2022 was an quite extraordinary successful year and we cannot wait to start 2023 where we left off in 2022… 2023 is certainly going to be an interesting and challenging year, no different to many other years but not necessarily for the same reasons.

All property dates from one period or another, be it 500 years old or 50. So why do agents describe some houses as 'period' and not others?

Leaving the cacophony of city life for a quieter existence in the country is a common aspiration. Although the current lockdown is providing a temporary respite, city life is invariably lived against a backdrop of sirens, roadworks, trains, planes and neighbours.

Every year, around 5% of the British population move home – that’s about 300,000 people! But finding your dream home doesn’t have to be hard. With prior planning and a clear vision you can increase your chances of finding your ideal home in your dream location.

To continue with the process and buy or not to buy...that is the question?

It’s a difficult and sometimes an emotional decision to pull out of a deal after reading the surveyors report; but many buyers do. But do you always have to call the deal off?

Recent research has revealed that almost 244,000 of Britain’s street and house names are inspired by romance or love.

Analysis of Royal Mail Address Management Unit Database, which covers over 30 million addresses, has found 1,198 separate towns and cities around the UK are home to at least one Valentine-themed address.

Your home is usually your largest financial asset so it is important to select the Estate Agent who will be able to best look after your interests. We have listed below some key points to help you select the right estate agent when you wish to sell.

According to a new study, the City of Cambridge is one of the most sought after, popular cities to live in as it is the most gentrified UK city!

According to a recent study of the least affordable places to live, Oxford, Guildford and Winchester are again high on the list, as are several other University Cities.

Over the past twenty six years, those seeking property in London, the Home Counties and commutable distances from the Capital have been increasingly utilising the services offered by Property Search Agents.

So, you have your planning approval for your extension to your residential home, now you need to find out precisely how much is it going to cost and which builder to choose. This is called going out to ‘tender’ for the building works that are required.

The general rule in adding value is simple; create living accommodation and you maintain and add value.

Accompanying clients to viewings of high-quality houses comes with its share of challenges and some incidents are quite memorable…

There are many benefits as to why people choose to use a professional property search agent to help them invest in one of the single most expensive purchases they are likely to make. 

Unusual requests are par for the course at Premier Property Search and we are familiar with fulfilling any type of requirement. However the most flamboyant request came from a client with a Tiger Moth aeroplane who needed a country house with a landing strip!

As a property acquisition consultancy, we are frequently asked by our clients to recommend a professional solicitor to act for them. Guy Hurst from Eric Robinson solicitors is one of a number that we feel comfortable in recommending and he recently wrote the following very interesting article on SDLT.  

More and more owners of properties that wish to sell, choose not to openly market their homes with estate agents.  Their preference for ‘off market’ - not actively marketing the property through the normal methods -  can sometimes prove very successful

Its getting really cold now and all predictions point to the coldest winter in 5 years. There are some essential steps that should be taken now to avoid finding problems later on. 

Barn conversions have continued to become very popular, principally for their open plan living style combined with their countryside setting, a common consequence of their former use. Besides wooden features or beautiful brickwork they usually have vaulted ceilings, which give a lovely sense of space inside.

If you own or are considering purchasing a flat as a second home, it may well be a leasehold property. If it is, the inherent value of the flat is linked to the length of its lease. This is an area which many fail to appreciate until they come to sell, often finding out the hard way that they should have tackled the issue proactively.

If you have, or are thinking about buying a property which has room for a tennis court you may be wondering if it is a wise investment.

For many, trying to find and buy your perfect house to meet your exacting standards, specifications and aspirations can be a tough and time consuming job. Some people give up and try to find other methods or solutions to finding their perfect home, while others have a desire from the outset to take on a project and build something themselves.

Following on from last week’s blog, you may have the vision and have found what you consider to be the ideal property, so now you want to negotiate the right price and make some changes.

Buying a property for the majority is a stressful, nerve racking and intimidating experience. Finding a suitable property, handling the negotiation and then worrying about the legal conveyance process is time consuming and complex enough before you add to that the confusion and perplexity of adapting your ideal property to meet your needs and vision. 

