We recently moved house, which meant selling our old house before we could offer on a new home. At the start of 2024, we started the whole process, first with our mortgage advisor to get an idea of our finances, then we needed a good estate agent. We had a few come over to the house, give us an estimate of what our house was worth, quote the fee and talk to us about how they work.
We already knew we wanted a local agent, rather than an online estate agent, as we have friends who have had terrible experiences with those. We wanted an agent who had a great knowledge of the area, as well as being a trusted name.
My husband had some experience with Simon from Indigo Greens before. Back when he worked under the name Greens Estate Agents in 2017, he sold my husband his first home, which we lived in together. It was a smooth transaction. My husband was a first-time buyer, and everything seemed straightforward. We had a good experience with Simon then. He also came and valued the house again in 2019 when we bought our new build. We ended up part-exchanging with Persimmons rather than going with an agent, as this just made things simpler for lining the dates up and put the pressure on us needing to sell the house before being able to reserve the new build.
Valuation with Indigo Greens
So Simon from Indigo Greens came to the house in his unmistakable yellow hoodie. He valued the house and chatted about how things worked. What made us pick Indigo Greens over the other estate agents is that they seemed very personable. Other agents came across as more formal, one was even a bit patronising. But I felt like Simon was able to talk about his years of experience, he was easy to chat to, had a good sense of humour and came across as professional but not in a too serious way. He picked up on some of the unique selling points of our house and how he would market it to get people’s attention.
I really like how he described the communication methods, as well. They set up a WhatsApp group that everyone we dealt with will be in. This was used to book viewings, give feedback and talk about anything else we may need to discuss. It meant that everyone was on the same page – if someone booked a viewing, both my husband and I were aware of it, and we could look back to check the date and time without having to write things down. It also meant my husband and I didn’t need to remember to tell each other things, as we all had the same messages.
Getting our house on the market
So we accepted the quote and got signed up. We had a photographer come around to take photos, and then Simon came back to do a 4D interactive walk-through. A few days later, we were sent the photos and listing to look at, and once we were happy with everything, the house was on the market!
We started to get some viewings pretty quickly. Indigo Greens had already asked us what times we could do viewings, so once our sales progressor, Izzy, posted on the WhatsApp group when someone wanted to view, we were quickly able to give the go-ahead. They tried to get appointments close together when possible. It was an exciting time when we got viewings! If ever we were going away, or wouldn’t be able to do viewings, we let them know so they didn’t try to book people on those times. It worked well and meant we were able to say yes to every booking quickly.
I would leave the house about 10 minutes before the viewing, and when the potential buyers left, Simon or Emma would message to let us know we could return. They would also give us feedback on the WhatsApp group, which was also good because it meant you could look back at a later date ,and both my husband and I got the same information.
Simon also did some posts on social media, where he would film videos talking about the great things about the house and why it was a unique property in terms of the aspects of a new build.
The Offer
Our house was on the market for 50 days until we received our first offer. Emma called us to discuss, and she was really helpful in giving advice on negotiating. We were willing to go under the guide price by a certain amoun,t but we went back and forth a few times rejecting the offers. It was a few days later that she came back and offered us the price we were happy to accept! What a relief.
Emma explained to us what would happen next, and we were then able to offer on houses. We already had our eye on some, sowe booked the viewings quickly. By the end of the week, we had fallen in love with an extended cottage with a large garden and four double bedrooms. Our offer was accepted, and we started going through the conveyancing process.
Conveyancing
Things were pretty relaxed to start with. There was a date we were working towards and every so often, Izzy would message the chat and let us know she had spoken to our buyer, the seller’s agent and solicitor and updated us on our progress. One of the best things about Indigo Greens is their communication and reliability. Izzy would say things like ‘I will chase for further updates next Wednesday and update you’ – and without fail, we would always get the update on the day which was promised.
As we got further through the process, our contact with Indigo Greens increased as they worked to move things along and keep things on track. They were great at chasing the other people in the chain on our behalf. As things were going pretty smoothly, we didn’t really need to do much as they handled all the communication between the parties.
