http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog-feed BuyAssociation Blog en-gb http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/images/en/BA-logo-with-wording-small.jpg http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog-feed http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/why-has-property-played-no-part-in-the-election-0095.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/why-has-property-played-no-part-in-the-election-0095.html Tue, 4th May 2010
Of course, there are various parts to housing policy and property that tie into different parts of the issues in the campaign, but it is amazing that with property still one of the main obsessions of the British public, how little clear policy we have had on the subject. This is even more serious when you think of the huge issues we face in property over the course of the next Parliament.

Without even thinking of addressing the property bubble that at least partially caused the curren…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/busman-s-property-holiday-0091.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/busman-s-property-holiday-0091.html Tue, 26th Jan 2010
The particular development we saw this weekend was built by Countryside Properties, but that is as much detail as I’ll give you for now – partly because I’m slightly interested in buying… Suffice to say that this was the first weekend the plots had been released to the public, so there were plenty of other house hunters on the scene.

The reason this is interesting and pertinent to a blog, is that the property we saw was possibly the first time I have walked into a new-build house in the UK and felt that there was some real though…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/agent-anguish-0088.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/agent-anguish-0088.html Mon, 17th Aug 2009
While most of the tabloid press is happy to continue to entertain this idea for the consumption of the general public at large, from my position working in the property industry, I am able to see the best and worst of the profession. There are estate agents out there who are superb – many of them go above and beyond what is required of them to help their customers on both sides of the sale, much of it unmentioned and unrecognized.

However, there are plenty of incidents of estate agents being u…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/up-or-down-0083.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/up-or-down-0083.html Mon, 18th May 2009
Not only does this bring into question the very usefulness of releasing statistics in the first place (particularly if those figures are accompanied by a ready-made interpretation of what they mean), but they could also be said to have discernable effect on the state of the market itself. In some cases, surveys and their findings can turn into self-fulfilling prophecy. Take for example the end of 2008, when numerous surveys of consumers said that confidence in the property market was running it historically low levels. Reading that over cornflakes in the morning will have made many people less optimistic about property than they were beforehand, therefore decr…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/ftbs-bounce-back-0064.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/ftbs-bounce-back-0064.html Fri, 28th Nov 2008
Now, before we get carried away with things, I’m not about to predict the great resurrection of the property boom in the next six months, but reports are beginning to point to, bear with me here, a beginning of a slowing in the rate of property price falls. I know, as profound statements of the positive go, this doesn’t give you much.

Numerous websites and blogs have been reporting that there are more first-time buyers in the market now than has been the case for many months. Granted, most of these reports will have been generated from the same piece of research, but the reports are out there, nonetheless. It appears that many of those looking to make their fir…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/how-bad-will-it-get-0061.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/how-bad-will-it-get-0061.html Tue, 28th Oct 2008
Property markets, like most others, are cyclical. The nature of the market means there is a significant human factor involved in the decision-making process. That leaves the whole structure of the market open to fashions, opinions, trends, and more than anything else at the moment, confidence. If buyers have confidence they will buy, if sellers have confidence they will hold out for the price they want, rather than throwing in the towel early for fear of putting off anyone who is remotely interested in buying their property.
http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/the-knock-on-effect-0060.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/the-knock-on-effect-0060.html Fri, 10th Oct 2008
Anyone who is invested in the stock market will be having kittens every time they check the prices (or just the headlines) in the papers, as this morning’s 10 per cent opening plummet in the FTSE 100 will testify. Anyone with savings, pensions or a mortgage will be checking numbers, rates and the health of relevant institutions regularly. Most will be hoping that the worldwide cut in interest rates will be passed on to mortgage customers in full, though interestingly, Northern Rock was slow to announce any such plans, despite being state-owned.

However, the crisis is also starting to drive other types of company out of business…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/the-mythical-buyer-0057.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/the-mythical-buyer-0057.html Thu, 21st Aug 2008
While this is not intended to be a rant on the nature of personal responsibility and free will, no matter how much a journo might try to encourage a certain response from an individual, that person is still the one putting pen to paper on the mortgage application, sales contract, or agreement for another credit card.

At the same time, it behoves anyone who writes for public consumption to take some time to reflect on the influences and effects of their scribbles, and we can often find ourselves changing our opinion through thinking about how our words might be interpreted.

