Unique Opportunity - Not to be missed!!

Published
by
Woody
on December 11, 2008
in Buying property, Company News, Local Community, Mortgages, Property Prices and Selling property
. 0 Comments

 

A unique opportunity to work for yourself within residential sales, under the umbrella of one of the leading pioneers of on-line estate agency with a market leading website including buyer/seller communication tools.
As a cost effective, dynamic and efficient way of operating, the company offer a full estate agency service to its clients listing properties on all major websites and with a fixed fee model.
Candidates will ideally have a minimum of 2  years experience within this sector or associated sector and have the drive and self motivation to be part of the ongoing expansion of this successful agency.
Franchisees will be provided with full training on all aspects of Sales, various marketing equipment and many other marketing tools and accessories along with their own unique area in which to work.

There is no initial investment required from the franchisee and the opportunities to expand are huge.

This could appeal to any of the below:-

· Redundant Estate Agents

· Estate agents looking for a change

· Self employed HIP consultants

· Candidate with strong business development / sales skills looking for a new challenge

Contact us on 07789 174490 for an informal chat.

Estate Agents sell homes for free?

Published
by
Woody
on October 22, 2008
in Buying property and Selling property
. 0 Comments

 

We read with interest a couple of recent articles about Estate Agents and in particularly this spectacular offer to sell your home for free.

Too good to be true, well here is a brief summary of the article in The Evening Standard.

"A chain of London estate agents is offering to waive its fee on any property sold before the end of the year.

The move, which could cost it up to £10,000 on each transaction, comes as sales have collapsed due to the credit crunch and financial crisis.

Normal high street agents charge between 1.5 and 3 per cent commission

From the beginning of this month all estate agents have to belong to an approved ombudsman scheme, but the regulator has no powers over the fees which agents charge"

Some of the comments from other Estate Agents in competition with this chain, were "what happens if not sold before the end of the year" and "to look out for small print"

We have looked into this further and it appears that the offer is to pay upfront a marketing fee in the region of £999 and this is non refundable and does not depend on a sale being made.

At Dreamspot.co.uk we are always amazed how Estate Agents believe that transparency is not necessary and that the public will not notice the small print.

Another example of this lack of transparency has happened in Buckinghamshire recently with an estate agent offering to sell homes for a fixed fee of £999 plus VAT - subject to Terms and Conditions. On further investigation it appears the one and only condition is to market it at the price they advise!

Can there be a genuine, no small print offer to to sell your home for a fixed fee of £999 with no surprises - Yes!

The Dreamspot way of selling your home is that we do not have these Terms and Conditions, transparency is very important to us and we are happy to offer a fixed fee of £999 inc VAT only payable when a house is sold and at the price agreed between Dreamspot and the seller!

The other issue was regarding another Estate Agent who stated on a forum that they really don’t like "for sale signs", which in all honesty I find strange especially for a traditional estate agent.

Here at Dreamspot, we are focused on developing our Internet marketing strategies but we also really value some of the traditional marketing methods, especially the For Sale Signs. We have designed our boards with a distinctive theme in mind and will always look at new ways to make these even more effective. 30% of buyer enquiries do come via these!

 

Lastly let me quote from a trade publication article written by an estate agent, which confirms our view of high street branches:-

"Of course, many estate agency branch offices are only there to show the flag. They were never going to be major profit centres but were useful for image purposes and staff training. Frankly, in the new paradigm, do you really need them?"

Are Home Information Packs (HIPs) serving any purpose?

Published
by
Woody
on August 28, 2008
in Buying property and Selling property
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In the last 2 weeks we have seen 2 HIP providers announce that they will be closing down business and both the National Association of Estate Agents and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have called for the government to remove search information from HIPs.

Together with this, we also have The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) urging the government to take action on Home Information Packs (HIPs).

The 2 HIP providers to meet their demise were Openbook and Hipstar.

Worryingly, OpenBook had until now touted itself as a pioneer in HIP provision, as it has been supplying sellers’ packs to clients since 1996.

