GeorgeHartshorn, Author at Property Market News

“Over Value & Risk Under Selling”, Consumer Watchdog Which? Reports!

We always try to explain to our clients that if their home is worth more than the valuation we have placed upon it then the public will surely make that decision.

Since January 1st 2017 we have agreed sales on homes valued at a total of £7,967,950. The actual total of sales agreed is £8,010,006.

The consumer watchdog “Which?”has found that 1 in 5 houses had been reduced from there initial asking price . Most interestingly houses that were sold after a 5% reduction sold for an average of £19,000 less than those that were sold from their original asking price.

The indication here is that by overvaluing, greedy agents and sometimes greedy vendors will cost themselves 8% of the value of their home.

A fascinating indictment of these facts was realised by Paul Higgins, chief executive at The Homeowners Alliance. “Sellers shouldn’t just consider the price that agents claim they can get. They should be thinking about how the agent is going to sell the property and whether they are asking the right questions!”

Richard Headland of “Which?” states that if the valuation is not realistic you could end up thousands of pounds worse off and wasting a lot of time.

We completely agree. Think about your onward move with one hand and your proposed sale with another. Don’t get too caught up with the minutiae. Don’t hold out for another £500 for a light fitting if there is a risk of upsetting the sellers of your dream home. Ask your agent for advice. Don’t play games. Just be logical and hopefully your agent will guide you with the bigger picture in mind, not just the initial instruction.

Price Increases in Coventry by 24%. Brexit Showing No Ill Effects Whatsoever!

No Brexit Ill effects whatsoever? Well, as is always the case the deeper you delve the murkier the reality becomes and that certainly seems to be the case here as well.

Coventry has seen tremendous price rises over the last few years with Styvechale and Earlsdon being the forerunners in most cases. Not anymore. Median price increases are certainly more common than price reductions but some areas have suffered when others have soared.

The remarkable and seemingly unstoppable wave of new students in the city dominates those areas with the highest price rises. CV4 including Charter Avenue, Cannon Park, De Montfort Way, Cannon Hill Road and a radius stretching as far as Hearsall Gold Club have seen prices rise from an average of £370,000 to as much as £458,000 over the last calendar year!

CV6 comes a close second but with a very different demographic. Student accommodation again, albeit Coventry University rather than The University of Warwick, has seen similar increases but with dramatically lower actual sales prices agreed.

What must always be considered when analysing statistics like this is what isn’t included. Statistics are only available because transactions take place. Many areas, Earlsdon being a prime example, have become almost landlocked with sellers wanting to move but with not enough property coming to the market for statistics to be even relevant.

This suggests, as we all know, that if you are truly happy in a location then comparable prices are hard to find and that statistics, sometimes, only tell one of a thousand stories!

White Paper, Blank Paper or Paper Promises

A wider range of “affordable housing” is what former Prime Minister David Cameron lauded and was delivered by way of the Governments latest White Paper. However quite how this change in stance genuinely affects the balance between what is “affordable” and what could only be purchased by “first time buyers” is surely the key. Since being a first time buyer in 2001 I have seen nothing that has made the process easier other than having a larger deposit and a wage increase.

How you get this could be a matter of luck, graft, and genetics with a familiar pinch of nepotism becoming the deciding factor.

If the Governments pledge to contribute to savings, shared ownership or life time ISA’s do actually work then in equal measure they have failed. Most schemes have been withdrawn and most were badly marketed resulting in very little uptake.

Bottom line it’s simple. If you want to own a home and you want a mortgage that ties you to it, then you have to find the money to pay for it. You also have to have the earnings to support it. If both answers are yes then you now need to find the housing stock you can afford……

……As of 8th February 2017 it didn’t exist. The Government want 250,000 new homes each year until 2020. Unless the majority of this stock is affordable nothing can or will change and with 360,000 homes having already undergone planning within our existing Green Belt this entire proposal seems more unlikely than ever.

How South Coventry Benefits From Kenilworth & Vice Versa

Sometimes, reactions surprise you. Our stylish window changes within our Kenilworth office have been really well received and comments from one customer in particular were fascinating. She was looking at an attractive “South Coventry” property we were marketing for a Kenilworth resident. “This is great, my children can’t afford to buy in Kenilworth so I’ll send them your way!”. This was unexpected to say the least. I hadn’t even thought of that market at all. Residents of Kenilworth have children (and by children I’m talking 21 – 40 years old here!) who can’t often afford to buy in Kenilworth. That’s why advertising the occasional South Coventry gem in the Kenilworth branch can be so effective. It works and people are so interested.

On the flip side of this equation we have current sellers in Coventry looking to move to Kenilworth to downsize and also families within Kenilworth moving to Earlsdon.

This is a fascinating market in itself because on the face of it quite honestly the prices in Earlsdon and Kenilworth are surprisingly similar. A three to four bedroom period terrace in both towns are often comparable. The advantages of one over the other though are completely subjective.

