Why Michael Hardy

Why Michael Hardy?

Michael Hardy may be a familiar sight on the high street, and one of the most successful estate agents in Wokingham and Crowthorne, but we are not a company to rest on our laurels.

What sets us apart from our competitors, is the maturity and experience of the sales and letting teams as well as our reputation for providing excellent customer service. Michael Hardy strive to offer a ‘best in class’ service and are proud of our forward-thinking attitude. We can offer you the benefit of our accumulated experience alongside the peace of mind that we embrace the latest in cutting edge technology (including the latest virtual viewings) to help you market your home.

As an independent agency, we are a strong team of mature yet dynamic professionals with a forward thinking attitude. We work hard on building strong brand awareness through our advertising and marketing campaigns from Social Media to local Billboards. We recognise the importance of keeping ahead of advances in technology with the introduction of 360 degree virtual tours and we pride ourselves on our innovative website offering the latest functions including searches by Travel Time and School Acceptance Areas and Online Valuations. We believe this approach coupled with our vast experience and knowledge of not only the property market but the local area, have helped us become the successful brand we are today but don’t just take our word for it...


testimonials

 

Recently sold our property with Micheal Hardy. Ben, Jane and Daragh are very efficient and helpful. Any issues they were on to it and would make sure you had all the detail when dealing with the other sides, especially Jane, she worked very hard to make the process as smooth as possible. Thank you for all of your hard work!

The BEST agent in Crowthorne by far!

Our Experience

So why is it that one agent can do a better job than the others? What is it that we can use to make Mr and Mrs Buyer offer on your house rather than the one down the road? What is our most unique selling point? In a nutshell, it is our experience.

Since opening our doors in 1985, we have over 120 combined years of handling properties in Wokingham and Crowthorne, meaning vendors can have faith in the advice and guidance they receive from the Michael Hardy team.

Since the market slowdown post referendum, having a team of dedicated professionals at the helm has never been so important!

A high street presence

Having a high street presence allows us to give our clients the comfort of a friendly face to offer help and advice during what can be a very stressful process.

With Sales and Lettings under one roof, all calls answered by our sales teams, and with dedicated staff to constantly update you as we reach the crucial points in the selling process, you’ll be safe in the knowledge we will go that extra mile to see the sale through.

The statistics show that online agents sell far fewer of the properties they market. It may be tempting to cut costs, but part of their business model is to rely on inexperienced staff and budget marketing techniques. When an upfront fee is involved, there is little incentive for a negotiator to close that sale for you!

How We Do Things

Often, we get calls from homeowners who will say, "I don't want to know what you do, I just want to know how cheap your fee is?" Fair enough, but ask yourself this. If the agent responds by immediately dropping his fee, how hard will that agent work to get you the best possible price?

As one of our clients wrote in a recent review on Feefo:

We know we don’t offer the cheapest fees but we like to think that we offer an incomparable level of service.

From the outset, we invest heavily in marketing your property. Unlike many agencies, we employ the services of a specialist property marketing company to produce top quality professional photographs, detailed and accurate floorplans, as well as state-of the-art 360 degree virtual tours. We believe it’s best to leave this to the professionals, rather than just sending out one of our team with a camera.

Our experienced team will secure the sale, keep it on track and continually update you as the sale progresses. It is part of our ethos to be with you every step of the way.

Very happy - So far so good! Michael Hardy estate agents have been great with communication, and even pushing solicitors which I didn’t expect.

This whole process hasn’t been stressful at all so thank you to Ricky, Sarah and Ian who have been our main agents! We cannot wait to move into our dream home.

Feefo Vendor Review, November 2022

Getting the sale

We will do everything we can to negotiate as much money from a prospective buyer as possible. Why? Because that is what you, the homeowner, have employed us to do.

However, we also believe in Smart Selling, making sure you the vendor have all the information at hand to make an informed decision based on current market conditions and the credibility of the offer. Successfully negotiating a sale is much more than just putting forward an offer.

Before we submit any offers to our vendors, we investigate all relevant details about the buyer including their property chain and their affordability in terms of either mortgage lender or proof of cash available. It’s not just about making the next sale, it’s about making the right sale.

We aim to get it right so that you will hopefully use us again in the future or recommend us to friend. Being a small local firm, our reputation means everything. We’re very proud that between 65 and 70% of our clients are repeat business or by recommendation.

Check out some of our recent 5 star reviews.


Michael Hardy's History

Michael Hardy signage

Michael Hardy himself, along with a team of only 6 staff, first opened for business back in 1985. At this time, Wokingham only had a population of only 115,000. Since then the town and surrounding villages of Finchampstead, Barkham, Arborfield and Crowthorne have grown considerably and so too have we.

Following success with the Sales side of the business, in 1998 we expanded into Lettings and now have an extremely experienced team run by our Lettings Director, Charles Danton-Rees.

Although he had retired some time earlier, in 2010, Michael was sadly taken from us in a tragic accident. His picture takes pride of place in all our offices and not a week goes by when one of his anecdotes isn’t shared round the office.

Neal McKenzie, one of Michael Hardy’s original employees who has been instrumental in making the business the success it is today, held the role of Managing Director until June of 2020. He has recently decided to step aside to make way for the younger generation but will remain actively involved in agency matters.

Barnaby Styer and Ben Biggs, who both have over 20 years’ of experience with Michael Hardy, are now directors of the Wokingham and Crowthorne branches respectively. We look forward to going from strength to strength in the 2020s with these two highly respected managers at the helm!

If you are looking for dynamic, experienced team to market your property for sale or to let, then contact us now to arrange your free, no obligation valuation.


The Haslams Group

The Haslams Group is one of the leading estate agents in Berkshire for lettings, new homes and residential sales.

The group comprises of Haslams Estate Agents in Reading and Michael Hardy Estate Agents in Wokingham and Crowthorne. We are independent and together we are proud to have served our local communities for almost 200 years.

Today we continue to be at the forefront of the property industry through our unparalleled market knowledge, our expertise, and our ability to put our customers’ homes in front of millions of potential buyers.