The Agent of the North

Thinking of Moving Home ?

On 26^th May we are holding Open Evenings at our South Shields and Low Fell branches, between 5pm and 8pm. We will have specialists available to help you whether you are thinking of Buying, Selling or Renting. On the night there will be a team of skilled staff including Valuers, Lettings and Mortgage Specialists.

For full details Click HERE.

We will be able to advise you on all property matters and including:

• Must Sell Properties ideal for home owners or investors.
• Hot Properties recently listed or where prices have been reduced recently.
• Properties where the Vendor will provide 5% deposit
• Properties for sale by Auction
• A great selection of properties to let.

We look forward to seeing you.

122 Fowler Street, South Shields. 0191 4271722

582 Durham Road, Low Fell. 0191 4875330

The average mortgage rate for borrowers with a 10% deposit has dropped below 6% for the first time since March 2008.

According to new research from Moneyfacts.co.uk, the rate on a typical two-year fix at 90% loan-to-value (LTV) currently stands at 5.98%, taking the cost of a mortgage down 0.4% compared with a year ago.

In addition the number of 90% LTV loans on offer has increased 41% in the past year, with 229 deals currently available, across 48 lenders.

While mortgage rates at all LTV levels have fallen over the past 12 months, the 90% tier has seen the biggest fall, with increased competition in the first-time buyer market the most likely explanation.

Moneyfacts spokesperson, Michelle Slade, comments “The news will be a boost to first-time buyers who have been left with limited options in the last few years.”

Ms Slade also mentions that Skipton Building Society has put in an impressive performance, offering 95% LTV mortgages after becoming the first lender to offer rates lower than 6.00%, without the need for a guarantor, since the credit crisis peaked.

At Andrew Craig we welcome these developments. We are currently running a Spring/Summer initiative offering properties for sale where the vendor will gift 5% deposit

For details of 5% Vendor Deposit properties available throughout our branch network call 0191 2261222 today.

Every day we are asked the question, how long will it take to sell my home?  Of course this is a very difficult question to answer, particularly, in these challenging times. Some agents may profess to be able to sell a house within a matter of days , or they may proclaim to have a waiting list of buyers. However, in reality most sellers find to their great disappointment that these are false promises made by the agent to get the listing.  

In the current market most house buyers are focussing on price, so making sure it’s priced realistically is a must. You and your agent must research prices as your potential buyers certainly will and will bypass over priced properties.  Dealing with offers well below asking prices is a challenge for the agent and the seller. The best way to approach current pricing for your home is to see what you can buy a new home for first. It may be less than you think, thereby enabling you to price your current home at a point where it will sell readily.

When a property is first listed any decent agent will speak to hot buyers  and match the property to any interested applicants. They will market the property in branch, it will go onto the internet and carry out limited press advertising (very few buyers are nowadays found from press adverts).  If all these things are happening then we would normally expect that a property, which is appropriately priced, will attract good interest within around four to six weeks. There should be  viewings and in most cases offers being made within five or ten percent of the asking price.

So what do you do if these things aren’t happening? Well usually its either the agent or  the price. In a situation where interest is muted and offers are not coming your agent should be talking to you about how to move things forward. If they aren’t then ultimately you can then bring into question the quality of service that you as a seller are being given. If however communication is good and they are marketing your home to the standard promised then it’s probably time to consider reducing the price. This will then surely bring about the interest needed to ensure that all important sale.

If you are thinking of changing agents then call us on 0191 2261222 or CLICK HERE to book your FREE Valuation.

In the North East of England, selling by auction is becoming more and more popular. At our May auction we sold 48 lots sold worth over £4 million and in 2011 we have sold 237 lots worth almost £20 million.

Our experience tells us that it’s not just run down or investment properties that sell at auction. A recent lot, a delightful detached house, sold for almost £100,000 over guide price!

Our Option 2 Auction is well suited to selling homes that many traditional auction houses cannot accommodate. In Option 2, the buyer pays a deposit on the fall of the gavel and then has 28 days in which to exchange contracts. This gives the buyer time to arrange a survey or finance and means that the transaction can be completed in a convenient agreed timescale, as per a standard sale transaction. This gives you the best of both worlds!

There are many benefits of selling property at auction. If you would like more information, or a Free appraisal, then please call Agents Property Auction on 0800 0284766.

A radical shake-up of the ‘archaic’ county court eviction process is needed to help landlords and agents get rid of problem tenants, according to a lettings industry specialist.

Sim Sekhon, director of Legal 4 Landlords, is calling on both HM Court Service (HMCS) and the Government to reform the way tenant evictions are handled.

Sekhon said: “There is no consistency in the eviction process and it is archaically slow. It can take up to three months to gain a court eviction order.

“Judges seem to review cases on a random basis and opinions differ from judge to judge. There is confusion amongst judges and magistrates on the terms in which eviction notices can be granted.”

Under the Housing Act 1988, a landlord who has a shorthold tenancy agreement has a legal right to get their property back at the end of the tenancy using a section 21 notice. A section 8 notice is used where a tenant has broken part of their tenancy agreement. The most common reason is non-payment of rent, but there are 17 grounds for which a section 8 notice can be used making the system very complicated.

Sekhon said: “Around 5% of tenants we evict leave the property damaged and full of rubbish. We’ve entered properties with human excrement smeared over the walls, rooms littered with used needles and in one case a tenant had removed all the floorboards in the upstairs of the property and laid the carpet back down so the landlord fell through the floor, sustaining serious injuries.

“Speeding up the eviction process would limit the danger to both landlords and people in neighbouring properties.”

This is not just a problem for private landlords – social housing landlords are also suffering from the slow court eviction process.

To downlaod a copy of our Landlord Guide CLICK HERE or call us on 0191 2261222