Testimonials
NB - We are always pleased for our references to be followed up - copies of originals are available upon request.
Mr C, SW London
This is the third time we have used your firm now - excellent - great house - my girlfriend and I are delighted. Well done you!!
Mr/s S, SW London
Our sale and purchase have now gone through and you deserve our thanks. We are delighted with the new place. My husband and I are sure we will be here for many years to come, but if not we will surely get back in touch - to have you handle both the sale and purchase was so easy for us - thanks Alastair so very much.
Mr/s P, C London
We are delighted with our new home in London - thank you so much for finding it and negotiating such a sizeable discount for us - £200,000 off is superb considering how wonderful the apartment is.
Ms A, SW London
Thanks so much for your help and advice regarding my various property assets and whether I should hang on or sell etc - I suspect I couldn’t see the woods for the trees yet you helped me work out what was clearly best for my family and I. Let’s stay in touch.
Mr S, W London
Kensington is a nice area of course and we knew it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a buyer for our house - however the price you achieved for us was more than satisfactory - your powers of persuasion are clearly well honed! Thanks Alastair.
Ms C, S London
This note comes with our grateful thanks for all your work on our behalf in 2005. Your management of our rental property has been outstanding - thanks indeed.
Mr/s G, SW London
We bought the house earlier in the year - spent most of 2005 refubishing it with Alastair’s guidance and here we are now with everything complete - we have two buyers just before Christmas, one of which was at the asking price and having just Exchanged contracts we are now safe in the knowledge that this investment was an excellent one for us - thank you for your help buying it, refurbsihing it and selling it on for a reasonably sizeable profit. 2005 has been a very good year - thank you.
Mrs S, C London
Unquestionably the best idea to employ you - thanks again Alastair - I keep pinching myself as I can’t believe it all happened so quickly and easily - and I am in for Christmas too - wow!!!!!
Mr C, London
This is the first time I have used Crowhurst & Co. to help me rent out my apartment. I am pleased to say it was painless - I run my own company and know what it is like to have to provide a good service in order to win repeat business - Alastair has done an exceptional job - I will be using him again.
Mr/s K, Surrey
Many many thanks for your help looking after the rental of our home for us before we head off abroad. The whole experience of negotiating and structuring the Tenancy was so easy because of you that we have had a much less stressful time sorting the move out than we had previously envisaged - please note that we would be happy to act as referees for your firm should that be helpful.
Mrs M, West London
I wanted you to know that after your help buying the house, the contractors you recommended to us were superb - a most unusual experience when it comes to this kind of thing! Thanks Alastair so very much.
Mr & Mrs R, Central London
When we were receommended to you we weren’t sure about whether we would be incurring another cost for no real benefit by using your firm - well I am glad we employed your service. We felt assured and confident right the way through, knowing you had matters under control for us - it was unquestionably the most painless move we have ever experienced and your fees represented superb value for money.
Mr S, Central London
Thanks again for your advice regarding my flat - having let it out again now I can stop worrying - you really have been a great help and your advice was spot on.
Mr M, South West London
The deal you managed to get for us on our apartment was sensational - until it had all gone through we couldn’t quite believe that it could be as good as it has been - we have already recommended you to a couple of friends and will be back ourselves later this year or early 2006 for an investment flat. Thanks indeed from us both.
Mr L, West London
Having just moved into the new house we are dead chuffed with everything - thanks alot for all you did to make it so effortless for us! (We particualrly liked being driven around when viewing - it made us feel so much more important than we are)!
Ms C, South West London
Once again your input has been invaluable Alastair - thank you so much for giving us the peace of mind with our apartment whilst we are away.I am sure the tenant is equally pleased with your involvement.
Miss C, South West London
So here we are - I still can’t believe it! You always said it would be fine and it was! Thank you so so much - you have been a rock when at times we felt like crumbling!
Mrs W, North London
Our Estate Agent told us the market was a bit slow and that being patient was the answer - I am so glad we came to you - thanks for taking the bull by the horns and dealing with it so professionally for us - I don’t think it made you popular with our Agent, but you made sure the job got done so thank you!
Mr H, West London
The house is almost ready for re-selling now - it has been alot of work as we expected, but thanks for finding us such a good place - I must admit I didn’t expect to get this level of return on my investment so your guidance and encouragement has been invaluable to us - we will definately be using you for our next investment.
Miss K, Central London
I am really happy in my new flat Alastair - thanks for all you did. I will be in touch next time I am on the move.
Mr L, Central London
Because my work takes me all over the place at the drop of a hat, the time and effort you put into this on my behalf has really made the whole buying thing possible for me. Thanks Alastair. I would still be going round in circles right now without your help.
Mr & Mrs W, West London
With all the time, money and effort we had spent prior to finding you, it is a miracle that we had the will to continue really. So when we realised how you much you did and how much of the hassle you took away from us we were really very happy indeed. Thank you so much Alastair.
