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You will have seen the many many reports that despite our economic woes, the thriving property market is bucking the trend with booming demand and record house prices.

So why, in this seemingly perfect market for sellers, is your property not selling? As we mentioned in our blog last week, if your property has been sitting on the market for a couple of months now with little or no interest, the first thing you need to do is get to the root cause of the problem. It could be simpler than you think.

Changes you can make

Price

The classic supply and demand conditions are at play in a seller’s market i.e. not enough supply to meet growing demand. This means that sellers can usually ask more for their home. However, sometimes agents and homeowners can be overconfident in a seller’s market and overlook some of the aspects of the house which may be less appealing to prospective buyers. These should still be taken into account when reaching the best asking price, and the price should reflect what similar properties on the market are selling for. If you push it too far then you risk missing out on prospective buyers.  You also risk your property sitting on the market for longer, which can also strangely deter buyers who assume something must be wrong with it.

Don’t be tempted to instruct the agent that promises you the highest price for your property. Instruct the agent that can demonstrate success at selling properties similar to yours, in your area, and that you believe will offer the best service.

 Curb appeal

In a seller’s market it can be tempting to just list your property and see what happens rather than spend time and money making improvements that you won’t benefit from. This is the wrong approach. Remember, photos on property portals are your shop window and your house is the item you are selling. How do you make it stand out from all the other houses on there? This does not have to involve vast expensive home improvements.  Trimming bushes, painting the front door or fences, fixing broken drainpipes and moving cars and vans out of the way when the pictures are being taken can make a big difference to that all important first impression. Consider what will be important to you when you look for your next home.

Internal presentation

Some people like to live in very minimalist surrounds with nothing on their surfaces and just a few select pieces of furniture. Others prefer to be surrounded by all their worldly goods. There is nothing wrong with either, but when it comes to selling a house, you have to strike a balance which appeals to the masses. You would be surprised how many buyers struggle to visualise anything but what is put in front of them. On the whole, having a tidy up, a de-clutter and a good spring clean can make all the  difference.

Market to today’s buyer

Remember to adapt and/or market your property to today’s buyer.  Over the last year, having a home office with good Wi-Fi and garden space has become more important than ever before. You can’t make rooms that don’t exist, but you can repurpose rooms you have, or areas of a room, to demonstrate where a home office may go and ask the agents to point this out to prospective buyers based on their criteria.As we head into spring, get in the garden, pull up those weeds, cut the lawn, plant a few colourful flowers and jet-wash the patio to bring life back to your garden.

Changes you can’t make

 Other people’s property criteria
As well as knowing all the best bits about your property, it is equally important to recognise and accept some of things which might be less appealing to some buyers.  Unfortunately, these might be things which you can’t change, such as the location of the property, the number of bedrooms, the direction the garden faces, a shared driveway or an awkward layout. All buyers have a list of things they are looking for and a list of things they are not willing to compromise on and you cannot control what other people are looking for. However, for the right price, most sellers will find a buyer that can compromise on aspects they are not so keen on, in favour of the ones they are.

Problems with the property

One of the biggest issues sellers have is if there is something fundamentally wrong with the property. For example, there is Japanese knotweed in the garden, the property has subsidence, is at risk of flooding, or has damp. Perhaps it has a short lease, unsafe cladding or structural issues from past building work.

Whilst you might be tempted to keep quiet about any issues your property has, in the long run it is best to be honest as you will only waste more of your own time and other people’s. Estate agents also have an obligation to disclose any material information which may influence a buyer’s decision to purchase, so you must tell them everything you know when instructing them.

If you are in this position and struggling to sell your property, no matter what the reason, a property buying service like WeBuyProperty might be the best route to a guaranteed sale.
We will listen to where you are in the selling process, understand any challenges you have faced and provide a no-obligation valuation based on the information you provide. There will also be no estate agent fees to pay and we can transact in a matter of week or in a timeframe to suit you.

Should you wish to keep your property on the open market, we hope that some of the tips in this blog are useful for you and wish you the best of luck with your house move.

