MOVE OR IMPROVE?
At the airport picked up a magazine called
'Move or Improve'. Never seen it before so I will a little skeptical on the value of its contents. Although it it a little more expensive than say Sarah Beeny's Property Ladder, I would say it's well worth it.
It concentrates on what will add value to your home (and what won't). It goes through quite a few case histories of successful renovations, cost breakdowns, floorplans and most importantly the address books of the labour and materials used.
Packed full of handy hints and tips that will definitely make my goal more attainable.
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PARTNERS IN CRIME? OR WOE?
Happened across this blog whilst I was lazily trawling the web...as you do. Came across someone just like me. I'm sure there are millions of other First Time Buyers just like me...but it's not everyone's cup of tea to put their thoughts in a blog.
So a big warm 'hiya' to
Longpier who wrote about 5 posts in one day! His (or her) first post caught my eye:
Hello!
It's likely that nobody else will read this blog.
There's too many already out there. It doesn't really matter though.
This is a blog to chart the ins and outs, the ups and downs and the trials and tribulations of finding my first home.
Awwwww....I FEEL EXACTLY THE SAME!
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HOW HEALTHY ARE YOUR FINANCES?
Do you really know? Can you put a figure on it? Up till now, I could only vaguely estimate my outgoings for each month.
The Money Saving Expert has an excellent
budget planner spreadsheet. Extremely easy to use and tells you at the click of a button how healthy your finances are. Are you in the green or in the red?
I was shocked at how much money (including utlities and other expenses you just can't avoid)trickles (or more like gushes) out the door each month. Add on top of this the 'little' luxuries you just can't seem to do without.
You need all of your bills at hand and a calculator. Took me about three hours to do it properly, but it was well worth the effort.
I would encourage you to do the same. Otherwise, how will you truely know how much you can afford for a mortgage - realistically.
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UK INTEREST RATES STAY AT 4.5%
What a relief! Catch the BBC article
here.
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£1 MILLION HOMES HIT ALL TIME HIGH
According to figures from the Land Registry, a whopping 10 homes worth £1 million are being sold everyday.
Not exactly useful information for a small-time first time home buyer like myself (and like many other people out there), but it does lead towards the conclusion that confidence in the market is back, says
Rightmove.
In Kensington and Chelesa the average price of a terraced house is an unreachable (for me) £1.7 million....
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HOW TO FIND HONEST, REPUTABLE TRADESMEN
I think we can all agree that finding a honest trademan is as easy as trying to pick up a hard boiled egg on a flat plate with a pair of chopsticks. Not impossible. But it's bloody hard. It is possible to find a diamond in the rough in one of two ways: pure luck or by recommendation.
I've come across this fantastic website which takes the work out of the latter.
The Tradesmen Directory:-
The London Tradesmens Directory is an online database of tradespeople recommended by members of the public, and its intention is to provide the general public with a permanent source of reliable tradespeople from all disciplines.
The website is divided into geographical postcode areas covering London and the M25 and within that, into the various trades. Each tradesperson has a comprehensive write up to explain clearly the service they offer.
The website is advertised weekly in the Evening Standard Really Useful Column and also throughout other media in London, reaching well over one million people a week.
Inclusion on the website is open ONLY to those tradesmen who have been independently recommended by members of the public and The London Tradesmens Directory reserves the right to refuse or cancel membership to anyone it considers unsuitable.
Another well-respected organisation is the Federation of Master Builders where there is a link here to find your desired tradesman/woman. With finding a FMB member, you have the comfort of knowing should you not be happy for whatever reason at all, there is a complaint section within the FMB, where they will investigate the complaint and attempt to resolve it. If not, they will involve an independent third party to resolve the dispute. And you will be extra smug if your particular trademan, if not deemed worthy, is removed from the FMB register. On top of this, it is possible to buy a 10-year, insurance backed MasterBond warranty - always helpful if you're at all worried the roof will cave in as soon as your builder cashes in his cheque.
Trustmark is a new consumer help organisation. TrustMark's approved scheme operators (which include trade associations, certification schemes and commercial organisations) check the performance of their registered firms. If a firm is TrustMark-registered, it is working to a code of practice set down by an approved scheme operator and standards that should give you greater confidence and protection. They aim to ensure you receive a good standard of workmanship and that any complaint will be treated fairly if there is a problem. If you are unhappy with the service you have received from a TrustMark-registered firm, they provide a service to deal with your complaint. The only problem with Trust Mark is that they are still in their infancy and therefore will need only time to build up a good database.
