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How To Sell A Home Quickly

How To Sell A Home Quickly

If you want to sell a home quickly, you need to figure out what potential buyers are likely to want and then show how your home can deliver it.  If you’re using a full-service estate agent, they’ll probably help a lot with this.  It can, however, still be helpful to know the right approach.  With that in mind, here is a quick guide on how to sell a home quickly.

Do your research on your local market

You need to find out what the current generation of buyers in your area is likely to want.  This could be a mixture of national trends and localised trends.  The property press will generally cover national trends.  They may also cover broader local markets such as major cities.  For local trends, keep your eye on your local news.

Work to create a great home listing

In modern home sales, it can be best to think of home listings as a succession of teaser, trailer and sales pitch.  Your teaser is the thumbnail on the search results in property portals.  Your trailer is the main listing on the sales portal.

Pre-COVID19 the main sales pitch generally came in the form of a physical viewing.  The lockdown, however, encouraged sellers (and their agents) to create an intermediary step.  Essentially, this means providing even more information digitally.  With lockdown easing, it remains to be seen if this will continue.  There is, however, a lot to be said for it.

In simple terms, the more you can pre-qualify buyers, the fewer real-world viewings you are likely to need to organise before you find a buyer.  This can make life a lot easier for everyone, including you.  You don’t need any technical skills to create a basic website and/or YouTube channel.  You don’t need to spend any money either, a free website package will be fine.

How to create a great home listing

A great home listing basically works as a sales funnel.  As such, it provides exactly the right type of information at each step.  It also goes into the right level of detail.

Your thumbnail

Arguably, the most important feature by far is the price.  There are two reasons for this.  Firstly, buyers can search;/filter on price/price range.  You, therefore, want to make sure that your home will be picked up in the right searches.  Secondly, there is a reason for the expression “priced to sell”.  Homes are major purchases and, quite bluntly, price does matter a lot.

The next most important feature is the thumbnail picture.  This should generally be an exterior view of your home (even if you live in a block of flats).  It needs to present your home as its “best self”.  In other words, it needs to be realistic but as attractive as possible.

Your portal listing

The photos on your portal listing are your chance to highlight your home’s main selling points.  They are hugely important so it can be helpful to have a professional take them.  As a minimum, use a proper camera and read up on how to photograph real estate to sell.

Put your home into “show” condition before the photos are taken.  Remember that space and storage tend to be major concerns for modern buyers so make sure that you declutter thoroughly.  Also remove anything remotely controversial (think sports, religion and politics).  Then consider whether to rearrange your belongings to make your home look more appealing.

Use the text space to give a rundown of relevant practical details.  If you wish, offer a link to a YouTube video and/or a website with more information about your home.

Additional information

If you opt to show more information then use the opportunity to sell the location and lifestyle as well as the property itself.  You may want to link to other sources but try to keep the key information on your own page so viewers have as much as possible in one place.

Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

How To Get A Mortgage If You Have Poor Credit

How To Get A Mortgage If You Have Poor Credit

There are basically only three ways to get a mortgage if you have poor credit.  The first is to leverage someone else’s credit rating.  The second is to put down a bumper deposit.  The third is to repair the damage to your credit.  You may need to use a combination of these strategies and/or apply to a specialist lender.

Leveraging someone else’s credit rating

Possibly the most obvious example of this is using a guarantor.  Another option could be to apply for a mortgage jointly with someone who has better credit than you.  Both options require a high degree of trust between both parties.

With all the trust in the world, it’s still advisable to make sure your agreement is properly documented.  Putting everything in writing eliminates the potential for conflict about what was and was not agreed.

It can also be helpful if you need to demonstrate that the agreement was fair to everyone.  For example, perhaps you agreed that the guarantor would be given a stake in the property if the guarantee was invoked.

See if you can use a government scheme

This is most likely if you are a first-time buyer.  The Help-to-Buy Mortgage Guarantee scheme is, however, open to onward movers.  This is essentially a variation of leveraging someone else’s credit rating.  In this case, however, it’s the government’s.  There are qualifying criteria for the scheme but there is no harm in taking a look and seeing if you could be accepted.

