exchange and completion. Her mediation skills made an otherwise complicated purchase process clear and positive for both parties. Her input enabled constructive communication between our lawyers and the vendors in a complex rural property exchange involving new boundaries and the break-up of an estate. Everyone in the process was cooperative and grateful for her guidance and she was assertive on our behalf, getting a deal for us that we could not have pushed through on our own.

Rachel held on to the heart and head of our big step to leave London until we were ready to go. She pushed us and made us question our every motive until we were 100% clear and we have not looked back.

 I am certain that if it wasn’t for the Stacks service we would still be in Wandsworth wondering if we would ever move OR we would have compromised, stepped back from a complicated deal and never realised the home of our dreams. 

We miss Rachel! But we are super happy in our new home.“

Client buying in London

“Thanks Sara for your hard work in finding us a flat that we love in an area that we love and for all of your frank, sage advice along the way.  I doubt that we would have ever reached this stage without your invaluable assistance.  You certainly made the whole process easy for us.“

Client buying in Dorset

“James Law guided my wife and I through a house search when we were not sure of either the area that we wanted to move to or what sort of house we wanted to buy.  We were pretty sure that we wanted to move to Dorset but that was it.  

We spent several enjoyable, sometimes stressful, hours in the car and viewing properties.  James was patient, informative and had many perceptive thoughts, ideas and suggestions.

On the first day with James, he lined up a number of houses to enable him to accurately judge our requirements, likes and dislikes.  The first house was one that we had skipped past with barely a second glance when we were looking on the main property sites.  He described it as a curve ball that did not meet our original brief.  However, after some indecision on our part and significant patience from James, we decided to offer on that very first property that we had seen.  

James’s advice on the offer process, the amount to offer and making the offer was invaluable.  He also suggested a number of contacts from chartered surveyors to boiler engineers to assist along the way.

I am very pleased to say that we are now happily living in our new house at the beginning of our time in Dorset.

We cannot thank James enough as we would not be here if it had not been for him.”

Client buying in London

“Buying a home in London is not the easiest process to navigate, trying to do that from half way around the world makes it a daunting proposition. Working with Sara at Stacks made the process easily manageable. Sara learnt our preferences for neighbourhood, the type of house we were looking for and what were the key attributes that were critical. She found us an amazing apartment, and helped us through the entire process from offer to completion, working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that our interests were taken care of. We really enjoyed working with Sara and Stacks and would highly recommend having them on your side in the home buying process”

Client buying in Hampshire, West Sussex & Surrey

Now that the dust has settled on the purchase of our new home, I wanted to take this time to send you a letter of our sincere appreciation for the hard work, patience, and professionalism you showed at all moments and which were the hallmark of our interaction with you.

As a service industry professional with a 25 year in tourism management behind me, I always take a keen interest in the service I receive from the providers I choose, and I just wanted to congratulate you on a job truly well done.

It is difficult to know exactly where to start with my appreciation but from our first interaction with you, you listened keenly and patiently to our brief (even when it changed more than once during the search!), you were incredibly proactive, hardworking, and understanding of our requirements, and when the search begun in earnest you sent us many examples of options which fit our requirements before they even came onto the market. This is no better evidenced than by the fact that the eventual house that we purchased hadn’t even come back on the market after a previous agreed sale falling through before we had agreed our sale. This element of keeping us ‘ahead of the game’ offered huge value to us in our search, not least as you were doing all the heavy lifting throughout the search and sales process due to our overseas base at the time.

I would also like to thank you for the way that you went ‘above and beyond’ what was expected – contractually or personally – to assist us in all aspects of the sale once you had found the right property for us – from the sale negotiation to the recommendation of an efficient conveyancing lawyer, a surveyor, and keeping the sale ‘on track’ despite our overseas base.

Suffice to say, you provided truly excellent, detailed, personalized levels of service, and I would not hesitate to recommend you and Stacks to anyone seeking to buy a property.

Many thanks Bill – you made a huge difference to our search as I am sure you do for all your clients.

Client March 2019

Client buying in Hampshire, West Sussex & Surrey

Thank you for your attention to detail in your research in finding us the ideal home.  As a London buying agent I know the added value of the services we provide and you did not disappoint.  We would like to thank you for your guidance and advice in all aspects of our purchase.  We love the house and cannot wait to move in and getting settled.

Client buying in Northamptonshire

Mr & Mrs T needed to change the type of house they were living in, due to physical limitations coming in the near future, but knew their area well.  They had their house on the market, and the clock began to tick on finding a house that would be a positive step forward, rather than a compromise forced upon them….

