Q: I want to sell my house now while the market is stable but I don’t want to pay huge estate agents fees. How else do I sell it?

A: Buying and selling online is becoming more enticing to consumers wanting to save on their costs. There’s been a definite upswing in the number of online estate agents in the past two years and they are efficient in terms of service and costs.

What I would say though, is that you must differentiate between a high street estate agent with a website and a proper online estate agent. For example, Andrews Estate Agents have a website but, when selling your property you still pay them a high street estate agents fee.

We’ve had a good look around and suggest you compare, but eMoove look good and say this:

“For too long you have had to pay through the nose to sell your home. Now, thanks to the dominance and convenience of the Internet there is another powerful way.

We are real people, in a real office but with vastly lower overheads than ‘traditional’ agents. We pass those savings on to you in order to provide a full on estate agency offering with fee options ranging from just £249.00 plus vat. Conversely, the average agency fee in the UK is 1.6% of sale price. In monetary terms that’s about £2700.00, based on the average property value, plus a lot of vat.”

Thanks Russell Quirk! www.emoov.co.uk/blog

Sarah Beeny, property television presenter and founder of www.tepilo.com, says “Times are moving on – we don’t need to pay for estate agents shop fronts, mini bars, telephone systems and branded cars – if you would rather keep the money and spend it on a holiday in Seychelles or a new kitchen when you move into your new home, then pop your house online.

“Now in 2009 most people wanting to buy a house will go online, pop into Google ‘houses to buy near Northampton’ and come up with a modern equivalent of those high streets. One click away and you are on an online portal and you can check out what is available, for how much and download the details.”

In a report by Which Money in 2009 it was found that “Selling online means home owners can avoid using traditional high street estate agents that typically charge between 1 per cent and 3 per cent of the sale price.

The study by consumer group “Which?” said fees charged by online agents tend to be much lower – from as little as 0.5 per cent. However, it warned to watch out for additional costs, such as for sale signs, which can add £30 onto your bill.

The study compared three different online agents marketing a home with an asking price of £200,000 and the potential savings made versus an average high-street agent charging a commission fee of 1.5 per cent.

But while some home owners may decide to bypass the middle man and sell independently, Which? Money warned that this option can cost time and money to market the property.

There is another way!  Why not negotiate with your high street estate agent on their fee?  Personally, I’d go with online selling and spend the savings on new furnishings!

Gtr London 5.0%
South East 3.6%
South West -1.7%
W Midlands 8.0%
E Anglia 7.5%
Wales 0.2%
E Midlands 1.7%
North West -0.4%
Yorkshire 2.9%
North -1.0%

Overview
RightMove: “Scarce new sellers bump up asking prices by 3.2%, an average increase of £7,137 with London setting a new record of £427,987. Monthly rise reminiscent of boom-times; there has been no higher rise since April 2007 when we saw a 3.7% increase. January sees record search activity on rightmove.co.uk, up 29% on same period last year.”

Nationwide: House prices fell by 1.0% month-on-month in February. Price decline may be explained by snowy weather and expiry of stamp duty holiday. Too early to say whether February’s drop is start of a new trend.

Average price Feb 2010: £156 297.00
Monthly change: 2.9%
Annual change: 1.7%

Over the past year, the Office of Fair Trading has looked closely into the home buying market. The process involves an in depth analysis of whether or not there is enough competition and innovation in the sector and it would seem that they believe there is, despite that fact that estate agents dominate the purchase process.

We’ll be taking a closer look at this issue and how you, the public feel about estate agents in general as well as their future in the buying and selling process in the United Kingdom.

Look out for our March issue of Property Pathways and in the meantime, let us know your thoughts on consumer satisfaction regarding estate agents!

Are they here to stay or on their way out?

Gtr London + 6.1%

South East + 5.6%

South West + 3.0%

W Midlands + 2.1%

E Anglia + 3.2%

Wales -2.5%

E Midlands + 1.9%

North West -0.9%

Yorkshire + 0.1%

North -0.5%

2009 ends with prices 4.1% higher than a year ago.  There are early signs of a buoyant start to 2010 as average asking prices rise by 0.4% and search activity sets new record high.  The first week of January sees strong asking price rebound of +1.2% (£2,698) reversing previous weeks’ falls of 0.9% coupled with the lowest stock this century, creating window of opportunity for sellers.  A 0% price change is forecast in 2010, with sellers advised to take advantage of expected price rises before post-election dip.  Average house price:  £ 222 261.00

REDROW remember when family homes were family sized.

Designed to be instantly recognisable, Redrow’s New Heritage Collection is a reaction to the way all new homes had become largely indistinguishable from one another.

