Musings of a company of London Property Search Agents

Hurray!  This morning the BBC ran a report that the Property Ombudsman is advising would-be buyers that they are under no obligation to have an appointment with the Estate Agent’s Mortgage broker if they want to see a property through the Agent.

Not long ago, we were hunting for a buy-to-let in Camden for one of our Clients.  Most Estate Agents were helpful and courteous and keen to persuade us their flats were perfect for our buyers.  One agent was shirty, rude and seemed to go out of their way to make things difficult.

During our first conversation I was categorically told that they wouldn’t show me any properties unless their mortgage broker could interview my Clients.  When we explained that their stance was illegal and not the best practice for their buyers, who presumably don’t care who buyers have their mortgages with as long as the money arrives.  After much guff and posturing from the Manager of the Estate Agent, we  were able to show our Clients the properties concerned.  Given that it took a 20 minute conversation for us to secure normal access, I wondered how First-time buyers without Property Search Agents like ourselves, were managing.

For anyone considering buying property, it is absolutely in your interest to see a truly independent mortgage broker.  In no other field would a buyer share so much personal information with someone they may end up negotiating with at a later date.  The practice immediately puts the Buyer in a compromised position. 

And if every Estate Agent tried to push buyers into seeing their mortgage broker, making appointments to view property would take so long and be so dull, it would put everyone off buying property for life!

So if you’re going property shopping any time soon, don’t believe the excuse that the vendor only wants qualified buyers to look round and threaten to go directly to the buyers if you think you can identify the property on line.  Side-stepping the agent all together will make it difficult for them to earn their fee, depending on their contract.  And if they are behaving like bully boys with their own best interests at heart rather than that of their Clients, why should they earn a fee?

If you’ve decided that you hate all Estate Agents, you can use London Property Buyers Agents like us instead and you won’t have to deal with any Estate Agents, including the nice ones and the bad apples.

Technorati Tags: Buyers agents, London Property Buyers Agents, property buyers agents

Tags: Buyers agents, London Property Buyers Agents, property buyers agents

Musings of a few London Property Buyers Agents

Far be it for us to speculate or pass on gossip about celebrity property hunters, but of course if they don’t use us then frankly, we may as well do so.

Apparently Victoria is very keen on a house previously rented by Damon Dash who produced her solo Coming Together album.  The Spice Girl is said to have fallen for the 5 bedroom house when she visited Dash there, when they were working on the album together.

The white stucco low-rise building in a quiet residential street just off the Kings Road, has been very popular with the great and the good from the US, who appreciate the lateral space, basement pool and home cinema.

It is the perfect pied-a-terre for West London shopping trips, but the news will increase speculation among football fans that Beckham may be angling for a place at Chelsea. 

For those with Champagne tastes and an Asti Spumante budget, let us know your property desires and Manse and Garret London Property Buyers Agents will see if we can save you some money or help you afford the neighbourhood of your dreams.

Technorati Tags: Chelsea Buyers Agents, London Property Buyers Agents

Tags: Chelsea Buyers Agents, London Property Buyers Agents

Musings of a group of London Property Buyers Agents

I know, I know, we’ve been banging on about house prices for over a week now, but you regular readers know how it is: some weeks EVERYONE releases their house price data, and for property anoraks like us (and some of you) frankly, we know you love it really!

The National Housing Federation has just published a piece of research by Oxford Economists stating that the average house price will fall by 12.2% this year and a further 4.6% next year before stabilising in 2011 with a 1.1% rise.  Apparently we are then into a boom cycle where prices will rise by 7.5% in 2012, 8.4% in 2013 and 6.8% in 2014. 

So that means wannabe first-time buyers who haven’t quite saved enough deposit can rejoyce, supposedly, and carry on drinking their deposit down the pub.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the thinking behind all these stats, apart from the fact that the researchers appear to have based their findings on lower income households and not taken into account the influx of foreign buyers who have contacted all of us London property pros over the last 12 months.

However, the gist of the report is that for unhappy new homeowners in the North West and the East Midlands, there is more bad news: prices in 2014 are forecast to be lower than 2007 so those who bought at the top of the market will have lost out unless they bought an absolute gem.

No such issues for London and the South East.  Property prices in the South East are forecast to rise by 10% from their peak in 2007 and prices in London are forecast to rise by 8%.  As always these are averages and take into account lots of areas in which our Clients would never want to live.  We are pretty confident you are safe, unless we told you so when we organised your house purchase.  We may have quibbled about your asking price but that is what you paid us for and none of our clients are in negative equity, or have lost money on their property purchases to date. 

We may live to regret it, but I think most of our Clients will see over 10% growth by 2014, wherever they are.

Technorati Tags: house price crash, house price inflation, House Prices, London House Prices, UK house prices

Tags: house price crash, house price inflation, House Prices, London House Prices, UK house prices