I was listening to a couple of business experts on the radio this morning discussing the state of t…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/i-think-i-ve-lost-my---fingerprints-0054.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/i-think-i-ve-lost-my---fingerprints-0054.html Fri, 18th Jul 2008
A potential saviour of the drunken, forgetful, or just plain unfortunate is about to become reality for property buyers in leafy Surrey, as the first development to use solely biometric identification as a method of door entry goes on sale. Estate agent Townends is selling apartments at Guildford House in Surbiton which do not come with keys to the front door – all you need is a standard-issue fingerprint.

Obviously, this is much more convenient than having to take a set of keys with you everywhere, but for the security-…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/eco-towns-not-so-green-0053.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/eco-towns-not-so-green-0053.html Tue, 8th Jul 2008
Above all, I get frustrated by the lack of leadership shown by the politicians in taking on green issues. Sure, Dave Cameron has a wind turbine on his house and cycles to work, as do many other Westminster bodies, and it is hard not to feel even a little amusement and admiration at seeing Boris Johnson baffooning his way across London through red lights and along pavements on his bicycle.

The problem is that most of these efforts are being undermined in the policies the politicians put forward in the endless chase for the popular vote. Britain is roc…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/confidence-high-0050.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/confidence-high-0050.html Mon, 23rd Jun 2008
Despite this, the National Association of Estate Agents last week said that confidence among first-time buyers (FTBs) was beginning to return, and that there were signs that this crucial market sector is less affected by the credit crunch than feared. New-build website SmartNewHomes.com surveyed FTBs and found that just 13 per cent had been put off by the current situation.

While it is true that the property market is going through a tough time, as, it seems, is almost every other industry sector in the world, there is a feeling among some analysts that we could be talking ourselves into an economic recession. Don’t get me wrong –…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/perfect-time-to-buy-0048.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/perfect-time-to-buy-0048.html Tue, 3rd Jun 2008
This morning I was struck by the tone, and even the headlines, of some of the releases that landed in my inbox – so much so that it has driven me to write this blog. Looking down a list of the releases that I received today, there are three that share virtually the same headline: Now is the perfect time to buy. On the same day, I received another two press releases about the fantastic deals that some developers are offering to first time buyers in the current market conditions. This, to me, seems to sum up the position that we find ourselves in with the somewhat parlous state of the economy.

Firstly, let’s d…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/transparent-government-0044.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/transparent-government-0044.html Wed, 21st May 2008
Arriving for a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street, housing minister Caroline Flint strode purposefully past the assembled press and photographers clutching her briefing notes in a transparent plastic folder, and in plain sight. Newspapers being what they are, the photographs were blown up and reconstructed to reveal the full details of what the minister would be telling her colleagues.

Now, there is no issue here with the documents being kept secret, of that they revealed anything about the UK housing economy that we didn’t alrea…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/reality-doesn-t-bite-yet-0042.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/reality-doesn-t-bite-yet-0042.html Mon, 12th May 2008
Confession time – I do live in an area that has some serious disposable income, and where the average salary is likely to be several times that of a humble property journalist. Even so, with mortgage approvals at a level so low as to make IFAs nervous, realism is just what the market needs to have at the moment.

My despair comes from the fact that I went to see some new apartments nearby last week in a renovation of an old art-deco style building. The finish is undoubtedly good, and it is clear that the properties are being targeted as much at buy-to-let investors as private buyers, given the fact that they sales agent had the projected rentals of all of the apartmen…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/bad--bad-buyers-0039.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/bad--bad-buyers-0039.html Fri, 18th Apr 2008
We have already seen the re-emergence of that wonderful practice, gazundering, when buyers make last minute demands for a discount and threaten to pull out of a sale and collapse the chain at the last moment. As prices continue to be under even more downward pressure in the majority of the country, buyers will be getting more aggressive in their negotiation tactics in order to secure themselves the best deal, and also to ward off the possibility that they could be left with negative equity when they buy and the market dips again.

Agencies in some parts of the country are already beginning to discount property that they see might be a degree overpriced, and have t…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/grand--empty-gestures-0037.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/grand--empty-gestures-0037.html Mon, 14th Apr 2008
In this same week, there have been two moves made ostensibly to encourage the property market. The sad thing is, neither of them are remotely likely to have any effect on reassuring buyers or promoting more transactions.

Firstly, banking giant HSBC announced that it will match the fixed-rate mortgage deals of its rivals to make life easier for the 1.4 million or so borrowers who will be coming to the end of their current agreements in the course of 2008.

