7 minute read
Meet Tim Goodwin
Williams & Goodwin 313 High Street, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales www.tppuk.com 01248 355333 Offices: Bangor, Caernarfon, Llangefni, Holyhead
TIM GOODWIN
BANGOR Wales
How did you get into real estate? Do you remember your first day?
Although it is over 40 years ago I actually do! I spent a summer before going off to do my degree at my father's estate agency and was sent up three flights of stairs to do the printing for the window displays on an old heat printing press. My father had just purchased a Polaroid camera & thought it was revolutionary that he could get an instant colour photograph. How times have changed!
Estate agency has been my only career so in one phrase it's “A passion for property.”
What makes you different from your competitors?
Being selected as the only agent in our area to be Members of The Guild of Property Professionals makes us unique. But we also utilise technology and modern selling tools, whilst still standing by our traditional estate agency values. I believe this is fundamental to us achieving considerable repeat business. The fact that we can offer a full range of services from sales, lettings, new homes or auctions not just for residential properties but also commercial, agricultural and land makes us the ultimate one-stop destination for people's property needs.
What do you recommend to sellers/landlords in preparing their home prior to marketing?
Try and look at the property through a prospective tenant/ buyer's eye. Simple jobs can often help its presentation. A cut back of the hedge on the front drive or a lick of paint in the hall can often mean the one chance you get to make a first impression is greatly improved.
Like most estate agents, being part of the community is important to me. Having just turned 60 I still like to stay active with a little bit of cycling & trying to improve my golf. I gave in to my wife in lockdown & after years of gentle persuasion bought a dog. With all the lovely walks Anglesey has to offer, we spend plenty of time on the beach trying [but failing] to teach him how to come back to a whistle.
Tim Goodwin Director at William & Goodwin tim@tppuk.com 40years + estate agency experience BSc Estate Management, RICS, FNAEA, MARLA, CPEA
“you need to have integrity, be honourable & trustworthy “
What are some important questions a seller or landlord should ask you on a listing presentation?
Whilst questions such as ‘how much can I get for my property’ & ‘how long a contract do you need’ are obvious, think of the presentation as an interview. Ask questions like ‘what would you do to market my property that makes you stand out from the rest,’ ‘how much experience have you & the team who will be marketing my property have,’ or ‘what % of the sale price to original asking price have you achieved in the last 12 months.’ Test them on their knowledge of the area and the justification they can provide with regards to the figures they are suggesting.
How much of a team effort is it when selling or letting a home?
The answer is completely. Every team member has different strengths and a good team knows who is best to deal with a specific task or client. I know it sounds a little trite but the team I work with really does feel like a family and by working together and helping each other we achieve better results.
The area I work in is very diverse and the properties I go to in a day can vary from a 1 bedroomed flat below £100,000 to a water-fronted property at over £2M, so it is essential to carry out research before the appointment. A qualification of what the property has to offer when booking the valuation helps prepare comparable evidence of similar properties we have sold in the area. Obviously, an intimate knowledge of the area comes from experience but trends and popularity of areas can change very quickly. Whilst comparable past sales are useful, valuing is a difficult skill as you need to be able to predict the future based on the past, so I believe you need to be very much involved in the day to day activities of the office, to fully understand what type of property is likely to have a demand and reflect this in your valuation.
What constitutes a great marketing campaign and how do you execute it?
Anyone who worked in estate agency 30 years or more ago will remember the phrase “Hot Box” which was a simple card index system of able and willing buyers every negotiator had on their desk. Whilst computers and the internet have provided great additional marketing tools, so often these are just reactive devices and a proactive approach can still be used alongside such a campaign. We immediately work our database as soon as we are instructed; picking up the phone and speaking to people we know who are looking for that type of property and generating interest long before a generic mailshot is sent, or the property appears on the internet. If considering a marketing campaign for a property, make it eye-catching, if considering a marketing campaign for a business, make it memorable. Some of the company marketing promotions we did over 10 years ago are still talked about today.
How much emphasis does your agency place on staff training?
It's essential. We make it part of any job offer that new starters have to complete basic training from the induction process when staff start, through to mentoring and offering financial incentives to progress to a higher benchmark. When you consider the fact that property is so often an individual's most important asset, it never ceases to amaze me how little qualification there needs to be for people to enter our industry. I strongly consider estate agency to be a profession and as such, amongst other things, professional qualifications are required to substantiate such a belief. Even after years in the business, hardly a week goes by when I don’t learn something new.
What are the key aspects when negotiating a house sale/let?
With knowledge and experience you start to look at the full picture. If the offer is lower than a vendor expected, see if you can help the seller make up the difference elsewhere. Enquire if factors such as time scales and ability to substantiate an offer are more important than the financial sums involved. If the prospective purchaser needs to increase, provide justifications for them to do so, for instance when an extra £5,000 is broken down to a monthly mortgage re-payment sometimes it does not seem as much.
How important is having a good reputation in this industry?
To me, the answer is obvious if you look at the question in reverse. Why would you ever use someone with a bad reputation? I remember coming into the office recently to see a bunch of flowers on the front desk. When I asked who they were from I was told it was a vendor for whom we had completed a sale that day. I then asked who the box of wine in the kitchen was from to be told it was the buyer of the same property. When you have both the buyer and seller thinking you have done a good job that’s when you know you are getting a great reputation.
What qualities do you need to be a successful estate agent & why?
Firstly you need to have integrity and be honourable and trustworthy as this will lead to you being held with respect. Having extensive experience in the area you cover helps provide knowledge, and by being approachable people will feel at ease in asking you questions or for advice. An old director of mine, from a military background, once said to me, time spent in reconnaissance is time seldom wasted and those words still ring true today, so preparing properly for an appointment with comparable evidence and knowledge of clients’ needs is essential. I said earlier that no two days are the same, and likewise, no two clients are the same, so use the precious time to listen to the customer. If you can establish what they really need and deliver that expectation, success will automatically follow.
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