29/01/2016 By property

Sell my home faster

. Many people find themselves with their home on the market for months at a time before any interest at all. Then when something seems promising it often doesn’t transpire. This makes you feel downhearted and anxious. However in many cases, it is simple things that can prevent you from getting a quick house sale or even managing to get prospective buyers through the door to view your home. From décor to the environment or outstanding repairs, there are many things can easily put buyers off and delay a quick sale of your home.

Evaluating your home and making changes to make your property more attractive, can be the difference between your property remaining on the market for months or achieving your full asking price. This allows you to move forward and potentially make a profit. Depending on your reasons for selling your home, it may seem pointless spending money on repairs or making your home look attractive to buyers as you’re leaving anyway. You could of course choose to sell your home as it is; but this is likely to take much longer and result in much less monetary value. You can first contact your local estate agents: mainly, to find out what the maximum potential value is of your home. The value will give you an idea of what you could achieve.

It is needless to spend thousands of pounds on your property and start building extensions. However, you can certainly make a huge difference with a relatively little effort. Begin by ensuring the exterior is inviting. That is, grass and shrubs are tidy, paintwork is fresh and windows are clean. Never turn up a property that is overgrown with the curtains drawn. It’s all about opening up your home and making it bright and welcoming. When it comes to the interior of your home, make sure small repairs are done, it is clean and tidy. Consider giving everywhere a lick of paint, and remove any clutter or excess furniture which will help to open up your home and make it appear spacious and inviting. Moreover, think about when to put your home on the market as certain times of the year are better than others. Often selling a property in spring happens faster than during winter. When you do get viewings booked, ensure the property is free of pets, there are no odd smells and everything is clean and tidy. It is also a good idea to get advice from friends or neighbours who can help point out anything that can be done to improve the appeal of your home. Before you know it you will have offers pouring in!

26/01/2016 By property

Handling empty homes

Being in charge of empty homes could be challenging. At times it costs thousands of pounds in repair bills; need a keep up with energy and utility bills, mortgage payments and much more. Occasionally, a property can remain empty for lengthy periods of time, owing to a number of reasons. Landlords may be struggling to find tenants, a property owner may have passed away or perhaps a property is in a bad state of repair and is too dangerous for anybody to reside in it unless major work is carried out to restore it. Whatever the reasons are, it is a good idea to try and bring it back to its original state particularly as there is such a housing shortage within the UK. So whether you look to invest in developing the property or aim to get a quick house sale, it is important to deal with your empty property as soon as possible to avoid further on-going costs.

Firstly, you will need to investigate the problems the property may have. Whether you are aware of existing problems or you have just inherited a property, a home survey is a good start which can help to identify any underlying issues that need resolving. This is a good idea whether you choose to live in the property yourself, rent it out or put your home on the market. If you are on a tight budget, there may be help you can get from government schemes as well as asking friends to help with general maintenance. If you own the property outright, it may be worth considering getting a re-mortgage to help pay for any major repairs, which in the long run may help to avoid making a loss due to the state of the property. Otherwise you could opt to get a secured loan, or enlist volunteers to help with heavier work. If you are unsure or need advice, you can contact your local council or speak with an independent property or financial advisor who can help advise you with regards to budgeting or any help that may be available to you. While your property is empty you may be entitled to a discount on your council tax, so it is also worth checking as this could be economical.

Once your property is in a good state of repair you can then opt to rent it out which can help to recover some of the cost of repairs through rental income or put your home on the market. You could also consider marketing the property yourself in order to get a fast house sale which could also help to avoid fees from estate agents. However if you feel you are unable to carry out any repairs at all, you can still opt to sell the property in the state it is in. You may obviously make less money but you can then invest that money into a savings scheme and begin earning interest on it rather than having your property stood empty for any length of time. Often, you could sell property quick within a matter of weeks.

22/01/2016 By property

Primary Steps to Sort out Repossession

With the recent adjustments in house pricing and the economy, many people have been faced with the possibility of repossession in the last few years. This owes to the inability to keep up repayments on property mortgage. With the rising cost of energy bills and many people struggling with increased mortgage payments, it has resorted to many homeowners falling behind with their mortgage payments. If you find yourself in this position, the mortgage companies will try and come to alternative arrangements before resorting to repossession but this doesn’t make the situation any easier as it can be incredibly stressful and cause many problems in other aspects of your life.

