Autumn is on its way and as the evenings draw in, the property market continues to attract attention: lack of stock has been the cry all year and so it remains. Sales activity at this time of year is generally brisk and whilst there are reports that there is a queue for every house and the sale fall-through rate is at a staggering 40%, we can confirm that in Wiltshire we still have our feet firmly on the ground!    

The Helen Straker Charity Shoot took place on a sunny Friday afternoon in September at Stroud Hill Farm. Gentle slopes and panoramic views set the scene for a great day’s shooting with challenging ‘birds’, rivalry aplenty together with a touch of fine dining courtesy of The Bear, in Wadworth’s marquee. 21 teams took part including Team Strakers, led by our very own Guy Straker. The event culminated in a charity auction conducted by one of the organisers, Andrew Fleming who kindly wrote the following: “An enormous thank you  for all the help that you kindly gave... I am delighted to be able to say that we far exceeded our expectations. Having done our final figures we managed to raise just over £44,000 which will now be going to the two charities we are supporting this year, the Dorothy House Hospice and the new cancer unit at the RUH, Bath.” To see more information about us and events we have been involved with please visit our facebook page. 

Our Auctioneer, Charlie Doel enjoys the daily challenge and variety that goes with the nature of an auction department: having an understanding of a market that ranges from the odd parcel of land in the centre of a village to an ‘investment’ townhouse; and from a building plot to a farmhouse with land, he has an inherent interest in property of all types. Selling at auction requires a special quality and Charlie admits that he has been trained by the very best! He heads up a department that regularly offers 20 or more lots per sale, eight times a year from three venues that cover the north of the county and Bath; so he and his team are kept busy!

Within our midst we  have an unsung trio of dedicated sales progressors (or chasers!) who monitor each and every sale that we agree on behalf of our clients. It is difficult to define their value to those outside of our business since their work involves keeping sales on track at a time when the matter is really in the hands of solicitors, lenders and surveyors. If one were to define the workload of an estate agent, it may be fair to divide it as: 1/3rd seeking instructions; 1/3rd selling the houses; and 1/3rd seeing the sales through. It really is that relevant. The results speak for themselves too: a national statistic says that 40% of sales fall through whereas our statistic is just 20%! And another benefit is that it gives the sales teams more time to sell more houses!
Click here to read That’s progress.

We are very proud to announce that we have been nominated for the prestigious ‘Negotiator’ Auction House of the Year  award. Coinciding with this we are also pleased to introduce our new Auction Administrator Karen Lacey who is based at our auction office in Chippenham (tel 01249 765200).  Look out, too, for our next sale: it’s on the 29th October at The Assembly Rooms in Bath with a great Autumn line up of 23 lots including a parcel of woodland in Dauntsey, a farmhouse in historic Pickwick and an old bakery for redevelopment in Great Bedwyn. See you there!