IF YOUR house stubbornly refuses to sell, never fear – here are some expert tips to help you get things moving:
Phil Spencer, of Garrington property search company and Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location , says: Make sure you select the best agent for the type of property you have. Look in the window to see if houses like yours are advertised there. Then fix the right price, bearing in mind that the market calms down in the summer, so there’s no point being too ambitious.
First impressions are vital. Tidy up the front garden and the drive and paint the front door. Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, so get cleaning and polishing. Buy things such as a new kettle, new bathroom lino, new door handles. Clear out clutter, turn the storage room into a bedroom, then ask a friend to come round and give their honest opinion.
If your house still doesn’t sell, ask your agents why they haven’t sold it and how you can help them do their job.
Ed Mead, sales director, Douglas and Gordon, says: The two most important factors when selling a house are presentation and price. Most people will have an emotional response to a house within ten seconds, so you have to be tidy and your children can’t leave their underpants on the floor.
Even more important is price. The majority of the market is a little sticky at the moment, so you need to attract the most number of buyers. A high price is not going to get people through the door, so put it on at a guide price at the bottom end of your expectations, and you should then get several bidders who will push the price up. That takes balls, though.
If it still doesn’t sell, drop the price to appeal to a whole new level of buyers – there’s no point tinkering at the margins.
Sarah Beeny, presenter of Channel 4’s Property Ladder, says: I strongly believe there’s no such thing as a house that won’t sell. If it isn’t selling it’s too expensive. The Martins (see story on left) may have dropped their price by £100,000, but that’s clearly not enough. The danger in today’s market is that there is huge optimism in terms of value, so estate agents will come up with a figure they hope to get, and the vendor spends that in their head. Look at what you can buy in your area for the price you’re asking. If you need to drop the price, take the house off the market for two weeks before launching it with a new agent at a price at least 10 per cent lower.
There are also cosmetic things you can do that may make a buyer pick your house over someone else’s. Cleaning the windows is the most important: it will make rooms look lighter and brighter.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Even top London properties are proving hard to sell
If you're struggling to sell your modestly priced suburban flat it may be some consolation to know that the owners of expensive Central London pads are doing no better.
The average price of a “prime” (more than £1 million) property in Central London fell by 1.6per cent in July, making a total quarterly fall of 4.7 per cent. Flats are particularly affected, according to Knight Frank. Even more telling are the transaction figures: almost 50 per cent fewer homes were sold in this exclusive sector in July compared with the same month last year.
These figures come as no surprise to Daniel Poole, an interior designer and developer who, with his business partner James Raven, bought a two-bedroom ground-floor flat on a busy road in Bayswater in January for £1.14million and is now struggling to sell it on. And this is in spite of having replaced the Hello! magazine-style fringed pelmets, gilt candelabras and Baroque mirrors with modern fittings and a subdued palette.
The 67-year lease was initially put up for sale with Harrods Estates (020-7409 9007) at £1,999,950, but this was reduced in July to £1.75 million. Poole, like many other frustrated sellers, is also willing to let the flat until the market improves, at £1,800 a week for a long let or £2,500 a week for a short let.
Bayswater, with its peeling stucco guesthouses and bedsits, isn't proper prime London, but it is definitely coming up in the world as a result of its excellent location and high-quality, though neglected, housing stock. “It's good value and right on the park,” Poole says, “a little island between Mayfair and Notting Hill and much more affordable than both. In the 1970s the area was taken over by people from the Middle East but now it's becoming more mixed. I'd say that 50per cent of the hotels that killed the area have been turned back to residential.”
The flat is on Sussex Gardens, a typical Bayswater terrace now plagued by traffic - the epitome of faded grandeur. Poole bought the flat from a minor celebrity, Sharmini Tiruchelvam, who has similarly faded from view. She was a part-Sri Lankan, part-Malaysian It-girl of the 1950s London party scene.
“She was a sort of oriental Barbara Cartland figure,” Poole says. “Very charming and eccentric. She welcomed us through the door and processed straight to her grand piano, where she serenaded us. She seemed to live in a world where people drank champagne all day. She entertained celebrities of the day here - apparently Charlie Chaplin had his 70th birthday party in the flat.”
