Hertfordshire

In some property transactions, the best publicity for clients can be no publicity as Stuart Harris, head of residential sales at the Cambridge office of national property consultancy Carter Jonas explains…

Stuart Harris of Carter Jonas

While the majority of residential properties for sale are advertised and promoted widely by estate agents through a myriad of marketing channels, there is an alternative for those who prefer to keep themselves and their homes out of the spotlight – it’s called ‘off-market selling’.

Many agents, particularly those who specialise in properties at the premium end of the market, can carry out this service successfully to both vendors and buyers alike.

It is generally taken up by people for whom the circumstances around buying or selling are more sensitive than the majority of us in the mainstream property market. 

The best agents operate the service for clients in much the same way as a dating agency – bringing together purchasers and vendors with very specific property requirements and with a similar degree of privacy and discretion.

For instance, business people involved in planned takeovers or acquisitions which mean they need to buy or sell property in a location but, for commercial reasons, are not wishing to publicise a move to or from a location.

More obvious clients who want this off-market selling approach are high-profile executives or media celebrities who, for security reasons, do not wish to publicise the sale or purchase of a property.

Off-market selling can only really be successful if, in addition to expert knowledge of the property market, the agent knows the needs of the vendor or purchaser in-depth. It’s not just a question taking a set of particulars and waiting for the right property or right buyer to come along.

From the time the agent meets the client and takes a detailed brief, the successful agent will be pro-active in the relationship and in the market on behalf of the client, tapping in to the agency’s chain of offices, if it has one, and network of professional contacts in the pursuit of the right match.

The best in this field will know of their client’s plans months ahead. They give strategic advice to clients about the best time to sell or when is the optimum time to look to move, ensuring they get the right property. It’s all about having and using market intelligence in the right way for the client.

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Zoe Noyes, senior associate of Carter Jonas, who leads the national property consultancy’s new homes sales in Peterborough and Cambridge, thinks that our urge to click and compare is an approach which can come unstuck when it comes to house-hunting

Zoe Noyes of Carter Jonas

We’re always being implored to price compare the vast range of consumer goods and services on offer from a myriad of sellers before we make a decision to purchase.  And, indeed, the internet means we can do this easily so at the point of purchase, satisfied we’ve done enough comparative research, we’re confident we’ve got what we want and at a price to suit.

When it comes to buying property, while the drivers remain getting what we want at a price to suit, it’s difficult to imagine anybody buying a property in which to live by price comparison alone. 

There are a few key property portals through which estate agents and developers promote their properties. These are supplemented by estate agents’ and developers’ own websites but portal or website, these are very much just a starting point for house-hunting.

The methodology of the price comparison approach to buying only makes sense when you are comparing like-with-like, at face value, for mass produced goods and services like a holiday, car insurance or, even a car but not when it comes to property.

Even if you are looking at a brand new homes development with standard house types, the plot location, orientation and available added extras make for a differential.

In this area of the country, agents have instructions on properties in pretty villages, hamlets, market towns and in city centres, which although they might be in a comparative guide price bracket, there is not one property which can be compared to another in terms of offering exactly the same thing.

The best agents arrive at a guide price through knowledge and understanding of not only the property but the market circumstances at the time of sale.  Whether selling or buying, you are part of this process, in seeking and taking agents’ advice. Indeed, the price – whether it’s a guide price for vendors or an offer price by purchaser clients – is arrived at only in agreement with them.

So it’s definitely not like as an anonymous as a third party setting-up a series of check-boxes giving you the verdict on which is the best property for you.

A property is the biggest consumer purchase most of us are ever likely to make. It calls for property market expertise from your agent and, from you, a bit of heart as well as head and a dash of gut instinct when you walk through the door for the first time.

So don’t just compare. Go visit and see for yourself.

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Moving home is one of the most important decisions you can make and choosing the right estate agent is crucial. Mike Bidwell, Director of Fine & Country Cambridge explains the significance of setting the right price to sell your property.

Mike Bidwell, Director Fine & Country Cambridge

Whether you are looking to downsize after many years of raising a family that have since moved out to start their own, or looking to take that second or third step up the property ladder, the thought of moving house can be daunting.

Some estate agents advocate the approach of artificially reducing the asking price in order to generate a bidding war in an effort to obtain multiple higher offers. What these agents fail to appreciate is how annoying this is to buyers and this could ultimately have a negative affect on the price achieved.

Further, there is often a ‘glass ceiling’ price at a certain percentage point above the guide figure that buyers will simply refuse to pay meaning that the final price achieved is not necessarily the best price that the market will pay.

It could be argued that whilst this approach is good for the estate agent in terms of a quick and easy sale, it is bad news for the two most important parties in the transaction – the seller and buyer!

It stands to reason that a buyer that feels he has been badly or unfairly treated in the initial negotiations could hit back at a much later stage in the transaction by attempting to renegotiate the price at the point of exchanging contracts by which time the seller may well be committed elsewhere and in the meantime any previously interested under bidders could have purchased elsewhere.

Beware also, the agent that artificially over inflates the asking price in order to entice the seller to place their home for sale or to win the instruction over competing estate agents. This can result in considerable wasted time and effort and the property becoming stale on the market if it is available for too long and possibly eventually selling for a lower price than might have been achieved had a sensible price been set in the first place.

An aggressive and stressful selling process is bad news for the sellers and buyers and will rarely realise a win-win outcome. Whilst the agent is normally acting for the seller, there is a great deal of truth in the adage that by helping the buyer buy, this helps the seller sell.

