The short supply of £1 million to £5 million homes for sale in London has started bidding wars and property buying agents have seen the return of gazumping.
People who are ready to buy a luxury home in London are finding the lack of properties for sale very frustrating. Reports show that the number of properties for sale has dropped by over 21 per cent since February 2009. Asking prices stabilised in April but have been on the rise because the number of properties for sale has declined.
In July, the Land Registry office reported the first increase in “sold” prices in over 12 months. Whilst this is very good news for people who want to sell their home, property buying agents are currently finding it difficult to locate suitable properties for their clients.
Tracy Kellett of BDI Homefinders UK said, "We’re finding it very hard to locate enough luxury properties for sale. In central London there are only about 40 properties a day coming onto the market, and this is causing bidding wars.
"My life would be much easier if there were more luxury properties for sale in London and the Home Counties. For example, I’ve got £5 million to spend on a home in Notting Hill but as yet, I’ve not found anything that’s suitable."
"12 months ago we negotiated some excellent prices for our clients by playing hard to get," says Tracy. "I personally haven’t experienced any gazumping yet, but other agents have as property sellers are messing buyers around, and we’ve seen multiple bids on several London homes recently.
"On most £1 to £5 million properties for sale in London there will be three or four people trying to buy it. For the first time in over a year we’re telling our clients to view a property as soon as we give them the details, otherwise someone else will buy it."
Tracy also said that this is not the time to try and get a bargain. "We’re telling our clients that this is a time to get reasonable pricing, but don’t expect any big discounts; you just won’t get them.
BDI Homefinders UK provides property search and relocation services for London, the Home Counties and the South East of England. For more information please visit www.bdihomefinders.co.uk
Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
BDI Homefinders in London Explains "What is a Homefinder?"
What is a homefinder? Homefinders are called many things… property search agent, buying agent, relocation agent, homefinder, it all comes down to the same thing in one sense, an expert in the residential property market acting on your behalf to find you a property and to help you to buy the property.
Do they all mean the same thing? No
A relocation agent is usually someone who works with corporate entities who are moving employees around and generally they are only expert in finding rental properties. Therefore if you are looking to buy a property, these are generally not the people to give you expert home buying advice.
Property Buying Agents
This is a generic term for property experts specialising in the purchase of a property. However, the term buying agent is often referring to those working at the very top end of the market and they may well have a commercial bent. Therefore looking at purchasing super-prime homes, hotels, shopping centres etc..
Homefinders / Property Search Agents
These terms mean pretty much the same. These are experts specialising in buying homes for ordinary and extraordinary people. Invariably they will have a background in estate agency so will bring insider knowledge to the table on your behalf. They may well have a specific geographic area in which they specialise.
Who uses homefinders and why?
Homefinders are quickly becoming a mainstream service in the UK, if you bear in mind that over 95% of people use Estate Agents when selling, then the logic for that becomes apparent. It is often thought that only the ‘rich and famous’ use homefinders, not true. The majority of clients using our services at BDI Homefinders UK are ordinary working folk.
Here are some examples of why people use our homefinder services:
Just too busy
Working full time
Not knowing the area
Wanting expert advice on buying a property
Wanting expert negotiating skills
Just hating the thought of the whole hassle and wanting someone to project manage the home finding process.
At BDI Homefinders UK our clients fall into the majority of the reasons above. We have helped all sorts of people to move into their new homes from professional sportsmen, accountants, lawyers, teacher’s, overseas investors and even the odd stand-up comedian!
The one thing they have in common is that they recognise that they need help. Finding a new home is extremely labour-intensive not to mention the most expensive investment that most people will make - it is critical to get it right. The vast majority of people would not consider selling without an expert i.e. estate agent, so why would one buy without one?
BDI Homefinders UK fall between all of the above examples. We are an independent homefinder service that’s run by ex-Estate Agents. None of our property search consultants handle more than two clients at any one time, we know from experience that we cannot do the job properly and deliver the best quality service with more clients.
