It would seem that families in the UK are some of the worst off in Europe. This is all as outlined by findings published by the European Union. It was also written about by Shelter, the UK homelessness charity.

Is this becoming your reality?? Are you finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the payments on your house. Maybe, you are facing repossession or you are separated from a partner and you are left trying to make ends meet and support a mortgage as well. I have met those who find themselves having to choose between feeding their children or making the next payment on their house. If this is you, take some time to speak to people like Shelter who will give you some advice on how to address the issues you face or there is the citizen’s advice bureau who will also point you in the right direction for assistance.

Just do not bury your head in the sand. Take some action as soon as you can to deal with the issues you are facing. If necessary, find out how much your house will sell for on the open market as it might cover your mortgage and leave you a little money to start again. This can be a help if you are locked into a high interest mortgage, remortgaging could be another option if your credit rating and income are acceptable to a bank.  Do speak to a mortgage advisor.

Of course, it would be remiss of me not to mention that we could help you too, if you decide to sell up and move on. There are various ways that we can assist you in the selling of your property.

Give us a call today on 01384 468336 or text ‘sell’ and your name and address and we will give you a call as soon as possible.

If you are based in Dudley, you have probably noticed what is happening to the town centre.  There is now a pay day loan shop on one of the main streets and also there is a Gold for cash shop as well. The more mainstream shops are closing and shops like these are becoming the norm.  Unfortunately, this says something about the state of affairs in Dudley.  There are a lot of people looking for work and not enough people spending on the high street.  This means people are not necessarily looking to buy houses in the area, at least not in great numbers.  This is of course unfortunate for you if you are selling a house.

Time and again, I am coming across people who are giving into repossession.  Their bills greatly exceed their income and they do not see a way out.  So who are you going to sell your property to?

There was definitely a rush on properties at the beginning of the year which was great but unfortunately that has reduced a little now as interest rates rise and the stamp duty freeze ended.

However, we are still on the lookout for houses in the Dudley area.  Look around the site, there are innumerable tips on how you can position yourself to sell to the open market.  Do your research and you will find out how to price your house to sell.

If however, you have tried to do this and you are still struggling to sell, then why not give us a call? We have professionals who work in the area who are looking to buy properties.  With Russells Hall Hospital in the area, there are a lot of health care workers looking for somewhere to live.  The thing is sometimes they want flexible ways to pay.

We particularly want 4 or 5 bed houses in the Dudley area, though we are open to any kind of properties.  We have a professional family looking to pay a substantial monthly amount each month to buy your 4 or 5 bed house.  Are you open to the possibility of selling your house at market price really quickly?  Then give us a call or fill in the form on the side of the page and be free from your home loan as soon as you want.

So why are banks increasing their standard variable rates when the Bank of England’s Interest rate is on the 3 year record low of 0.3%? It does really beggar belief, don’t you think?

The property market seemed to be getting just a little hopeful this new year and all of a sudden, it seems like it might start to take a battering again.  First time buyers may get scared away from buying homes again causing chains to start to fall apart again and then the market gets stagnant…again.  People are trapped in their homes and just will not be able to shift it any time soon.

What of if you are on some variable rate with your bank then how does this affect you?  Needless to say, you might find that your payments go up by about £30 on a £100k mortgage a month.  When money is stretched and times are hard, having to pay out an extra £30 may make or break you.  No, none of this is fair.

So why are the bank rates rising?

I have heard it mentioned that the cost of funds used by the banks are increasing and so therefore the customer must pick up the shortfall as the bank, of course, does not want to reduce its profits. The government bail them out with taxpayer money, they refuse to lend to taxpayers and now they increase rates as well.  Definitely not fair.

What can you do about it? Well, make sure you are on the best mortgage for you, speak to a mortgage broker to be certain.  It may also be worth you tying up your mortgage in a fixed rate if you can.  The less money you need to borrow against the value of your house, the more options are available to you.

So do not keep your head under water, have a look around and see if you can move your mortgage to prevent the upcoming rate rise from the Halifax from the 1st May, 2012.

If you want to move house, then call us to help you sell your house fast or we can manage a tenant for you if your preference is to let your property out..

Lets get right into it…

7. Remember you’re not buying the show home you saw and you may not even be buying the same architecture of house. Try to get a tour of the actual type of property you plan on buying, which may involve going to another site.

8. Negotiate! The builder is unlikely to reduce the price of the house itself, but flooring, landscaping, fencing, curtains etc are all up for grabs.

9. At the end of the developer’s financial year targets have to be met and corners could feasibly be cut to help meet them. It’s been heard of for buyers to be moved into an incomplete property with significant remedial work required. It’s also been known of for developers to offer incentives to help meet their targets, especially if they have unsold homes which are build-complete or nearing completion.

