Tag Archives: Dawsons Property

Dawsons ValPal digital property valuation service
House prices, Landlords, Lettings, Sales

New house valuation tool proving hit with homeowners

A new digital property valuation service rolled out by Dawsons Estate Agent is proving a big hit with homeowners across the Swansea area.

The ValPal service on Dawsons’ website has only been live for the past couple of months but already it has had a 50 per cent conversion rate with regards new instructions.

The digital tool gives homeowners a free instant online valuation which is based on postcode and area. You can also get a lettings valuation to see what rental you can achieve for your rental property.

“We are delighted at the success so far, and how well received this service has been,” said Ricky Purdy, Dawsons Director of Residential Lettings.

“We knew it was something many people could benefit from and on average we are having a free valuation enquiry every three hours, with many, many market appraisals as a result. What has been fantastic to see is the number of properties now on the market that simply wouldn’t have been without this new service.”

Added Ricky: “We have had a number of clients underestimate the potential value of their home, so with this service providing an above expectation indication, and our physical valuation sporting this their free to make the dream move previously thought out of reach.”

A client who has used the service said: “What a great service it is, so easy and user-friendly. Having a free online valuation encouraged us to book a valuation and there’s been no looking back.”

L-R Donna Howell, Vivienne Jones, Kelly Israel, Tracy Hernandez and Rebekah Young
Lettings, Recruitment, Sales, Staff

Leading estate agent announces five new appointments

Leading estate agent Dawsons is delighted to announce a raft of new appointments in its sales and lettings departments.

Five new staff have joined the Marina, Morriston and property management teams.

Both Vivienne Jones and Kelly Israel have joined the Marina branch.

Viv, the new office manager, comes with a wealth of knowledge in the property industry spanning 20 years. Previously she has worked in the new build industry, having managed numerous new developments for major ‘new homes’ builders and latterly in the second-hand market.

“Viv’s combined experience complements our busy Marina Branch in the second-hand market and our Land and New Homes Department,” said Joanne Summerfield-Talbot, Dawsons Director of Residential Sales.

Kelly joins Dawsons after an interesting career that has seen her work on the Jeremy Kyle and Jerry Springer shows.

“Kelly’s customer service skills and friendly, bubbly approach have made her the success she is today, having previously worked in hospitality. We wish both Viv and Kelly every success in their ventures,” added Joanne.

Tracy Hernandez joins the Marina team as a Saturday negotiator, using her engagement, enthusiasm and her personal experiences within the property market to great effect.

“Tracy’s customer service skills are already proving a great success with our Marina clients on both the rental and sales side of the business,” said Ricky Purdy, Dawsons’ Director of Residential Lettings.

Rebekah Young returns to the lettings industry after a short break away. She joins the Morriston branch to support the team at a very busy period in an area she is able to recall previously gained knowledge and experience.

Donna Howell joins the property management department as a property inspector.

“Donna has an eye for detail, and great customer service experience as a result of many years working with the public. Both of these skills to be utilised on a daily basis, along with her outgoing and very personable character which our clients find very important during this period of the rental cycle,” added Ricky.

As well as new staff Dawsons has taken delivery of some new fleet vehicles.

“Dawsons fleet is seen in and around Swansea every day we wanted an eye-catching design.  The array of colourful Fiat 500s that are seen out and about have now been joined by three new cars,” Naomi Webborn Residential Lettings Department Coordinator.

CAPTION: L-R Donna Howell, Vivienne Jones, Kelly Israel, Tracy Hernandez and Rebekah Young.

Dawsons Llanelli branch
Dawsons, Qualified, Relocation, Sales

Llanelli Office show how crucial being part of Relocation Agent Network is

Dawsons’ Llanelli Office is proving that being part of the Relocation Agent Network (RAN) is key to offering clients a full and efficient house buying/selling experience.

Over the past few days the Llanelli branch has dealt with four different requests from people moving from Barry, Lampeter, Neyland and Wiltshire looking to move to the Llanelli area.