Our network of house hunters cover London and the whole of the South-east of England, so if your remit changes, or if you want to sanity check different areas, we are agile and knowledgeable enough to roll with it.
For more details about how BDI Homefinders UK can help you to find the property that you want, please call us on 0845 603 6110 or contact us by e-mail.
Do they all mean the same thing? No
A relocation agent is usually someone who works with corporate entities who are moving employees around and generally they are only expert in finding rental properties. Therefore if you are looking to buy a property, these are generally not the people to give you expert home buying advice.
Property Buying Agents
This is a generic term for property experts specialising in the purchase of a property. However, the term buying agent is often referring to those working at the very top end of the market and they may well have a commercial bent. Therefore looking at purchasing super-prime homes, hotels, shopping centres etc..
Homefinders / Property Search Agents
These terms mean pretty much the same. These are experts specialising in buying homes for ordinary and extraordinary people. Invariably they will have a background in estate agency so will bring insider knowledge to the table on your behalf. They may well have a specific geographic area in which they specialise.
Who uses homefinders and why?
Homefinders are quickly becoming a mainstream service in the UK, if you bear in mind that over 95% of people use Estate Agents when selling, then the logic for that becomes apparent. It is often thought that only the ‘rich and famous’ use homefinders, not true. The majority of clients using our services at BDI Homefinders UK are ordinary working folk.
Here are some examples of why people use our homefinder services:
Just too busy
Working full time
Not knowing the area
Wanting expert advice on buying a property
Wanting expert negotiating skills
Just hating the thought of the whole hassle and wanting someone to project manage the home finding process.
At BDI Homefinders UK our clients fall into the majority of the reasons above. We have helped all sorts of people to move into their new homes from professional sportsmen, accountants, lawyers, teacher’s, overseas investors and even the odd stand-up comedian!
The one thing they have in common is that they recognise that they need help. Finding a new home is extremely labour-intensive not to mention the most expensive investment that most people will make - it is critical to get it right. The vast majority of people would not consider selling without an expert i.e. estate agent, so why would one buy without one?
BDI Homefinders UK fall between all of the above examples. We are an independent homefinder service that’s run by ex-Estate Agents. None of our property search consultants handle more than two clients at any one time, we know from experience that we cannot do the job properly and deliver the best quality service with more clients.
Our network of house hunters cover London and the whole of the South-east of England, so if your remit changes, or if you want to sanity check different areas, we are agile and knowledgeable enough to roll with it.
For more details about how BDI Homefinders UK can help you to find the property that you want, please call us on 0845 603 6110 or contact us by e-mail.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
UK Homefinder Case Studies from BDI Home Finders in London
Here are some examples of people who have used our homefinder services to find and buy a home in London or in the South East UK.
Busy lawyer, first time buyer – Wanted to buy a property in a ‘nice’ location in London
Terrified and uncertain of the property market as a first time buyer, M thought she wanted to live in Islington but knew there were other options which she just didn’t have the time to investigate. Regularly working 18 hour days, M also did not know how she was going to find the time to spend on the whole purchase process. She wanted to buy a period property and that in itself brings its own time consuming issues. We were able to source the market and explore with M all possible locations, such as Chelsea, Pimlico, Notting Hill and South Kensington.
Our house hunters found M a period property in Islington, but only after she had had the opportunity to do an informed sanity check that it was right for her. The super property she settled on had tricky issues from both listing stand point and its condition. We were able to take the strain on the legal side and provided complete project management for the refurbishment of the property.
Accountant and pregnant wife – Wanted to find a home in Banbury or Thames Valley.
As is often the case Mr and Mrs had different ideas on where they wanted to live. Mr wanted to be based in the Thames Valley, particularly, South Oxfordshire, as, although working in Banbury he wanted to keep future job prospects at close quarters. Mrs, who was heavily pregnant wanted to be close to current work so that new family life would be easier.
Therefore, rather than be prescriptive our homefinders searched both areas at the same time, knowing that the right property would present itself and the decision would present itself.
