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Where to Buy? Check out the Area.

January 30, 2012 By

Moving house is a big deal for everyone in the family. Perhaps you are moving for a new job, to be closer to family or just for more space. Whatever the reason everyone will feel the wrench so making the best move is really important. Here are some ideas on where to buy your house to get it right for you all.

  1. Rural or urban. What will suit you best? Maybe an idyllic chocolate-box village for a young family complete with dinky twin childrens beds in the cottage and a Labrador to boot, or perhaps an airy loft apartment at the top of a sky scraper?!

  2. Outside space. Several acres to keep a horse, a lawn to kick a football, a deck for your barbecue or a roof terrace for sunbathing – the choice is yours.

  3. Park it up. How many cars and other vehicles do your family have, and how many visitors? A big driveway will save future headaches if you have multiple cars.

  4. What is it near? If you have a constant urge to shop then a housing estate adjacent to a retail park with great branches of Sleepmasters and so on could be just the thing.

  5. How will you commute? Car, bus, train or under your own steam – suss out your route to work and time it at rush hour to experience the worst case scenario.

  6. Good schools. Whether you have children or not, houses within the catchment area of the best schools will always re-sell well.

  7. Crime stats. What are they like for the area and do you need to worry or install extra security measures? Have a look at your neighbours too.

  8. Day, night and weekends. Visit the area at various times during the week and weekend to get a feel for what goes on and where the local youth hang out.

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Attractive House For Sale: Top Ten Tips

January 30, 2012 By

Selling a house is a tricky business. You have to get the right estate agent, hit the market at the right time with the right price, and above all get lucky with who comes to view. There are however a few things which you can do to help: here are my top ten tips on how to make your property attractive for sale…

  1. Get your plans in order. A house which is not in a chain is the most attractive to buyers so work out if you can rent or stay with family in order to free up your current property.

  2. Decide who you are aiming at. Dress the house to suit the most likely buyers and market accordingly.

  3. Get the outside looking spot on. First impressions count so tidy up the garden, paint the front door and make any other general repairs.

  4. Show you care and they will care too. If your house is well looked after – polished bed frames, dust-free skirting boards and super shiny mirrors then the feel good factor will wow potential buyers.

  5. Hide any oddities! If you have a strange hobby or like to sleep downstairs instead of up then tuck quirky possessions away and put the house back in a more traditional order. Bedrooms need beds so visit Sleep Masters if you need to buy new ones.

  6. De-clutter to create space. Make the house look bigger by clearing out or clearing away clutter in every room. You will feel better for it too!

  7. Contain your pets. If you own a gigantic dog remember that not everyone will agree with you on how adorable he is. Clean up pet hair and ideally send him out on a long walk with a friend at viewing time.

  8. Think about parking. If parking is tight, make sure you leave a space for your visitors so the problem is not highlighted before they even make it into your house. Park your car in the next street if necessary!

  9. Freshen up. A lick of paint is easy and cheap but can make all the difference so get to work!

  10. Lighten up. Bright bulbs will make the place look cheery so change up if you need to and give everyone a nice warm welcome.

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How Not to Sell Your House

January 30, 2012 By

Is your house on the market? Did you know that whatever your prospective buyers are looking for in a home, most of them will switch off the idea of buying your property, the moment they spot any of the following problems?

1. Dirty Bathrooms. Whether bathrooms have walk in baths or wet-room style showers, if they are grimy, they will put buyers off. Scrub them, paint them, buy a new shower curtain, rugs and towels – do what it takes to make them gleam. If mobility issues are likely to be relevant for your prospective market and you have decided to replace the bathroom suite, get some advice from the professionals – http://www.mobility-plus.co.uk, for example, have a wide range of bathroom-related aids.

2. Smells. If you smoke indoors, the house smells like cigarettes, whether you realise that or not. If you have pets, the house could smell bad, even if you don’t notice it. Ask someone who doesn’t live there to take a sniff, and don’t get angry when they tell you the truth. Get rid of the smells, so that you can present potential buyers with a clean, fresh atmosphere (not a house that’s full of air fresheners to cover up the odours).

3. Dogs that Meet You at the Door or in the Driveway. Dogs, in particular, frighten some people and irritate others. You’ll have a much better response from buyers if you control your pets – dogs, cats, whatever. Remove pets during showings if possible. If you can’t, contain them in crates for their own safety and to show respect for the feelings of potential buyers.

4. Poorly Lit Rooms. Dark homes are a turnoff to most home buyers, so try to brighten them up. Replace dim light fixtures or install additional light fixtures. Remove heavy curtains to let the light stream through windows. Trim tree limbs that overshadow the house and clean the windows outside and in.