As Dawsons are RAN accredited it allows them to work with agents across England, Scotland and Wales, providing an exclusive relocation referral service guiding their customers through the daunting task of moving to an unfamiliar location.

“Being part of the Relocation Agent Network is a huge advantage for us to provide customers with the ability to move in and out of the area,” said Angie Bastin, Manager of Dawsons’ Llanelli branch.

“I don’t think people realise in fact how many people move into and out of the area, but as we proved recently we do get a lot of RAN referals of serious buyers.”

A lady in Neyland who was looking to move to the Burry Port area was a case in point, because the people she hopes to buy from want to move to Cornwall and have used RAN to find a property in the south west.

“This was a perfect RAN example: a lady who wanted to move to this area buying off a couple who wanted to move to Cornwall.,” added Angie.

The success of the Llanelli branch ability to use the Relocation Network comes just after Sales Negotiator Joe Chiffi celebrated becoming an accredited Relocation Agent Specialist – the fifth member of the office to get accredited.

“We take staff development very seriously and Joe’s Relocation Agent Network accreditation is a great example of what can be achieved when staff are supported properly to improve their skill set,” said Chris Hope, Senior Partner at Dawsons.

“The recent stream of customers looking to move into the area from various locations proves how crucial it is to be part of RAN.”

CAPTION: L-R Joe Chiffi, Llanelli Office Manager Angie Bastin, Matthew Whitehead, Felicity Curtis and Emma Davies.

 

David Parton
Dawsons, Sales

Happy Dawsons customer praises local service having failed to sell via online platform

While they present themselves as a cheaper option, online estate agents cannot match the benefits of using a real local estate agent, according to one man who has tried both.

The happy Dawsons customer from Swansea originally placed his property with a well publicised online estate agent, before switching to Dawsons.

“I felt they had a good platform which made it easy to get feedback.  Also, we felt the house we were selling would do most of the work itself,” he said.

However, after two weeks of viewings, he started to doubt his choice.

“My wife and I were conducting the viewings and we were finding that some of the feedback we were getting related to things we had said during the viewings. While we were thinking these were very positive things, people were clearly thinking in a different way to us.”

He started to suspect that he and his wife were not well placed to handle the viewings and to answer potential buyers’ questions in the best way.

“It was making us think that maybe if we had local estate agents dealing with the viewings they would be better equipped to deal with those questions.”

Being keen to sell the house quickly, he put it on the market with Dawsons, and was immediately impressed by their proactive approach.

“Dawsons have a good presence in the area, and I was struck by how proactive they were: they will call people up to tell them they have something that might suit them, and they have a database of people looking to move to the area via the Relocation Agent Network.

“Their estate agents are well equipped to handle the viewing and answer any awkward questions, and I also think people generally feel a bit more relaxed viewing with an agent rather than the people who own the house.”

Just as he hoped, Dawsons secured a buyer very quickly and the sale progressed smoothly. He appreciated having easy, regular contact with Dawsons so that he could keep up to date with what was happening.

“I liked having that personal touch and it was good to have that local point of contact.”

In hindsight, he feels that the apparent cost savings of the online platform did not compare to the benefits of having a local agent on the case.

“The commission we paid Dawsons is a small percentage compared to what you get from the sale of the house so we were willing to take that hit to sell property – and they sold it very, very quickly.

“It’s a nice house in a good area so we were surprised we didn’t quickly get a buyer through the online platform. I think I underestimated the value of a local estate agent compared to an online platform.”

David Parton (pictured), branch manager for Dawsons, said that outperforming an online estate agent comes naturally for Dawsons.

“When the vendor described his issues with his experience to date and what he was looking for, we could clearly see we would be the ideal match for his needs,” he said.

“Our highly experienced Senior Negotiator/Valuer, who has spent 20 years with the company and lives in the area, carried out the market appraisal and clearly laid out what our strong team of 5 would do every step of the way, from ringing out to our database the same day to gain viewings, typing up the sale and progressing the sale up until exchange and completion.”

Although the vendor had paid an up front fee of several hundred pounds to the online estate agent, he could still appreciate that paying Dawsons’ fees, if they agreed a sale, would be well worth his while.

