Creative selling

Literally anyone that is remotely related to the property market will tell you that it is really going through a rough old time. The recession, government changes and a general downturn in spending has meant that houses on the market aren’t going anywhere, or at least not quickly enough.

There are those that have had their homes up for sale for so long that they feel they will never move, perhaps they have even only had one viewing!

 

Whilst people will suggest they lower the price of the house, this is not always possible for the homeowner. Those that can afford to do this have found that online property sites have been useful.

The auction format means that more often than not the house is sold for less than the market may offer but it will provide a quick property sale which for many, is highly desirable.

 

If there is absolutely no interest what so ever, it may be time to get creative. An owner in Cardiff decided to offer £15,000 cash reward for anyone that can locate a purchaser for them. It is all about maximising your property’s profile.

Another enterprising seller from The Gower decided that the purchaser of his large beach fronted property will also get his brand new boat free.

 If the going gets really tough, consider what else you could offer alongside your property to make your home even more appealing to a potential purchaser.

 

Did the bank bail out and ultra-low interest rates work?

I think that in the short term this has worked, whether it will continue to work over the next five years is, in my opinion, uncertain. I think that in 15 or 20 years time the view will be rock solid.

This will be down to the fact that Britain is a closed- shores market with limited supply, now funding has been axed we are unlikely to see any real supply of new builds. We are an ever growing Island, the immigrants did not all go home and the population is rising at a rapid rate. So all that is happening now involving finance and sentiment is no indication of the future.

 

 

Buy-to-let back in fashion

They are back and very excited! There was a much publicised meltdown of this sector a couple of years ago, but they have found their mojo and are off again..

A report just in from the Council for Mortgage Lenders suggests that buy-to-let lending is up 14% on last year.

It is not only long standing landlords that are emerging with renewed interest, it is also new blood looking to get involved.

There are many, most, being first time buyers that are struggling to get a mortgage, who have no option but to rent. There is certainly a captive audience out there. We may even turn into a nation of renters!

Landlords to face fine if they are energy inefficient

The government is to heat up legislation forcing landlords to pay a fine if they rent properties without proper insulation.The new strictures on the quality of homes are included in the "green deal" which the government will put before parliament in December.

By the autumn of 2012, the government says the scheme will enable homeowners to make their house or flat energy-efficient with no immediate payments.Companies would install loft and cavity-wall insulation draught-proof doors and windows and the homeowner would pay the firm back through their energy bills over up to 20 years. The aim would be for the homeowner to barely notice the repayments due to lower energy bills.

Recent attempts to encourage private landlords to improve their housing stock have been unsuccessful. In the first two years of the carbon emissions reduction target scheme, only 1.9% of loft insulation installations were in the private rental sector compared to 91% in the owner-occupier sector.

The government will press councils to use existing legislation more actively, under which they are able to compel a landlord to carry out the work or do the work themselves and charge the landlord. They can also impose a fine of £5,000.

The forthcoming legislation would mean that by 2015, any tenant who asks for energy efficiency improvements cannot be reasonably refused by landlords. Local authorities could have the power to insist landlords improve the worst-performing properties.