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Property Chairman Debbie Anderson reports a strong start to 2012
2012 has got off to a flying start reports McCartneys Property Chairman, Debbie Anderson.
Despite the gloomy newspaper reports on the property market McCartneys are experiencing high levels of enquiries and sales in the first month of 2012, properties to let are also experiencing unprecedented levels of demand.
Debbie says “Our offices are busy, viewings are up and general enquiries indicate that there are many people wishing to make a move in 2012. Properties are letting very quickly and we have tenants waiting for further stock to become available.”
In January 2012 McCartneys merged with Phipps & Pritchard who have offices in Bridgnorth, Stourport and Kidderminster.
“ Our merger with Phipps & Pritchard has meant that we can now offer a service across an area unrivalled by any other agent. I am also delighted that from Monday 30th January our Cleobury Mortimer Office will be open 6 days a week with a joint team from McCartneys and Phipps & Pritchard to service existing clients and new ones from Cleobury Mortimer to Kidderminster ”
“If you are thinking of selling or letting your home in 2012 then please call your local McCartneys or Phipps & Pritchard Office – we are here to help!” Debbie Anderson, Property Chairman. -
New Year, New Look, for our Fine and Country Park Lane Office
Fine & Country McCartneys, has unveiled its new look headquarters on Park Lane in Mayfair, London. The elegantly revamped office near Marble Arch is already attracting additional customers providing a high end, international and affluent audience for vendors selling their property through this award winning agency.
The contemporary and stylish office design utilises the latest technology such as touch screen window cards, which showcase individual properties in the front windows, and dual screens for Fine & Country staff to enable a constant feed of property related information through social media platforms. Bespokely designed wallpaper has been integrated with hand crafted furnishings to appeal to the target demographic of customer. Illuminated award cabinets have been incorporated into the new look to showcase the ever increasing number of awards received by the brand in recent years.
Customers coming into the company’s Park Lane head office can see properties that are currently on sale via Fine & Country’s 300 offices throughout the UK and internationally in popular locations such as Spain, Portugal and South Africa.
Debbie Anderson, Property Chairman at McCartneys says: “Having an office on Park Lane and being part of a bigger network of offices means our Fine & Country vendors enjoy a much larger target market to promote their property and gives them an opportunity to access the lucrative London and international market. With prices continuing to grow in London, it is making property outside the capital seem even more affordable for London buyers.”
For more details on how to market your home with McCartneys Fine and Country call 0800 0787 370 -
McCartneys Announce their ‘Stars’ at Annual Awards Event
McCartneys held their much anticipated annual awards last week, the event hosted at the Luctonians Rugby Club was well attended by over 140 people and McCartneys were delighted to welcome the staff and partners of Phipps & Pritchard following their merger on the 1st January.
Each year McCartneys present the awards to staff across all areas of the firm in recognition of their achievements.
The awards for 2011 were as follows :
Negotiator of The Year - Bethan Meredith – Newtown Office
Most Promising Newcomer - Rachel Gittoes- Brecon Office
Customer Service Award - Hannah Jones – Hay-on-Wye Office
Office of the Year - Tenbury Wells
Drovers Award - Gareth Powell
Livestock Market Award - Ted Williams
Long Service Award - Mark Shakespeare
Unsung Hero Award - Clive Jones – Ludlow Market
Michael Thomas acted as compere for the evening and John Uffold, Chairman, rounded off the awards with a speech to all the staff thanking them for their hard work and commitment.
Congratulations to all of our well-deserved winners! -
New Branch Manager yet a Familiar Face at McCartneys Newtown.
McCartneys are pleased to introduce the new branch manager of the Newtown Office, Laura Morris.
Laura joined the McCartneys Newtown Office in 2006 after studying Business and Management at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth and has progressed through the firm over the last 5 years training on the job gaining a Post Graduate Diploma in Surveying through The College of Estate Management and is currently carrying out her Assessment of Professional Competence with The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Laura is responsible for the day to day running of the Newtown Branch and along with her dedicated team provides customers with the highest levels of service dealing with all manner of property matters right across Mid Wales from the Shropshire Borders to the Welsh Coast.
“I have gained a great deal of experience over the years I have spent with McCartneys and am delighted to be offered this exciting new challenge and am looking forward to pushing the Newtown Branch forward and concentrating on continuing to offer our clients the highest standards of service”.