The schooling in Finham, Stivichall and Kenilworth is certainly outstanding whilst the infrastructure with the A46 and A45 being so close allows easy access to the motorway networks. What’s for sure is that homeowners with property in Kenilworth, Finham, Stivichall, Earlsdon, Burton Green, Gibbet Hill and Westwood Heath could not find greater coverage for marketing their home than Elizabeth Davenport.

Inner London Slips As The Rest Of Us Climb

I’m not saying it’s become affordable or that I’d like to live there at all, but Inner London is sensing a disturbance in The Force. Born out of Brexit jitters and high Buy To Let taxes rather than Dark Side itself, Inner London has seen property growth drop over the last year with 14% less houses coming to market and growth recorded at just 0.1%.

With a predicted national average growth of a further 2% in 2017, Inner London seems to be facing a fall of 5% with some boroughs seeing drops of up to 16%.

Now we are seeing London homeowners moving here. Coventry, much improving and seemingly year on year, has become very much part of the commuter belt now.

Please take note London Midland, your Birmingham and Coventry to London trains are integral to the success of this City, no more talk of cancellations please!

The infrastructure of Friargate is finally taking shape (strewth!) and both Jaguar Landrover and both Universities are attracting swaths of new residents to the City.

Not quite so in London where a degree of panic seems to be encroaching with Article 50 threatening even more pressures.

Like I say, I wouldn’t want to live there though. A journey of 60 minutes (if we can find our alarm clocks!) and a railcard is certainly more attractive than a house for half the size and twice the price!

Yep. I like it here. It’s all begin to happen.

New Years Resolutions and A Commitment To Service

Once I’d stopped eating for more than 8 hours I realised that at some stage Christmas would end and that my routine over the last week would require a serious review. I was one of the lucky ones though. I remained in good health whilst some of the family were poorly. On a much greater scale though we’re all so much luckier than many of our international neighbours. It’s been a difficult year when we look at the World as a whole.

Whilst the festivities raged there was always the knowing that in a matter of days 2016 would be over and that all of the hard work undertaken that year would simply have to begin again come January 1st 2017.

All the successes achieved have now past. Buyers have bought and moved in and sellers having sold and moved on. There have been many lovely reviews posted on Google and plenty of grateful and enthusiastic thank you cards received. But immediate success means an immediate conclusion and once those keys have been collected, the show must go on.

We, like many businesses, are nothing without happy clients and customers. 2017 will only see our service standards to you improve with further commitment to greater staffing levels, better technology and certainly, without exception, more smiles and more handshakes.

To Clients and Customers alike, thank you for making 2016 such a good year and let’s try to make the New Year a much better one for all of us, globally, in 2017.

Christmas, Boxing Day & New Years Day! Do We Really Look At Houses Over The Festive Period?

Whether you can believe it or not some of the most recent statistics released from Rightmove have revealed some really surprising and unusual activities over our Christmas holiday’s! I’m not talking about “Pie Face” or “Charades” here, I’m simply talking about online property views.

Rightmove reports show a whopping increase of over 20% activity levels between Christmas and the New Year.

The last published statistics revealed that on On Christmas Day there were nearly 14 million page views and over 10,000 people took time out from the festivities to send emails to agents.
On Boxing Day it gets traditionally busier, with page views jumping to over 25 million.

Views peak on New Year’s Day, with an average of over 38 million page views (This is no doubt due to many being unable to even step out of their armchairs!).

What does this really tell us? Well, unarguably it shows that when we have time, we use it. Christmas and more specifically the New Year, with the hopes and ambitions it promises (who can’t fail to at least have hopes and ambitions for the year ahead whether realised or not!), is time for prediction and planning. Physical viewings are not so common, but planning ahead and looking at what’s available, can be the spark that lights the fire. Having your property on the market over the Christmas period doesn’t mean that Mr and Mrs Smith are going to disrupt your Figgie Pudding and Brandy Snaps. It means simply that they will likely plan to visit your house after Christmas.

Seeing your home for sale may persuade them to sell their own property and enable them to move forwards. Yours could be the property that instigates those decisions. And more importantly, yours could be the property they buy as well.

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear!

There are plenty of times in your life when friends and family tell you exactly what you want to hear. “Did I do well at my School Play Dad?”, I asked nervously, “Of course you did Son, well done”. I was a Barn Door (better than a sheep though!). We’re already ten minutes late and my wife says “Are you sure this looks OK?”…….I think you know where this conversation is heading!

So if you want to buy a house for £350,000 and you need to sell yours for £270,000 to make this possible please don’t tell the Estate Agent. If you do, you know what will likely happen. The agent will know there is little chance of an instruction without persuading you that your house is genuinely worth, you’ve guessed it, in the region of £270,000.

