• Home
  • Blog
  • Archive
  • Links
  • About
  • Guest Blogger
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Home and Garden Diva

  • Home and family
  • Health and Fitness
    • Beauty
  • Home Improvement
  • Entertainment
  • House and Home
You are here: Home / Archives for Estate agent

Top Tools That Will Help You Choose Your Real Estate

by Trish

Choosing real estate is one of the most important decisions you will ever make – probably just behind deciding on who you’re going to marry. Not only is this an incredibly expensive purchase and one that you hope will be a good investment, but it’s also a decision that will impact on your day-to-day life moreso than perhaps every other. The distance you travel to work, the options available for your entertainment in the evening, the comfort you feel when you relax in the evening… all will be dictated by your real estate.

Which is why you shouldn’t rely on just your instincts alone to choose your property. Of course you need a good estate agent and a good surveyor, but likewise you can also fall back on tools and gadgets that can help you too. Read on to see which devices will help the most and how you can take advantage of them.

Computer

The first job of a computer when choosing real estate is to help you browse the various homes available and to find an estate agent. Thanks to the marvels of the digital age, it’s no possible to replace ‘leg work’ with ‘finger work’ – you can have done the vast majority of your hunting before you have even left the house.

Phone

Your phone of course is also a crucial device, and the one you will use in order to call up and make bookings so that you can view various properties – as well as to hire all the other services you will use. If you have a smartphone (who doesn’t these days?) then you can even set reminders in your calendar to ensure that you never miss a viewing. What makes a phone most useful of all though, is almost undoubtedly the camera. This will allow you to take snapshots of the place you’re looking around to look back on later. This is a great strategy, because it will allow you to remember much more clearly what each place looked like and also to show it to friends and others who might be able to give you advice.

Tablet

If you want a bit more space to work with, then a tablet can be a useful device for running full-screen apps to let you plan layouts, take photos and schedule appointments. Plus they make you look and feel like a pro…

Notepad

It may not be particularly high tech, but the notepad should never be underestimated. Not only will it enable you to take notes on the places you are looking around, but you can also use it to write down questions that you want to ask your real estate agents. This way you can make sure that you don’t go to view the property with a million questions, only to come away realising that you haven’t actually asked any of them.

Meanwhile notepads can also be used in order to sketch things out, to take measurements, to write down phone numbers and more. A smartphone might be very handy then, but sometimes it’s the old fashioned gadgets that are the best…

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

Kevin Preston, the author of this post, is a part time blogger and a real estate agent. He has many years of experience in the field and People consider him one of the best brains in the field of real estate. He likes swimming and playing football in his spare time.

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: calendar, computer, Estate agent, help, layouts, Notepad, phone, Property, Real Estate, schedule appointments, snapshots, tablet, Top Tools

How To Sell Your Home Quickly!

by The Diva



Selling property can be one of the hardest and most stressful things you can do in your life. 90% of people sell through an estate agent so it must offer some advantages. So, should you do the same?


Well, it depends on time pressure you are under. When selling through an estate agent you will normally have to go through these stages:

  1. You need to pay for and complete any renovation and refurbishment necessary (2-3 weeks)
  2. You will need to conduct multiple viewings (4 to 8 weeks)
  3. If your estate agent finds you a buyer, you will need to wait a few months for the buyer to arrange a mortgage (8 to 14 weeks)
  4. If the buyer is in a chain, you will need to wait for their home to sell before yours can be purchase (2-3 weeks)

This can take between 4 to 7.5 months! That is a long time! It is a also a sad fact that 1 in 3 chains break down at the last moment due to buyers pulling out. It only takes one person to pull out and the whole chain falls apart.

How to sell in less than 4 months

However, even with these obstacles in mind it is still possible to sell your home in less than 4 months by these following tips (and having luck on your side):

  1. Get a reliable, reputable agent.
  2. Finish off any necessary DIY jobs
  3. Thoroughly clean and de-clutter you home
  4. Depersonalise your house and go neutral

It is worth remembering, “buyers are not looking to buy property. What they’re really looking to buy is a better life – property just happens to be the way they’ll get it”

The problems with Estate Agents

In response to many complaints about estate agents the Office of Fair trading conducted a study and found serious concerns over the way estate agents serve the public.The consumer group Which? has also conducted research and found evidence of serious violations of the law and a massive 50% of consumers voicing dissatisfaction over the service received from their estate agent. They said:

“Consumers entering the home-buying or selling process are substantially disadvantaged by the way estate agents currently operate”

Now, in fairness there are some great estate agents out there but they seem to be hard to find. Will you be lucky enough to uncover a good agent? Are you prepared to pay 1.5 – 2.5% +VAT (i.e. the price of a new kitchen) to find out?

