Page 43 - June 2023

AT HOME WITH

it’s important to use a local solicitor estate agent,
adding: “Hastings know the market here, they
are brilliant. I first used them 15 years ago when
another agent badly advised me on value and
failed to sell my property. Hastings is proactive with
finding customers from outside the Borders.”

Rob eventually found a buyer who fell in love with
the property: “The buyer is an elderly lady who
likes antiques,” he says. “She’s going to make it her
retirement home but she hasn’t moved in yet.”

Rob has some key advice for other sellers: “There’s
no substitute for using a good local firm as you get
what you pay for.

“You need to go to a well-established local
firm who know what people want and they can
advertise outside the Borders.

“Big national companies don’t give a personal
service – you need someone who understands the
market and how it works.”
Schoolhouse has character, location and views
so it was a no brainer to purchase it.”

Rob used the main residence as a four- You need to go to a well-established local
bedroom family home while running a holiday firm who know what people want and they can
let apartment based around the 19th-century
Baronial-style living room. There are additional advertise outside the Borders.
Shepherds Huts in the grounds which Rob
turned into a glamping business, but he
decided to sell the property last summer.

“The Old Schoolhouse didn’t sell as quickly as
we thought but it was a tricky market at the
time. The property could have been sold as a
business or a family home,” Rob says.

“Some people thought they were paying a
premium but it’s a great property and people
who came to view it were blown away by the
beauty of it.”

The home was sold by Borders-based ESPC
solicitor estate agent Hastings. In Rob’s opinion

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