What does the Brexit vote mean for Lettings?

 I suspect many of you have woken this morning to the news that Britain has decided to leave the European Union.

Certainly a shock to the system and one that will no doubt have far reaching ramifications for our industry moving forward. But the more I think about it the more I actually think the next few months could be a real boom for our sector.

Look at the possible short term benefits:

There may well be a real boom in immigration from Europe before any deal is made. This would in turn mean even more people needing rented property and for Landlords is likely to produce a further rise in rents.

With an expected nervousness happening in the sales market, now could be a great time to be expanding your portfolio.

People will still need to move and live somewhere and traditionally in times of uncertainty people now look to rent for longer.

Whilst we do not know exactly what will happen any shrinking in our economy has always seen the rental market grow even stronger.

Britain has a very strong trading history and whilst there seems no doubt we will suffer some short term turmoil and a possible recession, or at least much reduced growth, there seems very little doubt that we will come out the other side. History tells us we always return much stronger and leaner.

In a world of financial turmoil property has always proven to be a great long term investment and there is no reason to believe this will change.

So is it all bad? I don’t think so when you look at our industry and the way it has grown and matured over the last 10 to 15 years. In actual fact this should be seen as another opportunity for Landlords to expand their portfolios and for the best agents to make sure we are at hand to help our clients through with balanced and professional support and the advice they will be seeking over the next few months.

In other words those of us that are experienced, knowledgeable and experts in our fields will be the ones that actually see the opportunity and grab it.

Essex and Kent sellers and landlords benefitting from London exodus

People who are tired of living in London head for the Home Counties, including Essex and Kent, for a quieter and more relaxed existence, according to research by comparison website Gocompare.com.

The findings, which focus on Office for National Statistics figures from 2014, reveal that millions of people move throughout the UK every year for a wide number of reasons. 

Almost 3 million British people – roughly one in 20 people – moved from one part of the country to another in 2014.

People in their late teen years and twenties tend to migrate into major cities like London, Manchester and Birmingham. Some 14% of people who move in their twenties head to the capital, while 24% of those aged 16-19 decide to relocate to either London, Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham or Manchester. 

By contrast, people in their thirties are more likely to be moving outwards, perhaps fed up of the hustle and bustle and the fast-paced nature of life in global cities such as London. They tend to make for the Home Counties, with Surrey, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Hampshire the top locations for those escaping the capital. 

Interestingly, 15% of moves made by Brits aged between 30 and 39 were to either the Home Counties or Scotland.

Essex and Kent – two areas where Balgores Property Group operates extensively, with branches ranging from Gravesend to Hornchurch – are also included when it comes to the counties with the highest rates of net migration (this is when a lot more people move into a place than out). 

At the other end of the scale, London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester were the biggest losers when it comes to internal migration, with 68,634, 5,137, 3,336, and 3,076 people moving elsewhere respectively. 

Meanwhile, the most common age for people moving within the UK is 19, with many around this age heading off for further studies or university when they hit their late teen years. 

The second most common age for people moving within the UK was 22 – this might be those who have landed their first big job after university or those who decide to head to the bright lights of the likes of London or Manchester to live the big city life. 

Looking at things from a gender basis, women are a lot more likely than men to move in their twenties and early thirties. They also accounted for 52% of everyone who moved in the UK in 2014. 

However, after the age of 35, men are more likely to branch out and move somewhere new. 

As a property seller or landlord, you can take advantage of this extra demand. 

For more information about the services Balgores Property Group offers, please visit one of our many branches in Essex or Kent. 

To discover how much your property could be worth in the current marketplace, please check out our handy instant online valuation tool.

Balgores Opens New Customer Care Centre and Expand

Balgores Property Group, leading estate agents in Essex and Kent, has just launched a new Customer Care Centre and expanded its sales, lettings and administration teams.

The new dedicated customer service team will help people buy, sell, rent or let their homes; arrange pre-market valuations; help with any problems or questions; and keep in regular contact with clients. The Customer Care Centre is headed up by Mike Alger - who was formerly a Call Centre Manager at a Housing Association - and a further six new staff have been recruited to work with him.

Balgores has also expanded its teams across sales and lettings, with the appointment of nine new staff over the last three months.  There has also been a raft of internal changes too, including the promotion of Bradley Stanton to Branch Manager at Chelmsford.  Tim Plumb has been promoted to Assistant Branch Manager at Chelmsford, having moved from the Basildon Office. Dan Charge has also been promoted to Assistant Branch Manager at Romford, moving  from the Upminster office.

