Housing market uncertainty - Graham Lock, Housenetwork.co.uk

Housing market uncertainty

In recent months I’ve been hearing rumours of a recovery in the housing market and a new “bubble” emerging in certain areas of the country whereby supply is limited and demand at record high levels.

Can it be true? What about the recession? And surely it’s too early to talk about another bubble emerging. With all this uncertainty people still have to move and there are opportunities out there.

My company sells property all over England and Wales and I have to agree that there’s been a huge increase in demand and new sales in the last 3 months, this has lead to support for house prices but my own concern is how much longer this will continue. With mortgage finance still hard to access for many and unemployment heading for 3 million it’s hard to be optimistic but even with these doubts in mind if you are thinking of moving then the fact is that now is as good a time as there’s been in the last 2 years.

Five top tips

For anyone considering an upwards move in the near future, here are my top 5 tips:

1 - If you are selling to help fund a move upwards then you must get your property on the market right away and at a price that is competitive but also gives you the finance needed to move, this is probably the trickiest part but my advice would be to market the property at the highest price possible whilst keeping an eye out on the competition, you don’t want to price yourself out of the market but at the same time if demand is this high then you want to achieve top dollar.

There’s no point in finding your perfect home, getting an offer accepted but then having to sell your own property, I see this time and time again and it always ends in heartbreak because whilst you are trying to sell your own property someone else comes along in a more advanced position and you lose out on that dream home. Get your own property under offer and then you have a better idea of your budget and it makes you a serious buyer in the eyes of any estate agent.

2 - Remember buying a home for most of us is a long term investment and we move on average every 7 years so although house prices are up and down at the moment eventually the market will settle and inevitably prices will begin to rise.

3 - Many people complain that they have to take a drop in their asking price but this doesn’t have to be a bitter pill to swallow, if you do take a reduced offer then work out the percentage drop and apply it to the property you are buying. Due to the increase in property price that you are buying you’re pound for pound better off anyway. In this market vendors are flexible and to complete a chain many will accommodate a price reduction if necessary.

4 - Fix your mortgage rate. If you have sufficient equity in your home then look for the best fixed deals on the market, although the base rate is low the banks are not interested in lending money at 0.5% interest so the rate you fix will be higher than that but at least you know your monthly payments and are not gambling on rates staying low. The way I see it is that rates cannot go much lower and therefore the only way is up – if this happens and you are on a variable rate then there could be some nasty surprises in store. Stay on a fixed rate and then you know if there is a downturn in the market you can ride out the storm.

5 - Move quickly. Get the deal done as soon as you can, this will prevent any hesitation from your seller or your buyer, in these uncertain economic times people get spooked by nasty headlines and depressing news bulletins so the quicker the deal is done the less chance there is of someone pulling out. Many chains collapse once they begin to drag on and people get cold feet. Agree to exchange contracts ASAP to avoid losing out on survey and legal fees that you can be liable for even if the sale does not complete. From the moment a chain is complete and offers accepted aim for a maximum of 12 weeks to exchange contracts. Once contracts are exchanged then the deal is done and you can then set a comfortable completion date with the knowledge that the deal is legally binding.

Graham Lock

Graham Lock, MNAEA, is co-founder of www.housenetwork.co.uk, a low cost nationwide estate agency which to date has sold over 2,700 properties using online marketing methods only whilst disregarding local newspaper advertising www.housenetwork.co.uk