Page 51 - Phonebox Magazine November 2010

The Phonebox Interview:
PB: Why did you decide to open your second office in Olney?
buyers and sellers usually have relied upon that sale in order to move to their next house. With the chain collapsed, they are out of pocket from survey fees and lawyers’ fees, and generally are fed up with the English legal system. My own view is such that, if I was in their position I would always much prefer, to be kept in the loop and informed about what was happening every step of the way, so I could make an informed decision. Which is exactly what my staff aim to do period.
Haydn van Weenen
HvW: That’s easy. I previously mentioned that I started early on in my career working for a national company in Olney, and always had dreamed of coming back with my own name above the door. Most importantly I liked the people who lived in Olney and the surrounding villages, and also liked the idea of getting up every morning enjoying going to work in a particular town or area.
Sure, Estate Agents generally have had a hard time in the media, that said Haydn is attempting to ‘break the mould’, having started as he meant to go on, some nine years when he embarked upon his own Estate Agency.
PB: What would you say the secret of your success is – so far?
HvW: My staff. They are the ones working with me, giving complete support. They are the company, literally. You spend a lot of time with your work colleagues, arguably more so than the time with your own family. You have to get on well, work together and enjoy going to work. Otherwise you fall in to the trap of not enjoying your life. We work to live, not the other way round!
Now 30 years old, Haydn talks openly about the property market in and around Olney and his forthcoming wedding.
HvW: I consider myself very thankful and fortunate to wake up each morning, looking forward to the day ahead, and knowing that I enjoy what I do for a living. I have always been straight up and frank with buyers and sellers, and ensuring that they are happy with my staff and that they know that we will go that extra mile for them.
On a recent outing to The Comedy store, in London, we were seated on the front row, and were obviously picked on by the acts. It was a fantastic evening, with young Joseph being asked,” if he was in a boy band, and whether he had just been in a wind tunnel”. You have to laugh at each other, it’s part of selling as a team.
PB: What’s the best part of being an Estate Agent?
PB: Your family have been a great support to you in life and your career- could you have done it without them?
HvW: That would have to be meeting all different types of people, gaining their trust, and following through on what I set out to accomplish. This entails initially valuing their home, finding a buyer, seeing the sale through to completion, and having great pleasure in handing over the keys on moving day.
HvW: Absolutely not! My family have always been there for me. If I have any doubts
about anything, or just want to run
an idea past them, they are always
They accepted me as part of their business, and looked ahead to open a second office, with me taking a more important role within the company.
PB: You are getting married soon, aren’t you?
PB: When did you know you wanted to run your own office?
HvW: Yes 4th December at our old village church in Grendon. At the time of this interview, it’s just 42 sleeps away, and although it’s quite real now, I can’t wait.
January is a busy month for us, valuing houses and measuring up particulars, and is welcomed after a very quiet December.
HvW: When I was sixteen years old, as a junior for an established Agency locally. I dreamt about “Haydn Homes” or Haydn’s Estate Agents, which finally became a reality in June 2001. It was a year later that my father joined me in the business, and we moved offices to Olney, in the mid nineties.
PB: Is Gina your fiancée, to continue working with you in the office?
We will be offering the same independent service, unlike the corporate firms, who seem mostly interested in their statistics and weekly management meetings. My staff and I will be highly motivated, as we need new houses on our books to sell, and will continue to offer sensible commission rates.
PB: Would you go back, and do stuff differently if you had the chance?
HvW: The high’s are when you are instructed to sell a property and the seller puts their trust and confidence in you, and it all works out. They achieve the best possible price for their home, with the least amount of stress, and then are kind enough to recommend us to friends and family. The lows are the complete opposite. When a buyer or seller decides to withdraw from a transaction, the Estate Agent is left to deliver the bad news. Which in most cases is soul destroying, as
HvW: Doesn’t everyone say that? Yes of course I would. I would not have been so much hard work to some colleagues, and with the benefit of hindsight, maybe should have kept hold of the houses that I previously owned. We all would love to go back in time wouldn’t we?
We wish Haydn and Gina every happiness, with their forthcoming wedding, and future together, and also hope that he and his staff continue to sell houses in and around Olney.
PB: Are you finding things tough at the moment, selling houses with all the media’s scaremongering?
PB: Van Weenen’s have been in Olney since 2002, are there any plans of expanding?
HvW: Without sounding conceited, no. There is, and has over the last few months, been a shortage of houses available for sale. As a result buyers haven’t so much choice, and so new houses that have come on to the market, provided they are priced sensibly, have mostly sold within a four week period.
HvW: Yes, when the time is right. With so much uncertainty, and Government cutbacks, I have to feel 100% that I am doing the right thing, and that the time is right.
been a shortage of houses available for sale. As a
PB: What is your most valuable asset in your business?
PB: How did you get in to selling houses?
there to listen and advise me. I am very fortunate that my mother is a University Law lecturer, my father has a good business track record, and Gina has been a rock. I am in good company. My parent’s qualities and values have been so important to me, and I am so very grateful for their support and continued guidance.
HvW: Since my early teens I have been interested in property. We lived near Stamford in Lincolnshire, and I would always notice new Estate Agents ‘For Sale’ boards going up around the town and villages near to where we lived. I would guess the value, and the following week I would look up the houses in the Stamford Mercury newspaper, and wouldn’t be far off at all.
PB: What makes you get up in
the morning?
HvW: My future wife! She is a
human alarm clock, waking up with
the lark, and reminding me that it is my turn to get up, feed our two dogs and cats, and to get to the office and sell some houses.
PB: Who did you look up to and respect the most, when you were learning the business.
“
result buyers haven’t so much choice, and so new
PB: What do you need more. Buyers or sellers?
HvW: I’d have to say that each of my early managers had a positive influence, and I respected them and admired them for who they were, not least for their positive encouragement. I wasn’t an easy trainee to manage, and it is only now that when I look back, I can genuinely appreciate all that they did for me. In 1998 two colleagues (and now friends) made the decision to take me with them in opening their own office. It was at this point that not only did I learn so much, but also looked up to them and had an enormous amount of respect.
There is, and has over the last few months,
HvW: We desperately need more houses on our books to sell. In September we sold five out of the six houses, that we were instructed to sell in that four week period. We achieved very similar numbers in June, July, and even in August. Christmas hasn’t arrived yet! We still have November when buyers need to buy, and we would genuinely love to hear from anyone considering selling. Things will be almost flat in December, for obvious reasons, and so we then look to January when many people think about the New Year, and a New Home.
”
houses that have come on to the market, provided they are priced sensibly, have mostly sold within a four week period.
HvW: Yes I certainly hope so. Although she did finish university with a degree in Criminology and Psychology, so we will see....
PB: What are the high’s and low’s of your profession?
With respect to the other independent companies in Olney, my firm doesn’t have the luxury of a Rental income, and therefore if we don’t sell houses, then we don’t earn any money. This keeps us hungry!
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Phonebox Magazine 51