“We lined up six viewings within the first day, and the vendor appreciated the constructive feedback he received from us within 24 hours of them happening.”

Very quickly an offer was made which Dawsons negotiated and agreed the same day.

“Due to the complex nature of the chain and different dates required for different parties within the chain, it took a lot of my 14 years’ industry experience to progress the sale – even over the Christmas break which fell in the middle of it,” said David. “The vendor and I spoke almost daily on the run up to exchange of contracts and he commented at the time that it’s a good job we have a dedicated sales progressor within the team.

Dawsons finally completed the whole process and moved the vendor and his family to their new home.

“We are all thrilled to have been a part of and have enjoyed catch ups with him and his wife as we regularly bump into them within our local shopping area,” he said.

 

 

Dawsons SA1 property
Dawsons, Lettings, Sales

Dawsons’ impressive housing stock within Wales’ most desirable postcodes

Swansea boasts some of the most desirable postcodes in Wales to live. In fact, three of those postcodes appear in a new list of the top 10 postcodes in Wales.

Dawsons is proud to be offering some very desirable properties from within those three postcodes – SA1, which ranks as the third top postcode in Wales; SA5, which is ranked as the fourth top postcode in Wales, and SA6, which is ranked as the 10th.

The survey, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) on behalf of Royal Mail, found that those three postcodes scored well on such factors as quality of schools, access to green spaces, good employment prospects, working hours, affordable housing and average commuting times.

In particular, Dawsons has some much sought after sales and letting properties within the SA1 postcode, which comes third in the survey behind the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff Central.

“We have an impressive portfolio of both sales and rental property across the city but we do have some fine examples within those top-rated postcodes and specifically within SA1,” said Chris Hope, Senior Partner at Dawsons.

For example, Dawsons have a particularly impressive apartment in the Meridian Tower which is up for let at £1,500 per month and another apartment in St Christopher’s Court, for sale at £259,950.

Meridian Tower, Trawler Road, Swansea, SA1 1JW

(Under Offer £1,500 PCM)

This is a luxury two-bedroom apartment situated on the 17th floor with stunning views over Swansea Bay.

The apartment (pictured at the top) comprises of open plan lounge/diner, fitted kitchen, en-suite to master bedroom, walk-in wardrobe and family bathroom. It benefits from underground parking, lift access and being set close to the city centre.

St Christopher’s Court, Swansea, Swansea, West Glamorgan, SA1 1UA

(For Sale £259,950)

This is a two-bedroom property on the first floor offering views of Swansea Bay.

The apartment consists of a master bedroom with en-suite and Juliet balcony, an open plan living/dining room with a sit pout balcony. It also has a fitted kitchen with integrated appliances. It includes a family bathroom and allocated parking.

Here are the Top 10 postcodes in Wales:

  1. CF63, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan.
  2. CF24, Cardiff Central.
  3. SA1, Swansea.
  4. SA5, Swansea.
  5. SA72, Pembroke Dock.
  6. CF3, Cardiff South.
  7. CF62, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan
  8. CF5, Cardiff West.
  9. CF11, Cardiff Central.
  10. SA6, Morriston, Swansea.

 

Mia Rees, Public Affairs and Research Manager, The Wallich, Ricky Purdy, Director of Residential Lettings, Dawsons, Suzy Davies AM, Harry McKeown, South West Wales Regional Manager, The Wallich, and Joanne Summerfield Talbot, Director of Residential Sales, Dawsons.
Charitable Events, Dawsons

Suzy Davies AM praises Dawsons Property’s work to tackle homelessness

Dawsons Property has welcomed Suzy Davies AM to their branch at 11 Walter Road, Swansea to hear about their collaboration with homelessness charity The Wallich.

Dawsons has worked in partnership with The Wallich in Swansea for more than 10 years, helping to secure private rental accommodation for service users.