When facing financial problems, it is important to communicate with your mortgage lender immediately. Early communication and making them aware of your situation can help to avert a possibility of losing your home, through reaching a payment agreement. Several factors can lead to financial problems other than house prices or changes in the economy. The two main factors among them, being a broken up relationship or loss of a job leading to repossession. A sudden change of some factors can mean that what was once manageable suddenly becomes unaffordable.

When people take out their first mortgage, they often tend to opt for a fixed rate deal within a limited span of time. The deal serves as security for a short time span. However, once it has elapsed you will find yourself faced with a large rise in the monthly mortgage payment, specifically if the base rate increases. Luckily, this isn’t a problem lately as Standard Variable Rates have seen a continuous reduction due to the drop in the Bank of England base rate.

There are varied options to try when avoiding repossession or at least avoiding the various negative consequences of repossession. This can be done through re-mortgaging or even considering a quick house sale which will allow you to sell your home quickly and possibly downsize to save money. You can communicate to your bank or mortgage lender about deals on re-mortgaging or other options that may be available to you. You will be expected to provide financial details in order to help negotiate repayments. If you cannot come to terms with your mortgage provider or they refuse any offers you have put forward, you will be in a better position legally as long as you proof a communicated urge to effectively resolve the situation while in court.

Lastly, it is also important to get professional advice. There are lots of companies such as Citizens Advice or National Debt line that offer free information and advice for anyone struggling financially or on the verge of losing their home. Nevertheless, you can as well speak to a solicitor who can help to iron out a repayment plan or settlement as well as help negotiate with your bank or mortgage provider. You will have to incur some legal fees involved with instructing a solicitor to help however.

19/01/2016 By property

Inheriting property

When a family member owns a property, chances are that you may find yourself inheriting the property upon their death. Despite the sad loss of the relative (previous owner), the idea of inheriting property may seem an exciting expectation. Then again, it can come with some frustrating and nasty surprises. If the property has been left sorely to you, then this can make things a little easier as the responsibility lies entirely with you as the new owner. When you inherit the property jointly however (perhaps with another sibling); then you will all need to come to a mutual agreement regarding the future of the property. You could opt to get a fast house sale and split the profit. At times, one or both of you may wish to live in the property. Such an action may trigger disputes between the involved families. Even better, you could choose to live in the property or sell your home, you could choose to rent it out thus providing you with a long term rental income, among other available options.

Unfortunately, if there be any outstanding debts attached to the property, they will have to be settled before any assets such as property can be distributed to the heirs by the executor of the will. Once you have gained ownership of the property, there are potentially many obstacles. For instance, if the property inherited has been rented with existing tenants in it. The will may outline that the current occupants can remain in the property leaving you with a limited choice. In such a case, it is advisable then to talk to the tenant and come to an amicable agreement regarding the future tenancy or your wish to sell the property.

In other cases, the property may be in a state of disrepair. This may force you to make essential maintenance to it. If you cannot afford these repairs however, then you may be left with no alternative but to get a fast sale before it deteriorates further. Another alternative is to get a mortgage on the property to cover the cost of repairs. In this case, you will need to register yourself as the new owner with the land registry. If the owner who left you the property still had a mortgage outstanding on their home then unfortunately you will also inherit the debt that comes with it and be responsible for the remainder of the mortgage payments. You can however, look to change the type of mortgage held on the property, which may make it more affordable. If you cannot afford the repayments, you could be at risk of losing your home to repossession so it is important to get advice wherever possible. If you own it jointly with another person, you could opt to buy their share of the property, and likewise they could also buy your share making them the sole owner of the property.

14/01/2016 By property

Quick House Sale companies

Quick house sale companies are also known as property buying companies, house buying companies etc. They are the latest trend to sell your house fast. The traditional way of selling through an estate agent wasn’t always practical for people’s needs and this has led to the fundamental growth of companies in the industry.