As expected, a village just outside Banbury presented a dream stone cottage. We negotiated a fantastic 15% discount, getting rid of 5 other buyers nipping at our heels. We exchanged AND completed on Christmas Eve; and yes we were there to settle them in!
Doctor newly divorced – Looking to buy a home in Battersea or Chelsea
Busy senior Doctor stuck in a rather smelly Chelsea rental needed to spread his wings into a decent bachelor pad. We literally managed to pull this all together and found him a flat in just two weeks. Dr P. had so little time that we were literally pulling him out of surgery to look at properties! It was a pretty smooth property search however and a great flat with roof terrace (for the all important telescope), was purchased in the heart of Battersea. The flat was within cycling distance to the hospital and lots of shops. There’s also plenty of buzz around for the newly single Doctor.
Retired Hoteliers – Wanted to find and buy a home in Abingdon
Although they had huge experience with large properties, the E’s had no experience buying a home for themselves. Although they are fans of Phil and Kirsty, BDI Home Finders got the call!
Whilst Abingdon was an area they knew well, they needed the confidence of having an expert homefinder on their side. With a couple of false starts, including budget being reduced by almost half due to the credit crunch, our house hunters found them the perfect home in Wantage. As is often the case, it was nothing like they had imagined - not even the area. One of the things we bring to the party is creative thinking and their original ‘want’ of a period property was never going to work due to their fear of on-going maintenance. Therefore a good solid, (and pretty), bungalow ended up being the perfect property.
For details about how we can help you to find and to buy or to let a home, please call BDI Home Finders UK on 0845 603 6110 or contact us by e-mail.
Busy lawyer, first time buyer – Wanted to buy a property in a ‘nice’ location in London
Terrified and uncertain of the property market as a first time buyer, M thought she wanted to live in Islington but knew there were other options which she just didn’t have the time to investigate. Regularly working 18 hour days, M also did not know how she was going to find the time to spend on the whole purchase process. She wanted to buy a period property and that in itself brings its own time consuming issues. We were able to source the market and explore with M all possible locations, such as Chelsea, Pimlico, Notting Hill and South Kensington.
Our house hunters found M a period property in Islington, but only after she had had the opportunity to do an informed sanity check that it was right for her. The super property she settled on had tricky issues from both listing stand point and its condition. We were able to take the strain on the legal side and provided complete project management for the refurbishment of the property.
Accountant and pregnant wife – Wanted to find a home in Banbury or Thames Valley.
As is often the case Mr and Mrs had different ideas on where they wanted to live. Mr wanted to be based in the Thames Valley, particularly, South Oxfordshire, as, although working in Banbury he wanted to keep future job prospects at close quarters. Mrs, who was heavily pregnant wanted to be close to current work so that new family life would be easier.
Therefore, rather than be prescriptive our homefinders searched both areas at the same time, knowing that the right property would present itself and the decision would present itself.
As expected, a village just outside Banbury presented a dream stone cottage. We negotiated a fantastic 15% discount, getting rid of 5 other buyers nipping at our heels. We exchanged AND completed on Christmas Eve; and yes we were there to settle them in!
Doctor newly divorced – Looking to buy a home in Battersea or Chelsea
Busy senior Doctor stuck in a rather smelly Chelsea rental needed to spread his wings into a decent bachelor pad. We literally managed to pull this all together and found him a flat in just two weeks. Dr P. had so little time that we were literally pulling him out of surgery to look at properties! It was a pretty smooth property search however and a great flat with roof terrace (for the all important telescope), was purchased in the heart of Battersea. The flat was within cycling distance to the hospital and lots of shops. There’s also plenty of buzz around for the newly single Doctor.
Retired Hoteliers – Wanted to find and buy a home in Abingdon
Although they had huge experience with large properties, the E’s had no experience buying a home for themselves. Although they are fans of Phil and Kirsty, BDI Home Finders got the call!
