Cheap solicitors are expensive!
Once we agree a sale on a property, the hard work really begins. As estate agents we liaise and chase solicitors, chains, buyers and sellers to make sure it all comes to a satisfactory conclusion. Unsurprisingly we get to know which solicitors are on the ball and which are quite frankly, useless. It seems to be that a fair percentage of buyers and sellers naturally get tempted to use the cheapest solicitor or conveyancer that they can find as they … Continue Reading…
First Time Buyers Continue To Enter The Market
A recent Home Sale Network survey has found that first time buyers continue to enter the UK property market.
When asked whether there was an increase in first time buyers in 2011 compared to the end of 2010, over a third (35%) of respondents indicated that they had seen an increase.
A specially selected, national network of independent estate agents across England, Scotland and Wales, Home Sale Network is able to provide a good indication of the number of first time buyers … Continue Reading…
Wellingborough Office Has 33% Market Share
Since the start of the second quarter of the year, (1st April 2011 to 13th May 2011), Richard James Estate Agents Wellingborough office has agreed sales on 27 different properties. This is 33.3% of all property sales, agreed in the postal district of NN8 during this period. Our nearest competitor has a market share for this period of 22.22%, this equating to 18 agreed sales and every other Estate Agent in the area selling than ten properties each.
One in three house sales in Wellingborough are … Continue Reading…
Asking Price Remains Key to Achieving Sale
A recent survey conducted by Home Sale Network reports that getting a property’s asking price right is essential to selling your home. Indeed 83% of survey respondents indicated that the asking price remains key to achieving a successful and quick sale in the current market.
Half of Network respondents also reported that it was ‘critical’ for sellers to set the correct asking price as soon as the property comes to the market.
On average, the majority (57%) of Network members reported that … Continue Reading…
Home Sale Network Welcomes Government’s FirstBuy Scheme, But will it help?
Following the Budget speech announcement (23 March) that there will be a £250 million shared equity scheme within the UK – designed to help first time buyers purchase a new-build home on selected properties – a recent survey conducted by Home Sale Network discussed the scheme’s potential affect on the property market landscape.
The year-long programme, called FirstBuy, will provide interest-free loans for the first five years to first time buyers, if they fulfil the eligibility criteria, including a household income … Continue Reading…
Essential Guide to Moving House
If you’re currently in the process of looking to move then you may will find this information very helpful. Moving is always stressful, so here are a few tips courtesy of Zoopla.co.uk to hopefully make it that bit easier for you! Of course if you have any specific questions regarding the moving process, just give me or any of the staff at Richard James a call on 01933 651010 (Irthlingborough) or 01933 224400 (Wellingborough) and we’ll be more … Continue Reading…
UK Budget 2011 To Help First Time Buyers
George Osborne today announced a £250m package to help 10,000 first-time buyers get onto the property ladder in the Budget today.
The Firstbuy Direct scheme will help buyers struggling to get a deposit together, the opportunity to take up a five-year interest-free loan of up to 80% of the deposit, reported this morning suggested.
The scheme is set to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of the Labour government’s Homebuy Direct Scheme, which ended last autumn.
2011 Budget: Key Points
* Fuel duty … Continue Reading…
Home values hit 8 month low, according to Zoopla.co.uk
There are always many different opinions on house prices and to some degree you have to take it with a pinch of salt, but I thought this seemed like a reasonably accurate picture of average home values over the past few years.
“Our latest property data shows that property values have fallen every month since last July.
However, whilst it has been a challenging period for the property market over the past few months, the recent dip in prices … Continue Reading…
10 Ways to Sell Your Home
1. Prepare your budget and visualise your next home
Before you put your home up for sale you need to try and form a realistic idea of your requirements, you will need to have an image of where and what kind of home you want to move to. Get a feel for the house prices in your area and the area you would like to move into, with any house sale, once you have a realistic … Continue Reading…
Should We Take House Price Data With A Pinch Of Salt?
Every month we are bombarded with statistics and data about house prices.
One month they are up 0.3%, the next they are down 0.9% and so on.
Is this data accurate?
The answer is, No!
First of all much of the data is based on sales put together by Estate Agents some months before. By the time a sale has completed and registered it can be four or five months after the price was originally agreed.
Furthermore two of the biggest mortgage lenders in the … Continue Reading…