 

Martin Gibbon a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents and Group Director of Balgores Property Group commented: “We are continually striving to enhance the service we offer to clients.  Our new Customer Care Centre will help us to develop our communication with clients. We have a highly knowledgeable team, able to arrange pre - market appraisals and maintain regular contact with our extensive database of customers.

 

“We have recruited high calibre staff across the group and our new appointments will help us to continue grow and develop our ‘best in class’ service. We are delighted to have on board 16 new staff members, many of whom have joined our lettings division.  2016 is proving to be highly successful for us, with instructions up by 37% year on year; sales up by 22% year on year; and lettings up by 33% year on year.”

“Having successfully opened a new office in Ongar in April 2016, we are also planning to open further branches in Essex before the end of the year.

How to move home with minimum stress

Moving home can sometimes be a stressful experience. It’s why the process is often put up there with divorce and bereavement as the things people least want to go through.

Still, it doesn’t have to be that way. With a bit of careful planning and a structured approach to moving day, moving home can become something to be enjoyed rather than dreaded.

Below, using our knowledge and knowhow as estate agents working across Essex and Kent, we offer advice on how to make a home move as stress-free as possible. 

Choose your strategy

This is the first thing that you will need to nail down. You may feel that you can move your possessions off your own back, or you may want to call in a removals company to do that job for you. 

There are pros and cons to both. If you don’t have many possessions, it might make financial and logistical sense to hire a van and do it yourself.

If you have more possessions – and no time or inclination to move by yourself – then hiring in the professionals would be a wise move. 

If this is the case, ensure that they are members of the British Association of Removers (BAR). This means you can rest easy that they are a reputable firm who won’t leave you in the lurch come moving day.

It’s also advisable to book the removers in at least a fortnight in advance, just to be on the safe side.

Make packing fun (sort of)

It’s something everyone dreads, but try to make it a fun and therapeutic experience rather than a miserable, monotonous and draining one. 

It helps to give yourself plenty of time, so you can complete the process bit by bit, slowly does it. Besides, packing at the last minute is never fun!

Make sure you are well-organised, that you keep to a disciplined and regimented system and that you don’t get distracted by the TV or watching the next episode of House of Cards on Netflix. 

Labelling the boxes will help you out at the other end, while heavy-duty cardboard boxes, Post-it notes and bubble wrap will make the process smoother and keep your more valuable items in one piece. It will also help to ensure you leave nothing vital behind.    

Keep a checklist

It might sound unnecessary and mundane; you might even be the sort of person who doesn’t keep lists. However, you should make an exception when it comes to moving home – checklists can and will be a lifesaver. 

By helping you to keep on top of all the things you need to do, as well as keeping your packing under wraps, the chances of your stress levels being kept to a minimum are that much higher.  

A checklist does what it says on the tin – simply make a list of everything you need to do before moving day and tick them off, one by one. 

A checklist can turn even the most disorganised person into a structured, regimented one.

Use moving as an excuse to declutter

Most people have stuff lying around in their house or garage that they haven’t used for years. 

It might be appliances that are broken or beyond repair, it might be an old bike with a front wheel missing or it might be black bags of clothes that haven’t seen the light of day since the late 90s. 

Whatever it may be, moving home is a perfect excuse to get rid of the junk.

It’s easy for these useless or unwanted items to pile up over time, but you will get a lot of satisfaction from finally binning things that you have no call for any more. 

Of course, some of the stuff might still be in perfectly good working order – in which case it could be sold on sites like eBay or given away to charity. Decluttering, like packing, can also be a very therapeutic experience.

At Balgores Property Group we operate in areas across Essex, from Chelmsford to Havering including Hornchurch, Romford, and Upminster and into Gravesend, Kent.

Contact us at one of our branches for more info about what we can offer you. To find out how much your property is worth in the current marketplace, check out our free and instant online valuation tool.

First Time Buyers are Failing to Count the Cost of Home Ownership

New research* shows that over 40% of first time buyers don’t take into account all the costs involved in buying a property and one in four buyers were shocked by the cost of bank transfers, searches and mortgage set up costs. (*Source: Pegasus Personal Finance, April 2016).

