Creative Industry professionals, moving their young family for schooling and country lifestyle, within commuting distance of London

Why they came to Stacks

Mr & Mrs B were recommended to speak to Stacks after discussions with “Life After London” reaffirmed their nebulous plans to ‘move out of London at some point’ in early 2018. 

What they were looking for

A haven for the adults, a wild paradise for the boys, a practical workbase for their businesses, within easy reach of London. Basically, the ‘forever family home’ in Buckinghamshire!

Added to the practical aspects of schooling decisions, catchment areas, bus routes, trainlines and journey times,  the property would have to accommodate two creative businesses, including a working studio,  space for more distant relatives for long visits, plus space for the two boys to run wild in the safe confines of the garden. 

A bonus to their arrangements would be if they could keep the London property and rent it out, whilst still funding the Bucks property. After viewing a few properties by themselves, they came back to Stacks to help bring some structure and consistency to the process.

What the local area could offer

The original intent had been to escape to the country – probably the West Country – but after some serious analysis of career plans, they realised that their creative businesses needed to stay in daily touching distance of the capital.  Having reconciled their dreams to that fate, they were drawn to Buckinghamshire to be near to family, and found themselves pleasantly surprised at the country feel so close to London, but overwhelmed by the multitude of options now available to them.

How Stacks helped

Their Regional Director for Buckinghamshire, Rachel Johnston, says “I was thrilled with their commitment to ‘the process’, and having started with a ‘where do we start, it could be anything’ brief, we were rigorous in assessing the available properties in light of all their competing priorities. 

It was very satisfying to find that nothing could top the very first house I showed them, which after protracted negotiations, we secured with a 9.5% discount on the asking price,  more than covering the fees, including Stacks’ fee, and the refurb costs.”

The happy outcome

Mrs B says “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.”

How Stacks made a difference

Busy entrepreneurs are a typical clientele for a Buying Agent.  Used to delegating and ‘buying their time’ they just do not have the option to learn the property market in potentially a whole new area and keep ahead of the competition.  Add into that ‘time is money’ literally for their businesses and the urgency of getting the decision right first time for their children, it makes obvious sense to employ a professional search agent to remove as many obstacles as possible for you.

If you have more important things to be spending your time on, but still need to get moving, contact your local Regional Director to find out how more on how they help people just like you.