Here we are again folks, thank you for continuing to read my blogs. In this one, I would like to try to educate some of my readers as to what some agents say or claim on their media to make you think that they are the top in their class.
I will not name any companies or websites but I think you will recognise enough of them from what I reveal.
My first myth buster is the online comparison platforms that claim to have the best estate agent in your area. If you put in your postcode, they will show you which agents are at the top of their game and therefore the best ones in your area should you be looking to sell your property. There are a few of these online platforms and they all work in the same way. The estate agent has to pay (quite a lot) money to go on these platforms. ONLY agents that pay end up being represented on these platforms, not all the agents in your area. If an agent decides that he doesn’t want the added expense of going on one of these platforms in order to keep their cost down for you as a client, they are not represented. How can the online platforms possibly claim then that they have the best estate agent in your area for you if there are a lot of agents that will not pay to go on them?
Next myth to be busted is very similar to the first. There are a few online companies that also say that they have personally checked the estate agents in your area and can now let you know which ones won awards for best service etc; some agents then claim that “they have been independently selected as the best estate agent in their area”, again, where is the evidence to back this up? Who were they judged against? Who were they judged by? How much did they pay to join that scheme? Was this a level playing field with ALL the other agents in their area included? If not, why are they allowed to claim to be the best? Maybe they should rephrase it to say ”We are the best of a small selection of estate agents in this area” but of course this doesn’t quite sell them in the best possible light but at least it would be more honest.
Another myth, those “Easy Move” “Smooth Move” “Assisted Move” schemes that say that they make your moving experience much easier and smoother than if you tried to do it all yourself the traditional way. This simply is not the case. The scheme companies again only use the local estate agents in your area that are prepared to pay them part of their potential fee for selling your house. Again, this does not mean that you will be given the best estate agent in your area just that an agent that is happy to give away 25% or more of their fee to the scheme organisers. Does this mean you get the best agent at the best value for you? I think may be not !! My advice is that if you are looking at buying a new build house, you are in a much stronger position to have sold your property privately first or at least be under offer to a buyer. If you are in this situation you are classed as a proceedable buyer and you will be in a much stronger position to negotiate a more favourable purchase price instead of being held hostage by what is essentially “Part Exchange” companies. Trust me when I say that if you use one of these schemes there are many strings attached that you may not see at first glance.
I recently had a case where a really lovely lady (who is now a good friend of mine) was looking to move, she decided to downsize and went for a new build property. As she was dealing with the developer (and an assisted move company), she was pressurised to use one of the agents that was paying away a proportion of their fee to the scheme operator. After a sale was agreed, below my valuation, the process began. Half way through, the buyer decided to reduce their offer by a substantial amount. This lady felt pulled in all different directions by the scheme operator whose only interest was getting paid by the developer, until in the end, she decided to use her life savings to buy the property outright without using her previous home in the deal, (this is very rare that people have enough funds to do this), thus breaking the chain. I was eventually instructed about three months after this fiasco started and sold her semi-detached property for £60,000 more than she would have got if she had carried on with the assisted house buying scheme.
I will end this blog by saying this, please check that if your agent claims to be the best, ask them if they have had to pay for this privilege? If you are using an assisted move scheme, is your agent paying to be on the list of agents that you have to choose from?
Remember, GOOD estate agents should never need to buy/pay for an accolade, www.allagents.co.uk is a website that genuine customers leave their honest opinion on agents in your area. Trust others that have been in your position before you believe the HYPE.
So here we are again, Halloween is just around the corner and there are Christmas adverts on the television already. Buyers are trying their best to buy properties to be moved in to by Christmas, companies are organizing much missed office festivities and life does seem to be back to the way it was prior to the pandemic hitting us. Even though it may seem and feel familiar to days gone by, there are a few changes that we are having to live with and incorporate in to our lives thus making things the new norm.
Stamp duty, or the lack of it, up until recent weeks, has been a major driving factor for the huge growth in both property values and property sales. The original stamp duty holiday was due to end on March 31 2021. However, Mr Sunak decided to extend the deadline until October, opting for a more phased approach. The rate of stamp duty which applies to your purchase depends on the date that you complete your property purchase and not the date that you exchanged contracts.
From March 31 to June 30 2021, buyers paid no tax on the first £500,000 on a property in England and Wales. Buyers could have saved up to £15,000 in tax thanks to the holiday. From July 1 to September 30, the threshold was tapered down to £250,000 which means no stamp duty is paid on a residential property bought for up to this amount. October 1st saw the nil rate band return to the standard amount of £125,000 and for first time buyers, this is set at £300,000.