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Spring Sales

December 27, 2011 By

At this time of year lots of us start to think about life changing decisions such as looking for a new job, getting married or perhaps moving house. Spring is a great time to put your house on the market as typically demand outstrips supply, so now is the time to be getting prepared. Here are a few tips on how to sell your house which may just help:

  1. Think about who might buy your house and set it up to appeal to them. If you need to change an office back into a bedroom then get beds on credit to help stage it.

  2. Smarten up with a bit of light decorating inside and out: don’t forget to make sure your property has curb-side appeal as many buyers will drive by before booking a viewing.

  3. Have a go at the kid’s rooms. Try to minimise mess, clutter and posters on walls to make the rooms look bigger and better. If they need persuading to have a clear out then bribe with new bedding from Bensons to cheer the room up further.

  4. Keep it clean. Have a really thorough clean including washing curtains and shampooing carpets – especially if they are included in the sale.

  5. Get your finances in order. To help with a smooth move make sure you are prepared with your mortgage offer in place and a solicitor on hand to instruct.

  6. Go out when they come round. Sounds crazy but it is ideal if you are not there when potential buyers are looking round. Get the estate agent to do it for you and avoid the possibility of saying the wrong thing.

  7. Don’t be shy; shout about it! Tell people you want to sell – always have a board up and make sure the local gossip mongers go to work on your behalf; you never know who might turn up.
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Freshen up to Sell up

December 27, 2011 By

Many people wait until spring to put their house on the market; it is a boom time for estate agents and definitely worth capitalising on. The advice is always not to spend too much on getting your house in a marketable state as you won’t get a return on the extra investment, however smartening up the place to make it as appealing as possible is always a good idea. If you want to re-decorate to increase the value of your house then here are a few ideas on where to focus:

  1. The fence and gate. Survive the test of a drive-by viewing and make sure your home has curb-side appeal.

  2. The front door. Welcome potential buyers in through a freshly painted door and give a great first impression.

  3. The flooring. Don’t necessarily go to the expense of re-carpeting before you move on but get the carpets you have shampooed and the wood floors polished.

  4. The paintwork. A quick freshen up on walls which have marks or look a bit tired and a whiz over the woodwork with a layer of bright gloss will do wonders.
  5. The upstairs. Beds on credit in bedrooms which are currently empty will make them look more lived in and cosy. Make sure all the rooms have curtains up too.

  6. Make it cosy. Buy new bedding from http://www.bensonsforbeds.co.uk for an instant lift in the bedroom. Bright colours are in so go for a bold pattern.

  7. Sparkling tiles. Make sure your bathroom and kitchen tiles are spruced up. Give them a scrub and if you need to then re-whiten or even replace the grout.

  8. Ceilings. Don’t forget that people will look up at the ceilings. Sort out any cracks, dodgy paint and definitely get rid of the cobwebs from hard to reach corners!
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What to look for when buying a house

December 26, 2011 By

Buying a house is a costly and stressful business so make sure you follow our advice to ensure that your property is right for you.

Location is all important when deciding what house to buy. Do as much homework as you can before you start viewing houses in a particular area. Are the schools good if you have children? Are there good public transport links if this is important to you? If you don’t like noise make sure the property is not near pubs, clubs or restaurants. Do you have a railway line running at the bottom of your garden or are you under a flight path?

Try to view a house during the day so that you can spot any problems such as a jungle of a garden, a property next door that is poorly maintained or the sewage works at the foot of the garden. If you like a house it is a good idea to go back at a different time of day and also to take someone else with you. The road that seemed so quiet at mid-day may turn out to be chockablock with traffic in the rush hour if your road is used as a cut through. Similarly someone else may spot issues that you didn’t notice.

Once inside a property don’t be bowled over by superficial aspects such as the lack of fitted bedrooms. So long as you have a bit of reserve cash after your purchase, companies such as Wren Bedrooms can transform a room. Instead, cast a critical eye over things such as the window frames. Is the paint peeling? Is there mould on them? Are they soft to the touch (if so they are probably rotten)? Is there a smell of damp in a room? Do the doors stick? Are there cracks in the walls? Although your surveyor will pick up on problems like this you can save yourself a lot of expense by ruling out properties with problems at the outset.

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Learn from the experts

November 22, 2011 By

The best way to win at the investment property game is by learning from the experts. It’s a bit like Monopoly – there are people who seem to win more than others in what may otherwise appear to be a game of luck. Anyone who has played the game enough knows that it isn’t about luck at all – it’s about having a winning strategy.

So let’s have a look at how one acknowledged expert, David Lichtenstein goes about things.

The company David founded is called the Lightstone Group. He founded it in 1988 and it has gone from strength to strength; clearly winning consistently at this giant game of Monopoly. The company has managed to do so through laying its strategy on solid foundations – literally!

The company has some very sound acquisition criteria which have spurred it on to steady success, First off, Lightstone consistently targets value-added investment opportunities in growing markets which display high barriers to entry.