Call: 0207 449 9797
Email: info@webuyproperty.com

Traditionally, as soon as the daffodils peep through and the days start to draw out, that is the peak time to put your house on the market. As well as looking more attractive on a bright sunny day with life returning to gardens, and the Easter break giving homeowners the chance to do some DIY touch ups, it means movers can be in their new abode by summer.  For those with children, is also enables them to be settled in their new home before the start of the academic year in September.

The second most popular time is usually autumn. With summer holidays over and children back at school, September and October gives homeowners a chance to be sold and moved into their new home by Christmas.

However, that is a rough rule of thumb and one that has all but gone out of the window since the last 12 months has ripped up the rule book in pretty much all areas of life.

Moving home has been, and always will be, predominately dictated by a person’s objectives.  Not only has activity in the housing market over the last year been largely influenced by various lockdowns and the Stamp Duty holiday, but also by peoples’ changing objectives.  I believe this is something which will influence the property market for some time to come, making it really difficult to predict the usual peaks and troughs of the market.

For example, some people no longer feel they need to be near a city as their employer will allow them to continue working from home. These people might be more inclined to move to the countryside. Others are having to relocate for work because their existing employment sector has been ravished by the pandemic. Being lockdown has encouraged some to realise they would like to live closer to family, whilst others living in flats have an increased desire for outdoor space or a dedicated area to work. The last year has given everyone more time to reflect on their current circumstances.  We know of more retirees wishing to downsize because they have realised their current home is unmanageable. Some people will have decided to expand their family while others may sadly have decided to separate. All of these changing life choices impact the property market.

Overall, activity in the property market has remained buoyant during the first quarter of this year, with the exception of some regional variants, as demand continues to outstrip supply. But reading the market and predicting what is going to happen next is nearly impossible. You can read one report which will say we are heading for a house price crash, only to read the next day that experts believe that house prices will steadily increase over the next 12 to 18 months.

So, if you want to know the best time to sell, the honest answer at the moment is there isn’t one and my best advice is to make sure you are moving for the right reasons.  These are likely to be driven by necessity and lifestyle rather than investment.

If you are in a position where you need to move for whatever reason and have had your property on the market for some time without receiving many viewings or offers, you might wish to consider reasons why you are struggling to sell. In the current sellers’ market, if you have the right ingredients it shouldn’t be too challenging. Look out for our blog later this week on ‘why isn’t my property selling’. You may also want to keep in mind that the average time for an agreed sale to complete has currently extended from 90 days to 110-115 days according to Zoopla, with some taking even longer. So if you are in a rush and haven’t sold yet, you may need to factor this in.

WeBuyProperty is here to provide a no obligation quote to purchase your property for cash and transact within a matter of days leaving you free to move to wherever and whenever you wish. If you are struggling to sell and would like to discuss your options with us, please do get in contact by calling 0207 449 9797 or email info@webuyproperty.com.

It’s common knowledge that, as an aging population, more and more people are becoming reliant on care homes later in life. The biggest issue with this, is that the cost of social care is rarely free and a person’s ability to pay for care is worked out through a means test.

Under a means test run by councils in England, if a person needs to go into permanent care, anyone with savings and property worth more than £23,250 must pay their care home bills. Once that threshold is reached, councils pay a share of the bills until a resident’s assets are down to £14,250.
After someone’s savings have dwindled to this figure, the council will pay care home fees, but those who still own a property must sell it to meet the bills. The only caveat to this is if the property is still occupied by:

• a partner or former partner
• an estranged or divorced partner IF they are also a lone parent
• a relative who is aged 60 or over
• a relative who is disabled
• a child of the person going into care is aged under 18

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s election pledge was that ‘Nobody should sell their home to pay for the cost of that care.’ However, up to now there has been no count of how many people have sold their homes to pay for care, therefore, Mr Johnson has no way of knowing the potential cost of his pledge. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 70,000 people per year sell their home to pay for care. Now with billions of pounds of national debt following the Pandemic, it is hard to see that this is a pledge the Tory’s will be able to uphold.