“From the initial briefing and throughout Rachel Johnston, your Buckinghamshire Regional Director has been a calming, guiding presence where nothing was too much trouble in either arranging viewings, meetings, recommending professional advisors eg. Insurance broker saving us over £1,000 per annum on our premiums.  She supportively held the mirror back to us if we went off track, and relentlessly provided us with the context and facts we needed to make an informed decision – even tracking down an ex-owner who had emigrated to Australia.  Through it all she maintained (at least to us!) an air of serenity and being in total control of anything that arose. Being in an apparently strong  position – house sold/cash buyers – was one thing, however being able to “stand behind” Rachel, whilst she brought her negotiating skills to the fore, took us to another level.”

Small issues or big issues – they got the same full on Rachel solutions program. And interacting so intensely, over such an extended period, Rachel became more like part of our family as much as an advisor – making the whole experience so much more enjoyable and in the circumstances, helped tremendously in dealing with a series of stressful scenarios.

Rachel is a stand out credit to Stacks, to “Property Finding” and too herself, and we would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending her to anyone thinking of using such a service.”

Rachel says “Sometimes people are surprised that a client who knows their area well would choose to use a Buying Agent, but Mr & Mrs T had plenty to handle in their own lives, and so delegating the details of their move to a professional made sense and freed them up to concentrate on the important things such as their health.  I organised the practical househunt and then, once they had chosen the property for them, I managed the purchase all the way through to completion.

“Clients such as Mr & Mrs T are wise – getting ahead of issues they can anticipate, and being prepared to adjust their expectations without compromising on quality, means that their next move can be a positive life choice, not a misery forced upon them by circumstances.

“I am absolutely delighted that they have ended up in the perfect house for them – in the end, not any smaller, but practically much more manageable for the foreseeable future, and in a great location!”

Client buying in Somerset

”Here we are, with one Somerset house seemingly destined to be ours, about which we are very excited.  We have been greatly assisted in our endeavours by you and all your wonderful team. Everyone was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and tireless in their efforts to assist us – with none of our requests or enquiries being too much bother for anyone at any stage.

Of course, most particularly Gideon has been an invaluable source of experience and wisdom on the successful landing of just the right house – and Jo never stopped going above & beyond to help us find our ideal spot either. That said, please know this is not to make light of the undertakings made by George, Linda and Christy, all of whom were also great to work with.

We would be delighted to welcome you once we are in – although given the thoughts we are forming about some renovations/alterations we would like to address, I fear that time may be some way off!

Wishing you all the best and many thanks again.”

Client buying in Devon

”We are really grateful for Gideon’s help with the purchase of our first house this summer.

He was fantastic at explaining and helping us with everything that was happening, especially during the nerve-racking time between having our offer accepted and exchanging contracts, and was there to offer guidance and moral support during all the big moments! We are now living in and loving our new home and would recommend Gideon’s services to anyone.’’

Client buying in Gloucestershire

”We want to thank you so much for the very professional and sensitive support you have given us in navigating through the various properties we have considered for investment of our small inheritance.

The brief we had was for a property in a particular village nearby that would not only augment our pensions to provide rental income, but also as a home for ourselves if the time comes when we are no longer able to live in
our current very inaccessible hillside home.

Naturally we started out with a set of pre-conceived ideas about what would be ideal; with each option under serious consideration you carefully took us through the important issues (and show-stoppers) such as access and
utilities, and through your contact with the local agents carried out investigations into additional background information and acceptable offers which would otherwise not have been available to us.

Our project was very small but you were always ready to respond quickly to our latest flight of fantasy, calmly taking us through it. When we entered the contract stage with our final choice your advice on how to effectively
instruct and motivate our professional team allowed us to complete in one month.

The house is ideal, it has been very easy to improve so it is more energy efficient, comfortable, and cheap to run for our tenants who are very happy there, and it is nothing like our first (unsuitable) ideas!

Thanks for all the support and guidance.”

Client buying in Buckinghamshire

“It has been great to have your support – and your professionalism. I am really excited now!”

Client buying in Sussex

”What we must say, however, is that we very much appreciate all the work and effort you have put into this search. We are particularly grateful for your professional and efficient service.You have an empathetic approach which, added to your knowledge and wise guidance, has made the whole thing a lot less stressful than it might have been and, much to our surprise, we have even liked the estate agents with whom you brought us into contact (please express our gratitude to them, too for their help).”

Client buying in Gloucestershire

“Stacks helped us greatly in our search for a new home. The search was carried out with discretion and we could not be more happy with the results. I would recommend using Stacks as they are well connected to the property market and provide a realistic assessment of activity and pricing. Now that we have exchanged contracts I wanted to thank you all for your help and the professional way in which you have conducted your business.

We were impressed with your deep levels of experience in the markets in which you operated and with the collection of properties with which we were presented. Your interactions with us were not only professional but also very friendly and we enjoyed your company.

We have also been very pleased, James, with the level of service we have received since making our selection – you have been a great help in getting us to contract exchange. You have exceeded our expectations for a buy-side property service and have made the process a smooth one for us.”