Today the formerly flamboyant front room still has its original coffered ceiling and cornice, now painted dark grey, and the parquet floor has been stained black. It is filled with odd bits of arty furniture that Poole has collected.
The doors to this room and the second bedroom behind it are decorated with ornate pediments, and there is a quirky porthole window in the hall looking out towards the neighbouring church (which provides secure parking for £130 a month). The round window adds a Play School element, though this is somewhat undermined by the questionable artwork beneath: a display case of naked plastic dolls.
The bathroom has black walls, a tropical rain-effect shower and a TV screen over the sunken bath. The kitchen has been moved into what was the dining room. It has lovely Neo-Classical ceiling mouldings, painted white and gold (though the original blue still shows through), which contrasts with the industrial-style brushed-steel kitchen units.
The master bedroom at the back of the flat, once the kitchen, office and bathroom, is now an Asian spa-style den with dark walls and a floor-level bed with a huge black padded headboard. A panel behind the bed conceals a wet room.
Poole believes that the flat represents “a nice illustration of the difference between '50s style and now”. He needs only to find a buyer who appreciates it. “I'm hoping once the Russians come back from holiday in the South of France they will like it.”
The average price of a “prime” (more than £1 million) property in Central London fell by 1.6per cent in July, making a total quarterly fall of 4.7 per cent. Flats are particularly affected, according to Knight Frank. Even more telling are the transaction figures: almost 50 per cent fewer homes were sold in this exclusive sector in July compared with the same month last year.
These figures come as no surprise to Daniel Poole, an interior designer and developer who, with his business partner James Raven, bought a two-bedroom ground-floor flat on a busy road in Bayswater in January for £1.14million and is now struggling to sell it on. And this is in spite of having replaced the Hello! magazine-style fringed pelmets, gilt candelabras and Baroque mirrors with modern fittings and a subdued palette.
The 67-year lease was initially put up for sale with Harrods Estates (020-7409 9007) at £1,999,950, but this was reduced in July to £1.75 million. Poole, like many other frustrated sellers, is also willing to let the flat until the market improves, at £1,800 a week for a long let or £2,500 a week for a short let.
Bayswater, with its peeling stucco guesthouses and bedsits, isn't proper prime London, but it is definitely coming up in the world as a result of its excellent location and high-quality, though neglected, housing stock. “It's good value and right on the park,” Poole says, “a little island between Mayfair and Notting Hill and much more affordable than both. In the 1970s the area was taken over by people from the Middle East but now it's becoming more mixed. I'd say that 50per cent of the hotels that killed the area have been turned back to residential.”
The flat is on Sussex Gardens, a typical Bayswater terrace now plagued by traffic - the epitome of faded grandeur. Poole bought the flat from a minor celebrity, Sharmini Tiruchelvam, who has similarly faded from view. She was a part-Sri Lankan, part-Malaysian It-girl of the 1950s London party scene.
“She was a sort of oriental Barbara Cartland figure,” Poole says. “Very charming and eccentric. She welcomed us through the door and processed straight to her grand piano, where she serenaded us. She seemed to live in a world where people drank champagne all day. She entertained celebrities of the day here - apparently Charlie Chaplin had his 70th birthday party in the flat.”
Today the formerly flamboyant front room still has its original coffered ceiling and cornice, now painted dark grey, and the parquet floor has been stained black. It is filled with odd bits of arty furniture that Poole has collected.
The doors to this room and the second bedroom behind it are decorated with ornate pediments, and there is a quirky porthole window in the hall looking out towards the neighbouring church (which provides secure parking for £130 a month). The round window adds a Play School element, though this is somewhat undermined by the questionable artwork beneath: a display case of naked plastic dolls.
The bathroom has black walls, a tropical rain-effect shower and a TV screen over the sunken bath. The kitchen has been moved into what was the dining room. It has lovely Neo-Classical ceiling mouldings, painted white and gold (though the original blue still shows through), which contrasts with the industrial-style brushed-steel kitchen units.
The master bedroom at the back of the flat, once the kitchen, office and bathroom, is now an Asian spa-style den with dark walls and a floor-level bed with a huge black padded headboard. A panel behind the bed conceals a wet room.
