James Matthews: The Home Front

James Matthews: The Home Front

James Matthews

Rightmove ranks Whitman & Co as W4’s leading estate agent. James Matthews reveals the secrets of success

Talking to James Matthews, co-owner of Whitman & Co, it struck me just how Chiswick has changed. When James started at Tyser Greenwood (in itself, a name from the past) in 1987, it was one of only five estate agents in W4. And there were no phone or wi-fi enabled coffee shops on the High Road either!

James stayed with Tyser Greenwood until 1995, when it was swallowed up by Abbey National. At that point, he and Russell Savage bought Whitman & Co, a well-known Chiswick name. ‘The company was set up in the 1920s by a Colonel Whitman. He was also the local coal merchant – in those days you couldn’t make a living purely as an estate agent.’

Today, James, Russell and their colleagues Chris and Andrew lead successful sales, letting and commercial departments that all co-exist seamlessly under one roof. The ethos has remained the same: to focus
solely on Chiswick and to employ people who know the area. ’We have staff who were born and bred here and whose parents and grandparents still live here,’ says James.

Whitman & Co is renowned for its considered approach and realistic valuations. ‘We never over-value and, because we’ve got such a good turnover, we can identify a price point more clearly than anyone else,’
explains James. Clearly, the formula is working. According to Rightmove, over the last three years Whitman & Co has been Chiswick’s most successful estate agent and, in 2017, the team has sold twice as many properties as their nearest competitor.

Looking into his crystal ball, James predicts that over the next 18 months the Chiswick market may see a deviation of 5% above and below current values. ‘The key to selling will be to maximise presentation.
Buyers now have more choice and are under less time pressure than when prices were marching ahead.’

As James confirms, one thing is certain – and not surprising: people who live in W4 prefer to stay in W4. ‘Over 50% of our buyers are either upsizing or downsizing within the Chiswick postcode.’

Whitman & Co
5-7 Turnham Green Terrace,
W4 1RG
020 8747 8800
sales@whitmanandco.com
lettings@whitmanandco.com
http://www.whitmanandco.com

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