As part of Dawsons’ 25th Anniversary last year it selected The Wallich as its charity of the year, raising funds throughout the year and most notably during Clash of the Corporates in October 2016 – which it won by raising over £3,200 through events including a curry night with raffles, auctions and a series of games.

Other fundraising activities throughout the year, including a mud assault challenge, dress down day and collection tins, helped them raise a total of £4588.37 for The Wallich.

After hearing about the collaboration between Dawsons and The Wallich, Suzy Davies AM said:

“Huge congratulations to Dawsons for their amazing year of fundraising for the Wallich. It sounds like fun but it’s important we all see local businesses being part of solving local problems. It’s not all about the fundraising: it’s about working with the Wallich to prevent homelessness providing practical help, through these bonds, to someone who needs a stable home.”

Harry McKeown, Area Manager South West Wales at The Wallich, added: “It has been a pleasure to talk to Suzy Davies AM about our work with Dawsons and the challenges faced by homeless people in Swansea.

“Dawsons have been an excellent partner through their fundraising and support for homeless people to move into sustainable accommodation in the area with bonds.

“We run several services in Swansea from supporting rough sleepers to get off the streets in to accommodation to collaboration with the local authority to support people into the private rented sector.”

Joanne Summerfield-Talbot, Dawsons’ Director of Residential Sales, said: “Our 130 staff really bought into it from the outset. Everyone has thrown themselves into it and we are thrilled with the amount raised.

“It will go towards bonds to help clients access their first properties in the Swansea area.”

Caption: L-R  Mia Rees, Public Affairs and Research Manager, The Wallich, Ricky Purdy, Director of Residential Lettings, Dawsons, Suzy Davies AM, Harry McKeown, South West Wales Regional Manager, The Wallich, and Joanne Summerfield Talbot, Director of Residential Sales, Dawsons.

Ian Bateman, Commercial Insurance Director at Eastside Insurance Services, with Ricky Purdy, Director of Dawsons residential lettings
Dawsons, Landlords, Lettings

Dawsons collaborating with Eastside Insurance to benefit landlords

Dawsons and Eastside Insurance Services have launched a collaboration that will make the lives of private landlords a lot simpler.

Whether landlords own one property or portfolio of rental properties, it is vital their assets remain protected with property owners’ insurance, for the building and its contents should a property be let on a furnished basis.

Dawsons, who manage and secure tenants for many landlords, decided to join forces with the local and growing insurance company Eastside Insurance.

Ricky Purdy, Director of Dawsons residential lettings, said the partnership with Eastside would be mutually beneficial.

“We are very much looking forward to working alongside Eastside, who we know are a well-established and respected local company,” he said.

“We know Eastside offer market leading services, so it’s great that we can provide this reassurance to our clients having built a relationship as two local brands, recently celebrating milestones of service to our community and further afield.

“Being able to provide these further services to our landlords, be those with one property or several, gives continuity, reassurance and always a local point of contact. These are key for Dawsons, and reflect the services we already offer our clients.

“We are both confident that this new relationship will flourish, and we are collectively looking forward to working as one and providing another service to meet our clients understandably high expectations.”

Lynda Fisher, Account Handler at Eastside, said: “We are really excited to be working alongside Dawsons, and are confident it will be a great success from the outset.

“Dawsons and ourselves have been working closely over recent months in preparation for the launch of this service. The relationship is blossoming and we know that our mutual services are tried and tested so we can provide the best possible service to landlords.”

CAPTION: L-R Ian Bateman, Commercial Insurance Director at Eastside Insurance Services, with Ricky Purdy, Director of Dawsons residential lettings

The Kingsway
Dawsons, Regeneration

Dawsons happy with more city redevelopment plans to regenerate Kingsway

A new vision for Swansea city centre has been welcomed by Dawsons Property’s Senior Partner Chris Hope.

And part of that redevelopment plan is a £10m scheme to give The Kingsway an exciting new facelift which will see a new road layout to help cater for a new urban park.

A public consultation has begun on the revamp, which will remove the existing two lanes of traffic on the northern side of The Kingsway.