Poole believes that the flat represents “a nice illustration of the difference between '50s style and now”. He needs only to find a buyer who appreciates it. “I'm hoping once the Russians come back from holiday in the South of France they will like it.”
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Property crash opens door to the new council house
Gordon Brown is set to usher in a new era of council housing by helping local authorities to buy repossessed and unsold properties. Cash and powers will be made available so that town halls can intervene in the housing market, The Times has learnt.
The measures – which could be announced as soon as Tuesday – will encourage councils and housing associations to offer struggling borrowers financial help in return for a stake in their homes or outright ownership. The number of council homes has plummeted since 1981 from 6.1 million to 2.5 million. Hundreds of millions of pounds of extra cash earmarked for social housing could now be released early to buy up newly built properties.
It is understood that town halls will also be encouraged to emulate Liverpool’s local authority, which offers first-time buyers help with deposits in return for a small equity stake. Other options, including a stamp duty holiday, are being held back for further consideration.
The news came as Mr Brown’s plan for eco-towns unravelled further when Tesco became the latest developer to withdraw its bid.
The scale of the housing crisis was underlined yesterday with the biggest drop in prices since 1990. The latest monthly fall – the tenth in a row – means that the average property has lost 10.5 per cent of its value in the past 12 months, according to the Nationwide building society.
Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and Caroline Flint, the Housing Minister, have been working for three months on measures to invigorate the mortgage market, particularly for first-time buyers, and to cushion those affected by rising repossession rates. Up to 300,000 homeowners are already in negative equity. Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman, said that this figure could quadruple.
David Orr, the chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said that the new mortgage rescues would be open to those on low incomes, particularly young families.
Gideon Amos, of the Town and Country Planning Association, said that allowing councils to intervene would help the whole market.
It is estimated that 4,000 estate agents have lost their jobs and that this could rise to 10,000 by the end of the year. Savills said that country homes worth between £1 million and £2 million fell in value by 5.2 per cent in the three months to June.
The measures – which could be announced as soon as Tuesday – will encourage councils and housing associations to offer struggling borrowers financial help in return for a stake in their homes or outright ownership. The number of council homes has plummeted since 1981 from 6.1 million to 2.5 million. Hundreds of millions of pounds of extra cash earmarked for social housing could now be released early to buy up newly built properties.
It is understood that town halls will also be encouraged to emulate Liverpool’s local authority, which offers first-time buyers help with deposits in return for a small equity stake. Other options, including a stamp duty holiday, are being held back for further consideration.
The news came as Mr Brown’s plan for eco-towns unravelled further when Tesco became the latest developer to withdraw its bid.
The scale of the housing crisis was underlined yesterday with the biggest drop in prices since 1990. The latest monthly fall – the tenth in a row – means that the average property has lost 10.5 per cent of its value in the past 12 months, according to the Nationwide building society.
Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and Caroline Flint, the Housing Minister, have been working for three months on measures to invigorate the mortgage market, particularly for first-time buyers, and to cushion those affected by rising repossession rates. Up to 300,000 homeowners are already in negative equity. Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman, said that this figure could quadruple.
David Orr, the chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said that the new mortgage rescues would be open to those on low incomes, particularly young families.
Gideon Amos, of the Town and Country Planning Association, said that allowing councils to intervene would help the whole market.
It is estimated that 4,000 estate agents have lost their jobs and that this could rise to 10,000 by the end of the year. Savills said that country homes worth between £1 million and £2 million fell in value by 5.2 per cent in the three months to June.
Nationwide says house prices falling fastest in 18 years
Prime properties in the heart of rural England have finally been drawn into Britain's sliding housing market, it emerged today, as the Nationwide building society reported that prices are falling at their fastest annual rate in almost 18 years.
Savill's, the UK property agency that specialises in the high-end of the property market, said that deals involving country piles worth up to £5 million are declining, following a 45 per cent fall in transactions in central London where prices fell by 7 per cent.
The company said: "Prime country property was initially less affected than London but is now following suit."
The company confirmed that it will cut jobs as a result of the dire conditions in the market but declined to comment on how many staff will be cut. In the UK alone, Savills employs 3,000 people.
