I recently purchased my first ever property through Smith & Butler Estates from Mitchell and couldn't recommend him or the company enough.
Mitchell was extremely friendly, professional and knowledgeable. He kept me well informed throughout the process. As a first time buyer I was pretty clueless about the whole process but he was always quick to answer the many many questions I had.
I was viewing and bidding on multiple properties via multiple estate agents at the same time but the online bidding system with Smith & Butler was the most transparent and easy to use system I dealt with.
By having to register beforehand with ID and proof of approval I knew that the people I was bidding against were genuine verified bidders and i could be secure in the knowledge that I wasn't bidding against some imaginary person, in an attempt to push the price up. It was clear, transparent and updated online in realtime with realtime notifications. So I always knew where I stood and I didn't have to wait with baited breath for a day or two for the dreaded email or phone call to say i had been outbid.
When it was finally time to get my keys, they were in a lovely presentation box with my GPRN & MPRN noted inside with a card, a bottle of prosecco and a trolley token keyring which was very much appreciated and I've lost track of the amount of times I've used it already.
I mistakenly engaged a quite unhelpful solicitor (don't go for the cheapest one) but Mitchell went above and beyond, responding to queries and keeping in touch, which picked up some of the slack from my solicitor and relieved some of the stress.
He was a an absolute pleasure to deal with and unlike some of the other estate agents I was dealing with at the time seemed to be as genuinely interested in me the purchaser, getting a home, as he was for himself making a sale.
As a purchaser you cant pick which estate agent the vendor has chosen to sell through but you'll know if you see a Smith & Butler sign that you'll be dealing with professionals and you aren't being outbid or gazumped by imaginary people via email.