Property Articles

One of the main arguments in the property market recently is whether it is possible to replace advertising in the printed press to the online environment. Now this debate is expanding: Is it time to replace the physical High Street presence with a virtual presence?

Only four or five years ago, not having High Street presence with expensively kitted offices was a big disadvantage in getting new properties on the books for sales, lettings or management. People wanted to go into a five-star office to be treated as royalty. There was a very unfair pre-judgement that being an Internet-based estate agency meant not providing the best property consultancy.
What a difference a few years make…

Nowadays, the High Street estate agency offices are not the busiest places. Most people start their research through the Internet and many of them tend not to go near, let alone into, and estate agency office. The landlords/tenants and vendors/buyers contact the agents via the Internet, emails and telephone. As this is the most convenient way of doing it now that almost every home in the country has some sort of Internet connection. People do not have time to spend chit-chatting in an office any more.

Also, people are looking for more competitive fees too.

Especially with the current credit crunch, the traditional estate agents are getting less instructions and they are having to provide the same level of service at a lower price now. As a result, we are seeing some traditional estate agencies closing some of the High Street offices due to cost-cutting pressures. They are then trying to cover those areas from other branches.

Of course, there are still some dinosaurs in the industry. Just recently, one new estate agent who opened up a very expensive office in an upper class area told me that only the “boffins” would go and search the Internet for properties. He even went further telling me that he had not heard of most of the main property portals. Luckily, these types of people are on the decline and are no longer giving the true property professionals a bad name anymore.
According to some recent studies, the number of online listings have gone up by 58% in just the last nine months.

Whether or not we will still see the estate agents row in the High Streets in five or seven years time is another discussion but we are experiencing a definite trend towards using the technology to provide more competitive property services.

One of the biggest differentiators behind the Appleton Estates brand has always been providing a better property consultancy by removing all the chains that the traditional estate agency has demanded in this country. And, the biggest drive for us has been being on the leading edge of the technology. Appleton Estates has been one of the first “virtual” estate agencies in the area. We have believed in what we have been offering and our belief is now paying significant dividends.

Amid signs of a UK economy slow-down, the Bank of England has cut interest rates to 5.25% from 5.5%.

This was a widely expected move by many analysts. Some experts had predicted even more cuts similar to the US Federal Bank’s move.

However, the Bank signalled that further cuts were not imminent due to inflation concerns.

In its statement, the Bank said: “Inflation at 2.1% in December was close to the 2% target, but higher energy and food prices are expected to raise inflation, possibly quite sharply, in the coming months.”

“The Committee needs to balance the risk that a sharp slowing in activity pulls inflation below target in the medium-term against the risk that elevated inflation expectations keep inflation above target,” it added.

Some key players in the property sector are still not satisfied that this move will be helpful for the UK housing market. They are pointing to the data indicating that market activity is 25% down on a year on year basis in terms of mortgage lending and sales volumes. Most people, however, seem in agreement that in 2008, a potential housing crash is very unlikely.

The government has announced that in England and Wales, the controversial Home Information Packs (HIPs) will be mandatory for all properties sold from the 14th of December.

Initially the HIPs were required for the sales of all properties with 4 or more bedrooms. Since September of this year, the scheme was extended to cover all the properties with 3 or more bedrooms.

Since their introduction, the HIPs have been very controversial as most people claim that they make the sale process more complicated and costly without significant tangible benefits. The average cost of a HIP is around £300-£350.

Following on from the initial expansion of the scheme to cover 3 bedroom properties in September, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has claimed that more than half of its members have recorded a fall in the number of three-bedroom-plus properties coming on the market.

However, the government is still insisting that the HIPs will bring benefit to the consumers. They claim that the packs will especially provide more information for the the first-time buyers.

The Bank of England has signalled potential interest rate cuts for 2008.

This has been welcome by millions of mortgage payers who have been struggling to keep up with escalating interest rates.

The Bank of England has increased the interest rates 5 times over the past 15 months - peaking at 5.75%.

However, there were also some worrying news in the its quarterly Inflation Report. The Bank forecasts the economy would slow down in 2008 and inflation would increase.

The Bank noted a significant amount of uncertainty over for the economy in the upcoming months, particularly due to the vulnerable world financial systems.

The bank also indicated that there were some signs the house price inflation was softening.

The recent figures announced by the Land Registry is backing up the recent claims of a housing market slow down. According to the published data, the annual inflation rate for residential properties fell in September to 8.7%, down from 9.4% in August.

Although the Bank of England has kept the base interest rates unchanged this month, many analysts are predicting some cuts before the end of the year.

The slow down in the residential sales market traditionally increases the rental demand as more first time buyers tend to keep hold on to their money until everything settles down. The managing director of Appleton Lettings in Maidenhead, Sarah Akkus said “this is certainly in-line with the increase we have experienced in our rental and management division”.

If you are searching for Cookham Estate Agents, then you have come to the right place. We are one of the best estate agents Cookham area with an exceptional reputation for outstanding residential property services.