Tom Carter MRICS MNAEA, partner in charge, “Since opening in 2004 the Newtown office has gone from strength to strength and now with Laura at the Helm we are ensuring that this will continue. It is vital to have the right person running any of our property offices and with Laura’s drive, professionalism and forward thinking approach to selling and letting property, I am confident that McCartneys will continue to be the busiest and most productive estate agents in Newtown. I am looking forward to working out of the Newtown office on a regular basis carrying out professional work and overseeing the no doubt exceptional work that Laura and her team will be undertaking.”
At McCartneys we understand that moving home is one of the most important decisions you make and that your home is both a financial and emotional investment. We take the instruction to sell your home as a privilege and as a serious commitment to you.
McCartneys are a local firm with a national presence. In addition to our 17 regional property offices throughout the Marches area, we have an associated London office heading up the prestigious Fine and Country brand which is designed to specifically to market higher end country homes. The offices are all networked meaning that details of your property for sale and rent is available in all of the offices.
As well as the office network we have excellent internet coverage with www.mccartneys.co.uk currently experiencing approximately 11,000 hits per week. In addition, our properties are listed on www.rightmove.com which is the UK’s largest property website. The website coverage is complimented by the use of social media such as facebook and twitter providing comprehensive and essential exposure, with approximately 88% of property searches starting online.
As well as embracing the very latest technology to sell and let property, McCartneys have not forgotten our traditional roots and continue to utilise the more conventional marketing methods, advertising in regional and national newspapers and glossy “lifestyle” magazines.
McCartneys also have dedicated Rural Professional, Survey, Planning and Fine Art Departments so whatever your property or land requirement we have the team to help.
For more information please call the Newtown Office on 01686 623123 Laura on 07966890498, laura.morris@mccartneys.co.uk or visit www.mccartneys.co.uk -
2011, Not all Doom and Gloom for the Property Market as McCartneys Celebrate the Opening of a New Office in Welshpool !
2011 has seen the opening of another estate agency office for McCartneys as our new Welshpool property office opened its doors for the first time last week. Welshpool will complement our existing 16 estate agency offices which are spread across Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Mid Wales.
The design and build of our newest office was managed in-house by McCartneys Survey Department and all work carried out on the premises was by local tradesmen using local suppliers.
The office has been fitted with the latest technology including LED property displays, a state of the art communication system and top IT equipment. Our in-house IT department ensure McCartneys are up to date with the latest developments allowing all of our offices to be computer linked so that details of all properties for sale and let are available across the whole area.
The office will be managed by Tom Carter (BSc Hons MRICS MNAEA), Partner in McCartneys. Tom is Welshpool born and bred and started his career with McCartneys in Newtown which has proved to be one of McCartneys most successful offices. He is joined by Jamie Tulloch who has 7 years experience in the industry carrying out general estate agency work from valuations to managing rental property. Jamie started his career with McCartneys and then worked for two top end national estate agents before returning to McCartneys to drive the new Welshpool office forward. Tanya Francis, who will be involved in negotiations and administration for the office, completes the team.
Jamie Tulloch commented
"I am thrilled to be back working with McCartneys and excited about the challenge of pushing the new Welshpool office forward with the aim of making it one of the most successful offices within the company, as well as providing an excellent and thorough service to all of clients for all of their property requirements."
Tom Carter, Partner concluded
“Welshpool is a Town in which we have wanted to open a property office for some considerable time and we are delighted to have finally secured the right premises from which to operate. I look forward to being able to offer McCartneys wide range of services and expertise to the local community.”
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Katie Morris, Rural Professional and Chartered Surveyor for McCartneys. and Geraint Jones, Building Surveyor for McCartneys will also be based at the new Welshpool office offering our rural professional service and survey services.
McCartneys offer a complete package tailor- made for vendors wishing to sell their properties from local newspaper presence to advertising in the broadsheets, coverage in local magazines including Country and Border Life, Shropshire and Herefordshire Life, an excellent website www.mccartneys.co.uk and the recent launch of marketing through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
“I am delighted we are finally opening in Welshpool, I know that with Tom and Jamie at the helm we can offer clients an unrivalled service to sell or let their property.“ Debbie Anderson, Property Chairman
For more information on our newest property office call 01938 531000 or alternatively e-mail welshpool@mccartneys.co.uk -
Phenomenal Success at Talybont Auction
A pretty little farmstead under the Brecon Beacons attracted a huge roomful of buyers when sold by McCartneys at their recent auction at Brecon Market Auction Room. Nantllannerch, Near Aberystwyth, Talybont-on-Usk was a dilapidated farmstead in a stunning location at the foot of the Brecon Beacons at the end of a mile long single track road with major modernisation required and an estimate of £50,000 just to get the electricity there.
