@needaproperty Thanks for the great tweet and so sorry i missed it before. Been away from twitter for a couple of weeks – my bad.
Gordon & Rumsby Estate Agents: Getting ready to sell your home.
Why A Professional Valuation Is So Important.
Selling your home can be stressful, but there are things you can do to minimize this.
First of all, ask yourself if you really want or need to move?
We often hear from would be vendors, who say they might try the market at a high price that they are hoping to achieve. This can lead to marketing an overpriced property that languishes on the market for months or more. Buyers get to know the property and assume it is overpriced or perceive there must be something wrong with the house because it is still on the market week after week. Buyers don’t look for the most expensive house! They look to get the best value for their money.
If you are sure you want to move, then the best thing you can do is to get a valuation from a professional estate agent who will make a comparative analysis of similar properties in your area to establish a fair market value.
Evaluating a home is not an exact science as homes and locations differ so much, so be sure to ask an agent with plenty of experience in your area.
Then take their advice about the selling price.
At this point, do your sums and make sure that the proceeds of the sale will be enough to allow you fulfill your future plans. If it’s not looking good, you may need to rethink the whole project. There’s no point in putting the property on the market at an inflated price. It frustrates the vendor when there are no viewings, gives the vendor false hope for their future plans, annoys buyers and generally wastes time for all involved.
At Gordon & Rumsby, we are as careful as possible to give you an accurate valuation of your home. We love getting referrals and recommendations from satisfied clients.
If you are considering a move and would like to have a no-obligation valuation/appraisal of your home in East Devon or West Dorset please contact us through our Free Valuation Page, or call us on 01297 553768. We shall be happy to chat, advise you and help you accomplish your goal.
Gordon & Rumsby: Property Market Update
Gordon & Rumsby Estate Agents In Devon & Dorset
Property Market Update
According to the latest statistics, the average house price increased in the UK by 0.3% in the year from February 2011 to February 2012.
The London and the South East market are mainly responsible for the gain in England, as the rest of the country edged downwards. Northern Ireland suffered a substantial drop in their average house price.
- England +0.4%
- Scotland + 1.1%
- Wales -0.5%
- Northern Ireland -9.7%
Mortgage lending in March 2012 was up a whopping 30% on the previous month and 17% higher than March 2011. The increased activity can probably be attributed to buyers rushing to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline on March 24th. So it will be interesting to see if the activity continues or if it starts to slide again.
Interest rates are still low, so this may help, but what happens when the rates start to go up again? Lenders are offering more two, three and five-year fixed loans, but almost virtually none that are fixed long-term. Wouldn’t it be great if they offered 30 year fixed loans like they do in the US!
The consumer organization ‘Which?‘ has come forward to say that consumers need more protection against unreasonable interest rate rises, and that lenders and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should do more to allow homeowners to fix their payments, and not take advantage of a borrower who can’t move to another lender. ‘Which?’ believes that there should be more competition within the lending market.
Contact Us @ Gordon & Rumsby on the website or call 01297 553768
Gordon & Rumsby:Tips For Staging Your Home
Gordon & Rumsby: Estate Agents In Devon & Dorset.
Tips For Staging Your Home:
With spring well on the way, it’s a good time to take stock of your home, especially if it has been on the market over the winter and it has not sold. At Gordon & Rumsby we see homes in a variety of different conditions, and although it’s not the first time we have offered these tips, we feel it is good customer service to offer helpful pointers to increase your chances of selling.
Tips For Staging Your Home:
- Clean and tidy: An obvious statement, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t. An untidy or dirty home can put a buyer off as soon as they enter the property. It could be visual or it could be smell.
- Get rid of the clutter: A prospective buyer finds it much easier to imagine themselves living in your home if they are able to visualise their own furniture in the rooms. It is hard to do this if the room is bursting at the seams with family photos, knickknacks, trophies and piles of Sunday newspapers.
- Create Space: If you have some oversized pieces of furniture or a lot of chairs in the living room, it may benefit you to store some pieces away to give your home a more spacious feel, and a better ‘flow’.
- Function: Make sure the rooms look like what they’re intended for. For example, the dining room is a place to eat and entertain, not the place for your exercise bike; the patio is a place to relax not a place to store the children’s toys.
- Atmosphere: Put out the rubbish; open the window; use an air freshener if necessary; smokers and pet owners will have to work harder at this. Pull the curtains back to let in as much natural light as possible. If the room is still dark put a light on when a viewing is scheduled. You could set the dining table as for a meal or place fresh flowers. Make the beds and scatter a few cushions. Even if you have an old bathroom, you can make it more appealing by buying new colourful matching towels and bath mats.
- Landscape: Mow the lawn, do some weeding, clip the hedges and put some colourful flowers by the front door. Landscaping can be an inexpensive way attract buyers through the door.
Getting rid of the clutter is one of the hardest tasks to accomplish, especially if your house is small. Since you intend to move in a few months, get some cardboard boxes and start packing away some of those knickknacks on the mantlepiece; recycle the old newspapers; put the packed boxes wherever you can in the garage, the loft, the wardrobe or under the bed.
For a valuation and some advice you can contact Gordon & Rumsby on 01297 553768 or through the Gordon & Rumsby Contact Page of the website. We will give you our straight forward opinion (in the nicest possible way) on how to stage your property to sell.
Gordon & Rumsby: Update On The Property Market
Gordon & Rumsby Estate Agents in Devon & Dorset: Market Update
Spring has Sprung, the clocks are changing and Gordon & Rumsby are looking forward to a bright summer…..Literally! The sun is streaming through the windows and it’s only March.
We’ve been welcomed to our new office by the residents of the market town of Colyton, here in Devon, as they continually drop in to say hello and wish us every success. It is pleasing to see that community spirit is still alive and well.
Not only that, RICS UK Housing Market Survey is looking more positive too. The number of sales transactions has edged up since February, which is partly due to first time buyers rushing to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline, which coincidentally is today as I write this.
Once the deadline has passed it will be interesting to revisit the statistics to compare the number of transactions. Nevertheless, Gordon & Rumsby have definitely seen an increase in viewings and transactions since January, and most of our customers are not first time buyers.
On a less positive note there was yet another price dip last month, but according to RICS there is a hint of a suggestion that prices may start to turn around in the months to come. London is already seeing price increases and has done so for some time now. Reportedly, surveyors are more optimistic about agreed upon sales prices, and it is the first time for nearly two years that they are not predicting further declines.
Are you thinking about moving this year? Spring is traditionally a great time to get your house on the market. Contact Us through the Gordon & Rumsby website or give us a call on 01297 553768 or 01460 30888 to arrange a free valuation, or have a chat about the market. We look forward to speaking with you.