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HOW TO AVOID PAYING STAMP DUTY
Unless your property is worth less than £60 000 (good luck finding that around London), there is another way.
Unfortunately it's not going to be in a desirable area. But if you're willing to take some risk and have bucket loads of vision - it could possibly be desirable in a decade or so (look at Battersea).
Hence there are some 'disadvantaged areas' (defined by local council wards) where they will waiver the stamp duty up to a value of £150 000.
Where is this desirable list? Check out
Inland Revenue.
I checked it out and surprisingly there are areas like Wandsworth, Chelsea and Kensington, Tower Hamlets, Southwark included....but the thing is...are there any property left in these areas below £150 000?
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STAMP DUTY
Stamp duty unfortunately is a reality. So when budgeting and working out the range of prices you're willing to pay for a property you have to take in account the unseen fees that accompany purchasing a property.
Currently the stamp duty stands at:
Up to and including £60 000 - duty paid, NIL
Over £60 000, but not more than £250 000 - duty paid, 1%
Over £250 000, but not more than £500 000 - duty paid, 3%
Over £500 000 - duty paid, 4%
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HOW DO YOU FIND A MORTGAGE?
Before anyone contemplates hunting for a property, one should apply for a mortgage. 
This way not only can you work out exactly how much you can borrow, but this also puts you in a strong position when you make an offer on a property.
Ask the lender for an
Approval in Principal. Many companies will provide a certificate for a certain length of time. This basically shows that the lender is prepared to lend you money subject to their valuation of whatever property you choose.
This also has an added advantage of proving to the estate agent and seller that you mean business and have the money to back it up.
Martin from Money Saving Expert has an excellent article on how to find the best mortgage for you.
Generally the advice is to go to an independent financial advisor. Don’t just go to the high street or to the bank you have your dosh in. Of course they’re going to say that their product is best.
According to Martin, most IFA brokers will claim that they will scour the entire UK mortgage market to find the best deal for you. But unfortunately there is a loophole (isn’t there always?). Brokers only have to scour the UK market for top mortgage deals every two months – then they can claim ‘whole of market’status. Disgusting isn’t it? Of course in this day and age where competitors are moving quadruple time, once every two months ain’t going to find you the best deal.
Never fear – Martin has done his homework (bless him). First ask your IFA broker – “can you at this minute, find the best deal for me in the UK market?”
If not – run away fast.
There are a few fee-free, truly ‘whole of the market’ brokers out there. Martin recommends the top ones - Charcol, Savills, Chase de Vere Mortgages and London & Country. The first three operate face to face, whilst London and Country operates solely by phone. London and Country has scored a phenomenal number of awards in the recent years – most recent is wining the 2005 Best Overall Mortgage Broker in the Mortgage Introducer Broker Awards. Best Mortgage IFA in 2005 in the Money Marketing Financial Services Awards – to name just a few.
Having said all of that, some lenders don’t offer their products through brokers. Therefore ‘whole of the market’ do not include them. These lenders are HSBC, Egg, Yorkshire and Britannia Building Societies and Cahoot. So it would be wise to go to each of these lenders, ask what is the best deal they can do for you, then compare this with what your broker of choice came up with.
Mortgage Genie is an enterprising website that does not give mortgage advice like an IFA. Rather it gives you up to 50% of the commission it earns if you process the mortgage through them. So Martin advises, why not use a fee-free broker for advice, then process the mortgage via Mortgage Genie! Very cheeky I guess. But if the broker firm wanted to stay truly competitive, it should match or better Mortgage Genie’s offer.
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LUNAR ECLIPSE
Did anyone catch the lunar eclipse today?
Yeah neither did I....too damn cloudy...maybe Splutty did....
Here's a target. By the next lunar eclipse I'll have my first property.
Crap....when is the next one?.....
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FIRST TIME PROPERTY BUYERS – IS IT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM?
If you’re a First Time Property Buyer, like myself, it can be a confusing time. Is How do we weigh all of this information up?
From all the conflicting messages sprouting out from the government, media, financial institutions, estate agents the conclusion is – nobody knows. Also it’s hard to believe anyone of them – they all have an hidden agenda for whatever their cause is. And believe me, their agenda doesn’t include you nor me.
