Why I Believe Lennon James Is the Best Estate Agent in Cambridgeshire

And Why, If You're Thinking About Selling Your Home, I Believe You Should Speak to Us Before Choosing Your Estate Agent

By Jon Brierley, Founder & Managing Director of Lennon James Property

I've written quite a lot recently about estate agency.

I've written about why I think lengthy sole agency tie-ins are wrong.

Why choosing the agent who gives you the highest valuation can be a very expensive mistake.

Why simply being on Rightmove isn't a marketing strategy.

Why I believe targeted Facebook and Instagram advertising has become essential to modern property marketing.

Why I don't think the location of an estate agent's High Street office determines how well they can sell your home.

Why the conveyancing process desperately needs modernising.

And I've written about the good, the bad and the occasionally ridiculous reality of owning your own estate agency.

There's probably one obvious question left.

Why Lennon James?

More specifically:

Why do I believe Lennon James is the best estate agency in Cambridgeshire to sell your home?

It's a bold statement.

I know that.

Cambridgeshire has plenty of estate agents. Some are large national businesses. Some have been around for generations. Some have numerous High Street branches. Some are excellent businesses with very good people.

So I'm not going to tell you we're the best simply because our logo looks good or because I own the company.

I'm going to explain why I genuinely believe it.

And then you can make your own mind up.

It Starts With Why Lennon James Exists

Lennon James was never created because I thought Cambridgeshire needed another estate agent.

There were already plenty.

I created it because, after spending the majority of my career in property, I believed there was an opportunity to do estate agency differently.

I started my career in estate agency before joining Rightmove in 2006.

I spent more than 12 years there, working with estate agents and housebuilders across the UK, becoming part of the senior management team and ultimately working as Sales Director within their New Homes and Estate Agency businesses.

That experience gave me a fairly unusual perspective.

I saw the industry from both sides.

I understood traditional estate agency.

But I also had a front row seat as technology completely changed how people searched for property.

I watched newspapers lose their dominance.

I watched property portals become the new shop window.

I watched smartphones change consumer behaviour again.

Then social media arrived and changed how businesses could reach people.

And through all of that, one thought stayed with me:

Estate agency needed to keep changing too.

So in 2019, I created Lennon James Property.

And I named it after my son.

That probably tells you more about the business than any marketing slogan ever could.

Our Name Is Personal to Us. Your Property Is Personal to You.

I've always believed property is personal.

Your home isn't simply another listing.

It might be the place where your children grew up.

Your first home.

The house you renovated.

The property you inherited.

The home you've lived in for 30 years.

Or perhaps it's simply the asset that's going to fund the next stage of your life.

Whatever the circumstances, it matters.

And if you're trusting somebody with an asset worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, I think you have every right to expect them to care about the outcome.

That's the principle Lennon James was built around.

Our name is personal to us.

Your property is personal to you.

So the way we sell it should feel personal too.

I Don't Think an Estate Agent Should Simply List Your Property

This is probably the biggest philosophical difference.

Putting a property on Rightmove is easy.

Taking some photographs, writing a description, uploading a floorplan and waiting for the telephone to ring is not, in my opinion, exceptional estate agency.

It's distribution.

And while distribution is important, it isn't enough.

Our job is not simply to list your property.

Our job is to market it.

There is a huge difference.

Everything Starts With Presentation

Before we think about where your property is going to appear, I want to think about how it's going to look when somebody finds it.

Because your first viewing no longer happens when somebody walks through the front door.

Your first viewing happens on a screen.

That's why we invest so heavily in presentation.

Professional photography.

Cinematic property video.

Drone photography and video where appropriate.

360-degree virtual tours.

Detailed floorplans.

Digital brochures.

Carefully written descriptions.

Lifestyle and location content.

Enhanced property portal presentation.

We want somebody scrolling through hundreds of properties to stop at yours.

Because if the marketing doesn't earn the click, everything that happens afterwards is irrelevant.

Then We Put That Marketing in Front of People

This is the second half of the equation.

Exceptional presentation is pointless if nobody sees it.

So once we've created the content, we distribute it.

Rightmove.

Zoopla.

Facebook.

Instagram.

Our website.

Our existing audience.

Paid targeted social-media campaigns.

Video.

Local content.

Our database.

And wherever else we believe the right buyer might be.

It's something I've written about extensively because I think it's one of the most important differences between modern estate agents.

Being on Rightmove and having a marketing strategy are not the same thing.

And I say that as somebody who spent more than 12 years working at Rightmove.

Rightmove Captures Demand. We Also Want to Create It.