The company looks for real estate opportunities that provide it with a genuine competitive advantage; an advantage that may not be apparent – or available – to other investors. Lightstone also looks for properties in distressed situations, particularly those with distressed sellers or troubled capital structures.

In other words, the company tries to buy quality real estate on what should turn out to be temporary market weakness – then to manage the asset well over time. This strategy has proven to work time and time again by investors in all walks of life.

So it isn’t exclusive to real estate by any means, but it works just as well here as anywhere.

By emulating this strategy and by being patient – you will win out at your own game of Monopoly given time.

Good luck!

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Preparing for Your First Home

September 7, 2011 By

When starting to think about investing in your own property, it’s crucial to have a sound understanding of the property market at the time of purchase. It is also important to give yourself enough time to prepare for the financial change – rent payments to mortgage payments – and the difference in lifestyle that this can incur. 

Before you sign on the dotted line you need to be 100% sure that property ownership is the right move for you. Owning a property, whilst a more valuable investment than renting a property, will change the way you think about your life in terms of career progression, travel plans and family arrangements. Once you own a property, you are much less likely to up sticks and move abroad for six months or take a gamble on a career change. Whilst these things are, of course, still absolutely possible, the financial commitment of a property is likely to alter the way in which you approach such life changes.  

It is important to understand your financial situation completely in order to get the best deal on a mortgage. If, like most people, you are not in a position to buy a property outright, you will need to consider, firstly, how much you can afford to put down as a deposit and, secondly, how much you can afford to repay each month. The more you can pay off in one go the easier life will be thereon in. If your deposit is minimal then your monthly repayments will be much greater and, depending on fluctuations within the property market, you may be in greater danger of finding yourself in negative equity.  

To prepare effectively for property ownership, check out the savings rates of banks of building societies such as Santander online and spend a year or two building your savings in order to increase the size of your deposit and minimise your monthly mortgage repayments.  

Giving yourself plenty of time in which to accumulate some extra cash will also give you the space in which to carefully consider your decision, research the property market and prepare yourself for the life changes that come with owning your own home.

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Practical tips for buying a house: looking beyond the property

September 5, 2011 By

Buying a house can be one of the most challenging procedures in adult life.  With such a financial commitment at stake, most people take the process seriously.  However, the complexity of the house buying process can mean that it is easy to overlook some peripheral considerations that are nonetheless fundamentally important, such as the cost of arranging home insurance from Legal & General.  Indeed, aside from cost, this one issue alone can get quite involved.  The type of policy that will best suit your needs when arranging home insurance with Legal & General will depend on a variety of factors, chief of which is whether you will live in or rent out the property.  Leaving aside the issue of home insurance, which can be properly addressed through taking proper time for research, we will now look at some of the most commonly overlooked ‘side issues’ that can prove to be key when evaluating a house prior to purchase.  

Many people who are not involved in property on a professional basis make the mistake of focusing solely on the house and immediate grounds when decision making, ignoring the wider neighbourhood.  While sensible folks will know to avoid high crime areas, there is much more to consider than simply selecting a nice neighbourhood.  In fact, good neighbourhoods can often be subject to issues specific to the fact that people want to live there.

Access to quality schooling is a prime example.  Desirable neighbourhoods, especially those that have recently expanded due to development, may be in the position where the best schools in the area are oversubscribed, and competition to enrol children is fierce.  While this may not seem to be a concern for the young, single professional person, the fact is that many others who may potentially want to live in the property at some point may find this to be a key issue.  And this means that when the future scenarios of either renting of reselling the property are on the cards, certain kinds of potential tenants or buyers – in this case families with young children – may have second thoughts.

The same considerations apply to other local amenities, and indeed the transport infrastructure in the area.  How easy is it to reach the nearest freeway, or drive into town?  If you are looking to buy an apartment, rather than a house, what are the parking facilities like?

While these questions are perhaps more likely to be addressed if you are buying the house to live in, they are often overlooked by those looking to rent out the property, especially those new to the landlord game.

If you are buying the house as a landlord, try and think about your target market.  Who will want to stay there?  Check out the rental commanded by similar properties on the neighbourhood.  Are there already plenty of vacant and available homes of a similar quality out there?  Perhaps the overarching theme of this advice is that due care and attention must be paid if you are to address all of the issues that might affect rental and resale price.  With the amount of cash riding on the deal, it only makes sense not to rush into a purchase

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Home Buying? You should have a “Little List”!

July 13, 2011 By
Home Checklist

Home Checklist

Buying a home can be just like buying a box of eggs from the local supermarket.  Basically, you don’t know what you’ll find till you look inside!  If you’re buying a place for the first time it can be daunting.  However, when you find somewhere you’d like to view, be sure it’s what you really need and is in the right state of repair.  You might actively want to get down to some DIY and get the double glazing experts in, but chances are you’ll be happier to be able to “move right in,” and think about all that a bit later! [Read more...]

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