I’ve spent the last 5 years waiting for the right moment and do you know what I’ve learnt? It’s never a right time to buy. (Unless you find yourself in a situation with a beenie jammed on your head, your fists hot with garbage bags full of cash, outside a bank). It never will be if you listen to certain people. I’ve decided to employ that overused adage – “Carpe Diem”. Do your research, know your area well and then buy wisely. London might go into cyclical activity when it comes to historical prices...but there’s probably one thing for certain – that trend is definitely upwards. Good thing if you're buying with a long-term selling goal.
So don’t be afraid when you see articles like this in The Times
Loveable rogues?
Anne Ashworth, The Times Property Editor
The average asking price for a London home is now £300,719, a record amount. This figure comes from Rightmove, a property website. At Propertyfinder, another website, the average asking price is only a little less at £298,000.
There is also not much consolation to be had from the average selling price of £289,000. Based on this figure (for which the Land Registry is responsible), the first-time buyer who has contrived to save a 10 per cent deposit would still need a mortgage of £260,100. If you get a 4.99 per cent fixed-rate 25-year loan, this means repayments of £1,480 a month. As you pay a mortgage out of taxed income, you need to earn about £1,900 gross (before tax) to meet this commitment if you are a basic-rate taxpayer.
However, an increasing number of first-time buyers are said to opting for 35-year loans. The repayments on a £260,100 loan of this type drop to a slightly more affordable £1,270. Will the next new thing be the 40-year mortgage?
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RUBBISH ANYONE?
The Sunday Times on the 26th March 2006 had an excellent article which hopefully the information provided I will be requiring soon. OK I can't really see it happening in the next 3 months as I have yet to buy a property...but hopefully other people out there will find this useful.
If you live in Kensington and Chelsea, your council has a "Too big for the bin" scheme. It collects household items (including cookers) for a flat fee of £20.50 for up to 10 items
Or you can avail of the services of Top Skip, one of the largest skip brokers in the country. It will cost an average of £135 for up to 21 days...don't forget to apply for a parking permit too!
Any Junk? will give you an approximate quote over the phone and then an exact price when they actually reach your property. Prices start at £47 for one-eightth of a truck and go up to £255 for a full truck (equivalent to 12 cubic yards).
Ecojunk is based in Camden. A truck arrives at your doorstep with two men. They give you an estimate based on weight. If you agree, they load your junk up and away they go. Minimum charge is £45 going up to £249 for a fully loaded truck.
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HOW MUCH IS THAT PROPERTY REALLY WORTH?
Well judging from the BBC programme about cheating estate agents, it looks like we're all alone in the property game. Estate agents are the ones who tell us how much the property is worth. But now we have to take everything they say with a pinch of salt (in Foxtons' case - a whole truck full).
So how do we do this?
Well the best way to get a rough idea, is to see what other similar properties on the same street sold for. A rough estimate only, but if the property that the agent wants to plug you is £50 000 more dearer...smell a rat.
You should scan your estate agents windows looking for prices of similar properties in that area. But remember the prices displayed here are what the estate agents hopes to achieve, not the price it actually sells at.
To know what they truely sell for, let your fingers to the walking online.
Land Register Online can provide you with the copies of title registers and title plans all downloadable in PDF format. The title register includes ownership details and, for most properties which have changed hands since April 2000, the property price information. If not registered...no info. Downsides of this website is that you can only make a enquiry between Mon to Sat 7am to 12 midnight. You can still browse at other times. Another bummer is that they charge £2 for information needed.
My House Price is a database that charges £1 for every enquiry and what you get is just the property price only. They do however offer discount packages.
Our Property claims to have the largest database of English, Welsh and Scottish properties bought since 1st April 2000. I don't seem to get many fruitful results from their search engines though. A free service.
Net House Prices is a very easy to use service which I favour above the two above. And it's free! It also contains very helpful links on local schools, flooding risk and crime rates in your area of interest. A search option is also included to look for property avaliable to buy. I did a search on the place we're renting out at the moment and it was amazing (and shocking) to see the price leaps from year to year.
In all of the above services, registration normally takes place approximately 3 months after the property gets sold.
Property price checks can also be invaluable information for people wanting to buy property for the sole purpose of renovating for a profit. It can show up the ceiling price for that particular type of property on a certain street. The ceiling price is the highest price achieved for a similar property in the same area. Hence what you do to your property has to be pretty special for it to break that ceiling price.
Credit for the above information must be given to Sarah Beeny's book 'Property Ladder'. Her first ever book spawned from her TV series 'Property Ladder'. 