In my opinion the other reasons for this unprecedented bolstering in the market has simply been life style and the way in which it has changed for everyone. Previously people bought a property because they thought it would be a great fit for their lifestyles, but when you think back our way of living has changed. Previously we woke up, showered, maybe grabbed breakfast, ran out the door either to work or to school. We came home late in the afternoon or early evenings, walked the dog, cooked dinner, did some homework or housework, maybe watched Coronation Street, Emmerdale or EastEnders and retired to bed only to repeat this pattern again day after day after day.
With the Lockdowns came an enforced new way of living. We found we had time, time that previously been taken away from us with the daily commute, the school run and doing the weekly shop. What could we do with this new found luxury? We baked, we learnt a new skill or even a new language, we did a lot of gardening, some of did a little bit more drinking than previously and some did the opposite and took up fitness and well being tasks. Our homes became our work places, our classrooms, we created man caves and hobby/crafting rooms. Lots of us made bars at home, had virtual diners or quiz nights with friends that we couldn’t physically be with. In short, the need of our homes changed, we required them to be more than a place to eat, sleep and clean.
Our homes now needed to be all things to all people and this is where a lot of people realized that they needed more and in some cases much more from their homes. As a result of this thinking, buyers are now looking to future proof their new homes, if they only needed two bedrooms previously, they are now looking at 3 or 4 bedroomed properties, if they had a courtyard before now, they are looking for a garden, if they had a garden, they are now looking for bigger gardens and so on and so on. This has inevitably led to property prices going up sharply as has the demand for them. The larger and usually more expensive properties are now the ones with the most interest from buyers and since lending is at one of its cheapest rates ever, borrowing does not seem to be as much of an issue as it has been previously. With us not being able to go out, travel, dine or shop, a lot of us have managed to save up for good deposits.
From 1918 up to 1920 we had the Spanish flu and after this came the roaring 20’s. Could we be seeing history repeating itself even if it is in a slightly reduced way?
I will end with this, here at Cross Keys Estates, we are selling more properties within the first few days of marketing than ever before and most of them are exceeding their asking prices by quite some way due to the current demand.
If you are thinking of selling or if you simply want to know the current value of your property, please do not hesitate to give one of our qualified and experienced members of staff a call.
With the first two months of 2021 now over and done with, here we are in March and Spring is upon us. This time of year usually means the weather gets brighter, the sun stays out for longer and that summer is on its way… generally it’s a time associated with positivity and good things to come. In tradition this is reflected in the housing market as with the better weather and winter behind us many tend to see Spring as the perfect time to put their properties up for sale and start the process of moving, whether it be for more space inside and out, or to downsize into something more manageable. 2021 could possibly be a little different than usual given where we are in the world right now and the country just beginning to see the lockdown gradually lifted; this has of course had an effect on the property market and I’m sure there are many out there waiting for things to ‘blow over’ before making any decisions. We at Cross Keys have seen continued extremely high levels of activity right the way through from May last year once lockdown #1 was lifted until now, during lockdown #3. In the month of January alone we agreed around 60 sales… so this is evidence enough that now is not the time to hold off and if you’re thinking of selling, we advise you get the process started as at present we are still seeing record breaking prices, lots of activity and most importantly there are lots of buyers out there actively searching for their new homes!
It has now been suggested that the stamp duty holiday, something which has been instrumental in keeping the property market going during the pandemic, is likely to be extended by the government in the coming weeks. This is good news for all concerned as it will likely mean the continuation of high levels of activity and also allow those homeowners who would like to move and save money by taking advantage of no stamp duty a little more time to jump on the bandwagon and complete their sale and purchase in time. Watch this space for more news on this.
In line with the potential stamp duty holiday extension, we also wanted to help the people of Plymouth looking to move also save some money … in 2020 we decided to offer discounts on both our sales and lettings fees to our NHS Staff and Key Workers in order to thank them for all their hard work during the pandemic and lockdown. This offer was due to expire at the end of 2020, however since the pandemic hasn’t expired with the new year, neither have our discounts! Therefore, if you are a key worker and are looking to sell your home, we are continuing to offer a 50% reduction on our selling fees based on our standard rate of 1.5% plus VAT, meaning our fee will be just 0.75% plus VAT! (Subject to a minimum fee of £1,200). This includes our high quality professional photography, 2D and 3D floorplans and a video tour for your property as standard.
If you are a landlord with a property to let, we are offering 50% off of our standard Fully Managed fees for 6 months, along with a free Landlord Transfer Service to bring your property (or properties) across to us! This is based on our standard managed fee of 14%. If you are looking to use our tenant find only service, we are also offering a 20% reduction on our fee making this service just £400! Also including our high quality photography, 2D & 3D floorplans and video tours as standard.
Especially during these unprecedented times, we really want to share the love in any way we can, so these discounts are essentially a big thank you from us and a promise to help as many people as we possibly can with their moves and also make it as affordable as possible.
