320-mile trip to Lincolnshire? How far would you go t...

Here at Estate Agent Today, we're always pleased to highlight the lengths the best agents will go to provide outstanding customer service for their clients.

Surrey agency White & Sons recently posted the following story across their social media channels and it has generated a high level of engagement and positive responses.

The firm's Dorking office was dealing with a protracted sale due to the property in question (pictured above) not being registered with the Land Registry.

All the funds for the purchase were being held in anticipation of a simultaneous exchange and completion. However, the buyer's mortgage offer was due to run out on April 30.

On April 29, it became apparent that the client's solicitor needed a hard copy of the contract to be signed in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. Unfortunately, the elderly client did not have a printer and was unable to leave the house.

This meant a hard copy would have to be couriered to him in order to get the deal across the line.

With exchange and completion in the balance, White & Sons negotiator Ollie Gotto (above right) drove the 320-mile round trip to Lincolnshire to get the contract signed.

He then delivered it to White & Sons Dorking's branch manager, Philip Dale (left), in the early hours of April 30. Dale then delivered the contact a further 30 miles to the solicitors in London at 9am that day.

Contracts were duly exchanged and completed. The rest, as they say, is history.

“This transaction had to exchange and complete simultaneously on April 30 in order for our buyer to retain their mortgage offer,” Tom Witchell (right), partner at White & Sons, tells Estate Agent Today.

“The sale had taken over six months on account that it was unregistered land and quite a complex set of circumstances.”

“Therefore, we could not afford for our buyer to lose the property after the patience they had shown since the sale was agreed,” he says.

“All in all, it was an extraordinary set of circumstances, but we simply couldn’t let the sale fall apart on account of logistics.”

“The conveyancing process in this country is frustrating to say the least, and maybe there will be a day when e-signatures will suffice for signing of contracts,” says Witchell.

“We all know that finding a buyer is often the easy part, getting the deal across the line is always the challenge. In a day and age of online services, when it comes to selling houses, traditional agents will always go the extra mile (or 320 miles to be specific!)”

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