Taking The Plunge At The Mallards
19 Jul 2012

Andy and Sarah Mason moved into The Mallards – one of Linden Homes’ developments in Totton – at the end of March. Totton has been their home together since 2009 and Sarah grew up in the area.

The couple like the convenience of the location – close to Southampton, Winchester and the M27: it’s perfectly positioned to allow them both to get to work easily, then return home to the relative quiet of this south coast town. Sarah is a nurse in Winchester and Andy a fire fighter based at Marchwood military port.

The Masons had previously looked around Brunswick Park, another Linden Homes’ development after getting married in 2010. But, although they really liked the homes there, the timing just wasn’t right and they weren’t quite ready to make the move. Instead they stayed put and paid off a little more of their existing mortgage.

In February this year, Sarah was looking through a local paper and noticed an article about The Mallards and an upcoming open weekend. When they arrived at The Mallards, they were the first appointment of the day and the sales executive showed them around three different homes. One of them really caught their eye: It was a three bedroom town house and Sarah knew straight away that this was the future home for them.

“We really liked the three bedroom town house that we were shown around. We decided to go for it and formally reserved it. Just as well really because the couple who were shown around straight after us said they would have chosen that house too – we might have missed it!”

Over the next couple of weeks Andy and Sarah viewed the house again. Sarah, who had bought and sold a few properties before was very keen to proceed, but Andy admits that he was wary of rushing in.

What convinced him was Linden Homes’ Part Exchange scheme*. The scheme meant that Linden Homes became the guaranteed buyer for their existing home and took on the responsibility of getting it valued by several estate agents. Andy says that, they had hoped for a slightly higher valuation to allow them to move forward:

“To start with I guess we weren’t really looking for a new house  but after discussing our situation with the sales team, Linden Homes made an offer we couldn’t refuse. There were no estate agent fees and just the fact that Linden Homes took away the hassle of selling our old property just sealed the deal. – looking back Part Exchange was definitely very worthwhile”.

From then on things really began to move. Andy estimates that it took just six to eight weeks from start to finish, from the first time they saw the house, to moving in. He says there were one or two hold ups as you’d expect in a move, but is impressed that the process was so easy.

“The Linden Homes’ sales team, were absolutely marvellous: I can’t praise them enough. They were so helpful, answering our questions, sorting out any issues and explaining how it all worked. We were very impressed.”

So in March, Andy and Sarah moved into their new town house with their two dogs, a dalmatian and a collie – Andy says the dogs settled in even faster than they did:

“They took to it immediately and really love the new garden and new space they had. Unfortunately, on moving day, I was abroad on a course so Sarah had to do the move on her own. We’re really happy here. We love The Mallards. We’re in a town, close to a big city, but it feels so open. The development isn’t made up of identical houses, they’re all nicely different and there’s a really good feeling to the place.”

As well as a selection of lovely three and four bedroom semi detached houses, there are also now some smart new apartments.

To find out more about the new houses and apartments at The Mallards in Totton, please call the marketing suite on 023 80 669038. The suite is open every day from 10am to 5pm, except on Fridays when it is open until 4pm.

*conditions apply

-ENDS-

For further information, contact Naomi Wellman or Tracy Mannion at Remarkable Public Relations on 01962 893 893 or Naomi.wellman@remarkablegroup.co.uk

References to “we”, “us” or “our” are to the part of the Vistry Group (including Linden Homes, Bovis Homes, Countryside Homes, Drew Smith, Vistry Ventures or one of Vistry’s joint venture companies) from which you are intending to purchase a new home. References to "you” and “your” are to the prospective buyer or buyers of a new home from us.

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