Putting down a bumper deposit

The less you need to borrow relative to the value of your home, the less risk there is to the lender.  Even if you have an excellent credit record, a large deposit will protect the lender against the risk of your home’s value falling and leaving you in negative equity (if only temporarily).

If you have a poor credit record, then an extra-large deposit may help to reassure lenders.  This will protect them not just against changes in the housing market but also against the prospect of you defaulting.  Keep in mind, however, that lenders may have rules about gifted deposits.  If this could affect you, be sure to do thorough research before you apply.

Repairing the damage to your credit

Time is the great healer and that applies to credit scores too.  If you have active black marks on your credit record, then these will fade to nothing over time.  Admittedly, it may take several years for them to fade away completely.  You can, however, use this time to do everything you can to push the needle in the right direction.

Keep in mind that your finances will be scrutinized as part of any mortgage application, even if you have an outstanding credit record.  Being able to show lenders either that you have mended your ways or that you are back on your feet (post-COVID19) will be essential to getting approval.

Remember, lenders are obligated to ensure that you really can afford the mortgage you want.  If they fail in this duty, then they can get into trouble with the regulator.  The more you can demonstrate solid financial management, the more you can reassure them that you are both capable and responsible.

Applying to a specialist lender

The high street (or its digital equivalent) may be the obvious place to go to look for a mortgage but it’s far from the only one.  If you’re in a round peg/square hole situation, you may be far better going to a specialist lender.

Of course, the challenge here is finding a specialist lender.  You may find it much easier to look for a mortgage broker and let them guide you through the maze.  It’s literally their job to know the mortgage market inside out and, hence, know where you’re most likely to be accepted.

If you need mortgage advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

Can House Prices Keep Rising?

Can House Prices Keep Rising?

With the Stamp Duty Holiday winding to a close, it’ll soon be time for the housing market to go back to standing on its own two feet.  It’s always managed this pretty well in the past.  Can it keep ploughing ahead now?

The drivers behind house-price growth

Since July 2020, the UK has seen extraordinary house-price growth.  Given the timing, it seems reasonable to assume that the SDLT holiday was a factor in this.  The key question, however, is whether or not it was the only factor.  If it was, then, at a minimum, house-price growth should stop.  If it wasn’t, then house-price growth should continue albeit possibly at a slower rate.

Why were people moving?

Anyone who’s ever moved home knows just how much hassle it involves.  What’s more, even with the SDLT holiday, it’s generally an expensive undertaking.  The SDLT holiday, for example, did not cut the costs of mortgage applications, valuations and conveyancing.  Similarly, it did not cut the costs of physically moving from A to B.

It, therefore, seems fair to assume that the SDLT holiday simply prompted people to get on and do something they were planning on doing anyway.  This raises the question of why they were doing it.

Upsizing and downsizing

If you need more space than you have and can’t extend then moving is really your only option.  If you have more space than you need, then moving can be an attractive option.  Less space generally means less cleaning and maintenance.  It can also mean less cost.

Of course, if you’re really short on space or really have too much of it, you will effectively be forced to move.  If, however, you’re just about managing, then you may need an incentive to go through the hassle of moving home.  The SDLT holiday might have been the boost you needed to get moving.

If this is the case then it’s questionable whether house prices can continue to rise over the near future.  Quite simply, if the majority of people who needed or wanted to move have done so recently, who is going to be buying new houses?  Of course, it’s to be expected that there will be some activity, for example from first-time buyers, but will it be enough to sustain growth?

Changing location

The need to change location might be forced on you or it might be through choice.  In fact, it might even be a bit of both.  This might have been the case for a lot of people in COVID19.  Remote-working became the new normal.  Remote-/hybrid-working is looking increasingly likely to be the new frontier of knowledge work.  That has serious implications for the housing market.

Although some employers have spoken out against remote working, many others are interested in it.  They may not be prepared to go 100% remote (although some companies are).  They may, however, be perfectly happy to switch to a hybrid model.  This allows employers to reduce the cost of office space while still maintaining a base for meetings and collaborative work.