Rightmove and Zoopla are incredibly important.

If somebody is actively searching for a four bedroom home in St Ives between £500,000 and £600,000, we absolutely want your property in front of them.

But what about the person who hasn't searched St Ives?

What about somebody in Cambridge looking for more space?

A family in Hertfordshire thinking about relocating?

Someone scrolling Instagram who sees your house and sends it to their partner?

A buyer who didn't realise what their budget could buy in Huntingdonshire?

That's why social media is so important to us.

Property portals predominantly capture people already looking.

Social media gives us an opportunity to introduce your property to people who weren't.

Used together, I think that's incredibly powerful.

Our Social Media Numbers Show the Scale We've Built

I'm particularly proud of this because it hasn't happened overnight.

We've spent years building the Lennon James audience.

More than 10,000 people now follow us across Facebook and Instagram, and we've published more than 5,000 pieces of content.

But our latest monthly figures probably demonstrate the scale better than anything I can say.

Last month, Lennon James content generated:

685,858 views.

It reached 125,996 individual viewers.

And generated 99,402 engagements.

For an independent Cambridgeshire estate agency.

Those aren't numbers I've taken from an industry report.

They're our numbers.

And when you instruct Lennon James, that marketing infrastructure becomes part of the strategy for your home.

But Big Numbers Aren't Enough

I don't want 125,996 random people looking at your property.

I want the right people looking at it.

That's the important part.

A bungalow in Brampton doesn't necessarily have the same buyer as a contemporary family home in Alconbury Weald.

A period property in Hemingford Grey requires a different approach to an apartment in Cambridge.

A £1 million country home needs a different strategy to a first-time buyer property in Huntingdon.

That's why targeted advertising matters.

The property determines the audience.

Not the other way around.

Your Buyer Might Not Be Local

This is another reason I think our approach works.

Traditional estate agency was built around geography.

Open a branch.

Put properties in the window.

Wait for local buyers to walk in.

That made complete sense when the branch was one of the primary ways people discovered property.

But that's not how most people search today.

Your buyer could currently be living five miles away.

Or 50.

Or 100.

They don't particularly care whether their estate agent has a shop 500 yards from the property.

They care about finding the right home.

And we care about finding them.

That's why Lennon James operates from a central marketing office rather than trying to replicate High Street branches across every town we cover.

It was a deliberate commercial decision.

Not because we wanted to invest less.

Because we wanted to invest differently. I'd Rather Invest in Marketing Your Home Than Another Shop Window

If we opened offices across Huntingdon, St Ives, Ramsey, Cambridge and every other market we work within, those offices would require:

rent,

business rates,

utilities,

fit-outs,

signage,

maintenance,

and staffing.

Instead, we've chosen to concentrate our resources into the things we believe have the greatest opportunity to influence the outcome for our clients.

Marketing.

Technology.

People.

Photography.

Video.

Social media.

Property portals.

Data.

And buyer reach.

For me, the question isn't:

“How many branches does my estate agent have?”

It's:

“How many relevant buyers can my estate agent reach?” Local Expertise Isn't Defined by an Office Postcode

This is something I feel strongly about.

Putting an office in a town doesn't automatically make somebody a local property expert.

Knowledge does.

Experience does.

Data does.

Actually selling property there does.

Understanding the roads, villages, schools, transport links, buyer profiles, competing properties and price sensitivities does.

Our market extends across Cambridgeshire, with particular strength throughout Huntingdonshire and the surrounding towns and villages.

Huntingdon.

St Ives.

Godmanchester.

The Hemingfords.

Houghton.

Brampton.

Buckden.

Fen Drayton.

The Stukeleys.

Alconbury.

Ramsey.

Somersham.

Needingworth.

Abbots Ripton.

Sawtry.

And beyond.

We're also building detailed area information across our website because I don't believe we should simply market the bricks and mortar.

We should market the place people are going to live.

We Don't Want to Give You the Highest Valuation

That might sound like an odd thing for an estate agent to say.

But it's important.

If three agents value your home at:

£500,000,

£525,000,

and £575,000,

the £575,000 valuation isn't automatically the best one.

It's simply the biggest number.

What matters is the evidence behind it.

I've written an entire article about this because overvaluing property to win instructions is one of my biggest frustrations with our industry.

If I believe your property is worth £500,000, I'm not going to tell you £575,000 simply because I think that's what you want to hear.

That might win me the instruction.

But it doesn't necessarily help you move.

Your Launch Matters Too Much to Waste It

When a property first comes onto the market, it's genuinely new.

Buyers receive alerts.

It appears in searches.

People notice it.