The research also found that 24.3% of first time buyers weren’t aware of land registry fees, 16.7% were unaware of stamp duty and 14.7% were not knowledgeable on solicitors’ fees.  One in 10 admitted a lack of knowledge on interest rates and some 13.5% of home owners, assumed to be those with variable rate mortgages, admitted they haven’t prepared for an increase in interest rates, should they unexpectedly climb from a seven year low of 0.5%.

On top of this, one in five buyers did not account for an increase in utility bills as a result of moving to a larger property, while the same number were surprised to see their car insurance costs increase. What’s more, 24.6% underestimated removal charges, while 13.9% viewed furniture and decor as a surprise expense.

According to Balgores Property Group, leading estate agents in Essex, first time buyers need to do their research and work out all the costs before they buy their first home.  Martin Gibbon a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents and Group Director of Balgores Property Group commented: “Unforeseen fees and costs can amount to £1,850 according to recent data from the Money Advice Service.  We have seen many first time buyers who have not budgeted for stamp duty and some of the other smaller costs like mortgage application fees and legal expenses. 

“It can be a nightmare trying to work out all the costs when you are buying a property for the first time, but it so important that first time time buyers crunch the numbers, or they could lose the house of their dreams.  Demand for property in Essex is soaring and so first time buyers need to be ready to buy, with mortgage approval and legals sorted.

“We can help first time buyers if they come in and see us.  We can give them a complete breakdown of all the moving costs, together with advice on mortgages and protection, as well as information on the running costs of the home they're interested in.  We have a range of mortgage specialists that will find the best first time buyer mortgages and will be able to guide buyers through all the costs incurred when applying for a home loan.”

For further information, contact your local office or visit www.balgoresproperty.co.uk.

Selling a home for the first time? Check out these top tips

There is a wealth of information out there for first-time buyers, but the same can't be said for first-time sellers.

Selling a home for the first time can be a complicated, daunting and stressful process, so we don't think it's right that the amount of advice for this demographic is so lacking.

Below, using our experience as estate agents operating across Essex and Kent, we point out some of the top tips to making that first sale as pain-free as possible...

Target your home effectively

If you are selling a home for the first time, you are likely to be upsizing from a smaller home to a larger one.

Consequently, your target demographic is almost certain to be first-time buyers. This demographic, likely to be young, tech-savvy and time-poor, will be searching for properties online through their smartphones, laptops and tablets.

With this in mind, your online sales strategy needs to be of the highest quality. Property portals will be the first port of call for many – and competition on these platforms is fierce – so you need to do all you can to make your property stand out from the crowd.

Talk to your estate agent about the ways in which you can do this. High-quality photos and snappy, engagingly written descriptions will definitely help.
 

Get the asking price right

A tricky thing to get right – after all, if you set it too low your risk selling yourself short, while if you set it too high you risk deterring would-be buyers.

You need to be realistic and fair with your asking price, but you'll also want to as much as possible for your home.

This is where a good and reliable agent is worth their weight in gold, taking into account the local market, national trends and other variables to set an asking price that will help to get your home sold.

Choose the right agent

Which leads us onto arguably the most important step of all, picking the right estate agency in the first place.

A good one will guide you through the sales process with the minimum of fuss, making sure they are on hand at all times to deal with any issues, complaints or stumbling blocks.

Inevitably, there will be delays and complications when it comes to house sales – that's just the nature of the beast – but if you have an agent on your side who can deal with everything in a calm, professional and good-humoured manner the chances of things going smoothly are that much higher.

A good agent will help you to produce a winning marketing strategy – both online and traditional – show your home off to buyers when it comes to viewings and do all they can to get your home sold for the best possible price.

Depersonalise, depersonalise, depersonalise

    

Yes, you want your home to come across as homely and cosy – that will have significant appeal to buyers.

On the other hand, you don't want it to appear too lived-in or personalised, because that might put would-be buyers off.

They want to visualise themselves living in the home they might purchase, which is less likely if there are family photographs and items of great sentimental value on show everywhere.

It's a fine balance to strike – depersonalising while also not making your home appear soulless – but getting it right will help to give your sales pitch a massive boost.

For more information about how you can get your home sold for the first time, please get in contact with Balgores Property Group at one of our many branches.

We operate across Kent and Essex. If you would like to know the worth of your property in the current marketplace, check out our instant online valuation tool.