Tag Archives: yahoo
Research reveals UK estate agents tactics for making a property more sellable
British estate agents are not always popular but new research reveals the lengths they will go to sell a property by making it more suitable for viewings. They will literally don rubber gloves to clinch a sale with many opening windows to get rid of bad smells, flushing the toilet and hiding inappropriate items on display, according to the research by Big Yellow Self Storage. Many agents have had to clean properties and hide items ahead of viewings. Some 36% said they have had to open windows to get rid of smells, 31% have pushed things under a bed and 29% have tidied up mess. Others have resorted to age old tactics to increase desirability with 22% turning on lights to create the impression of greater brightness and 15% brewing fresh coffee to create a homely atmosphere. The research also shows that 21% have tidied items away into cupboards, 17% have sprayed air freshener, 12% have flushed the toilet before viewers arrive and 10% have encouraged the property owner to get rid of large items. ‘Every agent wants to get the best price they can for their sellers, but many of the ways they do this go unnoticed. Agents get a bad press, but the research reveals that they’re often going above and beyond and undertaking less appealing tasks to make sure a property is presentable at viewing time,’ said property expert Kate Faulkner. The research also reveals agent’s tips on boosting a property’s sale price. Ways that reap particular dividends include clearing kitchen of small appliances such as kettles and toasters which can add £973 in value, creating an open plan living area adding £972 in value and de-personalising the property by removing ornaments and knick knacks adding £948 in value. It also found that in some cases, de-cluttering by removing bulky items to maximise space pushed the sale price up by as much as 11%. In fact, each square foot of floor space freed up is estimated to be worth an average of £238 by agents researched. ‘The UK is in the grip of a housing squeeze with the smallest homes in Western Europe, so space is increasingly desirable for buyers, as agents well know. Our research found that a fifth of buyers wouldn’t make an offer on a property because it was too cluttered, so it’s in the interests of agents to advise vendors on how they can maximise the space in their homes to clinch that sale,’ said Anthony Chenery, Big Yellow spokesperson. Some 95% of estate agents say de-cluttering leads to homes selling for more and 38% insist it increases the sale price 'every time' and yet only 56% have recommended short term self storage to clients as an aid to selling their home. Overall the study found that two thirds of sellers who de-cluttered before viewings received a higher offer than expected of £4,811 more, on average. ‘Self storage allows vendors… Continue reading
UK landlords experiencing high levels of tenant demand, latest monthly survey shows
UK landlords are still experiencing high levels of demand during the third quarter of the year with just 3% reporting that it is declining, the latest monthly buy to let survey shows. Overall 41% of landlords surveyed said tenant demand was growing or booming and 51% said in their view demand was stable, according to the Private Rented Sector Trends survey from specialist lender Paragon Mortgages. The survey, which has been running for the past 13 years and tracks landlord confidence and their views on the wider buy to let market, also shows rental arrears are expected to remain stable. Looking ahead, 61% of landlords felt that the level of tenant arrears would remain stable over the next 12 months. In comparison 12% of landlords stated that in their view tenant arrears would increase and 8% expect a decrease. Landlords were also asked what the most important factor is when they are looking for new buy to let mortgage finance. Interest rates remained the most important, having been top of the list for the past 12 months, followed by average loan to value and product fee. ‘Our latest survey of landlords reveals that that the past quarter has been a stable and steady one, with just over a third of landlords saying they feel more optimistic about the prospects for their rental portfolios,’ said John Heron, the firm’s director of mortgages. At this point in the year, we can usually gauge how the wider buy to let market has performed and what likely lending volumes for the calendar year will be,’ he explained. He pointed out that last year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported total buy to let lending for 2013 as £20.7 billion. ‘Current thinking is that gross buy to let lending this year will be around the £25 billion mark, which represents a healthy increase over 2013 but there has been some evidence that the rate of growth has slowed as the year has progressed,’ added Heron. Continue reading
Property price growth in UK set to slow to 2% next year
UK house price growth is predicted to slow to 2% in 2015 and 19.3% to the end of 2019, according to the latest five year forecast from Savills. Prices in London are expected to flat line having hugely outperformed the rest of the UK and is likely to end this year at 15%. The South East is set to be the strongest market seeing price growth of 26.4% by 2019 as buyers take advantage of the relative value of the market. In the short term Scotland is expected to see the biggest price growth in 2015 at 3.5% but slowing to annual growth of 2.5% in 2019 and over the five years seeing growth of 17.6%. The east of England is also likely to see strong growth with the forecast predicting 3% in 2015 and 5% in 2016 with a combined five year growth of 25.2%. The forecast also predicts an increase in the private rented sectors. It says some 1.2 million more households in England and Wales will be private renters by 2019 and 24% of all homes will be privately rented with all the opportunities and challenges that brings for investors and policymakers Only one in six under 35s will be home owners compared to 28% in 2014 and in London there will be around 250,000 more private rented homes, rising to 1.24 million or 36% of all homes. ‘Stress testing of borrowers’ ability to service a mortgage and loan to value lending caps will increasingly limit the amount buyers can borrow, making it more difficult to access or trade up within the market,’ said Lucian Cook, UK head of residential research at Savills. ‘Not only will this suppress price rises, particularly in London, it will also reduce the potential for transaction volumes to return to anything close to a pre crunch norm,’ he added. The report says that the London market now looks relatively fully valued and this has already prompted a change of sentiment among buyers. Savills is therefore forecasting that mainstream London house prices will flat line next year, with five year price growth totalling just 10.4%, the lowest of any region. By contrast, the South East and East of England are expected to show the strongest growth, at 26.4 and 25.2% respectively, as buyers priced out of London seek relative value beyond the capital. At the other end of the scale, the North of England has greatest capacity for growth based on affordability measures, but the strong economic drivers are not in place to support it. ‘Mainstream market performance will be limited by buyers’ capacity to borrow and service debt, but we don’t believe rate rises will be severe enough to trigger a wholesale market correction, so are not forecasting price falls,’ explained Cook. ‘We expect wage rises, an improving economy and greater recycling of existing housing wealth between generations to support growth, while mortgage regulation is likely to prompt greater reliance on the bank of mum & dad with more equity released… Continue reading
