Karen Martin

Mar 10, 2020

Review of Kirkwood Estate Agency: To Buy or not to Buy?

It is common knowledge that selling your home and moving house is counted as one of the most stressful experiences of modern life. It stands to reason therefore, that you need an estate agent that can be trusted. My husband and I had decided to relocate from Maidenhead to be nearer to my parents in the Cotswolds. We had also decided that we were not going to be stressed about it, but it was going to be an adventure. Suzy Kirkwood was friendly and professional. She valued and marketed our home with efficiency and showed absolute respect to us as clients. She never phoned during my working hours, instead leaving messages by email or text that we could deal with later. The buying and selling process was explained clearly and I always knew that I could contact her with any questions. Suzy also explained that sometimes clients change their minds…I confidently assured her that wouldn’t be us. I couldn’t imagine starting on this process without seeing it through. After two months on the market, a price reduction and two offers, we had seen over twenty properties in the area near my parents. The magic bullet of selling in the south-east to move anywhere in the UK was not as magic as we had hoped in the Cotswolds… None of the houses we viewed were as spacious as our current home. If they were, they were too far out from my parents. We toured the villages and the outskirts of the town where they live and grew increasingly anxious. The adventure was proving to be more of an emotional rollercoaster than we had bargained for. We didn’t actually want to live in any of the houses which our budget afforded us. It looked like we were going to be one of those sheepish clients who withdrew their property from the market. Having decided that it wasn’t meant to be, we needed to contact Kirkwoods. Instead of the stereotype of an estate agent pushing us to change our minds, Suzy was the absolute opposite. She was empathetic, kind and compassionate. She showed us courtesy and understanding and didn’t once try to change our minds. She acknowledged how emotional it is to move house and recognised that to change area is even harder because of the leaving behind of a community. Suzy assured us of her help should we decide in the future that we want to have another go. For now, we have learnt to be grateful for what we have and reinvest our energies in the home we have been in for over twenty years. I cannot fault Suzy’s help, communication or conduct. It is good to know that her agency is one which is reliable, professional and compassionate.