What our clients say about us...

Name:

Sophie Horsley

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2020-08-25 12:00:28

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

Thanks so much to James and Lorraine who went out of there way to make this as smooth a sales transaction as possible. Despite difficulties with the freeholders\' managing agents and land registry details they managed to work calmly through this to drive through a successful sale. James is the most patient and supportive managing agent you will find, supporting with my onward sale and I would gladly use FNW again.

Name:

Kate Cottingham

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2020-08-03 09:49:37

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

James at Fishneedwater was brilliant, he was friendly and easy to deal with as well as being readily available and kept me informed throughout. We put my flat on the market during the lockdown and he made a lovely walkthrough of my flat and once the lockdown eased he secured lots of viewings and we quickly received several good offers. He then managed to negotiate with the buyers upwards two time so that I ended up with a sale price I was very happy with. He also recommended AVrillo solicitors to me who were efficient and extremely fast - as well as less expensive than other quotes received. Lorraine at Fishneedwater was also fantastic and kept the sale progressing brilliantly throughout the conveyancing process - I can honestly say from start to finish I\'ve not sold a property so quickly and so stress free before. I can highly recommend James and his team.

Name:

Paula Williams

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2020-07-07 16:46:14

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

We used fish need water after we first tried a local agent, who are one of the bigger agents in the Triangle. We trusted them, and they let us down badly. After more excuses than actual viewings we were left thinking there was something wrong with our home! James at fish need water was recommended to us. They were based in East Dulwich so I was a little apprehensive he'd know the market here in SE19. I needn't have had those doubts. He brought along lots of information, about how much houses had gone up in value in our actual postcode section. He showed us how flats had gone up too. He then showed us how the first agent had got it so very wrong, and his observations were in fact, on the money. With nothing to lose, we decided to trust him to put the property on the market at an attractive price, and he said he would raise the buyers offer! Again, we were nervous, as I couldn't understand why a buyer would pay more! But, with nothing to lose, we agreed. The obvious difference was the number of viewings. Hugely more than our local agent. 4 or 5 times more in fact. Viewings at 7pm, 8pm, Sunday afternoon at 5pm. He seemed to be keen to get everyone in, regardless of the day, and was always really characterful, positive and happy with the viewers. It took a while, which he said was likely due to the fact we'd sat on the market initially for a long time, however we got some interest and interestingly he asked us if we could all sit down to meet each other, which me and my husband agreed to. The seemed to seal the deal. Our buyer was lovely, and we ironed out all his queries regarding schools for his children. James then somehow, and I have no idea how, managed to convince the buyer to raise his offer not once, or twice, but three times and we settled on an amount £15,000 higher than our asking price! After that we deal with Lorraine who pretty much carried on with the same communicative and excellent service we'd already received. She updated us regularly and gave us great advice throughout. I wouldn't have even considered them had a friend not mentioned the Company and I'm really glad they did as I feel they've been excellent throughout. So much so I recommended my Dad and he sold that too in similar style with bids coming in and a better result than expected. Definitely recommend the Company. A refreshing service in fact, especially after the last agent.

Name:

Alexander John Boyle

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2020-07-05 17:00:02

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

We used James at fishneedwater as he seemed down to earth, and honest with the initial valuation. We’d had the inflated Foxtons valuation in the past :( I also liked the fact he charged a sensible fee and then a bonus structure that gave me the confidence he’d work hard to get a good price, as he’d be chasing a bonus, so a win-win for both of us. When he suggested putting the property on at a lower price and using ‘offers over’, I’m not going to lie, I did have doubts and think it was a game plan to get a lower offer accepted! I couldn’t have been more wrong. He had two open houses, and over 30 viewing, on a £1.1m house and ended up negotiating several buyers offers for a few days. This is where I knew he was working for his bonus, as he kept calling me saying ‘give me a few more days please’. In the end we accepted an offer £150,000 over the asking price and we are absolutely over the moon, as its helped with our plans enormously. You’d think he’d give up there, but no, through lockdown he was updating me, chasing the buyer, keep things moving along and even after all that, he’s helping my brother to find a rental property, going above and beyond anything I’ve experienced from estate agents in the past. I know I can call him for advice on my own purchase and he’ll be straight with me, and has been all along. 100% I’ll recommend him. He works hard for his clients and I wouldn’t be put off by the fact he’s a small company. He talked more sense than any of the other agents we saw from the start and true to his word, he delivered in spades.

Name:

Charles

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2020-02-03 21:00:09

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

I’d tried to sell originally with Purple Bricks and had what I thought at the time was a low offer. They tried really hard to convince me to accept it, but my gut feeling was it below its real value. I stuck with them but things slowed to a trickle and I felt my time had come to an end. There’s an agency at the bottom of my estate and I thought I’d ask their agent James to come along and tell me his thoughts. Straight away he was enthusiastic. He told me what they were doing wrong, how the pricing ‘strategy’ was wrong. Also how they simply weren’t motived to get the best price as they’d already been paid. I hadn’t thought about that when I first went with them. He said he could improve photos, the description and change the approach. Wow! It went berserk and I had what must have been 30 viewings in the first few weeks. After several offers I have just accepted an offer a whole 15k more than Purple Bricks and he’s even kindly agreed to pay off my Purple Bricks fee too! Amazing. Everything he told me was correct. His valuation and the information he sent me very detailed and totally accurate, and in fairness far more detailed than what I had from the first agent. Everything about his service, from the number of viewings to how he carried them out was on a different level to the low cost agent. He was even viewing at 8pm to fit everyone in. He is worth every penny as I’m now walking away with more than 10k more! Purple Bricks are low cost, but actually on this occasion they haven’t been very good and the better agent won in the end, as well as me the client as I’m more than happy with the result. I’d definitely recommend James and Fish Need Water. Great service.