The HIP provider also took part in the government’s Bristol pilot scheme in 1999 and presented on the subject to the Cross Party Parliamentary Select Committee and the House of Lords in 2005.

A|so, Hipstar, the Home Information Pack provider conceived by Network Data’s Richard Griffiths more than three years ago, had claimed at  launch to have “developed leading edge technology to offer a streamlined solution for the ordering, production and delivery of our HIPs”.

Lastly, but also most importantly looking towards the political situation, the Conservative Party, rocketing ahead in the opinion polls, have already pledged to scrap HIPs should they win the next General Election.

The party recently stepped up its attack on HIPs, arguing that the packs discouraged speculative sellers and that they had increased sales costs.

Despite the above, the economic situation worsening and  the property market still suffering there are some supporters and not surprisingly these are lead by the The Association of Home Information Pack Providers who are highlighting the benefits of Home Information Packs in the face of criticism by industry groups.

At Dreamspot, we believe there can be a place for HIPs in the buying process but changes do need to be made to make the system that works cohesively and efficiently for both buyers and sellers in Buckinghamshire and the rest of the England and Wales.

We see the current call for local searches to be conducted as part of a HIP as simply not working in the current climate, due to the length of time properties are on the market. A majority of these searches become out of date by the time the property is sold which means they need to be repeated at extra cost to the consumer.

The National Association of Estate Agents have suggested a simplified pack to include only information that is of some use. They suggest that perhaps a simplified pack could include; a sellers’ questionnaire, an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) also reviewed to be fit for purpose, and the Land Registry title and plan.

This view is backed by Sir Bryan Carsberg’s recommendations in the recent ‘Carsberg Review of Residential Property’ he endorses the Association’s strong standpoint on HIPs, together with many other stakeholders in the industry."

Summary

If HIPs can be simplified and perform a genuine benefit to speed up the buying and selling process we can see them continuing and I am sure the Conservative Party would reconsider their view (Political  Party changing their policy - never!!).

In their current format they are only helping to slow an already slowing property market!

Are People of Bucks in a hurry?

Published
by
Woody
on July 31, 2008
in Local Community
. 0 Comments

 

You may wonder why I am asking this question and the relevance, maybe I just have too much spare time on my hands (I wish!!) or just that I feel an urge to know what residents of Bucks are doing?

Well, it’s just I am always interested in Buckinghamshire and any facts that I can find out. So, when I saw some research from insurance firm - Admiral regarding Gatso Speed Cameras I was surprised to see how where you live dictates how the number of speeding tickets you get.

I hear you saying -  what/how?

In the postcode lottery of penalty points, motorists from one area are seven times more likely to get caught on camera than those in another. See below and Bucks features 3 times in top 10!

GATSO LOTTERY LOSER

Postcode    Area                             Percentage of drivers with a

                                                                speeding conviction.

1. WD7       Radlett, Herts                                            27.0%

2. BH4        Westbourne, Bournemouth                       26.4%

3. HP27      Princes Risborough, Bucks                         25.0%

4. BH5        Boscombe, Bournemouth                           23.6%

5. BH14      Parkstone, Poole                                        23.6%

6. HP15      Holmer Green and Hazlemere, Bucks         23.1%

7. HP8        Chalfont St Giles, Bucks                             22.0%

8. MK17      Woburn, Beds                                            21.6%

9. RG9        Henley-on-Thames, Oxon                           21.4%

10. BH2      West Cliff, Bournemouth                            21.1%

It is based on having at least one speeding conviction from the last five years and one and half million drivers from a total 1.600 UK postcodes were included in the survey.

The table throws up some interesting observations for residents of Bucks and whether you agree with speed cameras or loath them you certainly need to be aware of them!

Lastly, going back to my first paragraph the reason I particularly noted this research is that I live in Hazlemere and you will see at number 6 we are listed - maybe time to buy a bike!

How can you remortgage whilst lenders are changing the goal posts!

Published
by
Woody
on July 18, 2008
in Mortgages
. 0 Comments

 

Where have the rate tarts gone, figures from both the Bank of England and the Council Of Mortgage Lenders reveal a sharp slowdown in the number of remortgages, quoting the number of existing homeowners signing up for new home deals down 23 per cent on May 2007.

