It's A Fine & Country Life in Wetherby
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Managers Katie Poulter & Andrew Butler |
Excelle Magasine - June 2007
One of Leeds’ best known estate agents has moved into Market Place, Wetherby. In case you’ve been on an exotic holiday and have failed to hear the news, Manning Stainton has opened its latest branch in the former DTZ Residential offices. Although the winds of change are sweeping through 25 Market Place, many familiar faces remain, as all of the former agency team have been retained, writes Michele Andrew.
Manning Stainton’s familiar red, white and blue sale boards are dotted across Leeds and Wakefield, as the estate agent sells almost one in four properties across the Leeds district. It’s perhaps surprising, therefore, that the move into LS22 has been a while in coming. According to Branch Manager, Andrew Harrison, “Good things come to those who wait! And sellers are now bound to benefit from the strategic link between Wetherby and our North Leeds offices.”
North Leeds to North Yorkshire
How exactly? Well the sheer number of house hunters currently living in North Leeds who are looking to move into the market town means that those with property to offer in and around Wetherby have a bigger pool of potential buyers. So a large percentage of buyers strolling into Manning Stainton’s Adel, Horsforth, Moortown or Headingley offices, for example, are already likely to have identified Wetherby as their ideal next location. With a flurry of people thinking about moving in order to beat paying out for a HIP’s survey in June, it’s a competitive market. “Those who use highly targeted marketing are the most likely to get their property in front of the right buyer,” advises Andrew Harrison.
It makes sense. Wetherby is a rather special town with its own idiosyncrasies – it’s not going to appeal to urbanites wanting to hang out in celeb bars 24/7. (Thank Goodness!) So the scattergun sales approaches of a national estate agency chain are not the best way of selling property in Wetherby. What sellers in Wetherby, Boston Spa, Linton and other villages need is an agent with specialist local knowledge. “This is where we shine,” explains Andrew. “Wetherby is our fifteenth branch in the region – we are Leeds’ biggest independent agent so we have outstanding local knowledge.” That’s covered the niche marketing, but what about those looking for property on-line?
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With a staggering 1% of all internet traffic being property related, any estate agent’s website has to be a key weapon in the sales armoury. If your agent isn’t actively promoting your property on line, dump them! “We’ve invested heavily in the development of our website,” reveals David Pank, Sales Director. “With over 7 million web hits a month, manningstainton.co.uk is probably the busiest individual estate agent’s website in the district. We market more property for sale on-line than any other agent in the Leeds area, which we see as being of tremendous benefit to sellers of property in the Wetherby area, including those in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boston Spa and Collingham.”
Fine & Country sells prestige properties
“We have great plans to refurbish the branch in the coming weeks, to create Wetherby’s largest property show room,” adds David. “Our Fine & Country brand, which markets prestigious properties, will have a dedicated area within 25 Market Place. Fine & Country is part of an elite national sales network and Katie Poulter is heading up this prestigious department. We have a national database of buyers actively looking for such properties in Wetherby and the surrounding villages. Right now we’re reshaping the showroom, but are very much open for business, so please come in and see us!”
Manning Stainton
25 Market Place
Wetherby
LS22 6LQ
Tel: 01937 583 987
Email: wetherby@manningstainton.co.uk
Web: manningstainton.co.uk/wetherby