Mr S, South West London
Once again you have helped us with our property in SW London and once again we are delighted with the outcome. Finding such an excellent tenant for us in such a short time really made the difference. Thank you again
Mr & Mrs D, Central London
Many thanks for your recent input regarding the sale of our house. It was quite tricky prior to your involvement, so your help and advice really made all the difference for my husband and I - thanks Alastair. Please keep in touch.
Mr T, South West London
Thanks for all you did to find my house and for making the transaction so comparatively simple. I have recommended you to a few friends already and hope they get in touch too - I have to say again, I never thought it could be that easy! Thanks very much indeed.
Mr & Mrs G, South West London
Thank you for helping us out with our recent move Alastair. Clearly you are the expert we needed. We are very glad we decided to follow up on the recommendation from Mike’s work colleague. Whilst the house needs lots of improvement/modernisation, we are sure we will be able to do all we want to it and most importantly we are certain of being happy in our new home. We look forward to speaking to you again over the next few weeks.
Many thanks.
Mr S, Central London
Facing a potentially difficult situation in reorganising the management of my property I am glad to say that your advice and know how made the process painfree and successful. What impressed me most was the excellent level of communication that you maintained and your proactive approach. I would not hesitate to recommend your services. Professional and trustworthy.
Mr T, South London
My wife and I felt it appropriate to put something in writing to thank you for your guidance and advice regarding the sale of our property. With so many conflicting figures being banded around by the local Estate Agents we didn’t quite know where to turn. Your firm came highly recommended by friends of ours as you know, so for us it was a lifeline just when we needed one. Now that our sale has gone through, and at the price we wanted, we can thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for all your help and guidance. It was a pleasure to work with you.
We would like to stay in touch in the future, in case we (or indeed any of our friends or family) are in need of your help and advice with any property matters - if that’s all the same with you.
Mr & Mrs G, South West London
Thank you for finding us our apartment to rent so quickly Alastair. If we had been in the hotel any longer, as nice as it was, we would definitely have gone mad! We are now settled in and are enjoying a little bit of calm again. The fact that you were able to find somewhere so quickly for us was superb, overlooking the green is wonderful! We didn’t quite know where to start really, so your help proved invaluable. The fact that the Landlord was prepared to accept our dog as well was great!!
We look forward to speaking to you over the next few weeks regarding a place to buy too.
Thanks again, so much.
Ms C & Mr S, South West London
This is to thank you for facilitating the sale of our house. Until we came across your firm, we weren’t aware that the consultancy service you offered was available in the market place, so our only regret is that we did not bring you into this transaction sooner!! We cannot thank you enough for your sound advice and thorough professionalism at every stage, right up until the crucial hours on Friday. We are certain that Exchange only happened thanks to your Herculean efforts!
You cannot imagine how helpful you have been to us and we are very very grateful.
There will probably not be the time for the leaving party we had envisaged, but we will be in touch once there is some semblance of order in our new home. We will of course wish to keep in touch.
With thanks and all best wishes,
Miss S, South West London
Moving to London from Asia with my job was always going to be stressful, especially as I knew I wanted to buy a place here and had no idea where to start. You really helped me sort out the best area for me to live in very quickly - now i am happily settled in, the cats are loving it and my commute is fine. I know my boss is grateful too! I am really very happy indeed. Thank you so much.
Miss H, West London
Once again I would like to thank you for the outstanding service you have provided me with during the latest negotiations for my most recent property.
This is the second time that I have instructed Crowhurst & Co and once again I am delighted with how smoothly the process has gone to date. I am particularly pleased that you have given me the opportunity to make a successful offer on a property that had not even been put on the general market, and I am very happy with the agreed purchase price.
I am confident that your services have more than paid for themselves based on the favourable purchase price and purchase conditions you have achieved for me.
I look forward to dealing with Crowhurst & Co again in the future.
Mr C, West London
Now that I am installed in my new apartment I thought I would write to you to thank you for finding our great new home. I was very specific about what I wanted yet you managed to find it so a big thanks from us.
Miss H, West London
I am very grateful for your hard work and professionalism throughout this process to date. Because of this I have been able to enjoy all of the excitement without suffering any of the hassle of buying a property.
I particularly appreciate the fact that you only concerned me with properties that were in a great location and that would offer me a good return on my investment, having sifted through the dregs yourself. Every property you showed me had potential for me and I am delighted with the one I have purchased.
I look forward to dealing with you again with regard to my next investment and would happily recommend your services to anyone looking to find a property.
Mr & Mrs J, South West London
We wanted to drop you a quick note of thanks for all your help with acquiring our investment property in London this year. Once again, based on your help and advice, we were able to let it to a professional tenant within a few days of Completion.
