Shanks & Co

I rarely leave a review on Google, but felt that I had to do so in this case. I called asking to book a viewing for a rental property and was met with the following demands prior to them helping me book a viewing. They asked me to provide: - A screenshot of my credit score (which I assume they want to avoid costs for doing themselves). - 2 guarantors for a property valued at less than 500 p/m rent. - A screenshot of my bank with the deposit funds available.

This is all before they could even book me in to view the property. I understand that they might not want time-wasters but in that case have me fill out an application form, not run around in circles for you providing non-essential information (especially just for a viewing). I certainly will not be using Shanks for anything in the future.

After deciding to relocate to be closer to our grandchildren, we instructed Shanks & Co in the sale of our family home. Graeme managed the entire process with professionalism, dilligence and bags of charm to ensure that we achieved an exceptional sale price for our family home. His complete dedication and evident interest in both our property, and ourselves as clients won us over instantly. Personable, professional and having the ability to diffuse difficult situations with both charm and ease led to quite a lot of laughs along the way. Sweeping through time differences, issues with surveys and a buyer in Hong kong we were out much earlier than had originally anticipated, and this is testament to this young gentleman and how hard he works for his clients! Well done Graeme, Barbara and Shanks & Co and may you have much more success to follow.

We went to Shanks and Co estate agents for a chat about possibly selling our house in North Belfast in June/July 2018. From the outset the team were open, listening and informing. They were positive. encouraging and reassuring which helped us to make an easy decision to choose the company to sell our property. Within a few days the initial paperwork was complete, with pictures and profiles of the property all agreed.

The process was made simple! Barbara and Graham were professonal throughout. Above all they were communicative with us on a regular basis. They worked diligently to encourage prospective buyers and to follow up calls after viewings. They kept us informed throughout the process. Shanks and Co go the extra mile in advising on additional steps required in the process such as suggesting mortgage advice and liaising with solicitors.

Its not very often that you can say you smiled, giggled and laughed in the process of selling our house. This is how I would best describe the approach of Shanks and Co. They work hard on behalf of the vendor and equally for those looking for their new home. I can easily say that this is the number 1 company for buying and selling property. I will miss the regular updates and feedback but you helped us so much to complete our sale in a timely and professional manner. In the words of Tina "simply the best". Best wishes to all the team, Martin and Paul

I have no hesitation in recommending Shanks Estate Agents. From our initial meeting with Barbara to the completion of our sale they were professional, friendly and always kept you up to date on how things where progressing. Graham is an absolute star and made the whole process stress free. If our experience is anything to go by you won't be disappointed by using Shanks.

Highly recommended. Professional and genuine staff with a superb approach to selling. Graeme was an absolute treasure from start to finish, and made the whole process both straightforward and enjoyable. He managed every viewing with efficiency, and inspired both myself and my husband with complete trust and confidence. The fact that every viewing was followed up by him for feedback other rival estate agents should take note of.

As soon as we accepted an offer, he provided unrivalled support from chasing contracts, to organising removals, and even jumped to the rescue on moving day when we accidentally left items of jewellery in the property. To say we were wholeheartedly impressed would be an understatement, and if you are considering marketing your property you would be hard pushed to beat this small and friendly bunch of professionals. Thank you Graeme, Barbara and the girls for all of your efforts. J&P

An honest, frank valuation from a determined and professional team resulted in a quick sale of my property at an agreeable figure. Always return phonecalls although with regular updates I never needed to lift the phone and chase. I dealt with Barbara initially before being passed over to Graeme, both whom at all times have been professional and on the ball.

Even after business was concluded I still find myself calling into the office for some general craic and chit chat with Graeme and the girls. Highly reccommend the team and the service that they provide.

Used Shanks and Co to sell our home. Fantastic team who worked tirelessly to sell our house. They kept us informed at every step of the process and made the process as easy as possible. They always returned calls and were professionable at all times whilst also being personable and instilling us with confidence. Even when the house was sold they continued until all loose ends were tied up. I would recommend Shanks and Co to anyone. Thanks to the whole team

If I could give zero stars, I would. My experience given here is as a tenant, so I'm not sure of how Shanks would be with a client that was looking to sell or buy a property. I suspect if the possibility of a commission were involved, their demeanor would be much more accommodating. I personally would never choose buy, sell or rent any property that their name is associated with ever again, and I will be advising my friends and family to abstain also.

For anyone who is thinking of buying or selling with them, the only anecdotal experience I can offer you on that front is this; our rental property went up for sale recently and someone wishing to purchase it came to our building in an attempt to arrange an informal viewing and request the details of our landlord. Their reason for this was because they didn't want to deal with Shanks directly due to past experiences of their awful attitude.

Take from that what you will as potential buyer/seller. As a tenant, Shanks are the most discourteous and disinterested "professionals" that I've ever had to deal with. They are inconsistent with offers of help, they will need to be chased several times for a response to even the most simple questions, and they are flat out rude when eventually responding to you.

They are vague about legal matters that concern them, such as responsibility for submitting your deposit to a tenancy deposit scheme. In our case, Shanks had been very vocal in front of our landlord (who is paying them) that they are happy to assist us as tenants with any queries. However, this promise has not been realised, and the overall tone of the responses I do receive is that of utter disdain for even having to speak to me.

Some examples: *When my partner objected to photographs being taken the same day that we were told the apartment would be being sold, we were told "they had to", which we later found out wasn't the case legally. *When raising concerns about the safety of the gas boiler (which hadn't been serviced for 7 years), we were told by a member of the Shanks team; "Well, I have a law degree".

It has now been confirmed by Citizens Advice that this issue nullified the tenancy agreement and could have led to prosecution. Shanks was very quick to dismiss our concerns. * It took me a week of emailing back and forth to obtain a phone number. (Responses include: "I'm very busy" and "Check your tenancy agreement") *I have been told I will be responded to by X time and then ignored.

I have had to chase up almost every query put to them, several times. *I have been given no unprompted updates of progress. On one occasion I asked to speak to another member of staff and was flat out ignored. In my experience, there is no handover of cases when an employee is busy or on holiday, and there is no formal complaints process within the business; apart from emailing the helpdesk, which all employees can access, so far as I can tell. Worse than this though, is the sheer way you are spoken to by staff members, especially as they are supposed to be representing their business during their interactions.

I would not speak to anyone the way I have been spoken to by Graeme Farquar, who told us in front of our landlord that he is happy to handle any queries we have, but has been either unresponsive or dismissive when speaking to me directly. Graeme is the single most unprofessional person I have ever had to deal with in my life, but this seems to be part of the culture at Shanks. Speaking to friends and acquaintances, no-one has been surprised to hear about my experiences.

Apparently Shanks has the reputation in North Belfast of being an impolite, uncaring and negligent outfit. I wish I'd known of this ubiquitous reputation before having had any dealings with them, so I hope this review is useful to someone who hasn't had the misfortune of doing so yet. If you are thinking of using them as a letting agent, I would strongly advise you not to if you want to maintain any sort of professional integrity as a landlord. As a tenant- steer clear.

Shanks and Co. deserve our highest recommendation. From their realistic valuation to their effective marketing, they managed the sale of our house in a most professional manner. Their persistence and management of an often stressful process inspired confidence and produced results. Congratulations Barbara, Graeme and all the team at Shanks for the excellent service you provide.