Responding to customer feedback, the focus of the new collection is on traditional two-storey homes rather than apartments or homes spread over three floors.

The move follows Redrow founder Steve Morgan’s return to the company. Steve decided “enough was enough” and pledged to restore the company he began 35 years earlier to its core values of quality, tradition and superior styling, with an emphasis on the family homes for which it was once known.

Now firmly back at the helm of Redrow, in his role as chairman, Steve comments: “When I left Redrow in 2000, we had a product widely acknowledged to be the best in the industry, with an average selling price around 25 per cent above the UK average. When I came back our homes were selling at 20 per cent below the market average. We had too many different house styles and no real distinguishing features.

“Feedback from the majority of our customers tells us that they want a conventional two-storey home, preferably detached, with an easily accessible garage and a garden of their own. They want something that looks traditional, perhaps evocative of the family home they grew up in, but they want it to have the latest statement-making kitchens, bathrooms and good quality fixtures and fittings.”

The New Heritage Collection, launched on February 11, at Bonhams, New Bond Street, London, is a distinct step away from the tendency among housebuilders to ‘dumb down’ the product specification in a bid to reduce build costs.

The timing of the launch is impeccable – just as Britain shows signs of recovering from the recession; Nationwide, Halifax and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveys have all reported several months of steady improvement in house prices and / or demand.

Those who remember the early 1990s will recall Redrow’s original Heritage Range, a very distinctive set of homes that differentiated them from competitors and successfully steered them out of a similarly lack-lustre housing market. Redrow is aiming to repeat this feat with the New Heritage Collection.

A set of 35 different homes, it’s a premium housing product with more than a hint of nostalgia, influenced by the ‘Arts and Crafts’ era, but boasting a specification to meet the needs of modern lifestyles. 

Just as the Arts and Crafts era (c1850 – 1915) grew from the desire to bring back the skill and creativity of the individual craftsman and revive the simplicity and honesty in the way buildings and furnishings were made, Redrow has deliberately set out to reintroduce a high degree of individuality to the way its homes look and feel.

Steve explains: “We’ve taken some of the styles, shapes, colours and textures reflected in the Arts and Crafts movement and brought them right up to date with high-specification interiors styled for modern living.”

Evidence of Arts and Craft style housing can be seen in most villages, towns and cities, often on arterial routes. Redrow has researched, photographed and catalogued many of these homes and their features to ensure authenticity in its designs.

External features which typify the era are being reproduced within Redrow’s New Heritage Collection. These include dropped eaves, projecting plinths, bays and other distinctive window styles, often with leaded lights, timber or tiled canopies over doors and windows, supported by decorative gallows brackets, and the use of larch lap boarding as a feature. Front door colours reflect the ‘heritage’ feel, including ‘Brunswick’ green, deep burgundy and rich dark blue.

There are rough cast rendered and brick elevation versions of every housetype in the new collection, allowing individual developments to be designed in keeping with the local area, with options to adapt the styling when strict regional planning guides apply.

While the new collection consists mainly of two-storey detached family homes, there are smaller terraced and semi-detached properties to suit first time buyers, single purchasers, young families and couples looking to downsize.

The traditional exteriors hide a contemporary interior specification, featuring convivial open plan living spaces, fashionable kitchen designs with floor to ceiling units, central islands, top brand name appliances and even American style integrated fridge-freezers as standard in all properties over 1,600 square feet; plus bathrooms that are sleek, modern and pleasing to the eye.

Fully furnished New Heritage show homes are already open at developments in Lancashire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire, Derbyshire, plus North and South Wales. It will also be available soon in Bristol, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, North Lincolnshire, and Scotland’s central belt.

For more details go to our Redrow contact page for web, phone and tv links.

In a recent release from RightMove we hear that consumer confidence has risen in the UK by 53% along with a prediction that house prices will rise in 2010 albeit slowly!

It seems that our predictions for the New Year of 2010 are on target with the interest rates still holding at 0.50% and house prices up 273% in 50 years and the average consumer feeling far more positive about house price increases for the year ahead.

Some of you may be asking whether or not it’s time to look for fixed mortgages with inflation on the up with CPI at 2.9% in December up from November’s 1.9% with controversy apparent in the press about just how quickly it could rise throughout this year, but our advice is to hold back a little longer – perhaps until the end of 2010.

The reason we say this is that most fixed rates available now are for a two year period, which could mean you having to negotiate a renewal of a fixed rate mortgage at the end of 2011, just as the competition is ‘hotting’ up and the fixed mortgage rates quite a bit higher.  If you hang on until the end of 2010 that two year period should take you through the worst of it into 2013 when the property market should have stabilised.

Another word of caution here is to be careful when choosing a lender.  If you choose the wrong one it could cost you up to £5700 a year extra! 

