Blog by Kirstie Woolley, Sales Manager, Edgefold Homes
Working for a new house builder comes with new challenges, even more so when selling off plan.
When I first started working for Edgefold Homes we were bringing to market a development of 24 new homes at Hazelfield Gardens. We had our work cut out, with no showhome and just a set of plans, a brochure and an appointed Estate Agent as marketing tools. We managed to navigate our way through the hundreds of questions and emails from prospective purchasers, which led us to an astonishing 80% off plan reservation for the development, before we even launched our showhome.
Working for Edgefold Homes, I knew that the company was headed up by an extremely experienced, dedicated and ethical team and I knew the spec would be good but I was really surprised to see how much more they offer as standard. Initially and understandably we did have people who were nervous about reserving with us, only to come to our showhome launch at a later date and regret their decision and join the waiting list for cancellations.
Thankfully we now have a beautiful showhome at Lowton and another one in the pipeline for Alderwood Gardens in Nantwich, making it far easier to showcase the quality of our houses.
As the property market is shifting, purchasers are more in control of choosing what they want and are negotiating better deals from house builders. These deals usually consist of securing additional extras within the price of the house. I recently undertook an exercise of comparing our standard spec with that of our competitors. If one of our purchasers were to buy a like for like house from a reputable larger builder, they would have to spend in the region of £8,500 to bring it up to the same spec that we offer as standard. This doesn’t take into account the quality we offer as standard such as bi-fold doors, flush case windows and Siematic kitchens.
As part of a small team at Edgefold Homes, we are able to adapt quickly to trends and changes. A recent example of this is at Alderwood Gardens in Nantwich, since the launch we have seen that kitchen trends are changing and within a week we have changed our kitchen spec to upgrade the Neff hob/extractor system that we currently use to an up to date Elica Recirculating Induction Hob. Changes to M&E plans swiftly followed meaning the breakfast bars in all of the houses now have feature lighting instead of an extractor hood, giving a sleek and modern look to the kitchen and keeping us up to date style.
It’s so refreshing to work for a company where suggestions are listened to, debated and acted upon so quickly and where everyone really does want to do their best to achieve a brilliant end product. If any member of staff has an “idea” we have a system of logging it and discussing it at the next team meeting. All opinions are valued whether that be from a member of staff or a customer.
Our properties have been really well received and it’s lovely to see that customers appreciate what great houses we build and how much more we offer as standard.
To find out more about Edgefold Homes, contact us today.
