Guide: Tips To Make Your Property Search Easier

Welcome to the Gilson Bailey May newsletter.

Guide: Tips To Make Your Property Search Easier

We all know that searching for a home can be quite a long process. Studies have shown that it can take up to 3-4 months, viewing a total of 8 houses on average before most buyers find the house that’s right for them. The only way to make it easier for yourself is by doing a little research and preparation before you dive in. We’ve put together 5 simple steps to make your hunt for a home that little bit easier.

Figure out your finances

Before the search begins you absolutely must figure out exactly how much money you have to play with, taking into consideration the full cost of buying a home. It’s not just the cost of the property, but also the cost of surveys, stamp duty and more.

There is no such thing as ‘too early’ when it comes to looking at mortgages and speaking with financial advisors. While setting up meetings and discussing your finances with a mortgage advisor can be time consuming in itself, once you’ve determined your maximum spend it allows you to greatly refine your search and also puts you in a stronger position further down the line when it comes to negotiating.

Separate your wants from your needs

You probably already have an idea in your head of what your dream home looks like, what features it has and the type of area its located in. Unfortunately, for most buyers finding your dream home takes a lot of luck or a lot of money so you need to decide early on which features are the ‘must haves’.

Every buyer’s criteria is different, whether it is the size of the kitchen, being close to a good school or the number of bedrooms. A successful home search does require a little bit of compromise so separating your wants from your needs allows you to begin your search with a lot more focus, saving you time in the long run as you won’t need to head out all the time for endless viewings.

Take advantage of all the information available to you

In the past a lot of property information such as how much it previously sold for, floor plans and general statistics for the area were not as easily accessible as they are today. There are plenty of websites that allow you to do that extra bit of research, allowing you to make more educated decisions throughout the process.

Find out what the average price is for homes in your favourite area, take a look if a home you have your eye on has a surprisingly high flood risk. With buying a home being the biggest purchase you’re ever going to make, the extra research you put in could not only protect you from hidden disasters in the long term, but also means you’re able to be a little more brutal with your shortlist as you take advantage of the wealth of information available online.

Get in touch with us!

While the internet does hold plenty of useful information on the property market, if you’re looking for in depth knowledge of the local area, then your local estate agent is always your best bet. By speaking to your estate agent you can get some more information on the current state of the local market, which is incredibly valuable information if you’re moving to a new area.

If your essential property criteria include the commute to work or the good local schools, a good agent will be able to bring even more focus to your search and help you avoid any homes that are unsuitable to your needs.

Be thorough, be brutal

Once the viewings begin it’s important that you gather as much information as possible during your time in the property. Take notes, take photos and ask plenty of questions. After a few viewings you may find that all the properties begin to blur together in your memory, so the more information you collect the first time round, the more time you save from not having to go back again and again to feel the place out.

At this point you’ve already made a list of the things you can’t live without, so to speed up the process, you should also create a list of things you can’t live with. If your shortlist only contains 3 or 4 properties, then it may be best to take a slightly more lenient approach when discovering a room will need completely redecorating. However, if your shortlist of homes is in the double digits, you’d be wise to be thorough and spot any deal breakers early as a long list of homes will require you to be brutal, unless you want to spend months going from viewing to viewing.

Overall the key to a successful property search is to make sure you’ve done your homework and have as much information as possible to make an educated decision when you see ‘that’ property and your heart takes over. Being able to determine exactly what you want early can be a massive help and by combining the online information with the knowledge of your local expert, you can make finding a home a much smoother process.

Rents In England & Wales Rise By 3.2% Year-On-Year

While the change in rental rates in England and Wales have seen little change since the beginning of 2018, the comparison year-on-year is a considerable difference.

According to the latest rental tracker index from Your Move, the average residential rent in England and Wales has risen by 3.2% in the 12 months to March 2018.

This takes the average price of renting a home to &860 per month.

The data showed that it was the region of the East Midlands in which rents grew the fastest and saw an annual increase of 3.2% resulting in a new average rate of &893.

The index detailed that the East Midlands is now the joint second most expensive place to rent a home, tied with the South East, where renting a home also costs an average of &893 per month, but only saw a rise of 1.6%.

The title of ‘most expensive place to rent’ in the country remains with London, as even though the region has seen very little change over the course of a year, rent still stands at an average of &1,276 per month.

In the South West, rents were up by 2.3% to &667 on average. Not too far behind, with a 2.1% rise, was the East of England to a new average of &893.