Some people, if eligible, are able to enter into a ‘deferred payment agreement’ (DPA) with the local council. This is where the council makes a legal agreement to provide financial support for a person’s care costs, on the condition they will be repaid from the property at a later date. This usually involves the council placing a legal charge on your property with the Land Registry to secure repayment.

A DPA could last until the person passes away, after which the costs will be paid from their estate, or could be a temporary arrangement to give the person or their family time to sell the home when they choose to do so.

The decision to sell a family home, or a property belonging to a family member, is never an easy one, particularly if the decision has been forced through financial necessity. We have worked with many families in this position who do not want the heartache of putting the property on the open market and having to conduct viewings or deal with agents and solicitors.

If you are facing the difficult decision of having to sell your home, or someone else’s, to pay for care, and would like to speak confidentially and without obligation about the possibility of a quick property sale for cash, WeBuyProperty  will be happy to discuss this with you and answer any questions you may have.

Phone number: 0207 449 9797
Email:  info@webuyproperty.com

In this week’s Spring Budget, Rishi Sunak extended the Stamp Duty holiday (which from July 2020, suspended the tax on the first £500,000 of all property purchases in England). The holiday was due to end on 31 March but will now continue for a further three months until 30 June.  After that date, the starting rate of Stamp Duty will fall to £250,000 until 30 September, thereafter, returning to £125,000 – the level it was before the holiday.

Whilst this extension will of course be welcomed by those who have been frantically trying to get their sale/purchase over the line, my concern is that extending the holiday to everyone, not just those already in the process, simply kicks the can down the street for the problems to ensue in July.

There are several reasons I think the extension in its current format could be problematic:

Transaction Volumes

Although grateful for the surge in business, the current volume of transactions has left many in the sector, such as conveyancers and solicitors, at breaking point. Many are working at home without their usual support structure and this, coupled with high volumes of work, means the process is taking much longer.
The three-month extension may still not provide enough time for many of the more recent property deals to be completed, leaving these buyers and seller in the same position they faced at the end of March – having to pay Stamp Duty they may not have accounted for or finding their buyer pulls out.

Applicable to all

Similarly, by opening the extension to everyone, rather than making it only applicable to transactions which had already started, there is likely to be a further stampede of property buyers entering the ‘race’. In fact, Rightmove reported an immediate spike in activity on Budget Day following the chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement – it recorded its busiest day ever. The problems we were about to experience at the end of March are now just stored up for the end of June, and although the Chancellor has attempted to manage this with the tapering system until September, the property industry is facing some level of chaos over the summer.

House Prices

The property market re-opened in full force before the Stamp Duty holiday was introduced, driven by pent up demand from the first national lockdown and following Brexit. Adding the Stamp Duty holiday, whilst a welcome boost for many, has created an artificial bubble where house prices in many areas have increased to unsustainable levels (an average of 8.5% according to ONS).

This means that first time buyers are having to save more to come up with a deposit, when things were already difficult enough for them to get on the property ladder. Yes, it could be argued that the new Government-backed 95% mortgage loans, also announced in the Budget, will support FTBs, but on an inflated market that’s a risky place to be.

When the Stamp Duty holiday ends, there is a real risk that property prices may well go down meaning those who bought during this period may find they have overpaid, potentially negating any saving they made from not paying stamp duty.

The holiday has created a buoyant market and banks are currently more relaxed about lending.  However, it is concerning that if unemployment starts to rise, or interest rates are pushed up in the future, some people could find they have stretched themselves too far and be stuck with a property they cannot sell for the same price they paid for it.

Final thoughts

It is impossible to know what will happen over the next 12 months and of course, the economy could start to bounce back, and the property market may simply adjust to more normal level of tractions.

The benefit to those who are looking for a quick sale is that property prices are high.  Therefore, any below market valuation offered now is greater than it would have been a year ago, enabling sellers to move quickly and for the best price.

If you need to have sold your property by a certain date for any reason, feel free to contact us for a no-obligation chat about how we could help you achieve this.

