A 'new breed' estate agency with no shop front, which uses bloggers to market its properties, has announced the opening of its second office.
Lodestone Property, which was launched in September 2016 in Bruton, Somerset, has expanded into Wells and increased its staff size to six.
The agency is run by self-professed 'olderpreneurs' Sue Macey (pictured left) and Cathy Morris-Adams (right) and aims to be ‘in tune’ with the modern world.
As well as having no shop front, the agency - which turned a profit last year - doesn't use traditional marketing channels, instead opting to promote its available properties via a network of bloggers and on social media.
“We wanted to do something different and be ground-breaking in the industry," says Sue Macey, co-founder and managing partner of Lodestone.
"Shop fronts are a thing of the past in our opinion, despite most of our competitors having them, and [we] would prefer to invest in a high ratio of staff to ensure our sales complete."
"We still love to welcome clients to our offices, but very few visitors turn into buyers so why would we waste money when it doesn’t guarantee us any revenue?"
The business also practices employing 'mature' locally selected staff, many of whom have brought up families in Somerset.
"Between Cathy and I, we have lived in Somerset for over 50 years, after both relocating with young families," says Macey.
"Our particular aim is to help buyers whose position we were in 25 years ago, worried about making such a big move to find the right property. With women being the main decision makers when it comes to buying a home, our empathy and life experience goes a long way."
The agency is also developing a lettings department with the aim of offering a one-stop service. It has recently partnered with a local Airbnb management service to cater for the growing demand for short-term and holiday rentals.
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Sounds like a couple of mums doing things on the cheap.
Congratulations Sue & Cathy, I hope your success at The ESTAS has helped in some way to grow the business. Good luck with the new office!
Go for it, old fashioned service, an authentic mission are far more important than shop fronts or portals, if you list it, they will come (via Facebook) :) I still think a sop front is an economic proposition in a lot of markets though
Where do you buy these sop fronts?
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