Dear Sales Manager
Re: Cecily Madison and Murray Tocker
So often we take the time to complain or criticise but seldom to we do the same to praise and acknowledge…this email is to do the latter.
Earlier this year my brother, Mike and I engaged Murray Tocker and Cecily Madison to sell our property at 27 Farmsedge, Bergvliet. Our mother who had lived in the house for the past 30 years had had a bad fall and so as a family we decided it would be best to move her to a local aged care facility and sell the house. Not an easy decision or process given that Mike lives in JHB and I in Sydney. Whilst in Cape Town Mike obtained valuations and sales proposals from several of the local agents and while the sales pitches were mostly the same, it was the human element that made Cecily and Murray stand out from the pack.
Of course they both had all the recommendations, substantial sales results and local market experience and there is no doubt that these credentials and skills added to their appeal and our decision to engage them
But beyond this, Cecily and Murray were warm and relatable, they listened and empathised with the decisions that we had to make as a family, they recognised the sensitivity and stress of us living overseas and the unwanted but necessary decision and reality of our mother’s move into care.
Genuine in their kindness and always happy to help – arranging repair work, helping to clear out the house and whatever else needed doing. They communicated constantly with us throughout the process – they were amazing with my Mom and shared a lot of laughs with her to help make her transition easier.
It wasn’t the ideal time to sell a property – economic and political uncertainty; two other houses for sale in the same security estate, and the long COVID lockdown all made it extra challenging and most agents would have waned and lost their puff – but not these two !! They worked harder than ever to secure a tenant and get the property leased while they continued to work relentlessly to the sell the house of another client who then wanted to buy ours. After many long months, of weekdays and weekends , around the clock and across time zones they sold the house at the price we asked for to the buyer who wanted it from the start.
Our deepest thanks and appreciation go to Murray and Cecily for sticking it out, selling the house and all the while doing it with such professionalism and grace. It is a hard, stressful and emotional rite of passage selling a family home but in this instance it was a pleasure and privilege to work with Cecily and Murray and I wanted to let you know just how awesome they were. (But I guess you might already know that!)
With Kind regards
Ally Lipman
Sydney