Phone number: 0207 449 9797
Email: info@webuyproperty.com

The roadmap out of lockdown laid out by Boris Johnson earlier this week has provided some hope and optimism, but this must obviously be met with caution as we know all too well that everything is subject to change.

In the midst of this, on 3rd March the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, will deliver his Spring Budget and is facing an almost impossible task.  He must continue to support those impacted by the pandemic, whilst trying to start reclaiming the national debt and encourage consumer spending!

As we have said before, the property market has not only been fortunate enough to continue operating throughout much of the pandemic, but it was also given a significant boost in July with the announcement of the Stamp Duty holiday on properties up to the value of £500,000.

Whilst this has been extremely positive for thousands of people, with many calling on the Government to extend the stamp duty holiday, personally I feel the quicker the Chancellor stops it the better.  The Stamp Duty holiday combined with continuous furlough is creating a false sense of security and delaying the inevitable collapse in the lower and middle housing market. Once furlough ends and the unavoidable increase in unemployment starts to bite, we are going to more people struggling to meet their mortgage payments. This will lead to a catastrophic housing slump.

Whilst delaying until June would help more of those existing transactions over the line, without scrapping Stamp Duty up to £500,000 indefinitely, it is still likely the brakes on the housing market will start to be applied.

However, for many, Stamp Duty should not be of top priority and a key focus should be further support for victims of unsafe cladding. The Government recently announced a further £3.5 billion towards the cladding scandal but critics say the issue will require far more to remove and repair all of the buildings affected by unsafe cladding.

In relation to landlords, popularity in buy-to-let has waned over the last few years since the Government introduced a 3 per cent surcharge on Stamp Duty, scrapped higher-rate tax relief and reduced “wear and tear” allowance. Now with tenants looking for more space and fleeing city centre locations, coupled with the possibility that Rishi Sunak could increase capital gains tax (CGT) next week, more landlords are considering exiting the market.

Currently, higher or additional rate taxpayers pay 28 per cent on gains when selling an investment property, while basic rate taxpayers have to pay 18 per cent. If these are increased in line with income tax, higher or additional rate taxpayers would pay 40 or 45 per cent CGT respectively, while basic-rate taxpayers will pay 20 per cent.

There is speculation that the Chancellor’s initial focus will be on COVID-19 recovery and therefore it’s possible that the property market may escape any major raids, but it is inevitable that the debts must be repaid somehow, someway, so it is only a matter of time.

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If you are looking to sell your home or an investment property quickly, WeBuyProperty will be happy to have an informal chat and offer a no-obligation valuation on your property for a quick sale.

Phone number: 0207 449 9797
Email: info@webuyproperty.com

There is no denying that the pandemic has been catastrophic for millions of people.  However, for better or for worse, it has also reshaped the way many of us live our lives, which I believe could have a lasting effect not only on individuals and businesses, but also towns and cities.

The most obvious example of this, is of course London. For the first time in decades, London’s population is falling and demand for boltholes in the countryside are on the rise. Overseas students have stayed away and many foreign-born residents have returned to their home countries, either due to job-losses or to spend lockdown with their families rather than be alone.  As the pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns have dragged on, many tenants are not renewing their tenancies so that they can move further out of the city and live somewhere with more space, both indoors and outdoors.

In terms of the lettings market, this diminishing demand, particularly for apartments, has seen rental prices plummet.  According to Zoopla, reductions of more than 25% are not uncommon across central London, rents have fallen by 15 per cent in the City and 10.2 per cent in Kensington & Chelsea.

Despite London house prices having grown since the first lockdown ended, it is the outer boroughs that have been of greatest appeal, as more people look to move away from the inner-city in search of space. House prices have been bolstered by the government’s stamp duty holiday, and as the 31 March deadline draws near, this is suddenly changing the sentiment of the market. Sold prices across prime central London Postcodes have actually fallen 10 per cent since the start of the pandemic.  Mayfair and St James’s were the worst hit followed by Kensington’s W8 postcode.

