The property market is starting to change. With renewed confidence in the market aided by the Help to Buy Scheme, whether people are taking part or not, more buyers are definitely out there than there have been for a long time.
And with demand for property on the up, from a sellers perspective things are getting easier to move too. With property prices in some areas recovering to 2007 levels, it means less homeowners are in negative equity and with just a 5% deposit to have to find, its possible to contemplate moving on.
For those who tried to sell up during the credit crunch but couldn’t, it’s also worth thinking about trying again, especially if your property is in a price bracket which would appeal to first time buyers. First time buyers according to CML tend to spend up to £150,000 but bear in mind this includes London, so it’s likely to be £150,000 to £250,000 in London and Home Counties and under the £100,000 mark everywhere else.
If you want to trade up and you don’t have a big deposit, as long as you can afford mortgage rates of 5-7% over the next five years, then its’ definitely worth thinking about trading up and taking advantage of the Help to Buy Scheme.
You can typically secure mortgage rates of 3% for Help to Buy on an new build whereas the
scheme for existing homes are around 5%.
You need to check what’s happening market wise to make sure the ‘pick up’ reported in the media and house price surveys is actually happening in your area. Look on sold property prices on the likes of Rightmove and Mouse Price to see if properties are selling near to or for more than 2007 levels. If they are still selling for a lot less talk to local agents who have sold properties similar to yours and see what prices they have secured.
If you are looking at trading down, then the most important thing is to move when it suits you. It may be that you have been stuck in a property you can’t sell but are getting divorced and are desperate to move on. It may be that you are in debt or a member of the family hasn’t been well and when these life events happen, it’s more important to try and move on to a better place than worry about maximising your property's price or rushing into buying something
which isn’t right.
It will be difficult to find somewhere to live in most areas as you will probably be competing with first time buyers who are after one and two bed properties. To help you trade down, read our trading down checklist.
Key steps you need to take if you are thinking of selling in 2014 are:-
Then, work out whether you should sell your property as a ‘show home’ or just as it is. Since the credit crunch with such good mortgage rates with high deposits, people don’t have the money (or time) to do up properties as much as before. Those that do want a wreck to do up are typically after a bargain price, so it’s a good idea to chat to local agents about whether you sell the property without any work doing to it, or spending say 1% of the asking price painting and decorating so someone could ‘move in’ and start living there from day one.
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