10. Instruct a conveyancing solicitor with a track record of negotiating retentions and delaying completion due to defects and snags, using the cheapest company you can find on the Internet will be a false economy. The developer may recommend a solicitor to ‘speed things up’, but there may be a hidden agenda.

11. If you need to be in your new property by a particular date ask your solicitor about getting the completion date written into the contract.

12. It might be worth getting your house professionally inspected by an independent snagging company that does not work for housing developers. Ideally, this should be done before legal completion, so that the developer will have time to address the defects and snags identified before you move in. If you cannot afford this and you plan to do it yourself use the Snagging Checklists available from Snagging.org for £14.99.

13. If you have an NHBC warranty re-inspect your house every six-months during the first two years and notify your developer in writing of any faults you discover. The developer is obliged to fix them, if they don’t the NHBC will. However, faults caused by normal shrinkage and drying out are not currently covered by this warranty.

14. Don’t skimp on your insurance. Get a home and contents policy which includes legal protection which will be useful if you need to take the developer to court.

So there you have it – Fourteen ways to ensure you get the best deal when buying a new build house.  If you are interested in buying new build houses then start your search at New Homes UK.  Before you do that though, what are you going to do about your present home, leave your name and number on the form  and we can help you sell your house fast.

It’s a contentious area for some, since it’s been known for newly developed houses to contain expensive defects. We’d recommend you pay attention to the following tips, with more to follow next week:

Six tips on buying new build properties

1. See if you can get an idea of how well the building site has been managed. Speak to the people who have already moved in to get a feel quality, workmanship and aftersales service.

2. Research the developer/builder on the Internet. New Build Inspections is in the process of compiling reports for each of the major house builders in the UK.

3. Check that the house has a warranty, most likely from Zurich Municipal, the NHBC or Premier. Be aware that these provide no guarantee that your home will be free from problems and are primarily insurance schemes for the developer not the home owner.

4. Check if there is an affordable housing scheme on the site. If there is, find out whether these homes will be managed by a housing association or other organisation. This will help you make an informed decision about your purchase and the avenues available to you.

5. Take measurements of the property with respect to your furniture. Pay attention to the stairs and the garage in particular (if there is one), as these are often designed for ‘average’ cars.

6. Check the site and plans carefully, particularly when buying off-plan. Remember that the marketing material is likely to use artists impressions and should not be misconstrued as accurate or representative of the finished product. If you feel your property has been misrepresented, contact your local Trading Standards Office for further advice.

This is the first six of fourteen tips so carry on to the next article to complete your research on new build houses.  Remember we can help you sell your current house

Here’s our advice:

• It’s a buyers market. You need to stand out from local competition. Ask yourself why a buyer would choose your home over the other house for sale just down the road, or the one around the corner. What distinguishes your house from theirs? What are your selling points? Once you’ve identified what they are – work them!

• Consider the condition of the inside and outside of your home. The inside should be neutrally decorated and uncluttered – a blank canvas for the prospective buyer. What does it look like externally – does your house have “kerb appeal?” If not, what can you do to improve the situation? A lick of paint on the window frames and walls can work wonders for first impressions!

• Once you’ve got the house looking ship-shape – get some quality photos taken. Hire a professional if necessary. Shoot with wide angles in good light for maximum effect. Take a lot of photos and make sure as many of them as possible are used in marketing material and on the web when advertising your home. People like to be able to refer to these both before and after viewings so if you don’t have multiple internal and external shots of your home, you’re selling it short.

• Get an idea of who’s doing what in your area. What agencies have a high success rate? Who advertises in what papers and websites? Does this align with where people are actually looking for homes to buy? If your agent is not the best, or you’re not happy with their service, don’t be afraid to replace them!
• Get feedback from viewings if possible. Find out what the prospective buyers did and didn’t like about the house. Take action where necessary. If the garden furniture or bedroom wallpaper put them off – get rid of it!

• Ultimately, you want to present your property in its best light and sell it for the most you can. But sometimes you may also need to consider the possibility that the market won’t pay the price you’re asking for. We understand you don’t want to “give your house away”, but our advice in this situation would be to price the house to sell. After all, things are only worth what someone is actually willing to pay for them. The agent may have told you that your house is worth £150k, but if you have to reduce the price to £130k to actually sell, this is a reflection of its true  market value.

Unfortunately, for a seller, it can be the reason why a buyer would pull out of a sale especially if your house is priced around the thresholds as shown below:

As can be seen, there is such a jump in the rate as soon as a house is bought for £250,001.  A buyer in this case would then be paying £7500.03 as opposed to the £2500 he/she would pay if it cost £1 less.  That is a whole £5000.  Definitely not to be sniffed at.  If you are trying to sell a house that is in this price range(even up to £270000) then you should definitely consider reducing the price, it could mean the difference between being on the market indefinitely or not.  Of course, if your buyer is a first time buyer then they will not have to pay the tax.