In December, London property prices suffered their biggest fall since the market re-opened in May. The average cost of a home in the capital dropped 1.1 per cent in the month making London the only region in the country to record a fall. That dragged the annual rate of increase down from seven per cent in November to just 3.5 per cent in December, the lowest in the UK.

There is, of course, the possibility that with the vaccine rollout underway and case numbers dropping daily, that once lockdown is released the Capital will return to its previous vibrant and bustling way of life. Personally, taking into consideration economic conditions, unemployment levels and a new found appreciation for a slower way of life, I believe we are more likely to see a longer-term reduction in demand for both sales and rental properties in London.

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If you have a property in London and are looking to sell quickly for whatever reason, WeBuyProperty would be happy to give you a no-obligation cash-sale valuation. We can complete in a matter of weeks.

Contact us on:
Phone: 0207 449 9797    Email: info@webuyproperty.com

The loss of a loved one is a traumatic time for anyone and whilst trying to come to terms with such a loss, being faced with a barrage of legal and financial administration only adds to the distress.

When someone passes away their estate, which includes their own home, any other properties they may own, money, investments and other assets like cars, must be disposed of in accordance with the law and their will, if they have made one.

Applying for the legal right to deal with someone’s property, money and possessions (their ‘estate’) is called ‘applying for probate’. Once a grant of probate is made the deceased person’s property can be transferred to their beneficiaries or sold.

Unfortunately, selling a probate property is not always straight forward and can take longer than a normal sale. Granting probate can take around 12-14 weeks (but much longer in more complex cases) and you cannot legally sell a house while it is under probate.  Then there is also the average time it takes to sell a property, which at the moment is around 5 months.

The difficulty for some people is they have to pay out fees like Inheritance Tax and probate fees before they can obtain probate.  This can sometimes be problematic, because even though the beneficiary can claim those cost from the estate later, it involves having enough money to pay these fees upfront.

If you decide to sell the probate property through an estate agent on the market, you can market the property, conduct viewings and agree a sale with a buyer but you cannot exchange contracts or complete until probate is granted.  However, you will need to inform the agent that it is a probate property so that they can inform buyers that they will not be able to complete until probate is granted. This can be off-putting for some buyers if they need to move quickly or are involved in a chain as it holds the process up and is often why people wait until probate is granted.

If you find it too distressing having people come to view the home of your loved one, or perhaps you cannot face the drawn-out process and need the money quickly in order to pay off debts etc. you may want to consider selling the property directly to a cash buyer.

WeBuyProperty has vast experience in buying probate properties and can guarantee the transaction is handled efficiently, sensitively and hassle free. We offer a fixed cash price and can complete as soon as probate is granted. We’re happy to guide you through the process, giving advice about securing the property, informing the insurance company and local authority, and will take away as much of the administration hassle as we possibly can.

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To discuss your options and find out more about how the process works, feel free to contact us:
Phone: 0207 449 9797    Email: info@webuyproperty.com

In comparison to most industries during the pandemic, the property market welcomed some buoyant activity in 2020. Despite transactions of residential properties and property prices temporarily falling in April 2020 following the national lockdown, the market soon saw a resurgence when restrictions were eased.  Both transactions and price growth rose considerably in the latter half of 2020, reflecting pent-up demand and a response to the temporary Stamp Duty Holiday introduced in July 2020.  According to Zoopla, demand in 2020 was 40% higher than in 2019.

You would think this would be all positive news for buyers and sellers, and in the most part it is.  Sellers have benefited from achieving a higher price for their property than they might have a year ago, and many buyers feel they have benefited from the Stamp Duty holiday. However, for those who were hoping for a quick completion, perhaps they had committed to moving by a certain timeframe, are starting a new job, or have chosen to relocate, the story is not so plain sailing.

Thanks to the pandemic, property sales are taking nearly twice the time to complete.  Prior to the pandemic, property sales would go through on average between three and four months. Now, they are currently taking between five and six months, sometimes longer!

