Having studied as a surveyor in the early 1990s, Spencer decided that the housing market was heavily biased towards the sellers in terms of professional support available, and saw an opportunity to set himself up as a home finder. He founded property search company Garrington Home Finders Ltd in 1996. He describes himself as not the first to see this opportunity "but I was probably second or third, and Kirstie was the fourth." The company entered into liquidation in early 2009, a victim of the credit crunch that followed the financial crisis of 2007–2008. It was eventually saved by one of Spencer's former office managers.