The redevelopment of The Kingsway will also include the introduction of two-way traffic along surrounding roads including, Alexandra Road, Mansel Street, Orchard Street, De La Beche Street and Belle Vue Way.

“There is much to be admired about the way Swansea is going to be transformed over the next few years,” said Chris.

“And having a fully functioning road system that everyone understands is important for the well-being of the city.

“If all this comes to fruition, along with the £1.3b city deal, then Swansea is going to be a city on the up and a very much more attractive place for people to come and live.

“There is no doubting that Swansea and Gower is an attractive area it its own right but to have a fully functioning city infrastructure with plenty more to offer businesses, shoppers and tourists can only be a good thing.”

The regeneration plans for The Kingsway focus more heavily on pedestrians and making the route a destination for shoppers/visitors and city centre workers.

It’s proposed that disruption will be kept to a minimum, with night-time working likely with the public consultation process running until the end of March, with work, subject to agreement, starting in the middle of the year.

The proposed new layout will see the current bus lane removed to allow traffic to travel in both directions on the southern side of the carriageway. Work is expected to start along the route later this year, once full approval has been given.

Tim Kostromin, Partner with Dawsons with the Land & New Homes Team, Viv Jones, Janey Harris and Lisa Davies at the award-winning Bethany Lane development in Mumbles by Hale Homes
Dawsons, New Homes

Dawsons selected to join exclusive national land and homes network

Dawsons has been selected by the Land and New Homes Network (LNHN) as the leading estate agent continues to develop its expertise in the booming land and new homes sector.

The Land and New Homes Network (LNHN) is a UK-wide organisation which brings leading estate agents together to offer developers, property investors and home buyers an unparalleled service based on knowledge, experience and integrity.

Dawsons was selected for their: “professionalism, experience and their focus on delivering results for clients”, and by being chosen by LNHN it has strengthened the firm’s position in order to provide land and development consultancy to clients and a specialised new homes sales service.

“We are very pleased to be selected as the LNHN’s agent for Swansea, Carmarthenshire, and the surrounding areas,” said Tim Kostromin, Partner with Dawsons.

“Being in our 11th year as a dedicated department, we are already well-established as the area’s only land and new homes specialist, however this selection means we can deliver even better results for our clients.

“The Government has made addressing the housing shortage a priority so with thousands of new homes needed we’ve been proactive to ensure our clients will benefit from the best advice and coverage available.

“The network’s national coverage means we have relationships with builders, developers, investors and estate agents from across the UK. This is good for anyone selling land or new homes with us, as it increases the amount of potential buyers enormously.

“And it means more choice and better quality for local people looking to buy a new home.”

Ian Stratford, Land and New Homes Network’s Managing Director, said: “We are really looking forward to working together.

“Dawsons is exactly the type of agency we want as part of the network. They were selected for their professionalism, experience and their focus on delivering results for clients.”

If you own land or a property that you think might have development potential please call Dawsons’ Land & New Homes team on 01792 653100 for a confidential conversation.

CAPTION: Tim Kostromin, Partner with Dawsons, with the Land and New Homes team, Viv Jones, Janey Harris and Lisa Davies at the award-winning Bethany Lane development in Mumbles by Hale Homes.

Leon Atolagbe, Dawsons Senior Negotiator, and Viv Jones, Office Manager at Dawsons Marina Branch
Community, Dawsons, Lettings

Chinese New Year celebrated by Dawsons

Leading Estate Agents Dawsons has helped celebrate the Chinese New Year – the year of the rooster – by hosting a Chinese banquet at the firm’s Marina Branch.

Customers and clients were invited in to sample spread of food supplied by the Wild Swan Chinese restaurant in Orchard Street.

“We wanted to help celebrate Chinese New Year because we have been very involved in helping to develop the growing Chinese student community in Swansea,” said Viv Jones, Office Manager at Dawsons Marina Branch.

“We are very involved with the ICWS (International College Wales Swansea) housing overseas students.”

CAPTION: Leon Atolagbe, Dawsons Senior Negotiator, and Viv Jones, Office Manager at Dawsons Marina Branch.