There comes a point in many people’s lives when the time is right to downsize and move to somewhere more suited to older living.
However, in the current climate, there is no longer a guarantee that the existing property will be sold in time in order to secure the next dream home. Steve Grundy and his wife found themselves in just this predicament but, thanks to Silverbridge Properties, they were able to secure a simple and stress-free sale which then allowed them to purchase their new PegasusLife retirement apartment.
According to Steve Grundy, “If it wasn’t for Silverbridge Properties, I don’t think it would have been possible to secure our chosen apartment in the time allowed, given the state of the property market.”
“As it was, we not only sold our property for a fair price, but the whole process only took 2 months. It really couldn’t have been easier”, added Steve.
Back last year, Steve and his wife asked each other a simple question; ‘would either of us be able to maintain the house and garden if the other was no longer around’. Coming to the realisation that the answer was probably ‘no’ they started thinking about where they would like to live in their retirement. With family and friends living near the south coast of England and in Berkshire, the Dorset area seemed the most logical spot, particularly as the area was very familiar to them.
The pair then took a trip down to Poole to view PegasusLife’s new Woodlands Development at Canford Cliffs. Featuring spacious apartments, a guest lounge, woodland gardens, a secure underground car park and a short walk to the beach, cliff top and shops, the couple quickly realised the spot would be ideal. Having picked out the most suitable plot they realised, such was the demand, that they quickly needed to sell their existing home, back in Wokingham.
Whilst discussing the uncertainties of the housing market with PegasusLife’s site sales manager, she suggested that perhaps a Part Exchange sale might be worth considering and so introduced Steve and his wife to Russell Smith, Sales and Marketing Manager at Silverbridge Properties.
After an initial telephone chat with Russell, in which the process was explained, Steve and his wife agreed to go ahead, starting with a valuation. Two local estate agents viewed the property in Wokingham following which Silverbridge Properties made a cash offer for their home, based on these valuations. Although the couple were initially disappointed with the price offered, once they factored in that there were no legal or estate agency fees and the fact that overall valuation was lower due to market conditions, they were happy to proceed with the sale.
Silverbridge Properties then organised the EPC certificate and drew up all the legal documents for the sale, at its own expense. With the purchase agreed on January 8th, it took less than six weeks to finalise everything, with completion on February 15th – incredibly quick even for a cash sale.
After completion, Silverbridge Properties even granted Steve and his wife two weeks ‘licence to occupy’, meaning that they could gradually move into Canford Cliffs at their leisure, eliminating the stress of a big ‘move day’.
“The whole process was completely smooth and stress-free”, said Steve Grundy.
“Although we didn’t receive as much for our old home as we thought, once we’d taken into consideration the general weakness of the property market, and what we saved on fees, we were more than satisfied in the end”.
“More importantly, it meant that we secured the best new apartment for us, and I would thoroughly recommend anyone in our position to really consider using Silverbridge Properties”, added Steve.