1st July 2019 / Beth Oleyar: Celebrating 100 Years: An Interview with Wendy and William

As part of our 100-year anniversary in 2019, Fletchers have been sharing a selection of real stories from our valued clients.

Wendy and William first met Fletchers Maroondah Director & Auctioneer, Rod Burton and Property Consultant, Nicole Freene, five years ago.

Here's their story.

How did you first meet Rod Burton and Nicole Freene?

Wendy: We came about meeting Rod and Nicole because he had been over to give us an appraisal. This was 2-3 years before we were ready to sell. Eventually, we decided to move to a retirement village, so it was finally time for us. I thought to myself, 'that guy was really nice, what was his name?' I'd forgotten his name!

So, I went onto the website and looked up the Fletchers Maroondah office and I knew I would know who I was looking for as soon as I saw his picture.

We thought Nicole was just lovely – you get so chatty in these situations; you get to know each other's families. Her kids learned music and that had an interest for William – he would always be talking to Nicole about music when we were supposed to be selling the house! [laughs]

What made you decide to sell with Fletchers?
Wendy: I think it was Rod's Knowledge of the local area, his ability to read the market and his ideas on what he felt would work for us. We just felt we couldn't do any better.

What was your experience of the sales campaign process?

William: Our experience of the sales campaign with Fletchers was that they kept us well-informed of everything that was happening, especially if there was an open day. We always knew how many buyers had come in and what their level of interest was.

Wendy: Their Knowledge, at the time, was just second to none. From the area we were selling in, to the method of sale, as well as the relationship between the vendor and the agency – we thought it was fantastic.

What has been your most memorable moment in selling with Fletchers?
Wendy: I think the most memorable moment for us was when Rod and Nicole said that they needed to come see us because they had some contracts for us to look at. We thought, 'oh this is really exciting', didn't we?

William: That's right [laughs].

Wendy: But what trumped that was when they arrived, and we looked at the contracts to see what the top offer was, and we were just blown away. We still say to each other that we can't believe what we got for our house.

William: We really felt that Fletchers did go over and above to achieve a price far greater than what we expected. Put a smile on my face [smiles]. Did you experience any challenges along the way?

Wendy: I guess the one challenge we thought we might have would be selling in Winter. You sort of think to yourself, 'I wonder if anybody will turn up'. But it ended up being quite an advantage. Fletchers organised the outside photography before Autumn, which was fantastic – it was a blue sky, which was lovely. But also, we had a gas log fire, so when we had the opens, we would put the gas log fire on and move our couches around it and it just looked so cosy! [laughs]

Tell us about your experience in working with Rod Burton and his team.

William: As far as Fletchers is concerned, I really felt that Rod was a man of integrity and that was very important to us.

Wendy: When Rod came, we trusted him, so much. I guess if he'd gone the way that perhaps we weren't comfortable with, we probably still would have gone with him anyway [laughs]. However, he didn't do that. He seemed to read the story of us and our situation so well. He recommended we do a sale-by-date, which we felt very comfortable about - that was the way we went, and it worked out great.

What words come to mind when you think of Fletchers?

William: When I think of Fletchers, I just think they are a firm with high integrity. That's the keyword there in my opinion. They are a first-class real estate agency. They know their business. They know how to put the vendors at ease with their selling procedure and they take a lot of stress out of the situation.

Wendy: Fletchers delivers a wealth of local Knowledge on the Eastern suburbs, or 'the sticks' as we like to call it. They've got offices in Maroondah, Mooroolbark and Croydon, so it wasn't just Ringwood East they had Knowledge of, it was the wider area.

What is your opinion in having Rod Burton and Nicole Freene as your agents of choice?

Wendy: Working with Rod and Nicole was just wonderful. It really was. We built up a good relationship with them and they had a good product to sell – we loved our house. They treated it with respect, they treated us with respect, and it was just a great experience. We just had fun with them.

Would you recommend Fletchers to your family?

Wendy: I would certainly recommend Fletchers to family and friends. We've had our own experience; my son and my daughter-in-law have also had their experience and I would easily and very confidently recommend Fletchers to anybody that's selling a house.

Rod Burton
Director & Auctioneer
0433 132 499
rod.burton@fletchers.net.au

Nicole Freene
Property Consultant
0448 877 387
nicole.freene@fletchers.net.au