Social campaigns launch.

Our audience sees it.

There is a window of attention.

If we launch at an unrealistic price and buyers reject it, we can't simply rewind six weeks later and pretend the property is new again.

That's why our valuation advice and marketing strategy have to work together.

The objective isn't to achieve the highest asking price. It's to achieve the best possible selling price.

Those are not necessarily the same thing.

We Won't Tie You Into a Lengthy Contract

This is another part of Lennon James I'm very comfortable talking about.

Some estate agency agreements can contain lengthy minimum sole-agency periods.

I've never particularly liked the principle.

If we're doing an exceptional job for you, I want you to stay with Lennon James because you want to.

Not because a contract says you have to.

That's why we operate on a rolling agreement rather than relying on a lengthy minimum tie-in period.

For me, that creates accountability.

Every week your property is on the market, we need to keep earning your confidence.

I think that's how it should be.

We're Not Trying to Be the Cheapest Estate Agent

And I don't think we should be.

We're investing in your property.

Photography costs money.

Video costs money.

Drone content costs money.

Portal exposure costs money.

Social-media advertising costs money.

Technology costs money.

Good people cost money.

I'd rather have a conversation about value than simply price.

Because if one estate agent charges slightly less but another strategy ultimately creates greater competition and produces a stronger result, which agent was actually cheaper?

Your estate agent's fee matters.

Of course it does.

But your net financial outcome matters considerably more.

Our Job Isn't to Find You a Buyer

It's to try to find you the best buyer at the best price on the best terms.

There's a difference.

Finding one buyer might mean you've sold your house.

Creating competition can change the negotiating position entirely.

That's what marketing is ultimately trying to achieve.

Attention.

Interest.

Viewings.

Competition.

Offers.

Negotiation.

Result.

I can't promise every property will have five buyers fighting over it.

Nobody can.

But I can promise that our strategy is designed to give your property the strongest opportunity we can to reach the people who might want it.

And Better Marketing Can Produce Better-Quality Viewings

I'm not obsessed with viewing numbers.

Twenty viewings sounds impressive.

But what if 18 of them were never realistic buyers?

I'd rather have fewer people arrive having already:

looked carefully at the photographs,

watched the property video,

studied the floorplan,

explored the virtual tour,

understood the location,

and decided the home genuinely could work for them.

That's a much more meaningful viewing.

Our marketing isn't simply about generating more attention.

It's about generating better attention.

We Understand New Homes Too

This is another part of my background that has shaped Lennon James.

I spent years working within Rightmove's New Homes business before launching the company.

Today, Land & New Homes is an important part of Lennon James.

One project I'm particularly proud of is The How in St Ives.

We worked with the developer for more than three years.

Every property was sold off plan.

And the development ultimately delivered around £200,000 above the anticipated GDV.

That result wasn't achieved simply by putting properties online.

It came from understanding the product.

Positioning.

Pricing.

Marketing.

Buyer behaviour.

Communication.

And working closely with the developer throughout the entire project.

That experience feeds back into how we approach individual homes too.

We Don't Disappear When Your Property Goes Under Offer

This is something sellers sometimes don't realise until they're halfway through a transaction.

Finding the buyer is only half the job.

Then comes:

mortgages,

surveys,

searches,

legal enquiries,

chains,

management companies,

Land Registry issues,

exchange,

and completion.

I've written separately about why I believe the conveyancing process needs bringing into the 21st century.

Until that happens, good sales progression is essential.

We communicate.

We chase.

We speak with buyers.

We speak with solicitors.

We speak with mortgage brokers.

We speak with other agents in the chain.

We try to identify problems before they become bigger problems.

Because a property showing SOLD STC on Rightmove doesn't pay your removal company.

Completion is the result.

That's Also Why We Work Closely With Good People

Estate agents don't complete transactions alone.

Solicitors matter.

Mortgage brokers matter.

Surveyors matter.

Everybody involved can influence how smoothly the transaction progresses.

That's why, where clients ask us for a recommendation, we're extremely comfortable recommending Larrington & Co.

We work incredibly closely with them and, in my experience, they're exceptional.

That communication between agent and solicitor can make the transition from sale agreed to sold significantly easier for everyone involved.

We're Independent and That Matters to Me

I like being independent.

It means when something needs changing, we can change it.

If I want us to invest more heavily in social advertising, we can.

If a property needs a different marketing approach, we can create one.

If I think something isn't good enough, we don't need permission from a national head office to improve it.

There are no layers of corporate decision-making between the client and the person ultimately responsible for the business.

That's me.

