While Other Agents Talk, We're Already Doing It
There's a lot of talk in the property industry right now. Talk about transparency. Talk about reducing fall-throughs. Talk about giving buyers better information before they commit.
While Other Agents Talk, We're Already Doing It
There's a lot of talk in the property industry right now.
Talk about transparency. Talk about reducing fall-throughs. Talk about giving buyers better information before they commit. The government has been discussing reforms to the homebuying process for years: upfront property information, surveys as standard practice, fewer sales collapsing after an offer is accepted.
Good conversations. They should have happened sooner.
But we're not waiting.
The Problem Nobody Likes to Talk About
I've been selling homes in Sittingbourne and across Swale since 2004. In that time I've seen a lot of sales fall apart, and when I'm honest about the reasons, most of them come down to the same thing.
The buyer didn't know what they were buying.
Not because anyone was hiding anything. Just because that's how it works in England and Wales. You agree a price, instruct solicitors, the buyer commissions a survey weeks later and then everyone holds their breath.
Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it isn't. When it isn't, the whole thing unravels. The buyer asks for money off. The seller refuses. The buyer walks. Three months of everyone's life, gone. Legal fees, stress, and the seller back at square one.
We've had to make that phone call too many times. It's one of the worst parts of this job.
So we've decided to stop accepting it as normal.
"We've decided to stop accepting it as normal."
Agents Talk a Good Game
Every agent will tell you their process is different. Most of them are listing your property, putting it on Rightmove and hoping for the best.
The government is discussing making upfront surveys standard. That's a positive step. It might happen in the next few years. It might take longer.
We're not willing to wait for legislation to catch up with what's right for our clients.
We introduced Reservation Agreements at Harrisons back in 2020, years before they became part of the national conversation. We were told we were ahead of our time. The sellers whose sales completed because of that protection didn't think so.
This is the same instinct. Do the right thing now. Don't wait for the industry to make it standard.
Survey First. No Surprises Later.
We are now commissioning an independent property survey before your home goes to market.
Not after an offer. Not halfway through the sale. Before we launch.
The survey is carried out by an accredited RPSA surveyor and shared with buyers before they make an offer. So when a buyer says yes to your home, they already know its condition. They're not crossing their fingers. They know and they're making their offer with that knowledge.
The survey is fully insured through the surveyor's professional indemnity cover, protecting both the buyer and the seller. Everyone can trust that the report is honest, independent and thorough.
And once the sale completes, ownership of the survey passes to the buyer. They can rely on it going forward, which means both parties have every reason to approach it with complete openness from the start.
That's a fundamentally different kind of sale.
"The buyers who offer are buyers who mean it."
What Changes When a Buyer Already Has the Survey
Everything, actually.
There's no room for late-stage surprises. No moment three weeks after offer acceptance where a buyer comes back trying to renegotiate. What's agreed stays agreed because there's nothing left to discover.
It also means fewer time-wasters. Buyers are making a properly informed decision from the start. The people who offer are people who mean it.
And for you as a seller, it removes the uncertainty that causes so much stress during what is already a stressful process. You know the condition of your home. It's on the table. You can price accordingly, fix what needs fixing or simply be transparent from day one. That's a much stronger position to sell from.
Leading From the Front
At Harrisons, our job isn't to follow the crowd. It's to make the experience of selling your home genuinely better, from the first conversation to the day you move.
That means being honest when the industry has got something wrong. It means introducing things that protect our clients before the industry makes them standard. It means caring enough to do the harder thing when the easier thing isn't good enough.
Scotland has operated with upfront surveys as standard for years. The process there is more transparent, more certain and less prone to the kind of collapse that costs everyone time, money and trust. We can learn from what works.
The government will catch up eventually. The rest of the industry will follow.
We'll already be there.
If you're thinking about selling and you'd like to understand how our approach works for your property, we'd love to have a conversation. No hard sell. No script. Just an honest chat: which, if you know Harrisons, is exactly what you'd expect.
By Chris Ellis, Owner & Director, Harrisons Homes