Whilst Abingdon was an area they knew well, they needed the confidence of having an expert homefinder on their side. With a couple of false starts, including budget being reduced by almost half due to the credit crunch, our house hunters found them the perfect home in Wantage. As is often the case, it was nothing like they had imagined - not even the area. One of the things we bring to the party is creative thinking and their original ‘want’ of a period property was never going to work due to their fear of on-going maintenance. Therefore a good solid, (and pretty), bungalow ended up being the perfect property.
For details about how we can help you to find and to buy or to let a home, please call BDI Home Finders UK on 0845 603 6110 or contact us by e-mail.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
What to check for when instructing a Homefinder
Homefinders fall into three main categories:
Lone player:
This will be someone who often works from home and takes on clients as a part-time additional income. They can be ex-estate agents or ex-relocation agents or just people with an interest in property.
Caution:
Lone players often have a very restricted geographical stretch which means that if, as often happens you want to cover a quite large area or you change your mind on area, they will not be able to help. Check the number of clients they are searching for. More than two clients per property search agent means they CANNOT do the job properly for you. If the person is not an ex-estate agent, are they really qualified to provide you with in-depth property investment advice? What is their industry knowledge based on?
Large Agency / bank owned companies
These are quite corporate entities with fees to match. The personal touch is not their strong point.
Caution:
If the company is owned by an estate agency chain - can you really be sure that they will not preference their own company? Check how many clients they have per consultant. Our mystery shopping shows that they will generally have 5 clients per consultant in the country and 12 in London. With this being the case - your property search will be slow!
Franchises
There are a couple of big homefinder franchises which sell on a geographic basis. There seems to be no great emphasis on property experience with the franchisees, more salesmanship.
Caution:
Experience and geographic spread is the key to look for here. Do you really want to be restricted to a small part of one county? Do check that your ‘adviser’ really is in the position and has the experience to advise you.
BDI Homefinders
At BDI Home Finders UK we are an independent property search service that’s operated by former Estate Agents. None of our property search consultants handle more than two clients at any one time, we know from experience that we cannot do the job properly and deliver the best quality service with more clients.
Our homefinder services cover London and the whole of the South-east of England, so if your remit changes, or if you want to sanity check different areas, we are agile and knowledgeable enough to roll with it.
For more information please call BDI Home Finders UK on 0845 603 6110 or contact us by e-mail.
Lone player:
This will be someone who often works from home and takes on clients as a part-time additional income. They can be ex-estate agents or ex-relocation agents or just people with an interest in property.
Caution:
Lone players often have a very restricted geographical stretch which means that if, as often happens you want to cover a quite large area or you change your mind on area, they will not be able to help. Check the number of clients they are searching for. More than two clients per property search agent means they CANNOT do the job properly for you. If the person is not an ex-estate agent, are they really qualified to provide you with in-depth property investment advice? What is their industry knowledge based on?
Large Agency / bank owned companies
These are quite corporate entities with fees to match. The personal touch is not their strong point.
Caution:
If the company is owned by an estate agency chain - can you really be sure that they will not preference their own company? Check how many clients they have per consultant. Our mystery shopping shows that they will generally have 5 clients per consultant in the country and 12 in London. With this being the case - your property search will be slow!
Franchises
There are a couple of big homefinder franchises which sell on a geographic basis. There seems to be no great emphasis on property experience with the franchisees, more salesmanship.
Caution:
Experience and geographic spread is the key to look for here. Do you really want to be restricted to a small part of one county? Do check that your ‘adviser’ really is in the position and has the experience to advise you.
BDI Homefinders
At BDI Home Finders UK we are an independent property search service that’s operated by former Estate Agents. None of our property search consultants handle more than two clients at any one time, we know from experience that we cannot do the job properly and deliver the best quality service with more clients.
Our homefinder services cover London and the whole of the South-east of England, so if your remit changes, or if you want to sanity check different areas, we are agile and knowledgeable enough to roll with it.
For more information please call BDI Home Finders UK on 0845 603 6110 or contact us by e-mail.
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