Let us look at the background to above and hopefully provide you with some useful guidance.

Can’t remortgage, won’t remortgage

1 It’s not just that banks and building societies are being more careful about who they lend to, many homeowners are choosing not to switch loans because, at the moment, fixed rates look relatively unattractive. Therefore many borrowers are just opting for the lenders standard variable rate (SVR) rather then remortgage, says David Holloway of HFS Ltd, mortgage broker in High Wycombe.

Short sharp shock

2 With rates rising to 7% or more, someone with a £250,000 repayment mortgage coming off a 2 year fix faces an increase in monthly mortgage repayments of £377 a month if they choose to go on to the SVR, or even more if they opt for the security of a fixed rate.

Lenders looking for business again?

3 There were signs this week, that lenders are al last starting to respond to lower swap rates and are seeking to win remortgage business. Both Woolwich and Nationwide announced that they are to cut the price of their fixed and tracker deals, while HSBC has introduced a new 4.99% two-year tracker. This is mainly down to larger players with money to lend wanting to improve market share and and reflects the lower swap rates.

Also, see this link for more positive announcements -

http://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=169480

Maybe not!

4 This is hard to believe but some banks are blaming rising food and fuel costs as the reason for more stringent lending conditions. Alliance & Leicester, HBOS and Abbey have announced that they will be changing the terms of their lending to reflect rising household bills. While it is sensible to factor in rising living costs when determining the amount of disposable income available to borrowers, it will prevent many prospective borrowers entering the market.

Borrowers - Be careful!

5 HSBC’s new mortgage is a prime example of an attractive headline which will get people into branches, however the booking fee of £2,4999 is high. The previous deal was 5.49% with lower fees and in reality little has changed with this new offer and in fact the previous deal works our cheaper for every mortgage other than those between £212,00 and £250,000, according to Head of Mortgages at Moneysupermarket.com

High Fees on larger loans

6 Those looking to borrow large amounts are finding that lenders are far less eager to win their business than they were 12 months ago. A new John Charcol two-year tracker charges the bank rate minus 0.01% for loans of between £500,000 and £5 million. However the arrangement fee is 2.75% - £137,500 on the maximum loan size. It may still be worth looking at as borrowers switching from existing fixed rate deals where the interest rate could be lower than 4% will be looking at paying a rate close to 7% without paying a fee!

If you prepare to plan, you plan to fail!

7 If you are coming to the end of your fix, you should start looking for a new deal at least 3 to 6 months before you actually need it. When you a see a rate that is suitable but are not ready to switch do not worry as you can book it - most rates can be reserved for upto 6 months.

Don’t panic

8 Borrowers may find that their credit records or circumstances have changed and that it is now much harder to get a deal than it was 12 months ago. It is important not to panic as slipping into your lender’s SVR maybe be the answer, many SVRs are looking competitive compared to fixed rates. Nationwide’s is just 6.49% as an example. As you do not have penalties for switching out of a SVR you could always adopt and wait and see approach.

Utilise savings

9 If you have these, now might be a good time to use them to pay off an element of your mortgage , especially if you have a high loan to value ratio. Having a reduced LTV will widen the choice of products available to you at cheaper rates.

Tighten your belt!

10 As your monthly repayments may rise by a couple hundred of pounds, you may need to look carefully at some short term painful cutbacks. Quit smoking, reduce your outings to local pub, Chinese takeaway once a month instead of weekly etc etc.

Lastly , as you can see from above there are many issued involved in the mortgage process and we would always advise that you seek professional help from a Mortgage Broker who will understand all of these issues and more!

 

Interesting facts about Buckinghamshire!

Published
by
Woody
on July 7, 2008
in Local Community
. 0 Comments

A bit of light reading - you never know when this may be useful, perhaps a local Pub quiz?

Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire is nicknamed "England’s Beverley Hills"

Thanks to a sudden influx of celebrity residents, including Tess Daly and Vernon Kaye, the Osbournes, Barry Gibb, Jay Kay and Richard Hammond, the Buckinghamshire commuter-belt town is increasingly coming under the tabloid media spotlight.