This is a little bizarre, given that almost every other bank in the mortgage lending world has decided to cut back on the mortgages they approve by putting their rates at a level such as to only attract the most solid, dependable borrowers – the so-called ‘super-prime’ customers. The general fe…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/door-swinging-shut-faster-0030.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/door-swinging-shut-faster-0030.html Mon, 3rd Mar 2008
Perhaps it is all because I am, effectively, a first time buyer myself, but that seeing a way out of the woods of renting is increasingly difficult. At a time when the property market is said to be going through a tough time and prices are dropping in real terms (great phrase that one, a bit like ‘market correction’), there is news that not only is it almost impossible for FTBs to get a mortgage unless they are in a couple, rather than a single person, but that to gain access to the lower interest rates at one of the biggest mortgage lenders in the country, buyers need a deposit of around 25 per cent.

The market is tough for those without a property behind them, of…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/don-t-believe-all-you-read-0024.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/don-t-believe-all-you-read-0024.html Thu, 14th Feb 2008
But let’s not lump the whole industry in with that small minority of bad apples. Many agents are professional, courteous and have their clients’ best interests at heart. While I’m not going to start the violinists playing in the background of tales of woe and hard luck for the put-upon agent, this is a profession that is hard, competitive, stressful and involves long hours, endless chasing and admin, and weekend work.

Against this backdrop, I recently went on a viewing evening with a friend of mine looking at properties to rent in our local area of south-west London. You can imagine…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/finance-flusters-0022.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/finance-flusters-0022.html Wed, 6th Feb 2008
While I am well aware of the processes involved in getting a property of my own, the next stage is one that I don’t particularly relish – mortgages. A disturbing report recently suggested that British home buyers spend more time researching their summer holiday than they do on choosing financial products. Having started to look into the market myself as a buyer, this is not too much of a surprise.<…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/renting-or-buying-0016.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/renting-or-buying-0016.html Mon, 21st Jan 2008 first-time buyer are getting even more difficult, particularly if you are so insolent as to even try to live in a nice area.

It has emerged that, in order to get onto the property ladder in the university town of Cambridge with an average house, young buyers will need to have a household (you’d be lucky) salary in excess of £73,000. Not only is this one of the most expensive places in the UK for FTBs to try to lay their hat, but it will make many young people around the country depressed as to the state of their finances and their chances of getting somewhere to call their own anywhere in the near future.

The effect, you see, is not just in the monthly mortgage repayments that w…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/green-guilt-0014.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/green-guilt-0014.html Tue, 8th Jan 2008
I am a good person. I recycle as much as I can, going out of my way to do so, I turn down the thermostat in my house to avoid overheating, I buy as much food as I can afford to from a local farmer’s market (don’t get me started on how local food is more expensive than food grown in Argentina…). My car is old so I haven’t polluted the atmosphere with the production of a new model, and it does around fifty miles per gallon of fuel. I am also careful to use it only when there is a ‘need’ – I walk to the station every morning.
<…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/down-with-the-market-0010.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/down-with-the-market-0010.html Thu, 6th Dec 2007 torrid time in recent weeks and months, and with what many of the doomsayers point out is a significant watershed, prices fell for the third month in a row in November.

While there will be a huge amount of hand-wringing, coupled with a good bit of gloating, for some people at the long-heralded beginning of the end for the property boom, there are still plenty of people who are optimistic about the state of the market here in the UK.

The combined effects of the global credit crunch, the Northern Rock fiasco and the introduction of Home Information Packs a…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/dodgy-diy-dupes-buyers-0008.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/dodgy-diy-dupes-buyers-0008.html Fri, 30th Nov 2007 sell houses without paying for the professionals to do it, and then some people are even trying to pass off their mess as someone else’s fault!

Research from a leading home insurer has shown that over the past four years more than four million homebuyers in the UK have been misled by patchy DIY performed on properties in order for the sale to go through without any problems.

Those buyers have then discovered the true condition of their new property in the weeks and months following their purchase, and are forced to carry out remedial work.

At the same time, five and a half million people over the same period…]]> http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/ageism-0005.html http://www.buyassociation.co.uk/homes/blog/ageism-0005.html Wed, 21st Nov 2007 new developments and product launches with friends who are looking to buy in the near future. This means that up and down the country, I spend time ‘secret shopping’ around property developments.

As you can imagine, I see varying levels of service, and many different techniques to selling the properties on offer. Sometimes, the salesperson is professional and attentive, showing individual rooms and then leaving the group to wander alone. At the other end of the scale, there are some occasions when the salesperson is clearly less than enamoured with their lot, and barely looks up from desk/computer/sports pages/na…]]>