It also allows employees to move further away from their work location if they wish.  In fact, it may strongly motivate them to do so to get the space for proper home offices.  If this is the case then demand may continue after the SDLT holiday ends.  Some employees may have been waiting to see what their employer’s long-term policy would be before committing.

Investing

People buying second (or subsequent) homes still had to pay the surcharge but they qualified for the main SDLT holiday.  If this was one of the drivers behind the price rises then it’s questionable whether or not price growth will continue.

Investors need to make their numbers add up.  It’s hard to see how they can make suitable returns buying houses at high prices without the benefit of the SDLT holiday to offset them.

Please contact us for mortgage advice.

Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

What Has The Pandemic Done To The Housing Market?

What Has The Pandemic Done To The Housing Market?

Last year wasn’t exactly filled with fun for everyone but some sectors definitely weathered it better than others.  So far, housing has been one of them.  Here’s a quick look at how the pandemic has changed the housing sector and what that could mean for the future.

Real estate is going virtual

Real estate has been very slow to adapt to the virtual world.  Prior to the pandemic, it didn’t even make the most of the sales and marketing opportunities offered by the internet.  For all the online portals became the place to start looking for a home, they were essentially just digital versions of the old classified adverts.

The pandemic forced the industry to adapt.  It also forced regulators to let it.  One of the major reasons why the property market used such archaic processes was because regulators had concerns about digital security.  These were and are valid but they overlooked the fact that the existing processes also had security vulnerabilities.

Now both the industry and the regulators have had a taste of going fully virtual.  This is not looking very likely to be the way of the immediate future.  It is, however, looking increasingly likely that the property market will adopt a hybrid working model.  This could reduce costs and increase efficiency, thus benefiting everyone.

Business is booming for mortgage lenders

The phrase “rollercoaster ride” is a major cliche but it’s really the only fair way to describe the mortgage-lending market over the last year.  When the first lockdown hit, mortgage lenders were classed as non-essential and forced to close.  Then they had to figure out a way to operate under the restrictions imposed due to COVID19.

Then they had to work out their level of appetite for lending during the pandemic (and with Brexit rumbling along in the background).  Initially, mortgage lenders were, understandably, timid.  To put this in context, there were some very significant barriers to lending.  The most obvious of these was, arguably, the affordability criteria.

In 2020, the issue wasn’t so much the criteria themselves as the challenge of assessing them robustly.  Lenders knew that they could face serious penalties if they were held to be negligent here.  It’s therefore hardly surprising that they generally chose to err on the side of caution.  There was also uncertainty over how the housing market would perform over the long term.  Last but not least, the mortgage lenders had to be particularly cautious about fraud.

Time, however, is renowned for its healing qualities.  Government intervention probably helped too.  In addition to extending the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme (albeit only for first-time buyers), it relaunched the Help-to-Buy Mortgage-Guarantee scheme.  This created breathing space for lenders to say “yes” where they would otherwise have had to say “no”.

Over recent months, business has been booming for mortgage lenders.  For example, in March 2021, gross mortgage borrowing stood at £35.6bn (according to the Bank of England).  As a sign of confidence, this is encouraging.  It does, however, raise questions about how long such momentum can be sustained and, of course, what happens when it slows.

House prices are going up (and down)

Figures may vary according to who’s measuring them and how.  There is, however, no doubt that overall, house prices in the UK have been on a clear upward trend since July 2020.  As a reminder, that was when the Chancellor introduced the Stamp Duty holiday.

As is often the case, however, overall trends are not necessarily reflected in local markets.  Even when they are, they might not be reflected to the same extent”.  Right now, the biggest demand is clearly for larger properties, the so-called “race for space”.

This means that the big winners are suburbs and satellite towns with at least passable commuter links.  The biggest losers are city centres and established commuter towns.  This trend looks very likely to become established as employers are increasingly showing themselves willing to support remote-/hybrid working.

Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage