20 Years!

STEPHEN Maggs has been in the estate agency business for 30 years, and is this month celebrating 20 years as his own boss.

His own-branded independent agency opened at 107 Bristol Road, Whitchurch, and is still going strong from the same premises two decades on.

Back in 1990, with a recession in full flow, it was a brave time to set up a new business and Stephen admits that some of his friends thought he needed locking up or certifying!
But his commitment and experience paid off and Stephen Maggs is still going strong today.

With his emphasis on customer service, repeat business is a mainstay of Stephen’s agency. For example, a gentleman who bought a house in Whitchurch Lane in 1984 was so impressed that he promised to contact Stephen should he ever decide to move. True to his word, and 24 years later in 2008, Stephen was called upon to sell the property, which he did.

And a young first-time buyer and his partner who bought through Stephen turned out to be a third generation of a family who all used the Maggs agency. The young buyer’s father purchased through Stephen, as did his grandmother.

Stephen says: “It’s very nice and flattering when people recommend their family to buy or sell with me, but when the third generation of a family comes to me for help, it does remind me how old I am!”

In 1996, Stephen Maggs became a member of TEAM Association, a group of computer-linked independently-owned estate agents. It includes more than 30 branches throughout Somerset and Bristol.

He explains: “The reason that TEAM benefits both buyers and sellers alike is because it gives maximum exposure to properties. It means that a fellow TEAM estate agent, for instance in Taunton, can introduce a purchaser through the local agent so that, in principle, you pay a sole-agency fee but get a multi-agency service.

“At Stephen Maggs Estate Agents we combine modern-day technology with good old fashion tried and tested standards. There are no gimmicks, just professionalism and experience.”

There is a distinct marketing advantage to be gained by choosing an estate agent that is part of TEAM, as the property will be marketed by all of the 300 branches, which cover a major part of the UK.

The Whitchurch premises used by Stephen Maggs was an estate agent as far back as 1966, when the well known and respected Ivor Gammon, of Gammon & Co, opened.

It was the year that England won the World Cup, and Stephen is hoping that his 20th anniversary celebration – which also fall in a World Cup year – will be a good omen for our chances this time around.

For more information, contact Stephen Maggs at Hamilton House, 107 Bristol Road, Whitchurch Village, Bristol, BS14 OPU, or call 01275 892228.

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