THE British-based County Homesearch Company says it is offering expatriates in Hong Kong a house-hunting and price-negotiation service that takes the hassle out of buying a house in Britain.
Homesearch specialises in finding homes in southern England, including London, and soon hopes to start a service covering the French region of Provence. Set up in Truro, Cornwall, in 1989, Homesearch opened its Hong Kong branch last January and is currently working on its seventh client contract.
For an initial registration fee of HK$6,000 plus a performance-related commission based on the final purchase price, Homesearch will do most of the home-finding work for the client and negotiates a good price for the chosen property.
To save the client from reading all the endless estate agents' lists and much fruitless foot-slogging, Homesearch claims to home in on the ideal property by finding out exactly what the house-hunter is looking for and using the company's estate agency knowledge and connections in the property market to locate it.
Once a client has chosen a property from a short list, Homesearch has an incentive to negotiate the best possible purchase price.
The company will charge either 1.25 per cent commission of the purchase price or 15 per cent of the saving it has made for the customer between the asking price and the eventual sum paid.
Finding out what the customer really wants is at the root of how the service works.