A NEW LIVINGROOM 2012 AT LAST. A WEB EXPERIENCE FOR BOTH PURCHASERS AND VENDORS... LOG ON AND REGISTER TO A NEW WAY OF THINKING www.livingroom.gg WWW.LIVINGROOM.GG
Welcome to a new way of buying, selling and renting property in Guernsey. Once again, Guernsey s leading estate agent, Livingroom, is pushing the industry to evolve and improve; to give greater value to people in Guernsey and further afield looking for property in our beautiful island. Since it began in 2006, Livingroom Estate Agents, led by Simon Torode, integrated creativity and innovation into the estate agent market offering a new kind of experience in a normally staid and traditional business sector. Livingroom was the first to introduce quality photography, intelligent design and genuine client service to property sales. The results speak for themselves. Staying true to its ethos of employing local experts, Livingroom has worked with a team of industry professionals to build the new website which will allow vendors to track the progress of their sale from instruction to completion with unique log ins and personal Livingroom web pages a facility which has never been available in Guernsey. Head of Open Market, Richard Hardie, has been appointed as director joining Simon Torode running the business. Livingroom director, Simon Torode, said: We have had a major shift in strategy. Richard s move to becoming a director, with his wealth of experience in property, coupled with offering our clients an entirely bespoke service, means we are starting 2012 with renewed energy and a real drive to approach the way we do things differently. We want to work with clients who have a passion for their homes and energy for a high quality of service and we want to continue to innovate to enhance the client experience. Buying or selling a home is a very emotional experience and our new website, our motivated team and the cutting-edge back-end technology we have brought to the island will all work seamlessly to ensure Guernsey house buyers and vendors are confident they are dealing with the right agency. Livingroom s brand positioning and development has undergone another evolution: pushing the quality of service and client experience to a whole new level and once again reinventing how estate agents should work. Livingroom has re-launched its website, appointed a new director and invested heavily in new technology as part of a major strategy to again boost the services available in the island. The estate agency has invested significantly in developing a bespoke, state-of-the-art website. It hosts a range of new features for vendors and purchasers which sets Livingroom apart from its competitors. SIMON TORODE DIRECTOR simont@livingroom.gg RICHARD HARDIE DIRECTOR richardh@livingroom.gg
Simon said a major pillar of the new strategy was to be a champion for philanthropy and he is a founding member of the Young People Guernsey (YPG) charity committee. For many years I have wanted to give back to the community but we now have a team in place that is motivated to do just that. Livingroom has chosen to support YPG and will donate a percentage of every property sale to the local charity which supports initiatives to establish an information, advice and counselling centre for local children so that they can get the best help and professional support. Livingroom also has a range of environmental and arts initiatives planned for 2012 and will be launching a number of fund-raising events. For more information please register to receive our e-newsletter online. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO YPG Young People Guernsey (YPG) is a new charity. We aim to identify and respond to the needs of young people in the Bailiwick. Our first project is to establish an information, advice and support centre ( one stop shop ) in St. Peter Port in partnership with Barnardo s the UK s largest children s charity which will open in 2012. The centre will provide a much needed safe place for the island s 11-16 years olds to access free, independent and confidential support and information. It will be a place where young teenagers can share their fears and anxieties, and receive advice and guidance from professionals. Barnardo s will train and manage locally employed professionals allowing young people access to the national expertise and experience that Barnardo s offers delivered through a local charity. All funds raised on the island will be used on the island. For more information about YPG please contact Simon Torode or visit the YPG Facebook page, Youngpeopleguernsey. INNOVATION & SERVICE Whether selling or buying a 100k studio or a 25m mansion everyone should feel they are the focus of our work and we are determined that our clients will follow Livingroom because of the quality of service and levels of innovation they receive.
Until now very little effort or time has been taken to ensure that vendors have a valuable online experience and not just purchasers. Estate agents can be criticised for lack of feedback or, if large periods of time go by where there are no viewings, vendors can wonder exactly what is being done to try and sell their home. We wanted to create a way that vendors could feel totally informed about every move being made to sell their home. By offering a truly transparent service our vendors can see exactly what is done and when. Livingroom is rewriting how agents are perceived and will demonstrate to vendors just how much value we put into the process. Using specific log in details supplied to our vendors our website features an area called MYLIVINGROOM. Within this, it is divided into two sections: one for purchasers to input their details and another which will feature Transparent Vendor Management (TVM ) In essence TVM is a diary of every event from valuation to sales or rental completion. Every element is recorded by Livingroom negotiators in the form of file notes. Vendors will be able to see when their property is next advertised, how many hits there have been on the website, viewing arrangements, frequency of viewers and much more. The file note allows the negotiator to record any detail of the service which will be a record for the vendor and Livingroom of everything about the property and the relationship. The latter will be particularly useful when a property price has been reassessed based on feedback or where the property is part of a legal settlement and information is key for both sets of lawyers or opposing parties. If a property comes on to the market that is comparable from a sales perspective, say because there is a similar house on the same road for sale, these details can also be posted in pdf form to ensure our client, the vendor, is fully aware of competition and market conditions. Privacy while at work is vital and using TVM at work will ensure that conversations can be had with Livingroom without having to talk about confidential matters in a public space.
Leading-edge website LIVE NOW Using the latest technologies, our new website features a contemporary aesthetic that focuses on the properties and the information you need. With large scale imagery, a slick and intuitive user experience and powerful search features we maximise the benefit to vendors and purchasers by ensuring that finding the right property is as straightforward and engaging as possible. MyLivingroom LIVE NOW Sign up to customise your livingroom experience. Your personal account allows you to configure your requirements so that you are notified of suitable properties by our instant notification system. My Livingroom is also where any Private Collection properties that we believe may be suitable will be added for private viewing. You can also add properties to your favourites for later viewing. Mobile WebsitE TO BE LAUNCHED END OF JANUARY 2012 Our website has been designed for use across the ever-increasing range of mobile platforms and requires no downloads or app updates, simply browse to our site on your mobile device. A specially designed, mobile optimised version of our website puts the features you need most at your finger tips.
I WANT TO LIVE HERE REVOLUTIONARY MOBILE SERVICE TO BE LAUNCHED END OF JANUARY 2012 Another technological leap forward is a new smart phone facility which, again, has never been available in Guernsey before. I Want to Live Here is a service using any phone s GPS and, logging into Livingroom, the user can ask the phone to show all the properties available for sale in the parish in which they are standing. We have had a lot of feedback from people who fall in love with a particular area or lane while they are out and about. This facility gives them access to what properties are for sale and rent in the area instantly.