Up, down or sideways

Election periods usually add a degree of confusion to the property market, but this effect appears to be less pronounced this time around. Indeed, the level of sales agreed nationally is actually 2% up on that recorded during the run up to the last election in 2015, albeit down 2% on the same period last year.

According to Rightmove, asking prices have risen for the fifth consecutive month albeit at a slowing rate of 1.2%. This may have been somewhat distorted … Continue Reading…

Something In The Air?

Why is it that tenanted properties appear to be damper than those that are owner-occupied? Firstly, we’re talking about condensation here, not rising damp. Condensation is caused when warm air, which holds more water vapour, meets a cold surface, forming water droplets. This may attract fungal growths such as Mildew leading that “that damp smell”.

Tenants may not be as house-proud as owner-occupiers (although this is changing). As such, they might not spend so much time at home, meaning that less … Continue Reading…

With You All The Way!

Many estate agencies simply act as a broking service that matches people to property. However, we are acutely aware that there is far more to successful selling than this alone. Indeed, over 30% of property sales in this country fail to reach completion, falling through for various reasons.

One of the main reasons is that a buyer simply gets cold feet and withdraws as a result of “buyer remorse”. This is a familiar phenomenon to estate agents and occurs when a … Continue Reading…

Why accompanied viewings

Some people feel that houses should be able to “sell themselves” and do not need to be “shown” by estate agents. Whilst this may be true of certain exceptional homes, or where achieving the optimum price is not an issue, most properties require the skills of a well-trained estate agent if they are to sell for the best price within a reasonable period timescale.

One benefit of your estate agent showing your home is honest feedback. Many purchasers wish to avoid … Continue Reading…

The Accompanied Viewing

Some estate agents claim that the seller is the best person to show a property to prospective purchasers.

However, apart from the inevitable awkwardness of inviting strangers into your home, there are sound reasons why good estate agents prefer to accompany buyers around.

When buyers see a property for the first time, they are probably viewing it alongside other properties, and simply want to get a feel for its relative suitability in terms of location, layout, size, condition and style. These can … Continue Reading…

Seven Days!

There is no doubt that the Internet has simplified the property searching process as one way or another it effectively holds a fairly comprehensive list of all available stock from most of the agents. But it is only a tool – just like the property advertising pages in the local newspaper.

In these times of standardisation, efficiency and automation, we still find that people really appreciate personal interaction once they have actually selected properties in which they may be interested from … Continue Reading…