There are a number of factors which are contributing to these delays. Firstly, the uplift in transactions means there is a bottleneck in the conveyancing process.  Councils are struggling to cope with the level of property searches being requested and conveyances are struggling to keep up with the increased workload. In addition, mortgages are also taking longer to agree.

In some cases, buyers are finding they have to reapply for searches and mortgage offers due to the length of time the buying process is taking.

We have had instances where sellers have contacted us because they thought they would have completed by now and are not much further along in the process than when they agreed the offer on their property. For those movers who are not in any particular rush, it’s not a problem, but some people have made plans and commitments that are hanging in the balance.

At this point, with no guarantee that the Stamp Duty holiday is going to extended or tapered, buyers should only make offers on the understanding that they will not benefit from the Stamp Duty Holiday. However, vendors that have found keen buyers who can only afford to move if they can complete before the 31st March, could consider a quick sale option.  WeBuyProperty will be happy to have an informal chat about your options and offer you a no-obligation quote for a quick sale.

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Phone number: 0207 449 9797
Email: info@webuyproperty.com

If you are a landlord, you will probably already know about the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations which set a minimum energy efficiency level for domestic private rented properties.

Since 1 April 2020, landlords can no longer let or continue to let properties covered by the MEES Regulations if they have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating below E, unless they have a valid exemption in place.

If you are currently planning to let a property with an EPC rating of F or G, you need to improve the property’s rating to E, or register an exemption, before you enter into a new tenancy.

With many landlords having already made significant improvements to their properties since the MEES announcement in 2018, anger has mounted this week as The Climate Change Committee, which is advising the UK government on how to achieve its net zero carbon emissions target by 2050, has recommended that ALL homes should have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C from 2028.

This would mean that not only landlords but any homeowners with a property which has an EPC rating lower than C (an estimated 19 million according to CCC figures), would need to make improvements to their properties in order to meet these minimum standards.

In order to improve a property’s EPC rating, an owner will need to make improvements such as upgrading to double or triple glazed windows, installing adequate loft, underfloor or cavity wall insulation, draught proofing and hot water tank insulation.  Of course, all of these improvements come at a considerable cost to homeowners.

The issue is that there are many many houses across the UK which not only lack thermal efficiency but are priced at the lower end of the market and therefore significant outlay would be cost prohibitive to the value of the house.

Unfortunately, if the Government goes ahead with these plans, owners of energy inefficient homes may find themselves the proprietors of unsellable and unlettable properties just over seven years from now.

What’s more, it has been suggested that the Government will bring these plans forward for rental properties to 2025, meaning landlords will have just four years to make such improvements or risk being unable to let their property. It is thought that more than two thirds of rental properties have an EPC rating below C, meaning all of these properties would require work in order to meet such targets.

We know this is becoming an increasing concern for some landlords and homeowners who would prefer to sell their property now and purchase something more energy efficient than carry out the extensive works themselves.

If you have a property which has very low energy efficiency and you are considering selling, WeBuyProperty will be happy to have an informal chat about your options and offer you a no-obligation quote for a quick sale.

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Phone number: 0207 449 9797

Email: info@webuyproperty.com

Relocating, whether it’s within the UK or emigrating to another country can be both an exciting and daunting prospect. One of the most important things to do is decide whether to sell or rent out your home, depending on whether you need the equity in the property to secure accommodation at your new location.

• Want to retire abroad
• Need to relocate in a quick timeframe for a new job
• Don’t want the hassle of managing a rental property from abroad
• Don’t have time to wait the average 20 weeks to complete a sale through an estate agent
• Cannot risk their house sale falling through as their relation depends on the equity

We are members of the National Association of Property Buyers and the UK’s largest redress scheme, The Property Ombudsman, meaning you can use our quick-sale service with confidence.  We provide a guaranteed quick sale and can transact within a matter of weeks or a timeframe to suit our clients’ requirements.
If you are relocating and would like to discuss the option of selling your property quickly, feel free to make a no-obligation enquiry about our services.

Phone number: 0207 449 9797
Email: info@webuyproperty.com