New appointments at Jonathan Waters Estate Agents

As part of its big expansion programme Jonathan Waters Estate Agents have taken on four new, high profile members of staff, adding an additional 57 years of local estate agency experience to its already highly competent and successful team.

Furthermore, an existing member of staff has been promoted to oversee and run a brand new office in the town.

Jonathan and his team sorted through nearly 300 applications for the 4 positions following a large recruitment advert in the job vacancies section of the EADT and Evening Star.

The quality of the applications was high and had we had the positions, several more staff could have been taken on but we were in the fortunate position of being able to pick the very cream of the crop.

CharmaineSayer will run the company’s Martlesham office and comes with over eight years experience.  She has lived and worked in Ipswich all her life and joined the industry after a long spell in travel agency.

“We have had big success before with people coming to us from the travel agency industry” explained Jonathan Waters, Managing Director.  “The two industries have a number of resemblances and it’s a natural step that somebody who is very good in one will be successful in another.”

Charmaine has worked in both the sales and lettings side of estate agency, both from the Ipswich town centre area and local office sin Kesgrave and Martelsham so was therefore the ideal candidate to expand operations from our Martlesham office in the IP5 area.  The expansion of the Martlesham Heath office will also see the company spreading into the towns of both Woodbridge and Felixstowe for both sales and rentals.

Charmaine is passionate about property and providing high levels of customer service and has a cheery personality and up-beat outlook on life.

Charmaine Sayer

JohnKnighton, can you believe, started in estate agency in 1969 when Managing Director, Jonathan Waters, hadn’t even started primary school.

John has remained in the industry ever since and therefore boasts a staggering 45 years experience in estate agency, making him one of the most experienced estate agents in the area.

John compliments our existing team and will run the company’s new prestigious Silver Collection department for properties at the more expensive end of the market from £350,000 plus.

John has worked predominantly in this higher end market and for the last fifteen years has run the Select and Country Homes division of a major corporate, national estate agent.

He will therefore be bringing to the company the extensive, specialist knowledge and the different set of skills needed when marketing executive and country homes.

John bears a striking resemblance to former England fast bowler Bob Willis and stands at 6’4 tall.

“A find like John only comes along once in a blue moon” said Jonathan Waters.  “We are delighted to have been able to attract such a high calibre and experienced addition to our sales team”.

John Knighton

AlisonMcKenzie started her life in estate agency one month before Jonathan Waters, working in different regions of the same corporate estate agency.  When Jonathan received Alison’s c.v. and application, the name rang an immediate bell.

Back in 1988, Alison beat Jonathan to the highly prestigious and sought after Negotiator of the Year Award in their first year of the business.

Even more of a coincidence, Alison now sits opposite Anne Houghton who was a manager at the self same company and had started a few months before.

Alison has joined the incredibly busy sales progressing team which looks after the sale of a property from the time it is agreed to moving in day, looking after the needs of both sellers and buyers and co-ordinating everyone involved in the transaction such as solicitors, mortgage brokers, banks, building societies, surveyors etc.

Her arrival has added a massive chunk of additional experience to what was already a highly experienced and very effective team.

Alison McKenzie

Jonathan Waters was delighted to also welcome back recently Sharon Newman who had worked for the company prior to the property downturn in 2008.

Sharon can boast a very rare mixture of experience as she has been both a sales negotiator and a fully qualified mortgage consultant whilst working at Jonathan Waters in the past.

This enables Sharon to look at every transaction from both a sales side and a mortgage side, bringing essential additional skills to the team which reaps benefits for the team and is a huge advantage on many occasions.

“Sharon is an incredibly determined individual and once she gets her teeth stuck into something she doesn’t let go until a sale is agreed, leaving no stone unturned and looking at all the possible options available to the situation.  In the current market, having a negotiator on the team with that attitude and those skill sets is worth it’s weight on gold” reported a very happy Jonathan.

Sharon is also an expert at the slightly tricky area which many other negotiators in the industry shy away from.  That is having a heart to heart chat with sellers of any properties that aren’t selling and being quite straight with them on the reasons the property isn’t selling and discussing all possible avenues to increase the saleability of the home.  In situations like this, most sellers really appreciate Sharon’s direct and down to earth approach to the problem.

Sharon Newman

The new office at Jonathan Waters Estate Agents, which opened this month, has seen a promotion within the company of Andrew Blewitt to become Manager of the branch.

The office is focussing on people buying, selling and renting properties in north west Ipswich and all the towns and villages to the north and west of the town including Claydon, Needham Market and Hadleigh.

Anyone who has bought or sold a property in the Ipswich area may well have come across Andrew before as he has worked in estate agency in the town for more years than he cares to remember.

Andrew has been with Jonathan Waters Estate Agents for some time now and the passion, expertise and knowledge that Andrew has demonstrated for the north west side of the town made him the ideal candidate when a vacant office came up in Norwich Road as he also lives in the area as well.

A keen sportsman and a lifelong fan of both Ipswich Town and bizarrely Hartlepool United, Andrew was delighted with the opportunity that the new branch represents, it is the company’s fourth office in the Ipswich area.

Andrew’s attention to customer detail and his old school style of estate agency goes down very well with clients and customers.

Andrew Blewitt