You need to act quickly to secure the house you wish to rent, in the current climate. Demand for rental property is at an all-time high, especially for houses and apartments in London and the South East of England.

In the UK, the buyer is not responsible for paying the estate agent. The estate agent is working on behalf of the vendor to sell the property and is paid accordingly.

As a buyer, you will need to pay the agreed negotiated price for the property to the vendor through your solicitors, whilst the vendor pays their own solicitors for professional fees and their selling agent a commission.

Whilst a number of estate agents are still waiting for the seasonal increase in activity to get going this Spring, Premier Property Search saw a flurry of activity towards the end of the first quarter.

Many people have never used, or had the need to use a solicitor prior to buying a property.

If you are moving from overseas you may have used alternatives to a solicitor, such as a “Settlement Agent”. It is essential that in the UK, a solicitor who specialises in residential property conveyancing is used by both the purchaser and seller to handle the necessary legal work properly.

The uncertainty of how the Yes vote or No vote could affect the residential property market is pure speculation at this early stage. However, some say it may lead to fewer residential transactions and could even have an impact on planned housing development schemes. 

“Listed Property” means that the house is on the national register and classed as a property of architectural or historic importance.

In simple terms your home is considered of special architectural or historic interest, the listing of which protects the whole of the building both inside and outside.

Whilst technology has radically changed the way properties are sourced, the same basic principles of how we ‘stay ahead of the market’ in identifying and finding those special 'off-market’ properties for our clients – that never make it onto Rightmove and OnTheMarket.com – has fundamentally not changed.

Often, the key to finding the right property is the timing. We make it our business to keep in touch with a network of property agents and many other property professionals on a regular basis. In this case study, the Williams Family fournd their dream Old Rectory home just hours before boarding a flight for Australia and they put their trust in us, Premier Property Search to undertake the consequent negotiation and secure the property on their behalf.

For many years, property experts have believed that valuing a property is a formula including both science and art – as there are many factors that influence value which are quite complicated to measure and not at all scientific.

For many people, especially families who live and work in London, this is the key question to consider. The disruption to family life, the potential huge cost and effort that is involved weighed up against the potential benefits to be gained are major considerations with major implications.

The press often take an interest in the top properties, particularly at a local level, and are keen to know who bought what property and for how much. It is therefore not surprising that both clients and vendors would rather keep their private lives private.

We are often asked how we find and buy some of the best properties that are ostensibly never advertised. Over the last 25 years we have built a reputation for finding ‘off-market’ properties - to both buy and rent – through our network of contacts, experience and market knowledge. This white paper answers the key questions that our clients often ask us before deciding to retain our services in their hunt for a new home.

Since our last blog about Stamp Duty in February, the changes to the bands announced in December have had a number of knock-on effects to the market.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said he has observed that, “stamp duty changes have reduced bunching at key price points.”

For many years as property professionals we have often had to think outside the box when we are gathering information, particularly about properties we get to know about that are not yet on the open-market.

Driving around country roads, peering into people’s entrance ways and even ‘accidently’ steering up a drive to take a sneaky peaky at a property has occurred more than on one occasion over the years.

The fifth most common reason for moving home is planning for one's retirement. With low interest rates predicted to continue for some time, clients are looking for other ways of investing their monies as an alternative to other income streams.  Planning for the future is a key part of property ownership and buying a second home as an investment, with a view to retirement, is still an important part of the residential property market.

In the first part of this two part series we looked at the five key things an astute property buyer looks for when viewing a property to rent or buy. In this the second part we look from a vendor perspective as to what you should show and tell a prospective buyer when they visit your property.

The old ‘adage’ for a vendor or landlord to pop a pot of coffee on the stove or have the aroma of cakes or bread baking is old-hat nowadays but will this influence or persuade the buyer or future tenant?

In this the first part of a two part series we explore what some property buyers look for when looking for a property to rent or buy.