Property Sale & Purchase Negotiator / Appraiser (Maternity Cover)

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Property Sale & Purchase Negotiator / Appraiser to work in our property department at our office at 6 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh. This is a fixed-term maternity cover position created to cover an employee’s maternity leave. It is expected that the position will last for 12 months.

You will be one of two members of staff in this customer facing role where you will be responsible for initial contact with clients/prospective clients who wish to sell or buy residential property. It is our wide-ranging role requiring versatility in a number of areas.

You will:

• Engage with prospective clients and sell the firm’s services.
• In sales, if required, visit the prospective client to appraise the property and sell the firm’s services.
• Prepare estimates of costs.
• Advise the client and conduct negotiations in sales and purchases up to the point of completing a deal in principle, including the submission of offers for purchasing clients.
• Deal with administrative aspects of opening files and communication with the client in sales and purchases.
• Deal with the administrative aspects of listing a property for sale.
• Deal with viewing requests.
• Attend the Ask the Expert Slot at the ESPC Property Lounge from time to time.

Once agreement in principle is reached, you will hand the matter over to the conveyancing team. The position will involve use of our case management software. Training will be provided; all that is required is a working knowledge of MS Word, Excel, email and familiarity with the web.

Gibson Kerr is a long established, central Edinburgh estate agents and legal practice with a focus on quality client care. We are a 3-partner firm, specialising in family law, personal law, residential conveyancing and estate agency. We have 10 other solicitors and 22 support staff at present.

The position offers the opportunity for a sale and purchase negotiator with experience to assume more responsibility. While the key role has been outlined above, as a small firm, every staff member must be willing to help with whatever needs to be done, so, subject to the demands of your main role and your skills, you will be expected to help where possible with administrative and client support.

If you have excellent selling and negotiating skills and enjoy working as part of a busy team to provide a high level of client care, we’d love to hear from you.

Qualifications and Skills

• Educated to degree level (Desirable).
• Experience of property negotiation.
• Good selling skills.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Computer Literate – MS Word, Internet, Excel (basic), email.
• Local geographical knowledge.
• Thorough knowledge of how the property market works.
• Pleasant and outgoing manner with the public, both on the phone and in face-to-face meetings.
• Awareness of anti-money laundering issues.
• ESPC procedures would be an advantage.
• Touch typing would be an advantage.
• Clean Driving Licence.

Responsibilities

• To engage with new and existing clients in relation to residential property sales and purchases and negotiate a successful outcome for them, including appraisals.
• To follow up leads and sell the services of our firm to prospective house sale and purchase clients and provide fee quotations to them and carry out appraisals as necessary.
• To deal with the placing of houses on the market – including instructing the take on, dealing with all client enquiries in relation to this, organising sales schedules, viewings, advertising, ESPC insertion etc.
• To arrange viewings of properties.
• To deal with all enquiries from individuals and solicitors about properties on the market.
• To deal with sending out schedules and liaising with clients in relation to marketing and viewer feedback.
• To deal with solicitors and individuals in relation to notes of interest and offers.
• To fix and then deal with offers at closing dates and to negotiate offers and taking instructions from clients.

Purchases

• To follow up leads and sell the services of our firm to prospective house buyers and provide fee quotations to them.
• To deal with clients who are purchasing properties, read sales brochures, home reports, and advise clients on price and tactics, and take instructions and submit offers on behalf of clients.

General

• To carry out the administrative tasks relative to your leading role.

Job Purpose

To deliver a quality, on time, service to clients in relation to the sale and purchase of property and support the conveyancing team as required to deliver a positive outcome.

Standard expected

• Must abide at all times by the ethical code applicable to Scottish solicitors.
• In particular must keep all information relating to clients strictly confidential, must not voice criticism of other solicitors/organisations to clients/public and must be aware of restrictions on touting for business.
• Must be dressed and groomed suitably for the job in hand.

Conditions of Employment

• Working hours will be 8.30 till 5, Monday to Friday. More may be required from time to time, on a voluntary basis.
• Flexible and agile working can be agreed.
• We do not take any public holidays, apart from 2 days at each of Christmas and New Year and one day on Easter Monday.
• Five weeks annual leave is given in addition.
• Salary dependent on experience.
• Three months’ notice of termination of employment is to be given on either side, though there is a three‑month probationary period during which the employer only requires to give one month’s notice.
• Three months’ notice period applies to the applicant during the probationary period.

Enthusiastic, bright and cheerful – someone with good rapport with clients and staff of other firms. Good team player. Must show a willingness to learn new tasks and firm procedures. Must be prepared to take responsibility for the way their actions impact on the performance of the office as a whole. Must be prepared to perform all aspects of the job, and particularly administrative duties relating to their key role conscientiously. Must be able to handle a varied workload, prioritising tasks as appropriate. Must be prepared to take the initiative where an opportunity arises in relation to getting new business and to go about their business in a confident manner.