We will definitely recommend your services to others.
Miss C, East London
I am now settled into my new home and am really enjoying making it just that – my home!
I wanted to say a big “thank you” for all your work. I have recommended you to a number of friends and am delighted to hear that you have heard from one of them already. I know she will be just as pleased with your help as I am!
Mr & Mrs F, North London
What can we say - having appointed an Estate Agent ourselves who proved to be expensive and certainly no better than average, it all got very stressful pretty quickly, but as soon as you became involved and sorted out all the problems we had, all the worry and hassle subsided. The result was a fantastic one and now we are happily moved, enjoying the surroundings that we had always hoped for - thank you so much for everything you did to help make this happen. We will be sure to recommend you at every opportunity
Mrs S, North West London
Many thanks for all your help in buying our new apartment. We were so worried about buying in London before we found you. My husband and the children are just so pleased to be settled in now. Moving to a new country is never easy so your guidance and advice in so many respects proved invaluable.
If we have any friends moving to London, or any of my husbands business acquaintances are coming here, we shall be sure to pass on your number.
Our References
We are always happy to supply original copies of references upon request.
Residential property search
What is Home Search?
We work on behalf of the prospective purchaser or tenant only, providing an independent property finder / home search service, specialising in the acquisition of residential property to buy or rent.
In the main, we act for people who do not have the time to research the market for the property they wish to buy or rent. We also act for people who are moving to England from abroad. We provide a bespoke service to all clients, whether private individuals or large corporations.
We provide advice to four main categories of client:
- Private buyers searching for a home
- Private and corporate tenants looking for a property to rent
- Private buyers searching for property as an investment
- Corporations, seeking to acquire a property portfolio as a medium to long term investment
Our advice is based on extensive knowledge and practical experience of the residential property market gained over the last 16 years. Our business works primarily on a recommendation and referral basis and as such we are focused on providing exceptional value for money to all our clients.
The process
After receiving your initial enquiry, we usually arrange to meet you, either in your home or office. During this meeting we aim to understand your objectives. Topics might include your own specific accommodation needs, if you are moving home personally or perhaps your expected yields or returns from your investment property.
Once we have a clear understanding of your needs, we will undertake the following:
- We will notify you of the best roads within your chosen area and explain the reasons why – the cliché “Location, Location, Location” does apply
- We will research the private sale and rental markets, (whichever is appropriate), in both the local and national press
- We will target particular roads within specific areas, if requested
- We will contact all the Estate Agents in the area you have specified. We will build rapport with the better agents, those with the greatest market share, thus providing you with the greatest chance of being offered the best properties first as they come onto the market - often, due in part to our ongoing relationship with many of the better Estate Agents, we are offered property before it reaches the open market.
- We will then contact you with an overview of our progress and to share information we have gathered to date
- We will collect useful supporting information on transport links, schools and other amenities in the area if required
- We will then arrange a schedule of appointments for you and will accompany you when viewing the properties you have selected
- Having established which is most of interest, we will negotiate the lowest price on your behalf.
- When required, we are able to recommend all the professional parties needed, including surveyors, solicitors, accountants, independent mortgage brokers and removal firms.
- We will see the transaction through to a close for you, providing you with regular progress reports and offering support and advice if any decisions need to be made along the way.
The Benefits
Often, based on our extensive experience, our clients save more time and money than they might expect. Our organisational ability, in conjunction with our negotiation skills and ability to pre-empt and anticipate problems before they arise will ensure that the process will progress a lot more smoothly than you might have experienced previously when acquiring property.
We minimise the anguish a client might otherwise experience, spending many hours researching and investigating the desired locations, contacting relevant estate agents on an ongoing basis and viewing many properties in advance. This enables the client to view only those properties which match their criteria, therefore allowing them to make a suitable selection with little effort or frustration.
We also negotiate the best price on behalf of the client, often saving them significant sums of money as well as their valuable time. Often these negotiations alone will more than pay for our fees.
We are aware that there are many facets to moving home, particularly when moving to the UK from abroad. It is for this reason that we have a partnership with one of London’s’ leading Relocation Companies, who specialise in providing comprehensive lifestyle management solutions. These support services range from conducting simple time saving administration through to assistance that takes care of everything from employing removal firms to opening bank accounts in the UK.
Our Charges
Crowhurst & Company provides a bespoke service to each client. On that basis, we are able to guarantee our services to each client for agreed periods of time.
Much of the work we carry out on your behalf is investigative. We are able to supply a great deal of advice and information, whilst only receiving an initial Registration Fee. Once we have found a suitable property for you, and Contracts have been signed and/or Exchanged, we submit our invoice.
We are happy to discuss our brief Terms & Conditions, including the specific charge we levy for our services, when we meet and will confirm in writing following that initial meeting or discussion