And because Lennon James carries my son's name, I probably feel that responsibility more than I would if we'd called the company something generic.

Does That Mean We Get Everything Right?

No.

And I wouldn't trust any business that tells you it does.

We've made mistakes.

I've made mistakes.

We've tried things that haven't worked.

There are things I would do differently if I started Lennon James again tomorrow.

But one of the advantages of owning the business is that we can learn quickly.

We're constantly looking at:

what buyers respond to,

what sellers need,

what marketing performs,

what technology can improve,

what content gets engagement,

where transactions become difficult,

and where we can make the experience better.

I don't want Lennon James to become complacent.

Ever.

Are We the Right Estate Agent for Everybody?

Probably not.

And I'm completely comfortable saying that.

If your only priority is finding the lowest possible estate agency fee, there will almost certainly be somebody cheaper.

If you simply want somebody to put your property on a portal and see what happens, there are businesses designed around that model.

That's not what we're trying to build.

Lennon James is for homeowners who care about how their property is presented, how widely it's marketed, how accurately it's valued, how the sale is negotiated and how the transaction is managed afterwards.

If that matters to you, then I genuinely think you should speak to us.

Why I Believe Lennon James Is the Best Estate Agent in Cambridgeshire

So after everything I've written in this Property Insights series, it comes back to this.

I believe we're one of the strongest choices for a homeowner in Cambridgeshire because of the combination of what we do.

Not one thing.

The experience.

The local knowledge.

The Rightmove background.

The New Homes expertise.

The professional photography.

The cinematic video.

The drone.

The virtual tours.

The portal strategy.

The social-media strategy.

The audience we've built.

The targeted advertising.

The technology.

The central marketing model.

The valuation advice.

The rolling agreement.

The negotiation.

The sales progression.

The people.

And perhaps most importantly:

We care about the result.

Because this business is personal to me.

Don't Take My Word for It

This is important.

I'm the owner of Lennon James.

Of course I believe in the business.

You shouldn't choose us simply because I've written a convincing article telling you to.

Look at our work.

Look at our photography.

Watch our videos.

Look through our social-media pages.

Look at the engagement.

Look at how we present properties.

Read our client reviews.

Look at our sold properties.

Read our Property Insights.

Read our area guides.

Ask us questions.

Ask us to explain exactly how we'd market your home.

And compare that with the other agents you're considering.

I actively encourage it.

Because if we're going to ask you to trust us with one of your biggest financial assets, I think we should be able to demonstrate why we deserve that trust.

If You're Thinking of Selling, Give Us One Opportunity

You don't have to instruct Lennon James.

You don't even have to agree with everything I've written.

But if you're considering selling a property in Cambridgeshire, I would ask you to do one thing before making your final decision:

Give us the opportunity to show you what we'd do differently.

Let us see your home.

Let us understand why you're moving.

Let us show you the evidence behind our valuation.

Let us explain who we think your buyer might be.

Let us show you how we'd present the property.

Let us explain the Rightmove and Zoopla strategy.

Let us show you our social-media reach.

Let us explain how we'd target buyers.

Let us show you our photography.

Our video.

Our technology.

Our marketing.

Our results.

And then decide.

Because I don't want to win your business by giving you the highest valuation.

I don't want to win it by being the cheapest.

And I certainly don't want to win it by trapping you in the longest contract.

I want Lennon James to win your business because, once you've seen how we intend to sell your home, you believe we're the best people to do it.

Seven Years Later, the Principle Hasn't Changed

When I created Lennon James in 2019, I wanted to combine everything I'd learned throughout my career.

Traditional estate agency.

Rightmove.

Technology.

New Homes.

Marketing.

Data.

And people.

But I wanted to build it around something more personal.

That's why I chose the name.

Seven years later, we've grown.

Our marketing has evolved.

Our audience has grown.

The technology has changed.

The market has changed.

And Lennon James will continue changing with it.

But the fundamental belief hasn't.

Property is personal.

Your home is personal to you.

Lennon James is personal to me.

And when you trust us to sell your property, I want it to feel that way.

So, do I believe Lennon James is the best estate agency in Cambridgeshire?

Yes, I do.

Not because I think we're perfect.

Not because I think other good estate agents don't exist.

And not because I expect you simply to take my word for it.

I believe it because of what we've built, what we invest, how we market, the experience behind the business, the results we've achieved and how much we care about what happens after somebody places their home in our hands.

If you're thinking about selling, give us a call before you choose your estate agent.

Give us the chance to show you what we'd do.

Then make your own decision.

I think you'll see the difference.

Jon Brierley
Founder & Managing Director
Lennon James Property