Nationwide, the UK's largest building society, said the decline in house prices was now reaching double digits and falling at a rate not seen since the fourth quarter of 1990.
In its latest monthly assessment of the market the society said the price of a typical house had fallen by 10.5 per cent over the last 12 months to £164,654.
The monthly drop in house prices accelerated to 1.9 per cent in August, Nationwide said. The society said that prices fell by 1.5 per cent the previous month.
With house prices falling steadily since last October, according to the lender, it means that the housing market has been in steady decline for almost a year.
Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Recent activity levels in the housing market have been very subdued.
"House builders in particular have been reporting significant reductions in site visits and reservations of new properties since this time last year, in spite of a big increase in the use of sales incentives."
Yesterday, it emerged that Taylor Wimpey, the UK's biggest housebuilder is selling less than half a house a week on each of its sites despite offering huge incentives to homebuyers.
Uncertainty over house prices has prompted speculation that thousands of estate agents will be made redundant.
Foxtons', the private equity-owned estate agent, appears to be under increasing pressure over the terms of an attempted financial restructuring.
Reports today suggested that lenders to Foxtons had called in Close Brothers as an adviser after failing to syndicate £270 million of the debt they used to back the buyout of the estate by BC Partners, the UK private equity group.
The latest data from Nationwide come after figures from the British Bankers Association earlier this week that showed that mortgage approvals fell 65 per cent last month.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reported that lending to the embattled buy-to-let sector had dried up.
Today's figures from Nationwide, traditionally among the least conservative of house price monitors, comes after Halifax, a rival, said house prices fell 1.7 per cent in July and at an annual rate of 8.8 per cent.
Halifax reckons that the average house price was £177.351 in July.
Savill's, the UK property agency that specialises in the high-end of the property market, said that deals involving country piles worth up to £5 million are declining, following a 45 per cent fall in transactions in central London where prices fell by 7 per cent.
The company said: "Prime country property was initially less affected than London but is now following suit."
The company confirmed that it will cut jobs as a result of the dire conditions in the market but declined to comment on how many staff will be cut. In the UK alone, Savills employs 3,000 people.
Nationwide, the UK's largest building society, said the decline in house prices was now reaching double digits and falling at a rate not seen since the fourth quarter of 1990.
In its latest monthly assessment of the market the society said the price of a typical house had fallen by 10.5 per cent over the last 12 months to £164,654.
The monthly drop in house prices accelerated to 1.9 per cent in August, Nationwide said. The society said that prices fell by 1.5 per cent the previous month.
With house prices falling steadily since last October, according to the lender, it means that the housing market has been in steady decline for almost a year.
Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Recent activity levels in the housing market have been very subdued.
"House builders in particular have been reporting significant reductions in site visits and reservations of new properties since this time last year, in spite of a big increase in the use of sales incentives."
Yesterday, it emerged that Taylor Wimpey, the UK's biggest housebuilder is selling less than half a house a week on each of its sites despite offering huge incentives to homebuyers.
Uncertainty over house prices has prompted speculation that thousands of estate agents will be made redundant.
Foxtons', the private equity-owned estate agent, appears to be under increasing pressure over the terms of an attempted financial restructuring.
Reports today suggested that lenders to Foxtons had called in Close Brothers as an adviser after failing to syndicate £270 million of the debt they used to back the buyout of the estate by BC Partners, the UK private equity group.
The latest data from Nationwide come after figures from the British Bankers Association earlier this week that showed that mortgage approvals fell 65 per cent last month.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reported that lending to the embattled buy-to-let sector had dried up.
Today's figures from Nationwide, traditionally among the least conservative of house price monitors, comes after Halifax, a rival, said house prices fell 1.7 per cent in July and at an annual rate of 8.8 per cent.
Halifax reckons that the average house price was £177.351 in July.
House prices have plummeted by more than 10% in a year
The property market faces a full-scale collapse with house prices tumbling by more than 10 per cent a year for the first time since 1990.
The average price has fallen by 10.5 per cent over the past 12 months, wiping about £30,000 off the value of a typical London home, according to the Nationwide building society.
The last time that house price falls were measured in double digits was in the autumn of 1990 during the depths of the last recession, when it took six years for values to recover.
