Jennifer Mullucks is a Garrington buying agent covering Cambridge and the surrounding Cambridgeshire and Suffolk countryside. She works exclusively for buyers, helping clients ranging from first-time relocators to downsizers and investors find, evaluate and secure the right property.
Finding the right property is only part of the buying process. Being financially prepared can be just as important. We spoke to Garrington Buying Agent Jennifer Mullucks about how buyers can approach their property search, the value of local expertise, and why involving the right professionals early can help the process run more smoothly.
1. For readers who haven’t come across a “property search” company before, what does Garrington actually do, and what does your role involve day to day?
Garrington is an independent buying agent: we are hired by the person buying a property, rather than the person selling it, to find, assess and negotiate the purchase of a home on their behalf. We work exclusively for the buyer, rather than the seller, so our role is to help clients find and secure the right property, not only show them what happens to be on the market.
Day to day, that can mean quite a lot of different things: speaking to estate agents and our personal contacts, hearing about properties before they come to the open market, researching opportunities, arranging and attending viewings, assessing value, negotiating the purchase and then helping to manage everything through to completion.
For me, a big part of the role is really understanding what a client is trying to achieve. Quite often, the initial brief isn’t necessarily the final brief, so it’s about listening, asking the right questions and, where appropriate, challenging things a little. Local knowledge is a big part of that too, as it helps us understand where the right opportunities might be.
Garrington has a national network of buying agents, including here in Cambridgeshire, with a great deal of experience in their respective regional markets.
2. What’s the difference between using a buying agent like yourself and just working with an estate agent directly in the Cambridge area?
The main difference is who we are working for. An estate agent is instructed by the seller, so their responsibility is to achieve the best possible outcome for their vendor. As a buying agent, we are instructed by the purchaser, so our focus is entirely on our client’s interests.
That can be particularly useful when it comes to value and negotiation. We can look at a property objectively, research comparable sales, understand the circumstances around the transaction and advise our client on what we believe the property is worth, and, importantly, whether we think they should walk away.
We are also not limited to properties that are publicly advertised. Our relationships with local agents and contacts can sometimes give us early visibility of opportunities, including properties that are being marketed discreetly or haven’t reached the open market.
I am also regularly approached by homeowners who have been recommended to me by, for example, solicitors, mortgage advisers and previous clients, and asked to look at their property on behalf of a potential buyer.
3. What kind of client typically comes to you, and at what stage in their search?
There is no single Garrington client, which is one of the things I really enjoy about the role.
We work with people relocating to Cambridge, families looking for a long-term home, buyers who are downsizing, people looking for country properties around Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, as well as clients looking for investments or second homes.
Some come to us right at the beginning, when they are not even sure which village or area is right for them. Others have already been searching for quite a while and have become frustrated because they are seeing lots of properties, but nothing that is quite right.
The earlier we can get involved, the more useful we can potentially be. It means we can spend some time understanding the brief and establishing what is realistic for the budget and the areas they’re considering, before the search becomes too narrow. That early groundwork saves time later and makes the whole search more efficient, as we are not revisiting the brief halfway through.
4. Once a client has a property in mind, how early should they be thinking about their mortgage or finance?
Ideally, before they have a particular property in mind.
I think the finance conversation is best to take place right at the beginning of the search. It gives everyone a much clearer understanding of the budget and, importantly, what that budget actually means in terms of monthly costs, deposit, borrowing capacity and any other financial considerations.
Then, when the right property does come along, you are in a much stronger position. You are not suddenly trying to establish whether you can afford it while another buyer is already preparing an offer.
Our role isn’t to provide mortgage advice; that’s for a suitably qualified mortgage broker or financial adviser, but we do think having that relationship established early is an important part of being properly prepared.
5. In your experience, what goes wrong when buyers leave the finance conversation too late?
Often, it is simply a question of timing.
A property might come onto the market that is exactly what a client has been waiting for. If they then need to start the mortgage conversation, establish their borrowing position or work through affordability, they can lose valuable time.
In a competitive situation, another buyer may already have their finances organised and be in a position to demonstrate that they are ready to proceed.
It can also mean people spend months searching with a budget that isn’t quite right for them. You don’t want to get too far down the line before discovering that the appropriate financial parameters are different.
For me, being financially prepared isn’t necessarily about having everything committed to one particular property. It is more about understanding your position well enough that, when the right property does appear, you can decide quickly and move forward with confidence.
6. How do you typically work alongside a mortgage broker during a search or negotiation?
It is very much a complementary relationship.
The mortgage broker understands the client’s borrowing position and the finance structure, while we understand the property, the local market, the vendor and the negotiation.
If we are negotiating on a property, having a clear understanding of the client’s financial position means we can approach that conversation on a firmer footing. Equally, we can keep the broker informed as the search develops and make sure any property-specific issues are identified early enough for the finance side to consider them.
For me, communication is probably the most important thing. You want the property search, finance, legal work and due diligence to be moving in the same direction, rather than each part happening separately.
7. Are there particular property types or areas where having strong lender relationships matters more?
I would probably separate the two things slightly.
Strong lender relationships are particularly valuable where the property itself is a little less straightforward, although that is really the mortgage broker’s area of expertise.
From our perspective, properties where additional due diligence can be particularly important might include period houses, listed buildings, unusual conversions, properties with land or outbuildings, renovation projects, farms, equestrian properties and homes with unusual construction.
Cambridge and the surrounding villages have a real mixture of traditional housing stock alongside newer developments, so the mortgage ability of a property can sometimes be an important consideration.
That is another reason we like to bring the relevant professionals into the conversation early, rather than treating finance as something that only needs to be considered once an offer has been accepted.
8. What’s a recent client story (anonymised) where the search and the finance side worked well together?
One scenario we see fairly often is a client who finds a property that suits them well, but can’t quite stretch to it using cash alone.
Working alongside an experienced mortgage adviser, there can sometimes be ways of structuring the finance that allow the purchase to proceed before the client’s existing property has been sold.
If the existing property then sells within a similar timeframe, the finance can be repaid, and the client may also be able to reclaim the additional stamp duty they paid on the second property, where the relevant conditions are met.
It is a good example of how having the right advice and the right people involved early can give a buyer a little more flexibility when an unusual opportunity comes along.
9. What advice would you give someone starting a property search in today’s market?
I would say start with the brief, rather than the property portals.
Think about what you actually need from the property, where you are prepared to compromise and what your financial parameters are. Then spend some time getting to know the market properly.
I would also encourage people not to become too fixated on the asking price. Recent comparable sales, the condition and location of the property and the level of demand all need to be considered.
Also, I would not assume that everything worth buying will necessarily appear online. Particularly at the higher end of the market, some of the best opportunities can come through relationships and personal networks.
Most importantly, try to be prepared before the right property appears. Having your finances and brief in order gives you options, and makes it much easier to move forward when you find the house that really feels right.
10. If someone wants to get in touch with Garrington, or find out more about what you do, where should they go?
If you are looking across Cambridgeshire or West Suffolk, you can get in touch with me directly, or visit the Garrington website, where you can find out more about our services and make an initial enquiry.
Garrington Property Finders (garringtoneast.co.uk / Garrington.co.uk/ jmullucks@garrington.co.uk)
You can also contact Garrington directly on 020 7099 2773 or info@garrington.co.uk.
Garrington offers an initial, no-obligation conversation to understand what someone is looking for and whether a buying agent could be helpful to them.