Sarah Benbow
Number One Salesperson for Greenhithe Branch, Year Ending 31st March 2010 and 2011
When Sarah Benbow says she has chosen her path in life, she really means it.
With a background of 14 years in the automotive industry, Sarah worked her way up from entry level to become Managing Director of a business that manufactured components for Range Rover, Jaguar and Massey Ferguson tractors. The many roles that this challenging job entailed saw her develop the necessary communication skills and eye for detail that the competitive industry demanded.
Originating from the UK, Sarah and her family decided to immigrate to New Zealand after attending a family wedding in 2001. Lured by the beaches, the people and the kiwi lifestyle, they settled in Greenhithe, discovering in this area, a place which had most of the community spirit and village atmosphere they had left behind.
Sarah and her family soon became part of the local scene. She has two sons her younger son attends the local school and eldest goes to Westlake Boys High School and have become instant kiwi lads; one plays rugby and the other soccer.
Having sold many properties in Greenhithe area, Sarah’s relaxed but effective manner has won her an instant fan base, and she has a strong reputation for getting the job done. Her innate business sense ensures that her clients gain the value of her previous experience and her negotiation skills are exemplary, resulting in a price and result that her clients are delighted with.
Sarah believes in meeting the expectations of her clients, and knows that listening and strong communication skills are the key to a great salesperson. Determined to go that extra mile for her clients, Sarah’s key to success lies in her good head for business, coupled with essential people skills and determination.
Testimonials
"Professional, dedicated, honest, tenacious and with the utmost integrity are all words which adequately describe Sarah. We would have to admit that selling our home during the 2011/12 year must be one of the more challenging events due to a lack lustre market and buyer reticence during the global financial crisis; however Sarah never lost sight of the goal and worked with us tirelessly to come up with a great result.
Sarah continued to go beyond expectation, with exemplary communication - and always with a smile on her face - continued to remain focused and motivated to achieving our desired results.
We could not speak more highly of Sarah, and openly recommend her without reservation to any vendor or purchaser wishing to sell or buy property on the North Shore.
Thank you very much again."
Steve and Renelle, January 2012
"Buying and selling a house can be so very stressful. You tend to think that you deserve the land agents full attention, knowing that in reality they are very busy people, that also have a home life, and many other clients.
Sarah made us feel as if we were her top clients. Listening carefully to the criteria of the house we were wishing to buy, also allowing for a bit of lateral thinking. Always there for us, returning phone calls, going that extra mile if we required further information, is her style. We also liked the way she was respectful and up to date of her vendors needs, making us confident that there were no loose ends, and therefore, making the buying of our new home a pleasant business deal.
Her P.R. was also a very efficient person making Sarah’s skill as getting the best out of everything very evident.
Thank you Sarah-it was a pleasure to deal with you. We both consider you as our new Greenhithe friend."
Pat and Morrie Page, December 2011
"Both Tania and I are extremely grateful to you for all your efforts.
Right from our initial contact with you, when we called to ask you about the property and you said, "I can meet you there in two minutes" and you did just that; then walking us through the 'Auction' and 'Offer' processes; through to your assistance with the handover, and finally; to receive the lovely bottle of wine to celebrate the conclusion of the deal, its easy for us to understand why you have achieved the status of 'Top Salesperson of the Year'.
Should you ever need a referral, we would be pleased to speak to any of your potential clients about your 'Totally Professional Service'.
Needless to say, if we hear of anyone wishing to buy or sell in the area, we will certainly pass on our recommendation to them and let you know.
Thanks again. We really love the house, the location and the ‘Village’."
Best regards Dave & Tania Bonsall September 2011
"We would recommend Sarah to any prospective seller as we found her approach honest and friendly and she was very enthusiastic about our property. A great result, sold under the hammer."
Brian and Sharon - July 2011
"Sarah is professional and very approachable. She works with a great colleague Justine and they make a good balanced team. I would recommend Sarah to anyone looking to buy or sell in the area."
Michelle Nelson
“We decided to enlist Sarah Benbow to sell our home on our behalf. She discussed different marketing strategies by which we could sell our home. We received a comprehensive market analysis regarding the surrounding area and were confident we were marketing our home at the correct price. We sold our house after two weeks, which was a great result for us. Sarah always kept us informed of what was happening and nothing was a problem for her. I would definitely use Sarah to sell my house again.”
Lara Green
“Sarah was thoroughly professional throughout the sale of our property. She was always on hand to discuss any issues occurring during the whole process. Nothing seemed ‘too hard’ or insignificant to Sarah. Her calm and committed approach in the sale of our property also supported us and helped to maintain a level head in what can often be a stressful time.
She has a great personality and she is very well suited to the real estate industry and strikes immediate relationships with her clients. Above all, it is her success in selling properties accompanied with her people skills that give her the ability to ‘go the extra mile’.”
Sarah Fish
"Sarah immediately puts you at ease from the moment you meet her and she makes you feel as if you are her only clients. At the same time she is professional but takes the pressure off of the sale and makes you feel like it will not be such a horrific ordeal. In our case with Sarah working to attract purchasers it was not an ordeal at all. She found 7 groups and got them round on day one, not open house one, day one. The first offer was presented within 2 ½ hours and we sold without compromising on our price that same day. We never held an open home. Does it get any better than that! Well done Sarah."
The Bond Family, February 2010
"It was an emotional time when we made the decision to sell our parents home of 45 years, but the process was made easier and smoother with Sarah's help and understanding. Her knowledge and advise was spot on, resulting in a successful sale for all concerned. We would have no hesitation in recommending Sarah to any prospective vendor or purchaser".