Rents in the West Midlands were up by 2% and in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber, rents increased by 1.7%, with monthly averages now at &618 and &575, respectively.

The North East saw the largest fall in rent with monthly payments now at &536, a 1.6% fall. Whilst Wales also saw similar activity in the market as rents fell by 0.8% to &593.

In terms of yield, Wales was the only area to record a slight fall, with return for investors dropping by 0.1 from month-to-month to an average of 4.7%. However, average yields throughout the country stand at 4.4%.

National Letting Director at Your Move – Martyn Alderton – said "The market in London has stopped its recent slowdown, but still lags behind the strong growth seen in the East Midlands.

"The south west also grew at a strong pace while the north east delivered the strongest yields to landlords.

"This shows that there is something for every investor and landlord, whether yield driven or seeing capital appreciation, in today’s rental market."

Revealed: Average Number Of Viewings It Takes To Sell A Home

When listing a home for sale, we all cross our fingers and hope that someone will make an offer within the first few weeks and everything will be wrapped up neatly and quickly.

In reality, selling a home can take some time and your best approach is to present your home in its best light and have patience.

But how long on average does it take to sell a home?

New research has tried to answer this question and found that vendors are underestimating just how many viewings they will have before someone makes an offer.

In a recent survey, Quick Move Now, quizzed the public, asking them how many viewings it would take to sell a house.

It was found that just over half of respondents (54.7%) believed that it would take six viewings or less before their home was snapped up.

According to data from Quick Move Now, this estimation is off the mark by some distance, as it was found that the average number of viewings before a home is sold is more than three times that amount at 19 viewings.

It was also found that this number has risen significantly over the past 3 years from 11 to 19, suggesting that over time buyers have become more patient and thorough when searching for a home.

The company’s director – Danny Luke – commented “It’s clear that the public are vastly underestimating the average number of viewings it takes to sell a property. 54.7 percent believe properties sell in an average of six or less viewings, and with 30.54 percent of the public listing the time it takes to find a buyer as their biggest worry when selling a property, it seems it is an area of concern for many people.”

Luke went on to say “...a significant proportion of homeowners still assume that selling their property on the open market is the only option available to them. That is simply not the case.”

It is worth noting that other studies on the subject have found that the viewings don’t always go into double digits. It can also depend on where you live, as previous studies have found that homes in the north take less viewings than homes in the south.

Data released last year from Rightmove, revealed that the average time overall to sell a home was 62 days, which is just short of 9 weeks.

There are a few things you can do to get your home sold a little faster, such as clearing the clutter and staying on top of the cleaning. Doing all you can to make your home seem like a bright open space is vital.

For more help on how to present your home in its best light, you should talk to us.

Money Saving Advice For Your Home

There are a few changes that you can make around the house that could save you hundreds of pounds a month! Some of them are as simple as clicking a button or turning a dial.

Switch your utility supplier

Your first port of call should be your utility bills. A recent study by Energyhelpline found that the average household can save over &600 a year by switching suppliers. You should consider changing the supplier of your television package, broadband and energy to a competitor who might offer you a better deal.

Consider your energy set-up and habits

Switching supplier is a good start, but your next job is to take a closer look at your energy habits. This can be as basic as turning your thermostat down by a few degrees or making use of the timer control on your boiler. Clothes horses can be utilised to dry your laundry, meaning you don’t need to have the heating on for longer than required.

If you want to make more of an impact on your energy bill, you could also consider your property’s energy efficiency. To combat wasting energy, you could deploy draught excluders around the house to trap heat or hire a professional to examine the insulation in your walls and roof.

Turn electrical appliances off when not in use

The Energy Saving Trust recently revealed that across the UK, households were spending between &50-86 a year on gadgets in a ‘non-active’ or standby state, equivalent to 9-16% of the average electricity bill.

Set your washing machine to a lower temperature

Washing at 15 or 30 degrees rather than 40 degrees can save you a third of the cost to run the cycle. Think about how much that could be saving you on the day you decide to tackle the overflowing laundry basket!

Switch to a cheaper mortgage deal

Mortgage repayments are often the biggest monthly expense a household will have, so it could be worth checking if switching to a new deal can help you save.

For example, if you have a &180,000 20-year mortgage, a deal that charges 4% would cost your household &1,091 a month. Remortgaging to a 2% rate could save you &180 a month (&2,160 a year).