Enid Blyton was inspired by Buckinghamshire

Bekinscot Model Village—the oldest in the world—in Buckinghamshire was the inspiration for Blyton’s Noddy and Toy Town books.

Frankenstein came from Buckinghamshire

Mary Shelley penned her terrifying tome while living in West Street, Marlow.

Goldfinger was filmed in Buckinghamshire

Stoke Park stately home in the Buckinghamshire village of Stoke Poges was one of the locations for the James Bond film.

The Prime Minister lives here

The official country residence of the Prime Minister is Chequers, a Tudor mansion near the Buckinghamshire village of Ellesborough.

Shakespeare was inspired by Buckinghamshire

There are various records of the Bard of Avon visiting the village of Grendon Underwood in Buckinghamshire. It’s thought that the character of Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing was inspired by the village constable.

Hugh Grant got together with Andie McDowell in Buckinghamshire

The famous scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral was filmed at the Crown Hotel in Amersham.

Buckinghamshire is where red kites fly free

With dwindling numbers of red kites in the British Isles, a large number were released into the wild in Buckinghamshire, between the towns of Aylesbury and High Wycombe. The best place to see them is circling above the M40, where they wait for prey to be run over.

The Great Train Robbery happened here

The robbery, as captured on screen in the film Buster, took place at Bridego Railway Bridge, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, in 1963. The robbers then hid out at a farm near Aylesbury—where the police operation was headquartered and, later, the robbers’ trials were held.

Buckinghamshire is home to the Hellfire Caves

Excavated by Sir Francis Dashwood in the 1750s, the caves played host to the Hellfire Club—a private members’ group said to include some of the most prominent society figures of the day, including Lord Sandwich and Benjamin Franklin. The caves run for more than half a mile underground.

Now show off to your friends with all this knowledge!!

It’s Not all doom and gloom!

Published
by
Woody
on July 3, 2008
in Buying property, Property Prices and Selling property
. 0 Comments
 
"Most home owners to avoid negative equity"

 

House prices would need to fall by almost a fifth before home owners experience negative equity, reveals research from GE Money Home Lending.

Recent research shows that house prices would need to fall by almost a fifth before home owners experience negative equity.

This is based on analysis of data from the Land Registry and Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Prices would need to fall by 19% before negative equity occurred, based on last year’s average house price of £219,410 and an average deposit of 28%.

The figures for those who bought in 1995 were even more reassuring.

The average property purchase price at that time was £68,079, and the average deposit was 27%. On this basis prices would need to drop by 72% for the value of the property to be lower than the finance owed.

It is worth remembering that over the past decade home ownership has delivered fantastic returns for many borrowers and we would need to see unprecedented falls in property prices for the average home owner to be severely impacted.

Whilst we have witnessed depreciation in house prices over the last year, the fall in property values has been relatively modest compared to the significant inflation over the past decade or so.

Ultimately, the concern in the current marketplace is for the small number of borrowers who put down a small deposit who may now be feeling overstretched.

But for the vast majority of UK consumers, the historic growth in the market has provided a welcome cushion against these falls.

Just to cheer yourself up, compare the above with what would have happened if you had invested £200,000 in shares of homebuilders last summer: Barratt shares would now be worth £7,795 (a fall of 96 per cent). Taylor Wimpey would be £16,432 (down 92 per cent).

Let’s not talk ourselves into a recession!!

Local Communities - Can they survive?

Published
by
Woody
on June 30, 2008
in Local Community
. 0 Comments

 

Following on from the recent government proposals to close local Post Offices I wonder whether technology is always such a good thing?

In the South of Buckinghamshire alone, there are 11 closures and in Wycombe district 1 in five branches are closing which are:-

Wycombe Lane, High Wycombe

Station road, Loudwater

Desborough Road, High Wycombe

Totteridge Road, High Wycombe

Cross Roads, Hazlemere

The Parade, Bourne End

The nationwide plan is for users to simply transfer to other Post Offices, but as we know from congested branches in Wycombe, Chilterns and South Bucks this is not an ideal alternative. It wants to save costs and increase profitability with consolidation and use of technology.