Your home is both a financial and emotional investment and any good estate agent takes the instruction to sell your home as a privilege, an honour and a serious commitment. Your agent should be carefully vetted and expertly trained and educated to assist, advise and inform you through each stage of the property transaction.

The sale of exclusive properties requires a bespoke approach to marketing and combined with the expertise of trained professionals requiring local knowledge, experience and contacts.

By choosing an honest and ethical agent to sell your home you are able to sit back and relax and watch a comprehensive marketing and selling strategy spring into action on your behalf.

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A desire to our own our own home is an enduring national characteristic on which Zoe Noyes, senior associate of Carter Jonas who leads the national property consultancy’s new homes sales in Peterborough and Cambridge, comments.

Zoe Noyes of Carter Jonas

As ever, there are contrary and conflicting views on the fortunes of the housing market. Some commentators are looking to set aside the exceptional performance of the London housing market – and its associated hot-spots such as central Cambridge – in consideration of a wider regional or national picture.

Other commentators are joining the debate with a differing agenda which focuses on the idea of ‘Generation Rent’.  Such views are sounding the death knell for home ownership in the UK in pointing to an increase in institutional investors buying up housing stock for rental.

There are acknowledged difficulties of accessing mortgage finance, particularly for first-time buyers, but there are signs of this easing in the first part of this year. 

However, in spite of the unpredictability of the housing market in the past few years, what does seem certain is the appeal of home ownership as the preferred housing tenure in the UK.

A YouGov survey published recently underlined that owning our own home is an enduring aim of people in this country.  Of people who are currently in private lettings, 64 per cent are looking to own their own home within by the next decade with.  Overall the people surveyed – currently living in a range of housing tenures – 79 per cent aspired to own their own homes.

Over 20 years ago, at a time of negative equity in the early 1990s which followed that September day in 1992 – known as ‘Black Wednesday’ when base interest rates shot up several times in as many hours from 10 to 12 to 15 per cent – there were many headlines which predicted that, as a nation, we were going to reject home ownership in the future for both economic and cultural reasons.

Our appetite for renting all of our lives is doubtful. Admittedly, some people do actively seek this while others have no choice.  There is a cultural issue about home ownership which could stem from our status as an island nation and a desire to own a house-sized parcel of it if we can. 

It’s a desire which seems embedded in our national psyche that it, along with the more obvious security of tenure and long-term financial reasons, makes owning our home appeal to us.

Predictions of the rejection of home ownership – on whatever basis – have just not come true in the past two decades and, with the YouGov survey, don’t look likely to be fulfilled in the coming decade and, probably, beyond.

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A garden can be an asset when it comes to selling your home, says Stuart Harris, head of residential sales at Carter Jonas in Cambridge, but not in the most obvious sense

Stuart Harris of Carter Jonas

Competing pressures of work, family life and alternative leisure, sporting and recreational pursuits mean that not everybody wants or can manage a big garden these days. 

For some, gardening is a pleasure but for others it is or becomes a burden. For those in this category fortunate to have a big enough garden, there’s often an option to sell part of the garden as a plot for development of another property.

In the last decade, development in gardens was often regarded as brownfield development in certain locations and such classification of development was supported by policies of the time.

However, in current times, garden land is no longer deemed to fall within the type of classification of previously developed land but selling part or whole of a garden for development is still possible – with the right advice.

Before seeking the level of professional property advice that you will need, it’s worth considering a number of general elements about your property and your garden and its appropriateness for development.

Consider whether the garden has its own, suitable and safe access from the street or highway. Is it overlooked by neighbouring properties and how near are they? 

How close is the garden to any public footpaths, rights of way or bridle paths? Does it border any other gardens, community facilities or publicly-owned land?

If you intend to stay in your own property, will you have to share access with what is built? Will you have to compromise your privacy?

Take a look at the style of existing residences and also new developments in your area or your street.  Would any development in your garden be considered as changing the character of your street or an impact on the wider neighbourhood?

Whether you plan to stay in your property or move on, there are also tax implications when you get income from selling land.

Expert property, planning and legal advice is crucial from the outset.

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Zoe Noyes, senior associate of Carter Jonas, who leads the national property consultancy’s new homes sales in Peterborough and Cambridge considers what it takes when it comes to selling new homes

Zoe Noyes of Carter Jonas

To succeed in any sales-centric job you need business savvy, to be a good judge of character and a nose for when and how to seal the deal. Add in a not inconsiderable amount of life experience – which includes running a home and an element of friendly nosiness – and you’ve got the skill set to sell new homes.

It’s a skill set which all estate agents need too, admittedly, but those of us who specialise in new homes are very much at the coal-face on site at new homes developments.

In selling plots and homes off-plan, in effect, we’re selling something that has yet to be built. And, let’s face it, a home is the biggest consumer purchase that most of us will ever make. So we need to be trusted and liked by the purchasers who need to have confidence the home will be ready to move in to according to the agreed schedule.

At the same time as dealing with negotiating advertising schedules and the preparation of brochures and marketing material like our non-new colleagues do, we are balancing the demands of a build schedule which, by necessity, is tightly controlled by the site manager and the developer’s contractors.

Add in the English weather and the needs of purchasers who are looking to move in to their perfect brand new homes as soon as possible and often – on the bigger sites – when there are still houses being built around them.

It’s often said that anybody can sell but that the most successful in sales know when and how to seal the deal.

At a time of low margins for developers, new homes sales people have to judge just at what point of negotiation price our developer clients and our purchaser clients will back out of the sale.

Domestic skills are not to be sniffed at either in the new homes sales business.

Knowing that a quick vacuum will smooth out the marks of the roll on a newly fitted carpet and similar top tips are regularly passed on to happy purchasers on moving-in day.

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