Properties we
look after.

The farmhouse that came to us mid-sale — Catsfield

The property: a family farmhouse with an indoor pool and a hot tub.

The problem: it had been on the market for three years. A sale had gone nine months through the process and collapsed just before completion. The owners wanted to keep it on the market but were earning nothing from it in the meantime.

What we did: took it on for full management — listing built, photographed and priced by us, guest communication, bookings, changeovers, and the pool and hot tub maintained between guests. We run it on our three-month availability arrangement, so if an offer looks like it’s going through we close the calendar rather than take bookings that would have to be cancelled. If a sale falls over again, we reopen it.

Where it stands: live and earning while it waits, with the property still marketed for sale.

Fully booked from launch — Old Town, Eastbourne

The property: a three-bedroom house in Old Town with views and good walking on the doorstep.

The problem: the owner was undecided between a long-term let and a holiday let, and came to us through a referral from a local contact.

What we did: went out and met her, talked through what each option realistically meant, and took it on for full management once she’d decided. Listing created, photographed and priced by us at no charge.

The outcome: live at the beginning of June. Fully booked for June and July, with half of August booked as well, within the first weeks of going live.

Worth being straight about: that is a better start than most properties get, and we would not present it as typical. A strong first summer usually means the property, the location and the pricing all lined up. We tell new owners to expect a slower first year while reviews build, because that’s what usually happens.

A property built from nothing — Paradise

The property: our own. Liz and Rhys bought it, furnished it, listed it, photographed it and cleaned it between every guest themselves.

Why it’s here: because it’s where everything we do came from. We made the mistakes on our own property and our own money before we did any of it for anybody else. Every process we use — the written property brief, the photographs of every finished room, the first-three-cleans routine — started here.

The outcome: a five-star property that guests have chosen for wedding mornings, and the reason we know what an owner actually needs rather than what a management company assumes they need.

A builder’s clean for a demanding client — Eastbourne

The property: a house that had just had significant building work done. Extremely dusty throughout, and a bathroom that had been left in a poor state.

The problem: the job came via a referral, with a warning that the client was exacting.

What we did: a full builder’s clean — all construction dust removed throughout, and the bathroom brought back properly.

The outcome: the client was delighted, and told the person who referred us so. As Rhys put it afterwards, being told in advance that someone is picky is quite a good way to make sure a job gets done properly.