Buyers often waste an inordinate amount of time viewing property that is either too expensive or blatantly wrong in other critical ways.   

Additionally, national average of sales agreed dictate that more than 30% of property sales fall through due to buyer or seller suddenly changing their minds. Both these annoyances could be attributed to the agent not having gained a good understanding of buyer/sellers requirements, and/or not having earned the trust required to secure this understanding.

One way of overcoming this is for the seller to address a few fundamental issues prior to agreeing terms, which will help avoid false starts, additional expense and wasted time. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Ensure that you get your finances in order and know exactly how much you can borrow, with an “in principle” agreement from your lender.
2. Before viewing properties understand the difference between your preferred “wants” and absolute “needs”.
3. Locations can vary from one street to the next, and at different times of day. Consider school runs and pub times.
4. Do not make an offer on a property unless you are absolutely serious about making it your home. The seller’s expectations will be raised and you could damage your reputation as a genuine purchaser.
5. Don’t lie about your home. Be upfront about any defects or the reason for moving if you are to speed up the sale and reduce stress.
6. Don’t ignore the facts. If your home has been on the market for several months, it is likely to be overpriced. Promptly reposition it in the market before it goes stale.
7. If you’re unhappy with your agent – say so! Don’t be afraid to change agents, being careful to note any onerous contract terms, and don’t change more than once, or people who think it’s the property – not the agent!

Please feel free to call us on 01407 760500 if you would like further advice on how to prepare your home for an efficient, and enjoyable, sale.   

©Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People Ltd

“Professional?”

There has been a noticeable increase in the number of letting agents and the number of prosecutions of rogue letting agents is sadly growing at an alarming rate. The industry is largely unregulated, with almost anyone being able to open up a letting business and consequently conducting negotiations, drawing up contracts and handling client monies.

Even worse - there are around 120 pieces of legislation affecting the work and conduct of a letting agent, yet there is currently no compulsion for agents to attend any form of professional training whatsoever.  

When entrusting the letting of your investment to an agent, we therefore strongly advise that you make sure that they are members of ARLA - the Association of Residential Letting Agents, part of Propertymark, which is the only professional self-regulating body to be solely concerned with the detailed and specific requirements of the lettings industry.

Membership is only achieved when agents can demonstrate that they have a thorough knowledge of their profession and that they conduct their business according ARLA’s stringent code of Practice. This provides a framework of ethical and professional standards at a level far higher than the law demands and is regarded as the benchmark for professionalism in the industry.

The Association runs a series of meetings, training courses and seminars both nationally and locally to ensure that members are kept fully up to date with the latest best practice and legislation. Membership rules require all member offices to have professionally qualified staff and client bank accounts are rigorously audited annually. Members are also required to have professional indemnity insurance cover as well as being covered by ARLA’s bonding scheme which provides financial protection for client monies in the case of misappropriation.

Needless to say we are full members of ARLA, providing our clients in the Anglesey and Gwynedd areas with complete peace of mind.  

© Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People Ltd

As the Brexit debacle continues to be drawn out, so the evenings are drawing in. Home, as a place of warmth and sanctuary, becomes particularly significant at this time of year. It is interesting to note that a recent survey by Jackson Stops found that 70% of homeowners are unphased in their moving decision by Brexit issues. As we have reported before – most people just want to get on with their life and are more influenced by personal circumstances than the national interest in “will we-won’t we?”. The media really does hype things up!

The factors that affect people’s ability to move remain strong – extremely low interest rates (BoE base rate of 0.75% with no change expected for some time to come), improving affordability (the average house now costs 7.8 times average earnings), low inflation (1.7%) and historically low unemployment levels (3.8% v 8.4% in 2012) all compound to provide strong home-moving fundamentals.

Indeed, we are finding that there has been a slight increase in the “speculative” aspect of buying/selling that has been missing for the past ten years. In other words, if you are thinking of selling, not only is there a reasonable supply of serious buyers who will pay the right price for the right property, but there are also potential buyers who will commit if they find what they regard as a bargain. Those bargains are the properties that came to market early this year at an ambitious price that has since been significantly reduced. (It is so important to price correctly and sell while the property is fresh on the market if you are to achieve the maximum price).

To understand if your property is someone else’s bargain, simply look at the market as if you were a buyer. Check how your property compare to others, but resist the temptation to assume that it is worth the same as others that are failing to sell. They could be all overpriced! A “bargain” comes in below this, so use other available properties to make yours look good by comparison.   

The last available figures (relating to August sales) from The Land Registry suggest a 1.3% annual price increase, although they also report a staggering 0.8% rise over the previous month, which would be a 9.6% annual rise if sustained. As ever, view such figures with the utmost caution – it really is best to speak to us for accurate advice – we know the local market intimately. It really does change from one week to the next depending on the balance of supply and demand. A repossession or probate sale becoming available, or two wealthy individuals registering to buy can affect prices in a particular street within hours

We love this stuff, but we do recognise that it can be confusing and stressful if you are at the sharp end of a move. Please feel free to call us today for a free no-obligation marketing proposal on 01248751000 and we’ll do our best to help you make sense of it all.

©Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People Ltd

Williams & Goodwin, Llangefni have just won The British Property Award for Isle of Anglesey & Wales.  Their team performed outstandingly throughout the extensive judging period, which focused on customer service levels.

The British Property Awards provide agents throughout the UK with an invaluable opportunity to compare the service that they provide against the service provided by their local, regional and national competition.  Agents who go that extra mile and provide outstanding levels of customer service are rewarded with our accolade, which acts as a beacon to highlight these attributes to their local marketplace.

THE BRITISH PROPERTY AWARDS are one of the most inclusive estate agency awards providers as they do not charge to enter. This has enabled their award to be structured in a manner that ensures maximum participation, on average judging over 90% of agents that meet their minimum criteria on a local level.

The team personally mystery shops every estate agent against a set of 25 criteria to obtain a balanced overview of their customer service levels. The judging criteria is comprehensive and detailed exploring different mediums, scenarios and time periods to ensure that agents have been rigorously and fairly judged.

Robert McLean from The British Property Awards said “When an agent has been attributed with one of our awards, it is simply down to the fantastic customer service levels that they have demonstrated across a prolonged period of time. Winning agents should be proud that their customer service levels provide a benchmark for their local, regional and national competition”.

Many people whose property is on the market now would ideally like to move by Christmas, yet only those who are prepared to price realistically to reflect the current market are likely to be successful.   

Buyers who are currently active in the market are now getting increasingly keen to move before the end of the year and we have recently noticed a significant ramping- up of activity. 

Despite this increase in activity, your choice of agent is paramount as too many agents are currently making rash promises. If you are selling, beware of the agent who tries to flatter you with promises of an inflated price, or entices you with a commission rate so low (sometimes with hidden charges) that they cannot provide a decent level of service or train their staff effectively.

Whilst the market is in fact quite stable, buyers do have a choice. Buyers buy by comparison, and they will always buy the property that offers them the best value in relation to alternatives available nearby.

So don’t fall into the trap of assuming that because your property is slightly wider than the one on the market next door, or because it has better views or a bigger garden, that you should quote a higher asking price. By doing so, your price offsets these benefits. Likewise, if your house is similar to next door, then you may want to undercut their price if you are to achieve an early sale.

If you’d like to move this year, the rule of thumb for this market is to choose a strong, independent, locally-based agent, listen to their advice, and quote a competitive asking price. With the wind behind you, you might just be in your new home by Christmas. And we’d love to help you achieve this – it’s what we do! Please feel free to call us for a confidential no-obligation chat on 01407 760500.

© Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People Ltd.