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We are delighted to announce another two members of staff to support our ever growing rentals division and sales offices. In rentals, Linda is supporting Jason in business development. She will carry out viewings, arrange your gas safety checks, and take all the day to day hassle of running your property as a landlord, leaving you to get on with your life.
Connie has been added to our team to cover Saturday mornings with Bev, as sales enquiries start to increase.
Please be aware of other letting agents in the local area who are adding 12.5% charges to repair accounts. This is very bad practice and should any landlords wish to move their business to ourselves, please be assured WE DO NOT ADD FEES ON TO THE REPAIR ACCOUNT.
Many thanks to Simon and Giles for saving me £300 on our business insurance. Good to meet with you. Looking forward to our lunch shortly.
Latest news mortgage lending up 15% for June.
VICTORY. HIP'S abolished, after 3 years of campaigning against this useless pack, the new government see sense and suspend them to the dustbin for ever.
With house price falls now starting to reduce in percentage terms along with large reductions having been made by vendors all year to stimulate sales, this is now an ideal time to be looking to buy. For example we have a local conveyancer prepared to discount their fees by 25%, mortage lending is going to improve in the medium to long term term, freeing up pent up demand for property priced correctly.
There are now some super properties with large reductions on our agency books and of course all over the country the same applies.
We have a mortgage advisor who is here to advise you for obtaining a mortgage particularly if you are a FTB or an investor. Should you wish to discuss a purchase for Buy to Let or your own portfolio, or you are a FTB please give us a ring.
We strongly believe now is the time to consider a purchase. The best properties are now at rock bottom prices, and will be snapped up by buyers.
Ignore the media doom and gloom merchants get out there and BUY.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jason Andrews as Rental Supervisor. Alot of you will have dealt with him over the last few years. Many thanks to our landlords for expressing confidence in him, (you all know who you are). Again thanks to you all for letting me know about unsolicted contact from another agent trying to poach my business. This is totally unethical, and is cause for instant dismissal from our Association.
All previous landlords who were not happy before, are welcome back.
6th April 2009 - Another Erosion of Liberty.
From 6th April the HIP rules are changing. No longer will it be possible for the marketing of a property to begin when the HIP is ordered, instead the bulk of the pack will need to be physically complete for marketing to be allowed. That means an estate agent cannot even mention to someone that a property will soon be coming to the market. Good estate agency practice has always been to begin telling the public about a property as soon as instructions are received from the seller but this government has decided to stop this happening. Most estate agents consider the new restriction to not be in the public interest.
A new form, The Property Information Questionnaire or PIQ must now be completed by the seller for inclusion in the HIP when marketing starts. This seven page document asks questions about the property, rights of way, building works etc but in what many see as a serious defect, the PIQ does not have to be signed by the seller nor does it have any legal weight. In fact, a disclaimer on it says that it is not a substitute for legal documentation. The fact remains that a buyer solicitor will still want to see the official Sellers Property Information Form completed and signed as truthful by the seller. The PIQ is yet another piece of window dressing by a government that knows full well that HIPs have failed but insists on pursuing its defective and expensive policy to 'improve' the home buying process.
Also changing on 6th April is the ability of HIP's to contain what is known as 'insurance backed search information'. Up until this date such search information has been acceptable - the information being provided by personal search companies where they have been unable (or unwilling to pay the charges) to obtain the information from a Local Authority. Now it has been ruled that all Local Authorities MUST provide the requested information and may also charge for it. IN THE COMING WEEKS THE PRICE OF HIPS TO HOME SELLERS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY INCREASE IN MOST AREAS OF THE COUNTRY. However, in an all too familiar example of a lack of joined up thinking, the government is foisting the new rules on the market before most Local Authorities have got around to setting their new charges for search information. The next few weeks are likely to be chaotic for HIP providers - and consequently home sellers.
The ending of First Day Marketing is considered by this campaign to be yet another unecessary burden on an already very fragile property market. For the first time it will become illegal to sell a property at will - yet another small but significant erosion of our liberties.
The SPLINTA campaign calls for the HIP to be made voluntary (if it is as good as the government says it is (but few others do) then surely sellers and estate agents will flock to buy them) and for the government to suspend Stamp Duty Land Tax - which should only be re-introduced as a sliding scale tax, not a stepped tax as at present. These measures would help the ailing property in its recovery.
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