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New retirement living service introduced by national estate agency

Posted 23 June 2016 by Keith Osborne

Humberts is launching a new service for older homeowners who wish to downsize from their current home or buy a dedicated retirement property...

A leading estate agency has announced the launch of its specialised Retirement Living Service, designed to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ approach for older homeowners looking to downsize or move into the growing private retirement property sector.

The service, from Humberts, gives each client a ‘personal assistant’, who can access the firm’s extensive network of branches across the UK to locate suitable property and then help with paperwork, dealing with solicitors and the logistics of moving home, all at no extra cost.

Adam Phelps​The Retirement Living Service comes with a range of three options:

  • Humberts Market Appraisal – This is the standard service, which offers clients the chance to discuss their onward move requirements, after which the client will receive a professional, formal valuation report from a local Humberts expert (or, where Humberts does not have an office, from a suitable local agent).
  • Humberts Assisted Move – This adds to the standard service by providing a recommendation to the client as to how to ensure a sale is achieved within a three- to four-week time frame. When the property goes on the market, the Humberts representative will provide regular updates to those involved in the client’s onward move.
  • Humberts 48-Hour Offer Service and Auction Department – This is currently a unique service in the UK property market, designed to be used in situations where both timing and certainty of sale is of paramount importance. It involves the potential use of specialist homebuying companies to form a type of part exchange transaction, where a price below market value (usually 85-90% of the full price) can guarantee the timing of the sale, or use of Humberts’ own tried-and-tested auction service to sell the client’s existing property with a reserve price guarantee.

Adam Phelps, head of land and new homes at Humberts explains the introduction of this service: “We have created the specialist Humberts Retirement Living Department to carefully look after customers who may not have moved for some time, or need to move with a degree of speed – the main aim is reduce the stresses associated. Research shows that retirees are now leaving it later in life to downsize and the task at hand can often seem overwhelming.

“For developers, this service offers peace of mind that their specialist retirement home purchasers have all aspects of their primary sale in hand and the transaction can be completed with the utmost speed and efficiency. For downsizers, the emotional toll of the move can be minimised and the no added cost element is extremely attractive.”

The range of Humberts Retirement Living Services are available throughout the company’s national network of 20 offices, headquartered in Cirencester.

Find out more at www.humberts.com ; 01285 650955


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