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Details: Published: 20 October 2020; Hits: 1851

No end in sight for sales market boom

There are a number of key reasons that make October 2020 an exceptional time to begin your next property transaction. Here are just a few examples to take your pick from:

Stamp duty savings worth up to £15,000
Mortgage approvals and sales at a 13-year high
5% annual property price growth – as reported by Nationwide
Buyers are keen to act immediately, leading to increased levels of accepted offers

Across the UK, many of us are experiencing restlessness with our living situations.

We’ve spent all summer cooped up, so it’s no wonder that as we head into October, we’re seeing a rising sentiment amongst buyers and sellers that now’s the time to take your property plans off pause and get moving again.

After their House Price Index revealed a four-year high price growth, Nationwide conducted further research to establish which regions are seeing the strongest levels of interest from Brits.

As the below research tells you, one in five homeowners (17.7%) are currently considering moving, with a further one in ten (9.9%) well on their way to completing on property transactions in 2020.

Homeowners who are either in the process of moving or are currently considering it as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak
Region	Considering moving	Moving
London	25%	17%
South West	21%	11%
West Midlands	20%	11%
East Midlands	23%	8%
South East	18%	9%
North West	16%	11%
Yorkshire and the Humber	18%	9%
East	14%	11%
Scotland	17%	7%
Wales	12%	10%
North East	11%	5%

With the market showing no signs of slowing down, what can you do to speed up your sale and ensure you are able to take full advantage of current market momentum?

An important part of the process is choosing who will represent your interests.

As the local property experts in your area, we’d hope you’d think of us first for your property interests, but there’s also the matter of finding the right solicitor or conveyancer.

Here are our tips for a seamless experience with your legal representative.

Respond quickly and clearly

We get it – receiving a request for different bits of paperwork can be off-putting.

After a long day at work, the last thing you’ll want to do is wade through files to find the right answers or items being asked for.

However, failing to respond promptly will only hurt your sale or purchase. Taking a week or two to respond can delay the whole process and risks pushing your transaction to the back of the line.

So, if at all possible, make sure you’re getting back to your solicitor within a couple of days.

Prepare before every call

There will be dozens of questions that occur to you along the way, so to maximise your time and build an efficient dialogue with your solicitor or conveyancer, prepare a list of questions before each phone call.

That way, you can avoid missing something crucial.

Be flexible

Having a fixed timeframe in your head can be a useful way to visualise and track your progress towards the finish line.

That said, it’s important to balance your wants and expectations with what is actually realistic.

A good agent will be able to help you determine this from the beginning.

For more information on how we help homeowners navigate the local market, contact us today for your valuation.

Details: Published: 10 July 2018; Hits: 3385

There can be nothing better suited to the internet than property, and hits to property websites far outnumber those of any other industry.

The ability to be able to search in the comfort of your own home, usually without having to provide any personal details, is certainly attractive and has transformed the way the public begins to look for their new home.

So will the internet replace traditional (or in our case contemporary) estate agency? It would certainly seem not.

Ultimately property search portals are regarded by buyers as a supercharged local property newspaper, with a fairly comprehensive selection of homes on offer.

Details: Published: 10 July 2018; Hits: 3627

In Estate Agency, a high valuation does not mean you’ll get more for your property, nor does it indicate a high-value service!

Estate Agents’ market valuations are usually free, and because of this, it is very tempting for prospective sellers to invite a number of Estate Agents to comment and then select the Agent that suggests the highest likely sale price for the property.

However, we advise caution on this issue. Some (mainly corporate) Estate Agents’ valuers are paid a bonus on the number of new instructions they secure, irrespective of the saleability of the property offered for sale at their suggested value.

Details: Published: 10 July 2018; Hits: 3427

Estate agents to face mandatory qualifications and referral fee transparency.

In April 2018, at the time Housing Secretary, Sajid Javid, vowed to tackle "stressful" delays faced by buyers and sellers.

Moreover, all estate agents will be required to hold a professional qualification under new government rules to crack down on "rogue" operators.

Details: Published: 06 June 2016; Hits: 3847

The campaign to reform the current Stamp Duty system and have recent increases for landlords and owners of high-value homes reversed is gaining momentum as a raft of the Tory MPs, think tanks and media line up. Yesterday the free-market supporting Adam Smith Institute said current Stamp Duty system is costing the economy over £9 billion a year because it prevents people moving to the homes they want near to their place of work, and that they must commute long distances instead.

The Telegraph newspaper has also been running a campaign to reform the duty, which it says taxes too unfairly those who through no fault of their own have to pay high prices to move up their local property ladder.