3 mins
MoveHome
Rebecca Kelly spoke with Ronan Crinion, the founder and managing director of MoveHome about their recent expansion and what COVID-19 means for the property market.
Founded in 2006, MoveHome estate agents specialises in selling, buying and renting both homes and commercial properties as well as managing and letting properties. Their close-knit team of dedicated and experienced staff have propelled the company’s success, prompting the opening of a second branch.
Like many other companies, MoveHome was affected greatly by the pandemic, Ronan discussed the knock-on effect that Covid-19 had on business and buyer trends, with demand for sales surging after each lockdown ;“We’ve found from when the first lockdown lifted in June last year there was a huge amount of movement and activity in the residential market from the month of June up until December. Now that we’ve completed another lockdown, lasting five months this time, the activity is starting up again and there will be a considerable amount of movement.”
This is due to a number of factors. Ronan explained that, as well as many people being able to save money due to the limitations of the lockdowns, a lot of people also had a lot of time to think about what is important to them; “People have stayed in and saved and now they can afford a little bit more and have also used the time to decide who they’re going to live with, or even who they’re going to live without. People are now deciding; ‘I can’t live with you anymore or I can’t live here in this area anymore. I want a big garden or I don’t want a big garden. I want a balcony. I want to trade down.’ So they’ve used the time to reflect on exactly where they live and exactly what they want.”
Despite the difficulty of the past year, the company has only grown in size, recently expanding to a new branch on Capel Street. Ronan spoke about the Ormond Quay location and its past. As well as being at the heart of the “LGBTQ+ high street”, the building, which has been left vacant for 25 years, is also steeped in history itself; “It was built in 1780 and was used to sell cotton for the first 20 years, and later, in the 1800’s, moved on to hats and feathers and so on. We have spent a considerable amount on the refurbishment because it’s going to be a flagship store for us and for the community.”
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community himself, Ronan feels that it is important to give back and so the company donates to multiple charities. Ronan went on to speak about how he is actively looking to join up with another LGBTQ+ charity and become their main sponsor. He believes that aside from the top-of-the-line services that the company provides to its clients, their monetary support of such organisations may give potential LGBTQ+ customers an extra incentive to choose MoveHome over other agencies; “Whether people choose us or another estate agent I think it is good for our community to have a gay owned and run auctioneer business that assists our community a little bit more than other companies.”
As well as this new flagship branch, MoveHome are also still operating out of their original location in Drumcondra with a tight-knit team of highly experienced professionals who are hopeful for the future; “My professional opinion would be that activity is going to be strong over the next few months and then there will be a higher amount of supply, so the pricing growth will ease.”
Ronan has several helpful tips for first-time buyers on the MoveHome website which is available for free, as well as information on all current listings for both residential and commercial properties, though his main takeaway message to potential buyers is; “Never give up. There’s a house out there for you. There’s a roof somewhere, but you just have to be patient and keep looking.”