As my last article highlighted technology, Internet and automations of processes do have benefits in certain aspects of life / business, such as Estate Agency but not all!

This is certainly one of them where it most certainly does not as local community life should be an integral part of society where we must value human social intercourse

On a positive note, having moved to Hazlemere, Bucks in 2006 from a busy London location I am pleased to see how local communities do currently exist and as we enter the village, school fete season it is pleasing to see how much enjoyment people get from these events.

As an example I recently ran in the Penn & Tylers Green 7 mile run whilst my 5 year old son ran in the mini marathon. The day was a prime example of how life should be - we met with a number of parents whose children either went to school in Hazlemere with our son or whose children were at the nursery in Holmer Green with our daughter.

A quick flick though the Bucks Free Press shows how many events are happening in Wycombe, The Chilterns and South Bucks and I urge people to attend and enjoy as many of these as possible.

The Post Office closures in themselves will not make local communities vanish overnight but we should all be conscious of protecting a way of life that we can enjoy and our children in the future.

If you feel strongly about this you can contact your local ward councillor contact details can be obtained by calling 01494 461000 or on the Wycombe District website, www.wycombe.gov.uk

What now for Estate Agents?

Published
by
Woody
on June 26, 2008
in Buying property and Selling property
. 0 Comments

 

House sales have fallen by half in the past year, according to a survey by the National Association of Estate Agents, which shows members selling an average of seven houses in March compared with 14 in the same month of 2007. Meanwhile, the country’s largest network of independent estate agencies, Movewithus, suggests that a third of the 12,000 firms will be out of business by December. Agencies are closing branches at a rate of 150 a week, with around 4,000 job losses since the start of the year, it was reported yesterday.

There is a 3 pronged attack facing the traditional estate agents:-

  1. Falling House Prices
  2. Reduced number of property transactions
  3. Increased competition from online estate agents offering lower fees

We see from our research that online estate agents (as a sector) now move to tenth place in terms of estate agency size in the UK.

More recently a well know franchised network of estate agents have shut an office in Bristol BUT kept all of the staff who now work from home using their website as the primary selling vehicle.

Try researching How to start Up an Estate Agent and the comment below will feature predominately in the financial section of any feature:-

"Probably the most expensive part to setting up an estate agency is the office"

Also, see what the cost of leasing a high street shop in a town centre such as High Wycombe and then it will become clear why the commission charged by an estate agent is so high!

This was taken from Estate Agency Times regarding the future of the redundant estate agent!

Others will take this opportunity to become part of the new breed of agents – the ones that are trading from non high street locations with minimal cost bases, offering a high level of personal service for a competitive fee.
Buyer behaviour has changed with the dramatic growth of broadband. Yet even today estate agency is still a largely a high street retail operation. How many industries can you name that now only operate from a single medium? If the worlds of retail, banking and insurance have a selection of web-based channels with discounted rates why not estate agency? In actual fact the question is not why not – it is why not yet!

Where Are All the Buyers?

Well, chances are you’re in the throws of house hunting at the moment so you probably know the answer to this already.

For the avoidance of doubt:

                    "The buyers are on the Internet!"

The world of selling and buying houses is changing rapidly. Currently almost 90% of people now search for their next home on the Internet.Consider this in light of the fact that 14 million homes now have computers with Internet access not to mention how many have access at work.

According to which.com the top five property portals register in excess of 16 million user sessions every month.

As well as this estate agents can now access all the local knowledge and recent house prices on your street and in your area through online services.

Conclusion

The traditional, costly and mostly irrelevant high street branch network will be challenged as never before and we look forward to playing our part in this much need shake up in Bucks.

A changing market place has at long last forced this development as the last 10 years have seen excellent trading conditions for estate agents which has delayed the inevitable.

Compare the estate agency industry for example to travel agency, how many of you now book and research online??

Without the high street costs involved in running an estate agent, people looking to sell house quickly and wanting value for money can find that alternative in Bucks very soon!