Finding the right home at this level is time-consuming, competitive and often opaque. A good search agent saves you considerable time, brings deep commercial experience to every negotiation, and gives you access to properties that never reach the open market. We handle everything from the initial search through to completion. So, you can focus on the decision, not the process.
We start with a conversation. If we feel we can help, we'll ask you to share your brief, budget and priorities in more depth – including where you're willing to be flexible. From there, we conduct a thorough search on your behalf, assessing every property honestly before it reaches you. That includes homes on the open market, off-market properties, and frequently, homes that aren't listed at all. We'll only bring you the properties we genuinely believe meet your brief, and we'll handle all offers, negotiations and contracts through to completion.
A good search agent more than pays for itself – in time saved, in access gained, and in the strength of the negotiation behind your purchase. Our fee is 2% of the purchase price, with a minimum fee of £55,000 (plus VAT) for properties under £3 million. We ask for a retainer of £6,000 before we begin your search, which is deducted from the final fee on exchange of contracts.
They're different terms for the same role: a person, or a team, who searches, assesses and acquires a home on your behalf.
In most respects, the process will feel familiar. As in the US, we act solely in your interests, search the market on your behalf, and negotiate and manage the acquisition through to completion. The key difference is the legal process – conveyancing in England and Wales works differently to closing in the States, but we'll introduce you to the right solicitors and guide you through every step.
We work across London, the Home Counties and the Cotswolds, and have conducted searches well beyond. In London, our knowledge runs deep: from Mayfair, Marylebone and Fitzrovia to Hampstead, Primrose Hill and Highgate; from Clerkenwell, Bloomsbury and Soho to Hackney, London Fields and Victoria Park. Our searches have also taken us to Chelsea, Notting Hill, Holland Park, Kensington, Wimbledon and Greenwich, and throughout London. We have also found second homes, country houses and holiday cottages. If your search takes you somewhere unexpected, like a sun-drenched beachside retreat in the Balearics, we're happy to discuss it.
Yes, and frequently. We are well practised at managing the process remotely: arranging video walkthroughs, attending viewings on your behalf and giving you everything you need to make an informed decision from a distance. For those new to the area, we can also connect you with trusted professionals across every discipline: solicitors, surveyors, tax advisors, architects and interior designers and more.
Yes. We offer independent advice (that’s completely free) on finding the right agent and the best approach to your sale. And if you'd like to begin your search before your sale completes, we’re happy to manage that, so you're ready to move the moment you need to be.
In many cases, yes. We understand property value acutely and negotiate hard on your behalf. Time and again, the saving achieved at the point of negotiation has exceeded the cost of our fee. It’s also not unusual for us to find properties that meet the brief, but come in under maximum budget.
Yes. Our network of relationships with estate agents, architects, developers and private individuals, built over decades, gives us access to properties that never reach the open market. It is one of the most valuable things we bring to a search.
An off-market property is one that is for sale privately – you won't find it on the portals or listed publicly with an estate agent. These homes change hands through trusted relationships and word of mouth, away from public view. There are many reasons an owner might choose this route, and in prime London it is more common than most people realise. Through our network across the capital and beyond, we are well placed to know when something becomes available before anyone else does.
Yes, and it's something we take seriously. Over the years we've built trusted relationships across every discipline a move might require – solicitors, surveyors, tax advisors, architects, interior designers, removal companies and more. We introduce clients only to people we know well and would use ourselves.
Absolutely. Discretion is fundamental to how we work. We have acted for a number of high-profile individuals who need their search kept entirely out of the public domain, and we are practiced at doing so. We present as your representatives throughout, the face of the search, and are happy to sign NDAs and take whatever steps are needed to give you complete peace of mind.
We begin with an informal conversation – no charge, no obligation – to understand what you're looking for and give you a sense of how we work. If you decide to go ahead, we ask for a retainer of £6,000, along with the due diligence documents we need to begin (including proof of funds and ID), and we'll send a contract for signature. We can start your search as soon as everything is in place.
From there, we identify and assess properties on your behalf. You’ll be able to review them remotely first. We'll only bring you to a property once we believe it merits your time and, if you need us to be, we'll be with you when you view it. Once you've found the right home, we handle the negotiation, connect you with any professionals you need and manage the process through to exchange and completion.
The contract runs for six months. In practice, most searches conclude well within that. From offer to exchange typically takes one to two months – though for clients who need to move quickly, we have completed that process in just two weeks.
Once you've decided to make an offer, we'll help you establish the right figure and put it forward on your behalf. Our knowledge of the market means we have a clear view of what a property is genuinely worth, and we won't recommend offering more than is necessary to secure it. If the seller responds with a counter, we manage the back and forth, and work to present you as the strongest possible buyer. At this level, the terms around finances – readiness to proceed, chain position, cash status – can be as important as the number itself. We understand how to use that to your advantage.
A broad range. We've worked with people from the worlds of film, television, music and the arts; with those in the public eye who need their search kept private; and with clients from finance, technology, law and entrepreneurship. What they share is not a profession, it's a sensibility. They know what they want, and they trust us to help them find it. They value quality, care about the homes they live in, and want to work with people who understand that brief properly.
