I sold my property to Inspired Villages within a month!

Barbara and her husband decided they wanted to move in early 2019 to somewhere “with an active community”. Sadly, Barbara’s husband died later that year, but she was determined to carry on with the move.

After seeing a newspaper advert in February 2020 for Inspired Villages, she called up Judith, the advisor at her nearest Inspired village – Austin Heath, and a visit was booked for her to have a tour along with her daughter and partner. “My daughter and her partner came up on 6 March, we looked around and particularly liked one apartment, and I put my deposit down that day,” says Barbara.

“When I saw what was on offer in terms of group activities, and the layout of the village, I was so impressed, and the lifestyle really appealed to me, so I was excited to go ahead,” she explains.

However, the first national lockdown due to Covid-19 happened, and then there were issues with the buyers at the bottom of the chain, which caused lengthy delays to the sale of Barbara’s property. Due to these delays, and the stress it caused Barbara, which she believes contributed to a mini stroke she suffered in September 2020, Judith and the Inspired Villages team suggested the Home Purchasing Service could be the right solution. By selling her home to Inspired Villages, rather than waiting for the buyers at the bottom of the chain to progress the sale, the Home Purchasing Service would allow Barbara to move into her new apartment quickly and remove the stress she was experiencing.

After consulting her children, Barbara decided to go ahead with the Home Purchasing Service as it would help her move in quickly to Austin Heath, and “it took the worry off the girls because they knew there was always someone here who would be available for me”.

“The whole process was so fast, it was unbelievable,” says Barbara. “It was the beginning of October when I spoke to the village team about my mini-stroke, and my concerns with the delays – by 23 October I had sold my house to Inspired Villages.” Barbara was kept in the loop throughout the whole process and was moved into her new home in Austin Heath on 28 October 2020.

“Looking at this process in the round, it was absolutely the right thing to do,” says Barbara, who is full of praise for the “generous” moving in package supplied by Inspired Villages, including the payment of her stamp duty.

She was also delighted to receive an additional payment from Inspired Villages on top of the Home Purchasing Service offer she had already received. As the property went on to sell for a lot more money than expected, Barbara benefited from Inspired’s profit gainshare agreement that outlines upfront that if the property were to resell at a higher level, the service user receives an extra 80% of the profit made.

Barbara is looking forward to enjoying post-pandemic life in Austin Heath and is full of praise for how kind everyone here is and her positive experience with her move. “The staff here are lovely; they always say hello.”