At Elizabeth Davenport we know that the right advice and what you want to hear are often two different beasts. What we do know is that in order to attract the most interest and at the highest price possible you certainly don’t need to start marketing unrealistically high. It just doesn’t work.

Rightmove statistics have shown that since 1st January 2016 we have reduced a lower percentage of our properties than any other agent in Coventry and Kenilworth.

As the very bespoke nature of property alludes, we can’t always get it right but we certainly won’t advice you of the impossible just to win your instruction. Beware of listening only to what you want to hear! I’m not talking about my wife now ( I made that bit up!).

‘Just whack it on Rightmove’ not at Elizabeth Davenport!

Almost all online and an increasing number of High Street Estate Agents attribute far too much importance on getting properties on websites like Rightmove as soon as possible. I see so many properties where the agents have simply just hurriedly taken a few snaps with a point and shoot camera and thrown them on to the web with little care or thought. Floor plans missing, generic descriptions and poor photography are becoming more and more prevalent. There is a view held by some that all you need to do is get the property on Rightmove and the enquires will flood in and a sale will follow! If only it were that simple!

At Elizabeth Davenport we have a specific plan and strategy for every home that we market and we not only put a lot of thought and time into the marketing, we also follow a general three step process that allows us to market your home to its full potential.

Step 1

On the fist day we introduce your property to the market we contact all of our qualified registered buyers that on our database. These are people that we have spoken to and know their buying criteria, often these people are what we class as ‘motivated buyers’. This is because these people are proactive in their search and are often in proceedable buying positions (if this is you please call and register with us if you haven’t already). Your property will then be featured on the homepage of our website so in effect most visitors to our site will see your property straight away.

Step 2

After this we enter the second stage of the process. We upload your property to the ‘New and Exclusive Homes’ section of the OnTheMarket.com website. This is a really good feature as we register all of our prequalified buyers here as do all of the other member agents.

Step 3

Usually 24-48 hours after the initial launch we then release the property to our other property portals including Rightmove where there are larger numbers of buyers but a lower concentration are proceedable. Any leads from this the final stage of introducing your property to the market will be qualified by our negotiators before viewings are arranged.

After all this has taken place advertisements appear in print productions like the Coventry Observer and our own seasonal newsletter.

In summary we believe that the quality of the viewings is more important than the quantity. Of course many of our properties have both a high quantity of quality viewings which is always our goal! We genuinely take time to think about how best to market your property and provide quality marketing materials to get you the best results possible. This is why we will always provide an alternative from the lazy ‘just whack it online and see what happens’ approach seemingly adopted by so many

Proudly Sponsoring Local Schools In Finham & Kenilworth

Kenilworth School plan to conquer all comers in Canada next year with thanks to Elizabeth Davenport Estate Agents. April’s expedition is the biggest single Rugby and Football tour that Kenilworth’s only secondary school has ever undertaken. With a total of 56 children, many partaking in both disciplines, the need for the best essay writing service reddit and sponsored support is paramount. Two of the Directors of Elizabeth Davenport have a particular affinity for the School with Mark Walmsley having a daughter in Year 8 and Nick Luntley being a former pupil himself. Having played and toured with both Rugby and Football for Kenilworth School, Mark and I approached George very quickly when we heard about the opportunity to purchase a thor outlaw for sale and all of the sports kits for the pupils forthcoming trip to Canada.

Year 8’s football team have been very successful and sit currently as district league and cup champions whilst the Year 9 Rugby team are undefeated and have won the prestigious Solihull School Rugby 7’s tournament. “As Kenilworth’s only Secondary School and with the kids genuinely achieving so much success at both Rugby and Football at the moment raising the money for the tour is a massive ask. Pupils and staff are undertaking all kinds of fundraisers to support this trip of a lifetime and any support we can offer we are delighted to do so” Mark Walmsley said.

The purchase of Sports kits, similar to a bowstring, doesn’t come cheap with the quality having to be first class. Canterbury, who produce the British Lions and the England & Ireland Rugby kits, have been chosen as the supplier who despite being more expensive than most will hopefully offer the pupils an advantage when it counts. “The choice of kit is vital” stated Paul Flowers, “they’ve got to last, they’ve got stand the wear and the tear they’ll be put through. Our pupils are going to be representing our School as well as the Sponsors and they’re really going to look the part. We can’t wait to see them. They’re due in January so not long to wait!”

“We’ve got a lasting relationship with Kenilworth School now” stated Mark Walmsley. “Nick’s been working with Dave Peacey who used to teach him which is really full circle, and obviously my daughter’s a pupil now too. There will be opportunities for Netball, Athletics and Dancing events too so if we can give the support then we certainly will”.

With children at Finham Park School Elizabeth Davenport have also been supporting the local PTA with donations from completions sold in the Finham area. Every house sold by way of an introduction from parents or relatives at the school will see at £100 donation to this worthwhile cause.