Cathy Burrows, April 2010
"Sarah worked incredibly hard on finding a house for us to buy. We were recently arrived from the UK. Sarah helped us greatly, not only in buying a home but also settling us in gently to the Kiwi way of doing things. She explained everything in simple-to understand terms and was always on hand with any questions we might have. Without Sarah, I think we would have found the whole process of buying a house extremely daunting but instead we found it to be an exciting and enjoyable task."
Justin and Jane, 2010
"As an expat KIWI back in New Zealand for eight weeks in the summer of 2009/10, I was pushed for time in acquiring a suitable residential property investment to add to my portfolio.
I contacted Barfoots of Greenhithe and spoke to the manager there, Lucas Bonné, with whom I had purchased my previous rental. As the manager Mr Bonné was not able to assist me again directly but was able to put me in touch with Sarah Benbow who worked with me for several weeks until I found the right property. Sarah quickly understood my needs and was happy to do pre-inspections on my behalf to save me time on wasted visits. At a time when there was not much of the quality and type I required but she did an excellent job and I acquired a property that is returning a around 5.5% on the purchase price.
I am of the opinion that Lucas and Sarah of the Greenhithe both understand the needs of purchasers well and act with integrity for all the parties concerned. I would not hesitate to use them again!"
Dr Ian Patterson, June 2010
"Thank You Sarah for achieving the sale of our home in Greenhithe. It is not often you meet people who are prepared to do the extra mile,You are one of those people, a committed and professional real estate agent who carefully and thoughtfully gets it done."
Brian & June Taylor, June 2010
"We asked Sarah to sell our house on our behalf. Sarah was very professional and made the whole sale/negotiation process run extremely smoothly and was an excellent communicator between us and the purchasers. With her marketing vision and strategy our house sold after 2 weeks. RESULT! Thanks Sarah."
Rachel and Kent, August 2010
"We recently purchased one of Sarah Benbows listings in 'Old Greenhithe From the moment we meet Sarah we found her cheerful, friendly and helpful. She was very professional in all aspects and was never pushing making us feel awkward or pressured. Sarah was very helpful and professional which enabled the purchasing process of the property to be smooth and as stress free as possible. Sarah listen to our needs and was extremely efficient when getting back to us on any queries or questions we had. A pleasure to work with."
Sarah Gurney and Guy Wilson, August 2010
"I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you both considerably for all the effort to date, honestly I have absolute confidence that every effort has been made on your part to sell my house; the marketing has been spot on, the dedication to open homes/follow-up and all that goes with being the selling agent. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Its been great working with you both. I’ll be back knocking on your door as I've really enjoyed working with you both."
Jenny
"Sarah looked after us right from the start, explaining our options and giving us advice without being at all pushy. Down to earth, yet wholly professional, Sarah listened to our ideas and respected our input. She is knowledgeable in her field and helped us make the right marketing decisions for our type of property. The result was success at auction in November 2010, after four weeks on the market, for a price we were happy with. We have no hesitation in recommending Sarah to anyone wanting sound advice, support and a great result from a warm, genuine and friendly real estate agent."
Marc & Rachel, December 2010
"When we decided to sell our investment property in Greenhithe, I contacted Barfoot and Thompson agency in that area to get in contact with an agent to sell my property. Sarah Benbow was allocated the task and before long, she contacted me to get the ball rolling. We completed the necessary forms to give her authority as our agent to proceed with the sale. Great was our surprise that within the next two weeks, Sarah had everything in place, the marketing pamphlets were completed and her first open home planned. She suggested we go to auction to “test the water” although she already had some interest from buyers from the first open home. My wife and I were blown away by her enthusiasm and positive approach to all this even when we did not get any interest at the auction. Sarah kept us in the loop throughout the process and I had calls from het on a weekly and sometimes daily basis giving me updates on the process. She knew what to expect and we had full confidence in her ability to get the deal done. Our settlement date was set towards the end of January this year and to make a long story short, settlement (within our specified price) was reached two weeks in advance!! This is what I call professional action and attention from someone who knows what she is doing and getting the job done efficiently and effectively.
If I ever have another property to sell or interested in buying a new one, Sarah will be the first person I will contact."
Lourens, February 2011
"Thank you for all the work you did for us selling the house here in Unsworth Heights. You were both very professional and kept us informed every step of the way. I hope I never have to use you again though – only because I never want to move again! I will definitely recommend you to anyone I hear of who is wanting to sell property."
Ian and Carol, February 2011
“Having been involved in about a dozen property transactions in the past 20 years our opinion of real estate agents was extremely poor and we used different agents each time in an attempt to find someone we could trust. It was therefore a pleasure to work with Sarah recently in the sale of our house in Greenhithe. She is straight speaking and honest even when she is not bringing good news. We are already working with her again on some other projects and have no hesitation in recommending her to anyone.”
Adrian and Cathie Hoy, March 2011
"I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you both considerably for all the effort to date, honestly I have absolute confidence that every effort has been made on your part to sell my house; the marketing has been spot on, the dedication to open homes/follow-up and all that goes with being the selling agent. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Its been great working with you both. I’ll be back knocking on your door as I've really enjoyed working with you both."
Jenny
"Both Sarah and Justine are professional and very approachable. They make a good balanced team. I would recommend Sarah and Justine to anyone looking to buy or sell in the area."
Michelle Nelson