Conscious of the above, we visited a number of countries and examined their real estate industry. We were particularly impressed by the quality of service provided by the realtors, as they call the estate agents in USA. We found that they have a good reputation and are treated more as a trusted consultant than a salesperson. To start with, they created a very good rapport, then they spent time understanding our property needs, they would not waste our time showing us properties that did not match our requirements, and instead of pushing us in an aggressive or manipulative way at every viewing to buy that property, they would participate with us in examining if we should buy that property or not, giving us the time and space to consider the pros and cons of that particular property and to make an informed decision, advising us on the need to compromise on minor factors, and generally creating an atmosphere of trust.

Obviously we all aim to find the ideal property. But within the constraint of our budget, travel time to work place, areas and so on, that might not always be possible. That is why we spent time first listening to our applicants to find out their property needs, which factors they can compromise on and which factors are essential for them. We appreciate that our applicants are busy at work and we would want to avoid wasting their time showing properties that do not match their requirements. A typical letting agency procedure is as follows: they will pick three or four flats to show you. The first properties or two will be below your requirement level, so they know you won’t be interested, the next property will be higher than your requirement level and at a higher price than your budget, and the last property they will show you is what they think, assuming they have listened to you, is the right property for you. This is done to create an impression that they have provided you with a number of choices, whereas they are wasting your time showing properties that they know you will not be interested in. In the last property they will tell you that you have seen a range of properties and then they will threaten you: if you don’t rent the last property shown you will loose it as they are showing it to six other applicants later that day

We don’t play games with you. After listening to your requirements, if the property you have called or the other properties that we have on market are not a good solution to your rental needs, we will not waste your time arranging viewings for you. If we think that any of our properties could be a good solution for you, we will arrange a viewing. Our applicants seem to appreciate this and that is why we get a lot of referrals: “Many thanks again for all your help in our search - Coutts de Lisle was definitely far and way above the others we dealt with. will definitely pass your details onto any friend who may be looking for a home” , wrote one happy applicant.

As well as listening to your requirements, before any viewings, we will e-mail you the photographs and the floor plan of the property we think would suit you, so that you will have a much better idea of the kind of property you will be viewing. Why not try us and experience the difference in the quality of service.