Stephenson Browne pride themselves on providing clients with the best advice on price, timing presentation and market strategy.

This high-level expertise has been offered to residents of Alsager and surrounding areas since the office was first opened in February 1999.

Matthew Bass, branch manager at Alsager's office, has worked for the business for two years and he joined Stephenson Browne because their "mantra of providing independent, tailored advice matched up very well" with his personal views.

Matthew, who has worked in the industry for nearly 10 years now, said: "I have worked for large corporate firms over the years and have to say that it's very important to be flexible to the customer, each customer has their own unique wants and needs, a one size fits all approach just doesn't work (in my opinion).

"Being in the industry you forget how tough moving actually is, it just becomes second nature to you as you're dealing with 40 to 50 property transactions a month. I have more recently gone through it myself and its no easier being in the game when you know the troubles and avenues that can arise when moving home."

He said that people only have to look at their reviews and "realise" that both buyers and sellers want a "quality of service", which is why Stephenson Browne have so many customers return to them.

Matthew feels that the housing marking is currently "incredibly buoyant" with there being "strong demand" and "very little supply", which has created a "frenzy" amongst buyers, this coupled up with "tough negotiation" is resulting in either the asking price or an excess of asking price offers for their clients.

However, Matthew does not feel that the stamp duty is the only element which has created the frantic market that the industry has witnessed in recent months. He feels that alongside the impact of the stamp duty alongside "incredibly" low interest rates and the Covid-19 pandemic, has made people realise that they require extra space, an additional bedroom or just a fresh start altogether.

Matthew believes that the key to matching sellers and buyers is always down to communication and the right advice initially from the agent.

He said: "Technology has changed buyer behaviours generally and, in some ways, how they interact with agents, but traditional customer service and values will always be the key to success and a swift moving process."

When asked what tips he would give homeowners considering selling their house, Matthew felt a "fresh lick of paint" would go a long way.

He added: "It's amazing how much better home photographs look especially during summer months when the property has been recently redecorated.

"Decluttering is a main consideration when looking to market your property, a lot of people throughout lockdown have invested in exercise equipment, furniture and a variety of things that we don't necessarily need which can clutter up homes, in order to make your home look its best a "less is more" approach should be used."

Cheshire East Council's Local Plan resulted in Alsager being allocated over 2,000 additional houses to help the borough fulfil their housing quota.

Matthew comments: "As Alsager expands, the variety of homes is also increasing. It's nice that we have the best of both worlds."

He highlights there are a lot of "beautiful period homes" in Alsager with "plenty of character and appeal", but that in more recent years Stephenson Browne had seen the rise in modern developments in the area.

Matthew continued: "There are about six new developments in the area and we tend to have boards on the majority of them and they are proving to be quite popular with younger buyers as of late. We also deal with smaller developers who at various stages of the build give buyers the option to personalise the property that they are buying, which is a nice touch."

Sarah Radford, lettings manager at the Alsager and Newcastle-under-Lyme Stephenson Browne branches, said: "When we came out the first lockdown it was crazy mad, I have done this job for 15 years now and I have never known it to be that busy with people wanting to move, it was almost as if people had lockdown syndrome.

"We stayed really busy all last year and the only period that we had a bit of a lull was January and February which was purely down to the winter months and the virus heavily impacting everybody."

Alongside Sarah, there are four other members of staff that form the Alsager lettings team, who cover the popular ST7 postcode.

Stephenson Browne's professional credentials are attested for by its membership of the National

Association of Estate Agents and Ombudsman Scheme.

Sarah, who has worked for Stephenson Browne for nearly five years, believes that having a designated specific team at each Stephenson Browne branch sets the "first class" independent estate agent apart from their competitors.

She added: "We don't have anything centralised. Each office runs to their individual portfolio and gets to know the clients and team with a proper relationship formed.

"We keep everything in branch and that brings a familiarity and trust to our clients."

As part of their commitment to the community, Stephenson Browne are now proud sponsors of the

property section at Alsager Nub News.

Our exciting partnership will showcase great properties in and around the town, plus news and

features relating to the local property market and how it might affect people in Alsager.

Speaking on the partnership, Nub News chief executive Karl Hancock said: "Estate agents are such an integral part of any community so it's great to have Stephenson Browne on board as the property sponsor for Alsager.

"I look forward to reading Property of the Week features and regular articles on the local market."

About Stephenson Browne:

The offices are situated on Crewe Road with separate premises for lettings and sales.

Stephen Bird (Managing Director) and Craig Whitney (Sales Director) of Stephenson Browne said: "We are extremely thankful to be in the position that we are in after what for many businesses has been an awful time over the last 15 months.

"The market, whether that be sales or lettings has grown far beyond anyone's expectations, stamp duty holiday aside, the people we speak with daily now appear to be making lifestyle changes due to the effects of Covid.

"Whilst it hasn't been easy, we couldn't be prouder of our employees across the board for their continued hard work through these unprecedented times and on behalf of everyone at Stephenson Browne would like to thank all our clients for their custom but more importantly, their understanding and frequent kind words."

See more from Stephenson Browne here.

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