I'm also an avid reader of the magazine in which she is the assistant editor...guess what...it's called 'Property Ladder'currently at its 5th issue.
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MEET MARTIN - THE MONEY SAVING EXPERT
This blog would not be doing you justice if you haven't met Martin - The Money Saving Expert. A great friend at work introduced him to me end of last year - and I have truely never looked back since.
It's a website jammed packed with money saving ideas. Martin started out as a journalist and thought it was a great idea to email money saving tips to his close friends. Soon he realised that his friends were forwarding his tips to their other friends. Hence the need to spread the work with his website.
His website is unusual in that it is 'Free To Use, Ad Free, Independent, Unbiased and Journalistic.' His words. Another one of his catch phrases which I love is "Companies try to screw us for profits. MoneySaving shows you how to screw them back."
And he is true to his word...check it out and subscribe to his emailing service. You won't regret it.
Martin is now a bit of a celebrity in his own right. He has his own book 'The Money Diet'. Haven't bought it...but if you have tell me if it's good. To tell the truth, his website is so jammed full of information, I don't actually see the need to buy it yet.
He has his own weekly Guardian column, talks about once a month on Radio 2, and even has his own ITV 1 series 'Make Me Rich'. Haven't seen it so can't comment on it.
Even without these flashy trimmings, I'm a huge fan of his site and trust his judgement implicitly. God knows how he finds so many good deals. Admittedly he has a huge fan base, who in the forums, between them all, come up with some zinger deals.
He knows how to write honestly, clearly and (for us simpletons) - simply....no horse shit.
What does this have to do about Property? Check out his section on 'Mortgages and Homes' I'll be referring to it when I come to my next few posts.
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GET A MORTGAGE AND SOLICITOR
This all has to be done before I start viewing property. But to be honest I've started looking already. The reason why people advise to get these things sorted first is because in a fast-moving market (which apparently is where we're at now), there is no time to wait for stragglers.
Preference is given to people who have
no chain,that is, they do not have to depend on selling any other property before they can move onto the next one. Also it helps a lot if you have scouted out a solicitor before hand and have had your mortgage approved.
You don't want to put in an offer only to have it gazumped by someone else, whilst you're scrambling around like a ninny.
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I THINK I'M GOING BLIND
Ihad three days off work. In case you're interested my job has absolutely nothing to do with property. I can't tell you what I do...ethics are involved...and I am a stickler for ethics unlike those bloody Foxton con artists!
So spent the last three days surfing the net trying to get a handle on this property situation. I've scoured and cut out articles from various property sections of newspapers. I've bought property magazines.
What have I learnt? It's a mine field out there. Full of pot-holes, barbed wire, sniping rotweilers, and the occasional exploding mine. One false move...and it could be your last.
Just joking....
About the barbed wire, that is.
The good news is....deep breath....I think it is doable....
Tiny steps.
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DOWN WITH FOXTONS!
Ive always suspected it – and now there is irrefutable proof. BBC reporter Anna Adams set off with two other colleagues to work undercover to expose real estate agents for the fraudsters they are. Foxtons, being one of the giants in the real estate game was targeted. And rightly so. Foxtons sure didn’t get where they are now with their fancy Minis and cafe/bar stye offices with plasma screens by being honest.
If you didn’t get to watch BBC One tonight at nine, read Anna’s version of it online
here.
Watched it tonight and found it shocking, chilling and disheartening. Basically she went undercover as a real estate agent and taped activity and conversation with a hidden camera. We trust real estate agents implicitly to represent you honestly, whether you’re buying or selling. What Anna and her team exposed were ruthless dishonesty and bullying techniques.
During her three month employment with Foxtons in Notting Hill she uncovered the following offences (and this is only a few):
- Putting in false offers
- Deliberately quoting sellers more than what their property is actually worth.
- Forging landlords’ signatures (affectionately called ‘chop-chop’)
- Obtaining confidential information, like what your actual earnings are, from Alexander Hall, an independent mortgage company. Incidentally, Alexander Hall is owned by the same man who owns Foxtons, Jon Hunt.
- Deliberately bullying buyers into putting in offers quickly by telling them falsely that they will lose the property to another fictional interested party.
Grrrrr……just writing about this is making me nuts. Incidentally, I know this is a food review blog, but I feel some responsibility to make sure that everyone who didn’t see the TV documentary or didn’t read the article knows what is going on and doesn’t get scammed.
