Category: General

Well not his actual life, but his house, business and his beach hut!
Daily Mail story for you to have a look at
An ice-cream seller is offering just that – complete with fisherman’s cottage, 1950s beach hut and ice-cream shop Sundae, Sundae in trendy Whitstable, Kent.

I’ve had a request from Isabel Findlay who has been trying to sell her house for a few years now.

Isabel fills us in on the details:

The house has been marketed by several companies in West Lothian. (4years)

Our own Solicitor /Estate Agent Sneddon and Son Armadale West Lothian
Your Move Estate Agents /Bathgate and Livingston (Twice)
]Remax Estate Agents West Lothian (Twice)
Caesar & Howie Solicitor /Estate Agents Bathgate West Lothian.

All schedules Showed the following:
Pictures taken from the Front road side and back of the property.
Pictures taken of all the rooms within the property and also the back of the
property showing the sizes of the garden and Conservatory. to the back of the
property.

The measurements of room sizes have been placed within the schedule of the
property.
The rooms were all furnished with quality furnishings and all soft furnishings
co-ordinate.

The front cover of all estate agents who have tried to sell the property have
the same style of picture.

How many viewers have we had? We have had only six viewers in the first year
of marketing the property. none since then.

The property has been offered at prices from £285.000
£265.000 No viewers /no offers
£249.950 No viewers/no offers
£235.000

The latest company to market the property of this week is the following
Knightbain Estate Agents Broxburn West Lothian.

So why isn’t her house selling?
At the moment it’s being shown empty, but it has been on furnished and previous photos reflect this.
The house looks in good decorative order, is clean, very decluttered as it’s empty, and looks like it has excellent parking and a good size back garden.

What perhaps confuses people is the fact it’s shown as SSTC with one agent but not the other. This is very confusing for people. It is the same property though – as it’s the same postcode and has identical neighbour buildings.
If it’s only one with one agent then it should only be showing with one agent. Showing as SSTC will put off potential viewers.

I think it should also have a floorplan explaining the layout.

The area looks nice from the streetview, although it’s a busy main road.

With so few viewings over such a long time and the property now being empty it is hard to suggest much.
Price has to be a factor, perhaps it was initially too high to tempt in viewings, and now although reduced by £30,000 that is over 4 years of trying to sell the property.
Cosmetically it looks fine. Perhaps if it was dressed with furniture so people can imagine the lounge as a lounge then that might help. There are places to hire furniture but this has to be a cost implication for the seller.

Looking at sold prices I can see that a 5 bedroom property sold for £235,000 on 12 Aug 2011. This is perhaps an indication that the price is just too high for the size of house. Although rightmove doesn’t list floorspace in it’s listings to give accurate comparisons.
The house that sold for less also has a conservatory, drive, and big garage. IT’s within 1/4 mile of Isabel’s house too – so would have been more attractive to buyers on price alone!
It’s hard to sell in a falling market unless you are realistic about prices. Isabel’s house looks clean, spacious and well looked after, so there must be something else.
I would suggest getting the estate agent to take some more photos on a sunny day. A little sunshine on the outside of a house can make it feel much more welcoming. Although there is plenty of light coming in on the other photos, without furniture viewers need a little more imagination to see furniture in a house.

Whilst sunshine alone isn’t going to do the trick here, it’s something Isabel could consider.
I would also ask her to discuss with the latest estate agent how many buyers they have on their books looking for houses in this area.

I would also ask her to ask the estate agent if they think an open day would be a good idea, and what suggestions they have to atract more local interest in the property.
As the property is listed on Rightmove then it’s got an online presence already, so making the most of that is worth a look.
Changing the photos is a first option – then having a close look at recently sold prices in the area.

Family who built secret house in woods without telling planners can’t be evicted because they’ve been living there for more than four years

Read more:

Ligne Roset – Furniture Designer

Sold in Harrods – some really amazing designer furniture. If you’re looking for a statement piece of furniture then you’re going to be pleased at the enormous choice available. From stunning arm chairs, sofas, dining tables and lighting.

This is a stunning desk – Ligne Roset’s Rewrite desk is a little jewel of modernity and softness. The soundproofed bubble affords protection from both light and external noise and also dampens sounds emanating from within it. The natural, precious materials of which it is composed, walnut and Kvadrat Divina wool, reinforce the overall feeling of softness and security.

NewBuy Guarantee scheme seems crazy.

£500,000 home loans backed by the taxpayer as NewBuy Guarantee scheme launched (telegraph article)
Up to 100,000 people will get Government support to buy homes worth up to £500,000 in a Coalition move to revive the middle-class dream of home ownership, ministers will announce.

If you can actually afford to take on a mortgage for half a million pounds then do you need government help?

Of course you don’t.

Does this address affordability?

No.

Mansion Tax – and why it’s upset Kirstie Allsopp

Who would it affect? Anyone with a home worth over £2m. Cable wants an annual levy introduced in return for letting the Tories abolish the 50% rate of income tax. Right now this affects anyone earning over £150,000.

I think it’s a bad idea.

There are lots of alternatives.

Why does the council tax banding have to stop a G? There are plenty more letters in the alphabet!

Win a Laufen bathroom worth up to £3700 in conjunction with the grand designs magazine

They have some really interesting bathrooms

So did the holiday from stamp duty benefit anyone?

As the holiday on stamp duty draws to an end, the government is starting to look
for alternative ways to boost the first time buyer market. However the question
remains, did the 1% tax exemption for first time buyers benefit anyone?

The tax exemption for first time buyers purchasing houses under £250,000
would see 9 out of 10 first time buyers saving up to £2500. To compensate
for this 1% decrease in tax for first time buyers however has been compensated
for a 5% tax on homes costing over £1m.

The chancellor, George Osborne’s review of the stamp-duty holiday described
the attempt at relieving first time buyers as “disappointing” as it
had failed to get more first time buyers onto the market. Nationally, first time
buyers count for two thirds of the property market, but with the number of first
time buyers at a record three year low, the government will have to do a lot more
to help people onto the property ladder.

The problem really lies in the difficulty of first time buyers saving enough money
for a deposit and the difficulty in securing a mortgage. High unemployment and
a weak economic outlook are just mere factors making the property ladder unreachable
for many. However, the government did suggest that the new housing strategy will
encourage lenders to give 95% of mortgages to first time buyers, with the aim
of reassuring first time buyers that they can secure a mortgage.

So should first time buyers be discouraged? Certainly not, although the stamp
duty holiday is coming to an end, there is no reason to stop looking for a way
onto the property ladder. For guidance of house prices and properties available
in your area, free property portals such as Propertyads
make the search for a home more relaxed as you can do it from the comfort of your
own home, without pressured sales speak of overly excited estate agents.

Fancy living in a cave?

Not quite as strange as it sounds, or maybe it is?

RQ form
What does Form RQ do?
An owner who is not living and does not intend to live at their registered property can make a request to the registrar to enter a restriction set out below.

RQ Form FAQs

“No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the
registered estate is to be registered without a certificate signed by a
conveyancer that the conveyancer is satisfied that the person who executed
the document submitted for registration as disponor is the same person as
the proprietor.”