Sold before it was listed

Many of the houses we sell never appear on a property website. Some owners prefer privacy; some simply want a quick and certain sale. For buyers, it means the most important step is to tell us early what they are looking for.

That is what the buyers of this house on Chalcot Square did. They had been renting a flat on the other side of the square for six years, and they had a short list: four bedrooms, a garden, and if possible a view of the plane trees in the middle. In 2023 they joined our list of buyers who hear about houses before they come to market, and they told us the square was where they wanted to stay.

When the owners of the pale stone house opposite decided to move to the coast this spring, we called the buyers on the day we took the photographs. They viewed the next morning, came back twice with an architect and a surveyor, and agreed a price within the week. The sale was settled three weeks after the house was first offered, in April 2026.

For the sellers, there was no board outside, no open house and no uncertainty. For the buyers, the move was eleven metres across a garden square: they carried some of the smaller furniture over by hand.

Not every sale is as neat as this one. But it shows how much can happen before a house is listed. If you are looking for a particular kind of home in a particular place, tell us. The house you want may already be on its way.