Annoying though it is, it is a reality that you the seller must do whatever is necessary to ensure you sell your property in this market.  If you have the equity in the property then if you must move house, it may be wise to reduce the price to £250000 and below.

Now some estate agents have bad reputations.  In some cases this is deserved but as is usually the case, the good ones get tarred by the same brush as those who are not to be trusted.  Most times, estate agents are doing the best they know to do and are sincerely trying to help.  I have sold houses quite successfully through estate agents.

So lets do a quick run through of the steps involved in using an estate agent to sell your house:-

Usually, when you call them up to start the process of selling your property, they will ask to come and see your home and talk through issues relating to the sale with you.  They will usually ask for some identification in order to make sure you are not trying to launder money.  Then the discussion at some point will lead to you signing an agreement with them.  At this point, you must make sure you understand what you may be signing.  In fact I would get a quote from a few agents before settling with any one.  Or why only one agent, why not set up some competition by signing up with a few agents at once.  They will ask you to pay a higher percentage as their fee but remember you can negotiate.  Do not accept their fee as written in stone.  You have nothing to lose by trying to negotiate a lower percentage fee and everything to gain as then you take more of the money with you after the sale.

Your pictures go on the web, usually RightMove.  The agents call up potential buyers and arrange the viewings.

Hopefully, the viewings result in offers that are to your liking.  If accepted, then the agent will again check the identity of the buyer to prevent money laundering.  Then, the agent must also check that the buyer is actually able to follow through on their commitment.  This can be via a bank statement or more usually, a decision in principle is provided by the buyer for a mortgage that will cover the sum required to buy the property.  This decision in principle would have been supplied to the buyer by the mortgage lender.

Thus starts the conveyancing process.

Though this is not strictly the realm of the estate agent, you may be able to ask them for help in chasing up solicitors and help with keeping everything moving forward as swiftly as possible.  They may be quite obliging in this as they are paid usually by commission.  Therefore, it is in their interest to keep things moving forward as swiftly as possible.

Now if all these things line up, you have a sale!

In summary, estate agents are there to work for you.  Milk them for all your money’s worth!

It does not have to be a stressful task as I know.  It just requires that you find out a bit more about your new role.    It may actually increase your bank balance if the situation is dealt with properly.  My suggestion, and it is only that, would be that you employ the services of a good letting agent that may help you sort out some of the nitty gritties such as finding a tenant and not just any tenant but a really great tenant.  You really do not want to take the first person that turns up just because you are afraid no one else will.  In this day and age, there are a lot of tenants and not so many good properties for them to rent.  So you can afford to be picky or allow the agent to deal with this for you.  You will be quite attached to the house as it was your home not too long ago and you may not be objective when it comes to choosing the perfect tenant for you.

Another thing a letting agent can do for you is make sure all the legals are in place.  You do not want to buy any old contract off the internet only to end up with a non-paying tenant that you cannot evict because the paperwork did not cover your particular situation.

And then comes the deposit.  You need to ensure that this is put into a Tenancy Deposit protection scheme.  Forget to do it for whatever reason and you could find yourself in court being asked to pay THREE times the amount of the deposit.  So be very wary.

Then there is the day to day management of the property, regular visits, repairs, insurance etc.  All these things can be dealt with quite easily by you or your trusty letting agent.

As long as all of these things are considered, being an accidental landlord could be fairly straightforward.  As long as periods in between tenants are kept to a minimum, you could even make money from what was once your home.  Just make sure you get the sums right.

Before I end this quick post, I must mention the most important thing to consider even before all of the above becomes relevant.  If there is a mortgage on your house, make sure that you obtain permission from your bank to let out the property.  As much as we are told the property is ours, we have to ask permission for anything that may affect its value.  And this is a very important one.  Without what is called ‘consent to let’, you could find yourself repossessed!  This could then lead to the tenant suing you for no longer having anywhere to live.  A scenario you really want to avoid at all costs.

In summary, it is not the end of the world if you do have to become of these accidental landlords, just make sure you do your due diligence or pay someone else to take care of it all for you.

I must add a slight disclaimer here.  Make sure that you do not accept this article as a definitive guide to letting, make sure you do your own research as well as speak to the relevant professionals to keep yourself completely covered in all ways.

Any questions?  I will get back to you as soon as I can.

We are on the lookout for property in the B68 and B69 region. Any price, any condition.  Give us a call for a quick no-obligation chat.