Ann says that the secret of her success is to "treat customers as you would like to be treated yourself." It is important to recognise, she says, just how big a decision buying a house really is. You have to remember this is someone buying a home. It's not like you are selling a jacket which will be cast off after a year or two. This buy is going to last for many years and the fit has to be as good as you can make it."
Ann has had plenty of opportunity to get to know what home buyers really want and need from first hand experience – all four of her children have bought McInerney houses on different developments in Waterford. "That's certainly a vote of confidence from the Quinlan family," Ann says.
Reared in a family business, she was used to dealing with members of the public from an early age. She ran her own hair salon before being approached by one of McInerney's Directors in Waterford. He happened to be a customer and he recognised that her open and positive personality would be ideally suited to McInerney's business.
"I hit the ground running," she recalls. "I had three sites to look after from a sales perspective from day one and I was rushing everywhere. In 1999, I remember it so well, I sold 22 homes in the space of one hour. It was exhilarating."
As a local Waterford lady Ann has one major advantage in selling to young local people today. "Many of their mothers would know me," she says. "There's a trust there, they know who they are dealing with."
The things that home buyers wanted 10 years ago, she say, remain firmly at the top of the list for today's generation - location and quality. "They want a good location, one near to schools, shops and other facilities, but they also expect an even higher specification than their parents did. They want maintenance free exteriors, quality design, quality finish and quality fittings.
"One of the things that has made life easier for me is that McInerney has always paid attention to these things. Our developments have always been in choice locations and our latest one, The Paddocks on Williamstown Road, is an excellent example of that.
"It's also a good example of what I mean when I talk about higher spec and quality. The Paddocks has a fully fitted kitchen, including dishwasher, with Neff appliances. No-one else in Waterford is offering anything as generous as that," she points out.
There is one thing which has changed radically since Ann started selling homes a decade ago and that is access to finance. "There are far better finance packages around today than when we bought our first home. We had to save and save in order to even be considered for a mortgage. The rates were high and the length of time over which we could spread the loan was very short by today's standards - but cost wasn't the issue, the challenge was simply qualifying for and then getting a mortgage.
From an investor point of view, Ann says, this is a good time to be getting into the lettings market. A new three bedroom home in Waterford is now commanding €900 a month on average.
But for the tenant, she points out, the age old question of "Why rent when you can buy?" has never been more pertinent. "With finance readily available it is simply illogical to be paying out that sort of money when you could be building up equity and value in your own home for much the same money," she says. "Some people might say that I would say that, wouldn't I, given what I do for a living. But given the rents versus the price of a new home for a first time buyer I honestly cannot see the logic in choosing to rent if you are in a position to buy. It does not make sense to me."
Ann describes her first 10 years with McInerney as being absolutely wonderful. "If the next 10 years are half as good it will be brilliant," she says with enthusiasm.
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