There is a wide variation in standard variable rates being set by the different lenders which are responsible for a difference of almost £5700 a year on a £150 000 home loan.  In simple terms, some lenders are just not passing on the cuts that they are now enjoying!  Lloyds TSB’s mortgage arm of Cheltenham and Gloucester and Nationwide BS are among the lenders offering the lowest standard variable rate at 2.5% against Chesham BS at a whopping 6.45%!  

The calculation isn’t hard to do.  At 2.5% on a £150 000 loan you’d be paying £3997.00/annum in interest but at 6.45% it would stand at £9686/annum.  Personally, I’d rather have that difference in my back pocket!  Shop around before you buy is our advice.

One of the other topics that we touched on in our predictions was the buy to let market.  Rentals are up with demand outstripping supply which is great news for those of you with property to let.   For those of you in rentals, it may be a good time to start monitoring what the new house builders are offering and see if you can your feet on the first rung of the ladder before rental prices start shooting up later this year due to that lack of demand.

House builder Redrow is releasing their New Heritage Homes portfolio on the 12th February and if these don’t suit, I’m sure they can help you find one that does!  In the meantime, take a minute to subscribe to Property Pathways monthly ezine and forward this edition to a friend to enjoy.

DITCHING the DIY and buying a brand new home could save you thousands.

Redrow has calculated that it can cost £30,000 to bring an older second hand property up to the same standard as one of its new homes, not to mention the huge outlay of time and energy.

In contrast, investing in a home from Redrow’s just launched New Heritage Collection could save you time and money as they’re constructed to a very high standard, with an up to date specification and highly polished finish. They feature stylish kitchens and bathrooms, top brand name appliances and they’re well insulated with full central heating and double glazed windows.

Kim Peters, Redrow’s group sales and marketing director says: “People think they want an older property, buy one and then spend thousands of pounds and invest a lot of energy turning something that a new home already offers.

“Inspired by the architecture, colours and textures of the Arts and Crafts movement, homes in our New Heritage Collection boast the external character of older period-style properties.

“The look and feel of the collection loses none of the integrity or style in the translation from the past to the present and each home has its own special features and proportions.”

Research has shown that a brand new home is up to 40% more efficient than one built10 years ago, which should mean lower fuel bills. A newly built home is also easy to maintain and keep clean, leaving home owners with more time to enjoy the life they’ve chosen to live. And it carries the added reassurance of a two-year guarantee for any fitted appliances and the National Home-Building Council (NHBC) 10-year ‘Buildmark’ warranty.

A national survey by SmartNewHomes.com found that cash-conscious homebuyers are increasingly looking to new homes due to their lower on-going running costs.

In a survey of over 1,000 active UK home searchers, one-in-two of the homebuyers questioned stated the low maintenance of new-build properties as their primary reason for buying new. Over 40% of respondents also cited the peace of mind offered by the 10-year new-build warranty as another key reason for choosing new over re-sale homes.  Large numbers also quoted energy efficiency and modern appliances as further motives for buying new.

The SmartNewHomes.com survey backed Redrow’s £30,000 estimate of how much it costs to bring an older home up to scratch. In fact, 13% of respondents who owned a re-sale home revealed that their overall spend on home improvements actually exceeded this amount.

And over 10% said they had to dedicate an average of more than 10 hours per week to DIY and renovations for their previously-owned home – equating to over three weeks of time for the year as a whole.

Kim adds: “The message is clear – why buy an older property and spend tens of thousands of pounds and all your spare time upgrading it, when the New Heritage Collection from Redrow has the character of bygone times but the internal specification to meet the needs of today’s modern lifestyles.”

Influenced by the ‘Arts and Crafts’ era, the New Heritage Collection is a premium housing product with more than a hint of nostalgia, but boasting a specification to meet the needs of modern lifestyles. 

Initial prices are from circa £161,495 for a three-bedroom New Heritage Collection home in Liverpool, from £202,995 for a three-bedroom detached home in Chorley, Lancashire, from £162,995 in Wrexham, North Wales, and from £179,995 in Caerphilly, South Wales.

Redrow’s New Heritage Collection can be viewed on Redrow TV which can be accessed via the ‘see Redrow’ section of the Redrow website, please click here for details.

* £30,000 estimate (inc vat) is based on upgrading a typical three-bedroom house to include new kitchen units and appliances; a new heating system; replacement wiring and remedial plastering; additional loft insulation; redecoration including materials; new bathroom suites, including ground-floor cloakroom and en-suite; replacement windows; new guttering including fitting; and replacement of fascias.

REDROW is channelling in to the digital revolution with the introduction of its very own broadband TV station, delivered via the internet.

