“How Long Has It Been Available?”

One of the first things a tenant will ask a letting agent when offered a property is “How long has it been available?” - and with good reason. Moving house is a huge event and it takes courage to commit to undertake such a decision – often with very little support other than pure instinct. 

One of the most persuasive and apparently reliable indications as to the suitability of a property is to check out whether other people have expressed an interest. There is great comfort in knowing that you are not the only one who is expressing interest.

Once people hear that others have expressed an interest, then everyone seems to want the property, as the power of “social proof” kicks in. This competition can often stimulate a quick let at a high rent, and usually occurs when a property is attractively priced in relation to other properties available to let.

Of course the opposite is also true. When the rent asked is overly ambitious, the excitement that should surround a property that is new on the market is reduced, and it can begin to go stale. When tenants discover that it is no longer new on the market they think “Well nobody else wanted it – perhaps we are making a mistake.” And every month that passes without a tenant represents over 8% of your annual investment yield!

So our advice would be to position your property as one of the best available in its price range from day one. This will prompt interest and encourage multiple offers from qualified tenants. Under your agent’s advice, you should then have a choice of tenant, resulting in a fast, reliable, let at the highest price the market will pay.

  © Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People

Making Moving Easier

Moving day can be stressful enough, but a bit of forethought can go a long way.  

For example, many people take the opportunity to clear any unwanted junk out of their homes and lives. Charity shops, car boot sales, and friends can be grateful recipients of some items, and hiring a small skip for a couple of weeks can be liberating!

Our advice would be to have a clear-out early in the process – ideally before you even put your property on the market. An uncluttered house with tidy cupboards and a clear garage all improve the presentation of your home tremendously, thereby increasing its saleability and possibly its price.

The reduced volume should also bring down your removal costs. You can bring these down further by considering if there are any bulky pieces of furniture that you are thinking of having restored. For example, your current sofa might not look right in your next home unless it is recovered. So, if you are moving locally, why not ask the upholsterer to collect the sofa a couple of weeks before moving day and deliver it, re-upholstered, to your new address? 

Do make sure that you plan where larger items are going in advance. It is easy for the removers to put something like a piano in the right room, but difficult for you to move it elsewhere after they have left. As well as making sure that a piece fits in a certain place, do also find out if the access to that place is easy enough.

Finally, direct the removers to pack things you will need on the day such as children’s beds, kitchen and bathroom accessories, clothes, food and work-related items last so they will be the first things to be unloaded at the other end.   

Remember - planning is as important to a stress-free move as regular cups of tea during removal day itself.  

© Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People

Who’d have thought it – the market is moving! Despite all the uncertainty and political turmoil, buyers and sellers alike seem to be getting on with life as readily as one would ordinarily expect at this time of year.

However, if you really want some juicy property-related conversation then just try to unravel the various house price reports. For example, according to the latest data from Nationwide, annual house price growth has remained under 1% for the sixth month in a row, with an average house price of £241,946. Yet the Halifax claims house prices were UP 1.1% on a monthly basis, but with an average house price of £236,619. Haart claims the market has fallen by 3.6% on the year with an average price of £217,785. The latest The Land Registry report states that the average house price in the UK is £226,798 with prices having fallen by 0.2% compared to the previous month, and risen by 1.4% compared to the previous year!

One of the big property portals report a widening gap to 3.9% (3.3% a year ago) between average asking price and average selling price. However, this does not mean that property is selling for 3.9% below asking price (in fact, we often secure offers at and sometimes in excess of our asking prices). These figures are taken from a lower base than a year ago which can skew them downwards, as can a relative increase in the sale of lower-priced properties.

It can also be misleading to look at the difference between average asking price and average selling price, as the asking price is based on unsold properties, yet the selling price is on sold properties. This may sound obvious, but an unsold property is potentially an overpriced one, whereas a sold one is not. A more accurate measure would be to look retrospectively at the difference between the asking and selling price of specific sales. Unfortunately, these will always be out of date because there will be a lag of several months between an asking price being set, and a sold price being recorded at the Land Registry.

If you really want to know what’s going on, and how this could influence your move, then we don’t think there is any better gauge of market activity and pricing than simply to speak to your local estate agent! We have our finger firmly on the pulse of the market and frankly, if we record an increase in buyers or stock at a specific price range this week, then this will have a direct bearing on the prices we achieve for our clients next week. We may not be qualified market analysts, but we do know how to harness today’s market for the benefit of today’s sellers. Why not put us to the test, contact your local office of Williams & Goodwin The Property People at

Llangefni 01248751000; Bangor 01248355333; Holyhead 01407760500 or

Caernarfon 01286677775.

©Copyright Williams & Goodwin The Property People 2019

As a seller, it is tempting to accept the highest estate agent’s valuation you receive. However, there are three sound reasons why you should avoid overpricing your home initially, as overpriced property often ends up selling for less than it otherwise might have.   

Firstly, buyers buy by comparison. Why should they buy your house if it is more expensive than a similar alternative? This simply does not make sense, and your property is unlikely to sell until such time as any competing homes have sold. By that time your house may have suffered overexposure and be “going stale” on the market.

Secondly, buyer activity is highest when the property is new on the market. If your price prevents buyers from seeing the house, you will have missed this opportunity and may have to wait some time before a suitable buyer is found. Competition between buyers drives up your price, whereas time on the market drives it down.

Thirdly – a clear response to sellers who say “but we can always take an offer!” The problem here is that if fewer buyers see your house, the chance of an offer being received is significantly reduced. The wrong price also attracts the wrong buyers, who have high expectations and are therefore unlikely to offer in any event. People tend to purchase a property at the top of their price range; so your likely buyer pool is people looking in a lower price range than your property, not a higher one. So don’t scare away the right buyers!

Intense buyer activity in the early days of marketing is the key to achieving the highest price for your property, and our job is to help you stimulate such activity.

So be realistic; be competitive; quote the right price and stick to it, and you should readily secure the highest price the market will pay for your home. Accurate pricing combined with an optimistic approach has been one of the keys to our being able to help so many people fulfil their home-moving dreams – to budget and on time!

©Copyright 2019 Williams & Goodwin The Property People

There can be nothing better suited to the internet than property, and hits to property websites far outnumber those of any other industry. The ability to be able to search in the comfort of your own home, usually without having to provide any personal details, is certainly attractive and has transformed the way the public begins to look for their new home.

So will the internet replace traditional estate agency? It would certainly seem not. Ultimately property search portals are regarded by buyers as a supercharged local property newspaper, with a fairly comprehensive selection of homes on offer.