LEILA BOURI ON BEHALF OF DIPLOMAT MAGAZINE MEETS WITH JAMES SABA AND DISCOVERS HOW HE BUILT ONE OF LONDON’S MOST IN-DEMAND SPECIALIST PROPERTY AGENCIES
With an ever growing international clientele – demanding landlords needing one-stop management for their multi-million-pound rentals; nervous buyers counting on the resourcefulness and honesty of their agent; impatient vendors seeking solid, serious buyers; not to mention scores of trusting students moving to London, full of excitement but also full of worry about being swallowed whole by an ever-accelerating city – it seems that everyone moving in, moving out and moving up is relying on James Saba, Founding Director of Saba Properties. I don’t blame them – if I were moving, I’d want James fighting my corner too!
After just one hour of observing the elegant, polite 35-year old powerhouse in his bustling office in central London, I’d already witnessed James’s famous multitasking skills, honed through a 13-year entrepreneurship in the property market. First, he drove a hard bargain to secure a fair price for newlywed homebuyers; then he consoled a worried tenant before sending painters and cleaners over to repair damage caused by a celebrity house-guest; and finally he fearlessly told a certain scary landlord that he’d turned away a prospective tenant simply because he knew that the landlord wouldn’t like their ‘lifestyle’. ‘What did he say to that?’ I asked as James hung up, picturing the landlord fuming at the other end. ‘He said “Thank you”,’ James answered nonchalantly, as if it had been the only possible response.
FINDING THE PERFECT HOME
Finding the perfect home; finding the perfect tenant; helping with settling in and moving out: ‘Well, if it is extraordinary, it shouldn’t be,’ James half-growls when I comment on his unparalleled commitment to his clients. ‘It’s my name on the business and I can’t rest unless people are exactly as comfortable as they would be in my own home. I don’t take shortcuts; I’m very happy growing my business slowly, through personal recommendations and not cheap tricks.’
Such as? ‘Taking clients to see flats in the morning so they don’t see how dodgy a certain street becomes after dark; colluding with landlords to overprice outdated apartments; bullying vendors into under-pricing their homes just to make a quick commission… I never compromise on location, condition or security. My clients know my standards are high, and that’s why I get so much return and referred business. People trust my word and that’s success to me.’
What advice does James have for international clients seeking to buy, rent or sell a home in London, then? ‘Frankly? Come straight to us!’ he replies with his trademark grin. ‘No other property company offers our sincere, bespoke, one-to- one service. I don’t rest until everyone is happy, and that’s a promise.’