Dedicated to all things Redrow, Redrow TV will keep customers right up to date with all the latest news, products and development films. It will be one of the first places where potential customers will be able to ‘see’ inside show homes from Redrow’s New Heritage Collection.

Complementing the company’s existing website, Redrow TV will be ‘live’ on the internet so people can access it wherever they get broadband – at home, at work or even on their mobile phone.

Kim Peters, Redrow’s group sales and marketing director, says: “These days, more than 60% of internet searches are for video content, because people would much rather watch and listen than read from the screen. Redrow TV gives them all the news they need, in a friendly format that they will want to visit again and again.

“Believed to be the first of its kind in the UK housing industry, Redrow TV will give us a unique advantage in attracting and holding the attention of home buyers and guiding them towards their Redrow purchase.”

The new TV channel will feature development overviews, detailed show home films – including the exciting New Heritage Collection – plus all the latest news, from new products and developments to wider market news, mortgages and more. The news content will be updated daily to keep it fresh, including ‘roving’ reports of site based activity.

There will also be footage to explain the various incentives and help available to home buyers, such as part exchange, Mastermove – a service to help customers sell their existing property – and the Government-backed HomeBuy Direct, which provides eligible purchasers with a 30% equity loan towards the cost of their home.

Redrow’s New Heritage Collection can be viewed on Redrow TV which can be accessed via the ‘see Redrow’ section of the Redrow website, please click here for details.

Q:  Is there really a house shortage in the UK or is it just a myth?

A:  All our research would indicate that there is a definite house shortage in the UK at present.  There are many reasons behind this and I’ll try to cover a few to explain why.

Firstly people have been holding off putting their homes on the market for the last two years due to the poor return they believe they’ll get from selling.   In some cases this is simply due to over inflation of the prices, but in others it’s due to a fear of negative equity in the property for those who overpaid in the first place.

Secondly investors who saw the opportunities of the recession early on managed to scoop up a lot of property for buy to let investments and haven’t put those properties back on the market to sell.

If you consider that the UK needs about 240 000 houses a year then just these two factors will have an enormous impact.

Add to that the rising increase in the UK population due to immigration and birth rates.  Our divorce rate, aging population and youth leaving home earlier is also increasing the number of one person households, again driving up demand.

Despite the continuous bad news headlines churned out by the lenders and the media, it’s heartening to hear that the average person can now see a light at the end of the property tunnel.

With the prime interest rate sitting at an all time low of 0.5% it’s easy to forget that in April 2008 the prime interest rate was sitting at a whopping 5% having been reduced from the previous July’s 5.75%!

There has been a lot of talk about the UK recession in 2009 and while British consumers anticipate the unexpected in property, it seems we are set to continue to enjoy the impact of the current low interest rate for some time to come along with other positive 2010 predictions.

Reasons for optimism

- House prices have risen in 2009 despite the double dip warnings and we look set to enjoy a more moderate pace of house price increase in 2010

- The interest rate will remain at 0.5% which is way down on the 5.5% we had in May 2007.  This should last at least nine more months allowing us all a bit of extra cash and clearing the way for more money printing and continued low rates

- The buy to let market is seeing strong signs of improvement

- A weak pound has made British products cheaper, helping exporters

- The UK economy has shrunk less than we actually thought

- Loan lending is down due to lack of supply not demand!

- Offset mortgages are now being offered

- HomeBuy Direct has received an £80m extension. This is the government shared equity mortgage scheme where up to 10 000 first time buyers are helped to buy specified newly built homes.  This scheme has already received interest from over 32,000 people since September

- Green housing measures are increasing dramatically which can only improve our living standards

- A powerful stock market rally has boosted confidence.

- Natural disasters are at their lowest in a decade globally

- Unemployment rises have been smaller than originally forecast.

- The upcoming election will keep all parties on their toes and the power with the people – so vote!

- The effects of Quantitative Easing take nine months to work. QE began in March so we should start to enjoy its benefits around the New Year onwards.

- The ‘libor’ rate (a measure of bank trust) has fallen back to BELOW pre-crunch levels.

- France and Germany are just out of recession along with South Africa, Japan and the US

Obviously one of the biggest factors for 2010 is the upcoming election and all indicators are that the Conservatives will sweep the board with an overwhelming majority.  Considering their election promises of abolishing stamp duty and raising the threshold on inheritance tax, freezing council tax for two years and providing tax cuts for new jobs to get people back to work, it could be a better 2010 under their guidance for home owners and first time buyers.

Take a look at what a few of our serious property colleagues had to say about the forthcoming year in our Property Pathways 2010 Predictions column.

In conclusion, 2010 should see us well on our way to recovery!

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