PROPERTY
Magnum working its magic
Star appeal – Teesside-born Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling on a visit to Magnum Properties .
Teesside property agency building nationwide reputation
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fast-growing Middlesbrough residential and commercial sales and lettings agency is building a strong reputation among high-profile clients across the country .
Magnum Properties , on Linthorpe Road , is finding more and more customers from outside of the area are trusting the team to secure healthy returns on their investments .
Some of those clients , Magnum says , are switching over after extensive periods with other agencies because of a “ second-to-none service ” that is rolled out for everyone who turns to them for assistance .
Magnum ’ s commercial director Aaron Fisher said : “ We simply couldn ’ t deliver a sub-par service to someone who has run a portfolio of properties for 15 years – and this is something we are proud of throughout the business .
“ We have had a big influx of clients who want us to manage portfolios in the area . That is because when they get one property through us , they realise the returns we can secure on their investment .
“ As an example , someone came to us last year and bought one property at auction for around £ 30,000 . We stripped it out , refurbished it , and they are ultimately now getting a 12 per cent return on that investment .
“ This is not someone from the area , either . We are then finding clients will continue to build their portfolios and ask us to manage them . That particular example now has seven properties with us .”
Magnum is finding residential sales are continuing to rise , having already seen the commercial arm of the business go from strength to strength in the last 18 months . As a result , Ashley Parkes has been appointed as a new residential property manager .
The high-profile clients who are now turning to Magnum have portfolios varying in size , and the largest of those is worth £ 12m in residentials alone – coupled with commercials , that figure is nearer to £ 20m . Aaron said : “ Many of our higher profile clients live away but they have realised the best investments are here , and in some cases , this is where they are actually from .
“ But it doesn ’ t matter who they are , our interest is to find someone a good property with a good return . The higher we get for them , the higher our income will be here at Magnum . People are switching over to us because they know we are more hands-on than other agencies can be .”
What Aaron means by hands-on is that Magnum – part of Teesside ’ s well-known packaging family – will take away some of the hassle landlords can often encounter .
WORDS : PAUL FRASER
He said : “ As an example , I was with someone recently who had a portfolio being managed for several years elsewhere , but the tenants would still ring him out of hours . They should not be ringing him at all .
“ Our management service allows the investor to get on with whatever it is they choose to do . Most of our investors work , so we allow them to work on their own day-to-day roles . We aim to take the pressure off them completely from a property point of view .”
It might be that Magnum has to arrange out-of-hours maintenance , rent collection or any issues with agreements that have arisen in terms of payments or renewals .
Aaron said : “ After someone has handed us a portfolio , the only time we really speak to the investor is if we have a problem or something comes up where the final decision should always lie in the hands of the owner .
“ We can provide a service where they can just continue to receive their money from the investment without the stress or the grief that can sometimes occur .
“ We will handle the inspections of properties and the renewals of agreements seamlessly . As part of our service , the investor or the property owner is only involved in the major decisions – anything outside of the remit , we agree .”
For more information visit magnumproperties . co . uk .
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