Auctioneer, Ryan Williams, said that “there had been a phenomenal interest in this property from our countrywide internet coverage and local advertising with over 50 viewers. The price guide of £250,000 to £300,000 was comfortably exceeded with several energetic bidders, and a final bid of £400,000 from local solicitor James Anderson of Jeffreys & Powell purchasing for a ‘London client’ won the day.”
Ryan concluded “despite the fact that the market is generally quite difficult, it shows that these ‘one off’, special and rare properties are still best sold by auction when competitive bidding can push the price to a very acceptable level, with the contracts signed immediately in a transparent, certain and open situation.” -
McCartneys Leominster Office Celebrate NAEA Success!
We are pleased to announce that Kim Savage, a sales negotiator at McCartneys Leominster Office has successfully passed her qualifications to become a member of the National Association of Estate Agents.
Kim joined McCartneys in 2009 and has since become a valued member of the team at the Leominster office. She covers all aspects of estate agency and has worked closely with Office Manager Richard Probert to gain both experience and understanding of the industry; this with her recent success proves to be a great achievement for the busy Leominster office.
Richard Probert, Office Manager at Leominster commented
“ We are extremely proud of Kim’s achievement, it shows both her dedication and commitment to her job. By gaining this qualification it will help us provide a higher quality of service and understanding to all of our clients” -
Calling all First Time Buyers !
First Time Buyers have until March 2012 to take advantage of an incentive given by the government to encourage them to step onto the housing ladder.
Stamp Duty is payable on all purchases of property and land at a rate of 1% on all purchases over £125,000 up to £250,000 – the rate at over £250,000 rises to 3% and at £500,000 is 4%.
However if you are a First Time Buyer the threshold for when you start to pay Stamp Duty is £250,000. This is only if you have never owned a house or flat in the UK or anywhere else in the world. If you are buying with someone else they must never have owned property before either. This higher threshold applies to purchases before 25 March 2012.
So if you are thinking of buying your first home take advantage of this tax break before it disappears.
Debbie Anderson MNAEA Property Chairman – McCartneys LLP -
New Funds For Farmers To Support Installation Of Renewable Energy Technologies
The concept of Feed-In Tariffs and receiving payment for energy produced from renewable sources has now been with us for nearly two and a half years.
The installation of a small scheme renewable technology makes good sense for most farm businesses and is surely a win-win situation. Not only is payment received for every unit of energy produced, via Feed-In Tariffs, but current costs are reduced as less energy is consumed, and paid for, from the grid. Plus the icing on the cake is if you produce more energy than you can use an additional Feed-In Tariff payment is made on every unit of energy sold back to the National Grid.
The importance of renewable technologies to farm businesses must not be understated, introducing an additional income stream to the business as well as saving on ever increasing energy costs. This importance is so much so that Barclays bank has announced a £100 million fund for UK farmers investing in renewable energy. The fund is available for solar, wind and hydro projects. This announcement really shows there is confidence in investing in these projects, they are worthwhile and money can be earned from them.
The majority of projects are expected to pay for themselves in less than 10 years, with payback periods of as little as 7 years being achievable for some. It is also predicted that the cost of installing wind and solar technologies will significantly reduce over the next few years.
With Feed-In Tariffs being index linked and providing a guaranteed income stream for 20 years for wind projects and 25 years for solar projects is this really an opportunity you can afford to miss?
McCartneys Renewable Energy department have already successfully completed numerous wind and solar projects. For more advice please contact your local agent. -
On the Beeb
McCartneys have received some fantastic coverage from the BBC in the past few weeks, firstly for a new BBC 2 series titled Towns and secondly from the ever popular Countryfile.
McCartneys Ludlow Market was very proud to be featured on the new BBC 2 series titled Towns. The program presented by Nicolas Crane focuses on some of the most popular Towns in our Country, the people, culture and how they survive. It was fantastic to see McCartneys Ludlow Market and our Auctioneers in action as well as being a pleasure to see some of our clients on the show also.
John Uffold Chairman of McCartneys and auctioneer at Ludlow commented,
‘The programme clearly indicated the importance of Ludlow livestock market to the surrounding agricultural community and economy as a whole. A fact often overlooked by central and local government. It was gratifying that so publicised programme brought this home and clearly demonstrated the value of the livestock auction system to the country as a whole.’
It was also fantastic to see the support for the Honeybourne Sale which was featured on Countryfile recently. McCartneys are proud to have stepped in to help save the traditional sale and it was great to see Adam Henson and the team there. Tom Greenow from McCartneys Worcester Market auctioneered at the sale and was featured giving Adam some tips. It was a great day with good prices and we hope the coverage will help the sale to progress and continue the tradition.