Name:

Anna Lennon

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2020-01-13 10:20:43

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

My agent, James Hall, sold my house within 3 weeks (we have now exchanged contracts) and kept me informed every step of the way. He conducted all the viewings himself, whatever time and whatever day, working weekends and into the evening and remained positive and cheerful throughout. I can honestly say that by going with a smaller agency, I felt as though I mattered more and the whole team couldn\'t do enough. I\'d also like to mention Susie Ralston, the Sales Progression Manager, who acted as a go-between during the sales process, right up to exchange who was so friendly and helpful and answered all my questions so quickly and never made me feel like a pest! Would definitely use again!

Name:

Luke Cody

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2020-01-07 20:00:09

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

We originally met James at a different Company, but we liked him, so decided to give him a go as at Fish Need Water he was ONLY going to charge us at the end if we actually sold our house. The first thing that stood out was the amount of detail in his valuation report he sent us. Some other agents barely wrote a few lines. James’s report was a few pages long! Lots of property information. What had sold, what hadn’t and why he thought it hadn’t sold. Really interesting information that he showed us from the Land Registry and how much prices had changed over the years. We definitely thought he showed a lot more passion about his job than the other agents and we figured that passion might be useful for us. Our house was located on a dual carriageway. We knew it would likely hinder us, and we thought his passion would help us. It took a lot of viewings. Over 50 in fact. It did become a little disheartening at times and most were put off by the perceived dangers, road noise and assumed pollution etc. It did get to a point where we considering taking a break, but he kept going, always chatting away to buyers, sending us messages with their comments (not always brilliant) and kept us motivated as he always seemed confident. In the end we had two offers, and we were over the moon. He managed to negotiate for us with some fixtures and fittings we were willing to leave behind. He even helped us by giving us some great advice with the house we wanted when we were negotiating with the seller directly. His fee was really fair given how much work he’s put into selling our house and we’d definitely recommend using him. Brilliant Company and 10 out of 10 for effort. Susie was great too and kept the sale going along nicely and quickly.

Name:

Alison Lucignano

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2019-11-11 18:00:21

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

We first tried to sell our property using 2 alternative agents and had a pretty horrendous experience. For one of the organisations, we dealt with an agent that consistently failed to respond to us, and even asked our tenants to carry out viewings even though we had paid them to do it! We were livid, especially as we had the additional challenge already of the tenant being a “sitting” one. The last thing you need is to work with an agent that you cannot trust to follow out instructions, or that worse still flies dangerously close to the wind when it comes to honest and open conversation! The most important thing when selling a property is you have a relationship that is founded on trust with your agent. This is what we had with James right from the initial enquiry. We could have an open and honest conversation with James and whilst we were not always happy to hear the things he told us in terms of market changes etc, we realised he was passionate, and honest and was telling us not what we wanted to hear, but rather what we needed to hear. We were updated after viewings. He fed us numerous updated market reports and loads of clever data analysis. He clearly is very knowledgeable and passionate about what he does. After lots of viewings, and a whole lot more than the other agents could muster, we got an offer. It took a while to negotiate the buyer to an amount we would accept, but we got there eventually. The other offers he had received were far too low and he even advised us at one point that it might be worth us considering carrying out some updating work ourselves and suggested he could help with providing contacts and support in relation to the dealing with the trades if needed. He showed us another property in Bromley he had managed which looked excellent and showed us how he’d managed to get a much better offer than the previous two agents could manage. After the sale process started we were kept updated and things went reasonably smoothly although the buyer had some mortgage delays that were outside of our control. We even created a sell, sell, sell WhatsApp group which James responded to whilst on holiday! The fee was also very competitive. In essence and for other considering to work with James, he worked hard throughout the entire sale process and we were in constant contact with him sometimes in the evenings, or weekends, and he always called us back. I would definitely recommend him to friends or family.

Name:

Ms A Mayers

Services:

Sales (as a Vendor)

Date:

2019-11-08 09:00:23

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

Overall I received a good service from this Estate Agent, their fees were fair compared to some of the other higher priced agents around. I found all the agents I spoke to, professional and pleasant. Jonny Kuzac valued my property and took charge of the majority of the viewings, from the start. However, it was James and Richard who negotiated the final details of the sale in the end, securing a realistic price in a market that had significantly slowed down during the weeks leading up to an expected Brexit. Additionally, I was pleased with Susie from their sales progression team who was appointed to ensure that the sale progressed without any unnecessary hiccups or delays, which it did. I would recommend this Estate Agent to others.

Name:

Robert kehr

Services:

Lettings (as a Landlord)

Date:

2019-10-16 16:24:02

Postcode:

SE22 8BQ

Branch:

East Dulwich

Review:

I have been using Fish Need Water now since 2012 and they have always been extremely professional in my dealings with them. They have overseen and managed the property and any issues that have arisen over the years with it and have ensured that its been in good working order for the tenants with minimal fuss and involvement from me. Just what I have wanted. I havent had any issues with any tenants that have gone through their vetting process and i have absolute confidence in their ability to manage and lookout for me and for the tenants as well.