Do you believe in Santa? 01 Nov 2019 All over the UK home buyers and sellers have an important date in mind. No, its not Thursday 12th December when the general election takes place. Its Wednesday 25th December. This date is etched in our minds. Already shops are stocking for Christmas and it wont be long before...
DEAL 24 Jul 2019 Selling a home often boils down to two questions - how much can I get and how quickly can I get it? Here is a simple three-point plan called DEAL. D stands for desire. First your home should be looking as desirable as it is possible for you to make it. Remember, buyers have a...
A friend in the business 02 Nov 2018 Those of us who have been connected to the property market for many years will have experienced a number of market conditions and I am quite sure we will all look back at this prolonged period of pre Brexit negotiation as interesting. With some underlying positives in the...
Reading Between The Lines 07 Feb 2018 The press may tell us that fewer people are moving around the country. That could be true but what the media are not saying is that more people seem to be on the move within their own local communities. So what does this mean for sellers today? It means that if the...
Stamp Duty relief for first time buyers - November 2017 29 Dec 2017 From 22 November 2017 first time buyers paying £300,000 or less for a residential property will pay no Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). First time buyers paying between £300,000 and £500,000 will pay SDLT at 5% on the amount of the purchase price in excess of £...
Strong negotiation produces results 12 Oct 2017 Negotiation often begins with conflict of some sort - different points of view where both sides have strong and seemingly entrenched initial opinions about what each wants. This stage is the “argument”. Negotiations can't proceed if both parties don't move...
When is an expert, not an expert? Knowledge is the key 28 Sep 2017 We know that the internet hybrid agents are calling their valuers ‘Local Property Experts’. But how do you define ‘an expert’ in the eyes of the buying public? And if someone fails to meet that definition, should there be some form of recourse or sanctions...
Satisfied with your home or time to move on? 31 Aug 2017 Recent research shows that just one in five Brits (22%) lives in their dream home, and higher value ownership doesn’t always bring home happiness - almost two thirds (62%) of those who live in homes worth more than £500,000 say their current house isn’t their...
Time changes our needs and requirements 23 Aug 2017 Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, thinks that we overestimate the amount of change which will happen over two years, but underestimate the amount of change over ten. This certainly seems to be the case with housing. Our tastes move on hugely over a decade as new materials...
Stamp duty - perhaps a necessary evil 10 Aug 2017 At last, a report that doesn’t blame estate agency fees for increasing the cost of moving. In fact fees or commission as it is known, has not risen for many years in percentage terms. It has only been house price increases and volume of sales that keep agent’s...
