Our 2020 – Dales & Peaks.
First and foremost I want to start by thanking everyone for their support this year, be it from merely liking a Facebook post, to buying or selling a house through Dales & Peaks, 2020 has truly been a year where local, family owned businesses much like ours have really needed local people to support local businesses.
Looking back over the year, it has certainly been one of highs and lows, with uncertainty in all industries whilst a number of industries see record years. According to Rightmove, 2020 saw a 30% increase in people buying and selling homes across the UK forcing the price of an average detached house up around 6% since March, a rise not seen in the market for some time and a year that has created that much momentum that Rightmove’s price index suggests a further 4% increase throughout 2021.
This year has seen numerous changes within Dales & Peaks, from changes within the team, to progressions within our marketing designed to help our buyer’s “stand out from the crowd”, so here is a look back at some of our highlights from the year.
Our first full month officially open in Matlock
In 2019, we started the process to take over rival firm TPS Estates, completing on the deal in mid December 2019.
January 2020 saw our first full month operating 100% as Dales & Peaks from our new Matlock location.
We installed high-bright screens within the windows, allowing us to showcase our modern marketing to a market that has, in fairness, become quite antiquated and very quickly became one of the go to agents within the area.
We introduced our social media marketing into the area and created a fresh approach, unseen by buyers and sellers in Matlock.
In 2020, according to Rightmove, we were the second most listed agent in the entire DE4 postcode, which is a fantastic result from a standing start.
We entered into the Matlock market, seeing a fantastic opportunity to bring our modern approach to a market we feel had become quite dated and wasn’t truly marketing the beautiful properties within the region to their full potential. We were uncertain how our marketing would be received within the area but the response has been fantastic and we will continue to service the beautiful Matlock market for many years to come.
Ash Glade Launches
Forging an exciting new relationship with independent developer Huckle & Sons, an established family owned developer, we launched their first bespoke housing development, Ash Glade.
The development offered 4 bespoke homes, each with a stunning countryside outlook and stylish interior finishes.
At the launch of these homes, the market was somewhat uncertain, with the world slowly closing down, construction becoming harder to co-ordinate and the developers, Huckle & Sons, quite rightly being unsure if timing was right.
Ash Glade launched for sale with the first plot going on the market towards the end of January 2020 and respective plots following throughout February and March. Each home sold within the same day they were lunched on the market and their new owners have been moving in and enjoying their fantastic new homes throughout the year. A great result for Huckle & Sons.
A Further Dimension to our Marketing – Derbyshire Life
2020 saw the launch of our brand new “STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD” marketing campaign, partnering with Archant and Derbyshire Life.
Working alongside Derbyshire Life and Archant, we built a brand new marketing campaign, taking up 8 pages within their prestigious magazine every month and partnering with them on our social media marketing, giving our properties a much wider reach to a varied selection of demographic.
Our social media following is, as I write this article, the highest of any Derbyshire based estate agent, it has played a key role in our track record to date and will continue to do so going forward, that said, we recognise there is an audience outside social media and not only does this colab help us reach that audience, it helps us do so in a different way to flicking through your phone and allows us to showcase the beautiful homes we sell in, quite frankly, a pretty beautiful way.
Derbyshire Life is a coveted magazine that covers all of Derbyshire, each month we list a selection of properties within our own article to push them to the buyers of Derbyshire Life. We also work with Archant to build creative and engaging social media posts that push buyers (and sellers) to our homes, allowing us to showcase our homes and what we do, to the right targeted audience. I believe this is one of the reasons why Dales & Peaks has the highest average listing price of any estate agent in Chesterfield – with an average asking price of £400,000 in 2020.
Our Brand New Chesterfield Shop
2020 saw the launch of our brand new Chesterfield shop, a shop that we have no only wanted for sometime now, but one, we feel, puts Dales & Peaks in a stand-out location.
‘Stand out from the crowd’ has not only been our motto since relaunching our offering in 2017, it has been what we have preached and how we’re achieving better results for our clients than our local competitors.
Our new shop, located on Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield’s cosmopolitan suburb, has been selected and designed to showcase the homes we sell in a way never seen before by any other local agent.
We aren’t in the mix, we never intend to be in the mix and the placement of our shop allows our clients to enjoy the process of buying or selling a home in a more relaxed environment than the hustle and bustle of ‘estate agent row’.
Staying with the practice of standing out from the crowd, our shop windows are fitted with high-bright screens, in which we can showcase our properties’ 3D tours, images and whatever information we decide to have rolling on them.