So what it the alternative??

One of the more popular alternatives if you need a quick sale is using a specialist home buying company to help you. They can purchase your property directly from you with out the need to go through an estate agent.

Sell Fast to Cash Buyers & “Sell and Rent Back” Specialists

First things first, it is important that you understand that using a specialist property buying company should only be considered if your need to sell property quickly is greater than your need to sell for the best price.

Typically you find yourself in need of house buying specialist if:

  1. You are in financial difficulties
  2. You are being threatened with repossession
  3. You would like to sell your property & rent it back
  4. Your chain has collapsed and you’re totally desperate to sell
  5. You need money quickly and remortgaging is not an option
  6. Bereavement or divorce means you need to move-on as quickly as possible
  7. You’ve inherited property that you want to cash-in quickly
  8. You’re emigrating and your property is proving difficult to sell

How Quickly Can Cash Property Buyers Act?

Exchange of contracts can take anywhere between a few days and 3- 4 weeks. Completion can then be fixed to suit you but the norm is completion within 3-4 weeks.

How Much Can You Expect to Sell for?

Anywhere between 75-85% of your properties open market value (80% is the average but it will depend on the property and market conditions). Open market value is the price a property would sell on the open market within 3 months. This is typically less than the price estate agents advertise properties at as they expect to make offers.

So, the main service home buyer service can offer you is speed and a guaranteed sale.

Certainty and speed are rare commodities when selling property. For this service you have to be willing to sell at a discount. That is why they will buy your property between 75%-85% if its market value.

What other benefits can these companies provide?

A good company will offer to:

  1. Pay your legal fees (up to GBP 500 which normally covers
  2. them all)
  3. Pay any survey and valuation fees
  4. Allow you to stay in the property after selling (rent back)
  5. Meet their promises on price and completion date
  6. Adhere to some Code of Practice from a recognized body such as the National Association of Sale and Rent Back (NASRB).

A Word of Warning!

Beware of any company that does not offer the benefits above. Some companies charge for valuation fees regardless whether they buy the property or not. Also beware of companies that string you along and then reduce their offer at the last minute when you are at your most desperate.

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: Business and Economy, Estate agent, Market value, Office of Fair Trading, Property, quick home buyers, quick home sale, quick house sale, Real Estate, rent back, sell and rent back, sell home quick

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Categories

Sites to Visits

pool leak detection – colin irons is the leader in pool repair and replacement

Recent Posts

  • How to Use and Maintain a Moroccan Rug
  • Bathroom Remodeling Requires A Plan Before Taking Any Actions
  • How To Update Your Kitchen Without Spending A Fortune?
  • Four Awesome Ways To Get Rid Of Stretch Marks
  • Boutique Real Estate: How Stephen Finfer and Others Are Revolutionizing the L.A. Housing Market
  • Improve Your Home With Window Furniture
  • The Male Guide To Jewellery

Recent Comments

  • The start of another Staycation — Home and Garden Diva on I can’t believe I have Arthritis in my knee
  • Making Sure Your Garden Is Safe This Summer — You are in My World Now on Keeping Your Pool Area Safe, Comfortable And Fun For All The Family!
  • Nicola Jackson on Turn Your House Into A Home By Making It As Comfortable As Possible To Live In
  • will on Turn Your House Into A Home By Making It As Comfortable As Possible To Live In
  • The Diva on Eight Tips For Home Office Design
  • The Diva on I think we need to do more renovations
  • Home and Garden Blogger on I think we need to do more renovations

Subscribe

Subscribe to our RSS Feed - FREE!
Subscribe by Email. It's FREE!
Follow me on Twitter!

Traffic Stats

0fdbcc8c9b8460df11a3387ae0a92e72-332

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Tags

basement bed bedroom clean cleaning clutter dog exercise family fitness flowers friends Furniture garden Health help home house husband ideas Kitchen laptop Lighting money Music neighborhood neighbors party plants room Shopping sick skin spring summer tips tired Toronto Travel tv Vacation walking warm winter work

Pages

  • About
  • Archive
  • Become a Guest Blogger For Home and Garden Diva
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Links
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in