Harry Buchanan, our Pimlico Sales Director, looks back on the year just gone and shares his thoughts and hopes for the year ahead.
With the mulled wine and mince pies now a distant memory, I wanted to offer some brief thoughts on how things look from our perspective as we settle into the new year.
2018 was a tough year in some respects, but I am pleased to say it was one that ended well and we have rolled into 2019 with one of our strongest pipelines to date; we have deals ranging from smaller 1 beds around the £500k mark right up the bigger houses in excess of £3.5m. In terms of deal numbers and general turnover, 2018 was very much better than previous years, despite the ongoing Brexit saga and increased interest rates. It would seem that now is a good time to be trading with active sellers and buyers both looking to make a deal happen.
On another note, you may remember we help support a village near Lake Turkana. We are only in our second year but this is a project that we hope to continue with and bring you their story. The support we give is directly related to our success, in that the more we sell and rent then the more we can give. Our first donation was a fishing boat, which has been and continues to be well-used, bringing much needed income and support to approximately five families, each with between six - ten dependents. At the beginning of last year we decided to sponsor four children through their schooling; you may be interested to read this report on the school that we received at the end of last year:
“The school has gone for Christmas recess but this has been a significant end year for our school since for the first time our first batch students sat for a national examination. All 17 students passed with very good results and will be proceeding to the secondary school, they did better than all the schools in the region.
It has proven that with dedication and perseverance, academic excellence and good education can be attained.
The four sponsored students on the other hand, have been doing very well. They will be having this Christmas with their families, which will be very simple, and with no fanfare. They do miss school since at least in the school they are guaranteed three meals a day but while at their villages, it is always uncertain where the next meal will come from.”
It has been genuinely heartening to see how many residents from in and around the Pimlico community have taken an active interest in our project and naturally we will keep you updated.
Please do get in touch to discuss any property requirements you may have in the coming months, or simply to chat through various options, we would be delighted to help.
Harry