The footfall of this busy promenade attracts buyers and the screens will catch their eye, while the selection of independent businesses surrounding our new shop creates the perfect placement for a more enjoyable process.
Our Team Grew – Meet Some of The New Faces
At Dales & Peaks we aim to develop people as we grow, employing local people with a keen ambition to develop within the industry and a training structure to help them achieve this. In 2020 our team grew by four, including Alice returning following departing to work in another city in 2018.
Alice – Alice came back to Dales & Peaks after previously working with us, rejoining the team this year as our Lettings Manager. Alice has come back with a fresh outlook, industry experience and a point to prove, adding a new approach to our established lettings team.
Yasmin – Yasmin joined us at the start of the year and has quickly integrated into our growing lettings team as a lettings advisor. Yasmin previously worked in the hospitality sector and brought a vast level of customer service with her and a keen ambition to learn the industry.
Cassie – Cassie joined Dales & Peaks in the last couple of months, having previously worked for another local estate agent. Cassie has a passion for property and is learning lots about the industry and the d&p way.
Charlie – Charlie joined is in Summer 2020, having previously worked in the retail sector and, thankfully for us, being made redundant in his previous role. Charlie was keen to break into the property industry and brings a wealth of customer service with him as he learns the role.
Beautiful Homes Sold Across North Derbyshire
The Introduction of “Twilight Shots” into Our Marketing
2020 brought the catch 22 situation of the market being its busiest during the season normally synonymous with dreary weather and drab, flat photography. The introduction of twilight shots allowed our properties to really stand out, giving them more impact and more interaction individually than properties listed during summer with clue Skys and blooming flower beds!
Windfield – Chesterfield’s Most Expensive Home
At a modest £2.5m, Windfield was the most expensive home listed in Chesterfield in 2020 and we had the pleasure of listing it, which we were pretty pleased about. It gave us an opportunity to showcase all that we have to offer, from aerial videography to capturing in excess of 40,000 views online in just 7 days.
“Occupying private gated grounds measuring approximately 2 acres and surrounded by glorious Derbyshire countryside is Windfield, an exquisite 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom architecturally designed home boasting 10,494 sqft of living accommodation and enjoying luxuries such as a leisure suite with gym and indoor heated swimming pool, games suite with snooker room and cinema, a wine tasting room, garage for 5 cars and beautifully landscaped gardens surrounding the property.”
Whilst we market properties of all value across Derbyshire, properties of this type have very specific requirements, which Dales & Peaks is set up to cater for, to discuss any sales requirements, contact our sales team on 01246 567540.
Our 3D Tours Took The Market by Storm – #InnovationUnlockingDoors
In 2017, at Dales & Peaks, we made the decision to vastly improve our marketing, adapting to an ever-evolving digital landscape, a landscape which is, in many ways, significantly changing consumer behaviour and, specifically to our sector, the way in which people buy and sell homes for the better.
Our modern, innovative marking techniques, which allow all of our sale properties to be viewed online via virtual reality 3D tours, is helping us to keep ahead of the curve, enabling our marketing function to keep moving with the times; giving our buyers the opportunity to keep viewing homes from the comfort of their own home at any time of the day.
Before this worldwide pandemic which has affected us all, our homes were getting viewed more – and getting sold faster – than our competition but during the lockdown, we were as far as we know, the only agent that kept going at a reasonable pace without, crucially, risking anyone’s health – employees or clients. This continued activity within the market, due to smart marketing, gave us and the properties we were selling huge exposure and, we believe, has really helped us stand out this year.
Our extensive 3D tours give our buyer a fully immersive experience. You can look round a home online at your leisure as if you were there, going from room to room and looking round each area of the property. We can even tag features so viewers know what brand of oven is in a property and we have sold properties this way, because they’re that clear.
Our 3D tours can be viewed on Rightmove, our website, or even via a remote link which allows us to talk you around the property remotely and answer any questions that you may have – as if we were there in person.
This technology, which we originally added into our sales package as a novelty over three years ago, has quickly become one of the most important and effective tools we use here at Dales & Peaks.
A Record Year for Listings
Even with the market coming to a complete standstill for around 2 months at the start of Spring and the pandemic causing uncertainties within the market, the industry saw an addition 30% of properties listed in 2020 compared to 2019. At Dales & Peaks we saw a record number of listings, reaching £100m by the middle of December. This increase in business has allowed us to develop the company, grow the team and make marketing improvements that assist our buyers and sellers in the process of purchasing (or selling) a home. We end the year, looking back on what has been strange to say the least, on a complete high and want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your continued support and your valued custom.
Happy New Year From Everyone at Dales & Peaks.