There have been concerns over the past few years that homeowners could be misled and lose out financially if they don’t use a RICS approved company to represent them to achieve their quick house sale. In essence, there are advantages for quick house sale companies as they offer to purchase your property fast (or the unregulated property buying companies may find you a third party buyer but this is never guaranteed), pay cash but the disadvantage is they pay a discount to the market value.

The purpose of this blog post is to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of property buying companies so that homeowners are fully aware of the property buying process and what’s involved. It would be quite easy for us to say that there are only advantages, but this isn’t the case. There are several factors to consider and it’s up to you as the homeowner to consider your cards when you need to sell your house fast. You need to have considered the following:

Found your dream home and need to sell your house fast
You need to relocate to a catchment area for your kids
You are emigrating
Divorce
Inherited property and want a quick sale Retirement
Downsizing
Financial problems
Problem Property or neighbours

What are the Advantages of Quick House Sale Companies?

Like we have already discussed, there are a number of advantages for people who need a guaranteed quick sale. Barry Home Buyers as a regulated company can provide a number of advantages to homeowners and can help in the following cases:

PROs:

Regulated companies can help you avert repossession, clear debts and address any financial problem you have.
An inherited property can be easily translated for cash.
When you need a quick sale for health reasons like retirement, a guaranteed sale can be secured with Barry Home Buyers.
If you are struggling with a divorce or relationship breakdown, the advantage of quick house sale companies is a sale can be completed within 7 days.
If you are looking to emigrate or moving owing to job relocation, a house buying company can assist by providing a cash offer for your property so a quick completion can take place.
If you own a problem property (e.g. problematic tenants, short lease, structural problems etc.) and you can’t sell your property through an estate agent, a quick house sale company will buy any type of property regardless of condition or problem!

What are the Disadvantages of Quick House Sale companies?

Whilst there are a number of benefits to selling your property quickly to house buyers, there are always going to be some disadvantages:

CONs:

As discussed, if you have made a rash decision and not chosen an NAPB approved company, unregulated property buyers may charge additional fees due to unclearness. Regulated companies don’t charge ANY fees so if a company starts trying to charge you fees just ignore them.
Another disadvantage of companies is that unregulated companies tie homeowners into contracts sometimes for up to 12 months! This doesn’t happen with regulated property buyers so be cautious when you read the contract and make sure you aren’t tied in for long.

How to evaluate a property buying company

As you can see there are a number of advantages and disadvantages to property buying companies. We thought it be prudent to provide a property buying checklist for homeowners. If you need to instruct a property buying company we suggest you follow the below criteria:

We would recommend you get an initial valuation. By understanding what your house is worth you should be able to establish the type of offer a company will make.
Check the company’s credentials. This blog makes this point perfectly clear, make sure that your property buying company or property buyers are regulated! Quick House Sale companies should always be a member of The Property Ombudsman.
Get your offer in writing. Don’t just accept a verbal offer, get the offer in writing and for your records. Barry Home Buyers follow this process on each house transaction.
Never be hasty. Take your time! Selling your house quickly to a property buying company is a daunting prospect if this is your first time. Take all the time you need to make the right decision and chose the best property buyer for you.
Read your agreement through and through. If there is anything in the agreement which you don’t understand clarify this with the property buyers, or further still speak to your own legal adviser.
Avoid lengthy tie-ins for contracts. Estate agents contracts are usually around 12 weeks, a quick house sale companies should be around 3 – 8 weeks, certainly nothing longer (unless the homeowner requests this).

Guiding Questions to ask Quick House Sale Companies

Barry Home Buyers recommends asking the following questions to property buying companies:

Is the company or an investor buying your property?
Will it be a cash transaction or will you require a mortgage? Seek for evidence of proof of funds.
What guarantees do you have that the transaction will take place?
Will completion of your property be accurate in terms of timescales?
Confirm who will be valuing your property, and the process to be undertaken.
Is the offer subject to a RICS valuation?
Ask for the company to confirm fees from the outset and get this in writing.

We hope you have found this blog insightful regarding the advantages and disadvantages of property buying companies.