Outdoor Space A Key To Selling, Says Agent

While things like the smell of freshly made filter coffee and baking bread used to be considered a great was to encourage a house-hunter to buy your home, lockdown has brought outdoor space to the fore as a major asset to achieving a sale.

Worcestershire estate agent Nicol & Co says having ‘green fingers’ could be your most important asset in making your garden and outdoor spaces as appealing as possible. At its offices in Droitwich and Worcester, the agency is reporting a huge increase in requests for properties with gardens and outside space in general.

Matt Nicol, managing director of Nicol & Co, said: “We always used to major on pictures of kitchens and master bedrooms as the key features in a property, but since lockdown people have clearly started to appreciate the outdoors.”

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) recently carried out a survey and found that respondents’ appreciation of gardens has doubled during lockdown, with seven out of 10 saying their outside space has helped their mental health.

“Now, the first question about a property is often ‘Does it have a garden’? When you are working from home, you appreciate the garden as somewhere to go and take an eye break from your computer screen or just let your mind settle. Previously you might have considered gardening and cutting the lawn as a chore that had to be tackled at the weekend.

“I think we will see an increased interest in country living. If you are not required in the office every day anymore, then you may consider living further away. If you only have to attend meetings once a week where you live and your home environment is likely to be more important.”

He believes being on the ball and being able to move swiftly enabled Nicol & Co to steal a march on the company’s rivals.

“While others went to ground as soon as lockdown was announced, we moved swiftly to remote working and we were able to carry on with virtual viewings due to our early adoption of the very latest technology.

“Our experience is that despite the challenges of the lockdown, a lot of people were wanting to view properties, in fact even more than normal.

“Being conscious of government guidance we decided to provide the opportunity for a virtual first before physical viewings. Since we introduced Gavl livestream viewings the results have been superb.”

A snapshot shows that the company conducted 119 livestream viewings between 4 May and 7 June, viewed by nearly 1,400 potential buyers. These buyer engagements developed into 313 private viewings and resulted in a total of 30 sales in the same period.

Nicol said: “What we’ve found is that supply is low and demand is high, and that despite COVID-19 now is the perfect time to sell your property.”

Find out more about Nicol & Co.

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