The figures confirm there is still no sign of an easing of the credit crunch almost a year on from the collapse of Northern Rock.
A leading City forecaster is now predicting a full-blown recession for the British economy next year.
Capital Economics said GDP will fall by 0.2 per cent, which would be the first full-year drop in national income since 1991.
Officially, the Government is still predicting growth of at least 2.25 per cent next year.
Another bleak set of financial results from leading companies this morning added to the growing mood of gloom as the City continued its return to work after the summer break.
Property agents and consultants Savills said its profits fell more than 40 per cent to £19.2 million in the first half of the year and warned that there was "no sign of improvement" in the financial markets.
Chief executive Jeremy Helsby said he expects property prices to fall 25 per cent between January this year and December next year.
But he added: "The good news is that in 2012, in London and the South-East, prices will recover to the levels they were in 2007."
Car dealer Pendragon said its firsthalf profits dropped 60 per cent from £33.5 million to £13.4 million and the number of cars it sold to private buyers fell eight per cent in the second quarter.
Chief executive Trevor Finn also said there had been "unexpected and significant" falls in second-hand car prices over the summer because of the lack of buyers and warned there would be no recovery until the end of next year.
Nationwide's figures showed that house prices fell by almost two per cent in August alone, the 10th consecutive monthly fall.
The building society ' s chief economist Fionnuala Earley said: 'Recent activity levels in the housing market remain very subdued.
'House builders in particular have been reporting significant reductions in site visits and reservations of new properties since this time last year, in spite of a big increase in the use of sales incentives.'
With estate agents around the country reporting very few enquiries from prospective buyers over the summer there is little hope that there will be a September bounce this year.
Nicholas Leeming, a director at online agents propertyfinder.com, said: "August as exceptionally quiet and July was also very quiet.
There is likely to be an early shut down of the market for Christmas, so November will be dead as well as December. In any down period the quiet times come early."
The stream of bad economic news has made a mockery of predictions that the credit crunch, which flared up in the US last summer, would end
The average price has fallen by 10.5 per cent over the past 12 months, wiping about £30,000 off the value of a typical London home, according to the Nationwide building society.
The last time that house price falls were measured in double digits was in the autumn of 1990 during the depths of the last recession, when it took six years for values to recover.
The figures confirm there is still no sign of an easing of the credit crunch almost a year on from the collapse of Northern Rock.
A leading City forecaster is now predicting a full-blown recession for the British economy next year.
Capital Economics said GDP will fall by 0.2 per cent, which would be the first full-year drop in national income since 1991.
Officially, the Government is still predicting growth of at least 2.25 per cent next year.
Another bleak set of financial results from leading companies this morning added to the growing mood of gloom as the City continued its return to work after the summer break.
Property agents and consultants Savills said its profits fell more than 40 per cent to £19.2 million in the first half of the year and warned that there was "no sign of improvement" in the financial markets.
Chief executive Jeremy Helsby said he expects property prices to fall 25 per cent between January this year and December next year.
But he added: "The good news is that in 2012, in London and the South-East, prices will recover to the levels they were in 2007."
Car dealer Pendragon said its firsthalf profits dropped 60 per cent from £33.5 million to £13.4 million and the number of cars it sold to private buyers fell eight per cent in the second quarter.
Chief executive Trevor Finn also said there had been "unexpected and significant" falls in second-hand car prices over the summer because of the lack of buyers and warned there would be no recovery until the end of next year.
Nationwide's figures showed that house prices fell by almost two per cent in August alone, the 10th consecutive monthly fall.
The building society ' s chief economist Fionnuala Earley said: 'Recent activity levels in the housing market remain very subdued.
'House builders in particular have been reporting significant reductions in site visits and reservations of new properties since this time last year, in spite of a big increase in the use of sales incentives.'
With estate agents around the country reporting very few enquiries from prospective buyers over the summer there is little hope that there will be a September bounce this year.
Nicholas Leeming, a director at online agents propertyfinder.com, said: "August as exceptionally quiet and July was also very quiet.
There is likely to be an early shut down of the market for Christmas, so November will be dead as well as December. In any down period the quiet times come early."
The stream of bad economic news has made a mockery of predictions that the credit crunch, which flared up in the US last summer, would end
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)