You can find find a selection of our fantastic reviews here. At Appleton Estates, we take pride in our customer-friendly agents and trust our long-time landlords have placed in us.
We cover Cookham Village, Cookham Dean and Cookham Rise areas. At Appleton Estates we have an extensive knowledge of the Cookham, Maidenhead and the surrounding areas at a personal and professional level.

Our vast range of residential property services includes the sales, rentals and management as well as house staging. We have been successfully dealing with town houses, cottages, flats as well as new developments.

If you are a landlord or tenant or an investor, please contact us for advice on purchasing, lettings, management, rent reviews, general maintenance, rent collections and sales market appraisals.

There have been a lot of changes happening in the property market, not least the recent financial worries, that are affecting the estate agents. New legislations, market developments and the advancements in the technology have changed the traditional role of the estate (or letting agent) and their working practices. As a result some estate agents have been struggling.

A string of legislative changes, such as the Home Information Packs and Tenancy Deposit Protection, have been introduced and have had a significant effect on the daily running of the estate agency business.
On the other side, the Internet is now the main driving force behind a lot of sectors and it is dominating everything like it never did before. The property portals and other online sales tools, such as 360-degree Virtual Tours for the estate agency have increased in popularity.

Added to all this, the toughening market conditions due to the financial concerns have had some estate agents concerned about the future.

In contrary to the speculation, at Appleton Estates, we feel that we are at the cutting-edge of the technology as well as our extensive local knowledge. Looking to the future, we feel our innovative and independent thinking will help us grow stronger.

Over the last few days, there is a lot of hype about Northern Rock. Here are some details on the situation:

Due to the recent issues in the US mortgage market, NR recently decided, for safety’s sake, to open up what’s effectively an overdraft facility with the Bank of England. Due to the problems in the US market, the banks are unwilling to lend each other money and NR’s business model is based on borrowing money from other financial institutions.

Because of the media coverage lead to panic and people are trying to get their savings out.

As a result of these recent events, we have already seen some banks/building societies increasing their rates although the Bank of England has kept the base rate unchanged.

Almost everyone is predicting that getting mortgages is going to become more difficult and the cost of the mortgages are going to go up. However, very few are predicting a housing market crash citing the huge demand for property outweighing the supply at the moment.

We would strongly recommend any investment landlords who have fixed rates mortgages that are ending their period before the end of 2007 to seek professional financial advise as soon as possible.

Estate Agents Marlow

If you are searching for Marlow Estate Agents, then you have come to the right place. We are one of the best estate agents Marlow area with an exceptional reputation for outstanding residential property services.

Our vast range of residential property services includes the sales, rentals and management as well as house staging. We have been successfully dealing with town houses, cottages, flats as well as new developments.

If you are a landlord or tenant or an investor, please contact us for advice on purchasing, lettings, management, rent reviews, general maintenance, rent collections and sales market appraisals.

Information on Marlow

Marlow is a picturesque Buckinghamshire town in located on the Thames and surrounded by beautiful countryside, with the Chiltern Hills to the north.

Location

Marlow is very close to another well-known pretty towns, such as Henley-on-Thames to the south west and Cookham.

Marlow also very close to other bigger towns such as High Wycombe, and Maidenhead, Slough, Windsor and Beaconsfield.

Amenities

This charming riverside town offers a wide range of the attractions with excellent shops, good schools, exciting
sports facilities, such as the Bisham Abbey and a wide choice of trendy restaurants and bars.

Probably the most notable feature of the historic Marlow town is probably the famous Suspension Bridge that was built in 1831.

Transport

With access to the M40 in 5 miles and the M4 in 10 miles, Marlow has excellent road connections to London, the M25, Birmingham and the west of England.

Marlow has its own railway station with connections to Bourne End and Maidenhead. Commuting to London and Reading by train is simple via Maidenhead.

There are also bus connections to Reading, Henley and High Wycombe.

Heathrow, with national and international flights, is 25 miles away.

Finally, the Government has taken a step back on the Home Information Packs amid plenty of pressure from all the main players in the real estate business.

If you have been planning to sell your property in England and have not had a chance to get a Home Information Pack (HIP) yet, you are most probably one of the many people who can breathe a sigh of relief.
HIPs were originally scheduled to become mandatory for all properties put on the market in England, starting June 1st 2007.

However, Ruth Kelly, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, made a statement to the House of Commons on the 22nd of May announcing that the introduction of the HIPs has been postponed to August and only those properties with four or more bedrooms will have to have a HIP.

The official reason for this move has been given as not having enough energy efficiency assessors.
This will be the main trial for the HIPs and as the number of qualified energy efficiency assessors increase, the HIPs will be phased in for the smaller properties as well.

Also the vendors will not be required to have a HIP obtained prior to putting their property on the market. People will be allowed to start marketing their properties without the completion of their HIPs.

Many estate agents and the biggest estate agency bodies in the United Kingdom, who have been ferociously lobbying against the initiative for a long time, have welcome the news and are enjoying their victory.