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Park Estates have a lot to be happy about. Not only is the housing market on the up but they’re about to celebrate 10 successful years in business.
PARK LIFE
As the housing market appears to be picking up with sold signs appearing all over the Vale, we spoke to Soo and Ricky of Park Estates Estate Agents with offices in Barry and Rhoose who are seeing those much talked about green shoots and are also enjoying a celebration of their own.
How’s business?
SOO: Things are definitely on the up right nowand there certainly seems to be a lot more interest in the housing market at the moment. We think that investors are starting to realise that it may be their last chance to find some real bargains before prices start to rise again. First time buyers are still a little shy but they should be starting to think the same way. We could really do with some new properties for sale right now as the demand is definitely there for quality homes. Our Rhoose office is doing equally as well and is also looking for more new instructions!
I hear congratulations are in order?
RICKY: Yes, thanks. We’ve been here for a whole ten years... and we still all look the same! We bought Park Estates as an existing business and have been constantly improving the service we offer. We’ve gone through two sets of new, state-of-the-art computer systems since then and our printing facilities are now top notch. Our marketing has gone from black and white half pages to quality, full colour, glossy magazine adverts and, of course, extensive online advertising with our new website.
We’ve seen many changes in our ten years but our core ethic has remained the same - a quality, personal and very professional service for a localised market. Also myself, Soo and Sarah have all been here from the start. To say we have knowledge and understanding of the local market is an understatement!
How did you get into the business?
SOO: Ricky and myself have both been in the industry for about 22 years. Before this, I helped run a family building firm. Between us there was a lot of experience and when Park Estates became available, we jumped at the chance to form a family business. As I’m Ricky’s mother-in-law, the partnership works well and that is shown in the reputation we have built over the years.
So it’s a family business?
SOO: I suppose you could say that. My husband is the registered company secretary, and in the past, other members of the family have done their stints, but no others currently, although we do think of our staff as members of the family anyway. Ahhh!
How many people do you employ?
RICKY: Five currently although we have been up to ten in the past.
How many houses roughly have you sold over the years?
RICKY: I’d say a rough calculation would give us around 2000. A lot of those houses we have sold more than once as well as people coming back to us as repeat business.
I understand that you offer rental properties, how’s this been going?
SOO: We never really had a clue how well the rental market would work for us. Having dipped our toes before we honestly found it a bit of a distraction. But now, having the experience of a letting manager that had several years in the industry before joining us, we have embraced it as part of our working day now. It has certainly kept us busy over the past two or three years while the housing market has been quiet.
Again, due to the level of interest we have in rental properties, we are looking for more potential landlords all the time. Also, we have just invested in a state-of-the-art software package to help us with the day to day running of the letting side of the business. It’s a very involved process with many potential pitfalls, so we felt this was essential to help us continue to offer a high level of service to our clients.
Have you noticed any particular trends over the years?
RICKY: The main thing has been the change in the mortgage market. We used to have an income from referrals and the indemnity policies that were sold but this is non-existent now. The mortgage business has become a lot more difficult, whilst the rental market has become a lot busier as people have sold and gone to rental as the market declined, using properties that were bought by investors with ‘buy to let’ mortgages. The housing market on the whole has been a good barometer for the economy historically, and the last three years have been typical of this.
What’s hot property right now?
SOO: The lower end of the market generally will always pick up first as first time buyers and investors come back but the upper end has been quite busy too, with people who left the market shrewdly a while ago, getting back onto the ladder while prices are still generally low.
Any new plans on the horizon?
SOO: We hope 2010 will see us lift off again and plan to expand again as soon as the market develops. We scaled down operations as the credit crunch hit and closed the office we had set aside for rentals. So, we aim to relaunch this soon and to site a new office or two in the Vale of Glamorgan. Hopefully we’ll have more to celebrate!
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