Foxtons weren’t the only ones in the firing line. Time2Move, a very small real estate agency was exposed as deceitful and sly. Bruce Burkitt, the owner of Time2Move, lied to owners to try to get them to reduce their selling price, for a quicker sale. Anna was actually ‘found out’ by Bruce Burkitt from Time2Move. Basically he became paranoid and flipped through her mobile text messages (who does that?) and discovered one from her BBC colleague also researching the story. It was really funny to see him backstepping and saying that he was only saying all that unscrupulous stuff to ‘feel her out’.
A real estate agent working in Chard, Fulham was willing to accept money on the sly from the buyer and in return he would bring the seller down his asking price by £50 000.
Primetime Mortgage and Property in north London provided the reporters with fake wage slips, forged utility bills and more shockingly passports. In this way it is very possible to get an umemployed person with no money a mortgage. Unbelievably daring.
Three cheers and more for Anna Adams and her crew. A very courageous deed she has done for the greater benefit of all. Jon Hunt is issuing law suits against them, but I can’t see that going far. What he and his company has done is no different from con artists/criminals in fancy suits and a professional front. A scam that has gone on too far and for too long.
I’m sure Foxtons aren’t the only ones. I’m sure all real estate agents tell lies to varying degrees. I do think that Foxtons are the only ones willing to ‘stretch the truth’ more so than other companies – otherwise how else are they so rich and powerful? The aggressive bullying atmosphere in Foxtons is generated by the push to meet sales targets. Losers are meant to feel like losers (wearing comical dummy hats) and winners are awarded with high-fives and champagne.
We’re actually trying to look for a house. After seeing this programme I feel really disgruntled and lost. The question is, which real estate agent can we be more likely to trust? How do we prevent ourselves from getting royally screwed over? Be careful everyone.
I look forward to the following weeks to see how this programme will affect the property market. Agencies like Foxtons are the ones responsible for pushing up the prices of property. No wonder now the average price of a property in London has crept up to £300 000! All real estate agents will now have to be on their toes and be on their best behaviour. No one is safe. Hopefully this brave undercover story by Anna Adams will unleash massive reforms in the real estate industry and bring them under scrutiny by external agencies. Make them more regulated, conform to a certain standard. Have them be regularly ‘surprise’ inspected by external independent organisations. Do something to stop the greatest con of all.
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BUDDING PROPERTY DEVELOPER?
Iused to work for a large government-run organisation (felt stifled and unappreciated) and then made the big leap (took a lot of guts) to work for a small private company. Much happier now and my creative thoughts are now free to wander.
Like most people out there, I've spent countless hours watching programmes like 'Property Ladder' (Sarah Beeny is my personal idol) and 'Grand Designs'. I would alternate between rages of fury - "those bloody idiots! Do they really think flashy pink bathrooms complete with disco balls will sell?" to bouts of jealousy "I can't believe they sold that property with £60 000 profit!"
So probably 5 years over-due, I've decided to do something about my woeful inactivity, my laziness and overwhelming inertia. I know there are like a billion other people just like me out there.
I ain't rich and I ain't that smart. But hopefully with a bit of research (OK a lot), common-sense, resourcefullness, and just plain hard yakka I will achieve my goal.
My own personal goal at the moment is to find a place for us to live in. Let's just start there for a moment. It doesn't make sense to pay someone else for the privilege to stay in their property. They get richer and I stay....well I stay exactly the same....inert....stuck....on a road going nowhere.....
It takes balls and let's face it.....it takes money to generate more money.....
Here we go.........
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PROPERTY LADDER...it's a long way up
If you''ve happened across this website thinking you were going to glean invaluable knowledge on how to claw your way up the property ladder rungs with seamless ease...you are sadly mistaken. If you know of such a website - please tell me. No, this website has been set up to collect information, organise my thoughts and generally clear up the clutter that is rapidly suffocating my mind.
If you've never bought a property before...then we have something in common.
If you live in the UK....we can bond over tea and scones.
If you live in London....you are (if the wind direction is just right) probably within spitting distance of me.
There is so much information on the internet, TV, books and magazines about property development....the success stories, the horrible failures, financing, renovating, decorating....arrrrhhhh....it just hurts my head thinking about it!
If you're just as confused and bamboozled as I am....join me here and join each heart-wrenching step as I come closer and closer to buying our first property, renovating it and then hopefully selling it. Maybe we can all learn something together.
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