Ms M 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.“

“I am fortunate to be using Stacks Property Search.

I needed help because my lack of mobility would make it difficult for me to visit properties.

An internet search found Stacks & Rachel Johnston as the Regional Director of the area in which I wanted to move.

Rachel proved to be an enormous help. The first stages of the search were her establishing my requirements, then she identified properties in my defined areas, previewed them and arranged visits for me. Her knowledge of the area and her good relationships with the local agents helped me further define my requirements, whilst encouraging me to think creatively about what could work for me.

Her patience and sympathetic appreciation of my need was very helpful, and led to her finding a plot not yet on the market and persuading the developer to enter into an exclusive contract with me to build to my specification. Rachel was very useful in shepherding the transaction through a local solicitor, maintaining good relations with the vendor whilst looking after my interests.

In short, Rachel has proved to be of enormous help to me, and I would not hesitate in recommending her to anyone looking for a property.“

The Baldocks “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”

Mr & Mrs G, retired: We were living about 100 miles from the area we intended to move to. We didn’t know the area and wanted someone with local knowledge to help us find our new home. We had limited time to visit the area and wanted to focus on properties that were likely to meet our requirements.

We hoped to spend less time searching for our property and expected that Stacks would help us identify the best property and at a lower price than we would have been able to negotiate ourselves. Without Stacks help we would not have been able to secure our new property. We were able to identify potential properties in our desired area and viewed a short list of properties within a short period of time. Despite other interested parties, Stacks were able to help us secure our preferred property.

Young Family C: “Moving out of London to an area with which we were unfamiliar was daunting enough, but having an incredibly wide search area plus a list of very specific requirements meant that house hunting quickly became a challenge for which we lacked time and patience. With both of us working full time and many weekends busy, we found that we were only able to view one property every two or three weeks and usually wrote it off as a contender on arrival because of missing information from estate agents’ particulars. We were recommended to use a search agency by family and spoke to several before meeting Rachel and Nick from Stacks. The best decision we could have made!

They considered every property within our wide search area which did, or potentially could, meet our very specific criteria. We have a child with additional needs and need a home that will work for a growing family but also provide long term options for the future. We had to accommodate two separate school runs and 5 separate work locations scattered along the length of Hertfordshire plus a daily commute to London.

Rachel and Nick then made a “short list” of potential properties and we had a long viewing day covering 6/7 of the best properties. This was a much more effective way of viewing and we were soon able to refine our wish list.

With their contacts in the business, we were also able to view properties before they were officially on the market.

Because of their experience, they were able to make suggestions for alterations and locate relevant tradespeople in the area for advice and quotes which helped make the decision making process so much easier. They were invaluable in their advice, particularly when it came to negotiation on price!

We cannot imagine how long it would have taken us to find our perfect home with out Stacks – and we suspect that we would have compromised a long time ago!”

Ms S of Oxfordshire:
“I had been looking a long time. I thought I would benefit from having someone with whom to discuss the search who would be IMPARTIAL and who WOULD TAKE AS BROAD A VIEW AS POSSIBLE of the kind of property and location for which I was looking. Practically, I needed someone to do LEG WORK and EYE BALLING. I thought it was certainly worth paying for both those things when I compared that fee with the sum which would be expended on house and works.

Up until I employed Stacks I had been searching, mostly online, and then had gone myself, or seconded friends, or family, to look at houses on my radar. This was, in fact, doing things the wrong way round. What I needed was someone to look at as many houses as possible which met the brief, then I decide which ones were of particular interest.

The actual house I bought was because it MET MY BRIEF, but also BECAUSE I HAD INVESTED IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH A BUYING AGENT, I HAD THE CONFIDENCE TO GO AHEAD. There was the feeling I HAD CONSIDERED AS MANY OPTIONS AS POSSIBLE.

Very importantly, I felt Rachel Johnston and Stacks GAVE ME A VERY DETAILED AND CLEAR WAY OF CONSIDERING POSSIBLE PROPERTIES so that the conversation between us gave me the feeling that I was constantly getting closer to my goal: this was also down to her IMPARTIALITY, PROFESSIONALISM and REMARKABLE DILIGENCE. Her WARMTH AND HUMOUR made the whole enterprise less of a strain!

Once I had decided this was the house I wanted to buy, I felt that the agent knowing I was working with Rachel Johnston and Stacks meant he thought I was serious. This, together with time invested with him, and Stacks’ negotiation, helped secure the purchase.

There are many different stages in the process of looking for, buying and moving into a new house. Rachel was involved at every stage. That is why it is worth the fee. In essence, you are buying your best ally to meet any one or number of different people involved: Estate Agents, Solicitors, Builders and other trades, Utilities, potential neighbours, etc . She was happy to be a sounding board after the purchase, too, which we both enjoyed!

In the end, I gained a house, setting and location which are right for me.”

When we first met, I knew that you would add an extra dimension to my quest for my next home however I completely underestimated how much of a difference you would make. I can safely say that whenever I move in the future, Stacks will be called upon.

You earned your fee alone by restraining me from increasing the offer when my emotion got the better of me! Thank you for your firm and impartial advice during the transaction and your guidance on where to add value to Cherry Tree Cottage. Please feel free to drop by for a coffee next time you are in the area.

Thank you so much for all your hard work and guidance over the last few months, Tara and I both know that without your insight into the local property market, we would not now be in possession of our dream home. Your solid understanding of our brief and tireless efforts, combined with the excellent solicitors you recommended have made us realise that house buying can be (almost) stress free!

In terms of feedback, I have nothing but positive things to say about Stacks. Chris and Percy were great to deal with – responsive, persistent and impartial. They got all elements of the brief very quickly and were rigorous in sticking to it and helping me to stay patient. I have recommended the service widely.

Nothing was too much trouble for Chris and I particularly like the fact that the service didn’t end as soon as we exchanged. Chris has helped me with all sorts of bits of admin (putting me in touch with the gardener, organising pest control, etc) even after completion. And I have no doubt at all that it was his personal relationship with the selling agent, together with Percy’s input in bid tactics, that got us the house over that fateful August weekend at the price we could afford (just!).

Every time we go to the house we like both it and the area even more so we are highly delighted.

I have told Chris that when – in 10 years time – we want to move up to somewhere bigger we will be using Stacks again to find it!

Our many heartfelt ”thank yous” for being such a wonderful home hunter for us and for all your guidance. You have found us a superb home which we feel fortunate to call our own.

When I decided to move out of London I wasn’t sure where I wanted to be so I contacted Stacks and it was the best decision I made. Sarah helped me focus on the search area, found a superb property that was not on the open market, negotiated the price on my behalf and pushed the purchase through with the surveyor and solicitor. The house required updating and reconfiguring, the builders Sarah recommended were superb. Throughout the process Sarah and the team were efficient but with a personal touch which made all the difference, the whole process was a pleasure rather than a worry. I recommend them 100%.