Disaster Struck
Everything was going well until I came across images on the local Facebook page of the house we were buying. This showed the street flooding. I then went down a bit of a rabbit hole and discovered more photos from other years showing the garden and drive of the house we were buying flooded multiple times.
I spoke to Indigo Greens about it. We were due to exchange at any time, and I was a little worried they would want us to go ahead with the sale. I had a few long conversations on the phone with Emm,a and she gave such brilliant advice. It felt like the most stressful week of my life. We spoke about my concerns and options. Ultimately, she said that we need to be happy about the purchase, and if buying a house that has a risk of flooding is going to cause us stress and possible financial loss, then maybe it’s not the house for us.
We were worried that our buyer would pull out, but she did a great job at reassuring me that she would handle our buyer. She told us not to worry about it, she would try to keep our buyer on the side, and if she pulls out, then we just start again and it’s not the end of the world. She made it sound so simple and like it wasn’t a big deal, that this happens and we just do what’s best for us and get on with it. I felt like she had our best interests at heart, and there was no pressure to go ahead with the sale.
Again, the communication was great, and if I ever wanted a phone call, I could just ask on the group and someone would call me back that day. There was always the option to call the office as well, but I preferred to request a call when I knew they had time to chat about it, and as they always called quickly, it felt the easiest way for us.
Emma gave me great advice regarding what to do next when we had decided to pull out. She suggested I talk to our surveyor for his opinion, which I did (he was also great, taking an hour to talk to me on the phone). She told us how to go about withdrawing our offer and told everyone we needed to tell, and ensured she was ready to speak to our buyer and keep her up to date.
You can read more about how much we lost when we pulled out here.
The Second Property
So, we found our next home! We got off to a really slow start, and again, Indigo Greens were on our side. They contacted our seller’s estate agent and solicitors to get updates for us. They were always honest in their updates. When speaking with other estate agents, we often felt like they would just tell us what we wanted to hear. Indigo Greens were not afraid to tell us bad news while also telling us what we (or they) would do next to try and speed things up – they managed our expectations while also letting us know they would continue to chase.
We had such a hard time buying this house due to multiple reasons. Indigo Greens helped us by giving advice on when we need to push solicitors and the other estate agents, they also chased from their end and we worked as a team to put the pressure on when needed, then advised when we should pull back a bit and give the solicitors time to do what they needed to do.
Things were pretty bleak at times, but having them there to guide us through was such a good help. Obviously, we are not experts in this field, so having them answer our questions and help us push our solicitor along was really comforting.
They explained so much to us, especially when our solicitor wouldn’t answer our questions; they were able to help us understand the process.
We are finally in our home now, and I don’t think we would have been if it weren’t for Indigo Greens. I’m positive our buyer would have pulled out. The team at Indigo Greens kept her just as updated as us. We didn’t get this level of service and communication from the estate agents of the two houses we were buying. I got the impression they were just as concerned with keeping her up-to-date, happy and reassured as they were with us. They were working for us at the end of the day, but they still showed care and understanding towards our buyer, who was also getting stressed due to situations out of her control.
Best Estate Agent In York
If you want to sell your home and aren’t a fan of pressurised sales pitches, then contact Indigo Greens. Their personable team will look after you every step of the way. They are professional, they have excellent customer service have such great communication. They went above and beyond our expectations, followed through on their promises and genuinely cared about our sales and purchases. They had so much empathy when things were stressful (unlike solicitors!), they matched their pace with the urgency of the sale, being more active when things were difficult and offering us first-class service. Izzy and Emma both worked hard to keep us grounded and at time, I joked with my friends that it was like having therapy with some of the phone calls as they would listen and offer excellent advice, and I always came away from the phone call feeling less worried after knowing they were on our side and would do everything to get the sale done. And they did!
I’d be very happy to sell or buy with them again. They are just nice people who clearly have years of experience in selling houses and offer first-class service.