On Saturday 7th May 2011, Sewell & Gardner took to the roads in their ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ minibus along with 6 sets of applicants currently on the look out for property to rent in the area.
These applicants, along with over 60% of the applicants who take a tenancy via Sewell & Gardner and move into a rental property in the Rickmansworth & Chorleywood area, are not from the locality and do not know the area, the attractions, road & rail links, local shops, schools and amenities. This high percentage of new blood to the area, promoted the Sewell & Gardner lettings team to set up these ‘Magical Mystery Tours’ which incorporate a guided tour of the area and stop-offs at a number of properties currently on the rental market and in the relevant criteria for the passengers on board.
There is a little bit of fun along the way with a ‘are you watching and are you listening?’ quiz, resulting in a little prize for the winners at the end of the tour. After lunch, that is! Lunch was provided by Sewell & Gardner at the Coach & Horses in Rickmansworth Town Centre, andin return all the passengers were asked to complete a feedback questionnaire for the Landlord of each of the properties they had seen on the tour, giving details of what they liked or what they didn’t like about each place.
This last Saturday 7th May started out grey and overcast with showery spells, and we expected some heavy downpours along the way, but within half an hour the sun was out and shining. The tour started at Penn Place in Rickmansworth town centre and headed out to a few properties on the outskirts of Rickmansworth, prompting lots of interest from passers by as the Sewell & Gardner minibus pulled up outside the first few properties, both situated in quiet cul-de-sac locations! The passengers were already in the swing of things, swapping notes and discovering the pros (and some cons) of the properties in question and really entering into the spirit of the day, with whoops of joy every time one of the quiz landmarks was spotted!
Sewell & Gardner tour operators
Susie Griffiths was in the drivers seat, with Jane Gardner and Susan Nethersole handing out the commentary along the way. Reagan Bradley was driving on ahead to ensure that each property was open and ready for easy access as soon as the mini-bus arrived. It was certainly a team effort and actually at one property another passer-by joined in as she was in the market for renting and happened to be in the right place at the right time!
The tour bus wended it’s way through the streets of Rickmansworth, onto the M25 J17 for one junction around to Chorleywood J18, through the village and back along the main road to Loudwater and eventually back to Rickmansworth Town Centre for the final 2 properties and then into the pub for a well deserved drink and a nice sit down buffet lunch.
The only downside to the tour was poor Reagan having a little bump in her car right at the end of the tour, but thankfully, nobody was hurt and hearing the positive feedback from the tour and 2 offers already received, was enough to lift her mood. It looks as though 2 of the 7 tour properties will be secured and all of the other landlords have a lot of constructive comments to read through and digest, and hopefully this will help them to secure a tenant in the near future.
Due to time constraints our tour didn’t head onto Watford, The Langleys & Croxley Green, so the next tour will be setting off soon, just watch this space for details and make sure you don’t miss out!