Tag Archives: First time buyers

Spoilt for choice, check the Dawsons relocation service

Spoilt for choice? You can’t beat a good recommendation!

Nowadays we have more choices than ever before. From the half-fat, decaf, double froth cappuccino at your local coffee shop to the fifty shades of white available at your local DIY store (Chapel Porth or Dover Skies anyone?).

So when it comes to selling your home, selecting an estate agent it is no different, except this time it’s not a £3.60 coffee you’re choosing, it’s finding someone you trust to help guide you through the biggest investment you’ll ever make.

With so many estate agents in the high street and online these days, it can be daunting trying to work out which agent is right for you.

So how do you even begin to choose?

Like most choices we make, it’s always more reassuring to make one based on a recommendation. And for us, there’s no better recommendation than from “Relocation Agent Network”. They chose us to be Swansea’s ‘Local Expert’ which means they not only
recommend Dawsons to every seller in the area, but also to the market leader in relocation services, Cartus, who relocates employees for their corporate customers.

Who Are Relocation Agent Network?

Relocation Across The Nation from Dawsons PropertyRelocation Agent Network is a national network of estate agents across England, Scotland and Wales and a division of Cartus. They search the UK for the very top estate agents to represent them as Local Experts and only invite one company from each area to join. So in the Swansea area, Dawsons are the only estate agent to be selected.

Why Did Relocation Agent Network Choose Us?
The team at Relocation Agent Network has a list of strict criteria they look for in any of their member agents:

  • In-depth local knowledge
  • Quality customer service
  • Proven experience in the marketplace
  • Innovation in business
  • Professionalism

… and as it turns out, we tick all the boxes.

So if Relocation Agent Network – experts in estate agency excellence – chose us, why wouldn’t you?

Thinking of selling this Spring / Summer?

Through our Relocation Agent Network membership, we are able to offer sellers a completely unique channel of buyer that no other estate agent in Swansea can provide.

Visit our Relocation Page to find out more, or contact us on ☎︎ 01792 646060

Dawsons

Sales progression costing more for high street agents as online firms fall down on the job

Dawsons Property has backed the findings of a report which claims that traditional agents are being forced increasingly to step in and pick up the pieces left by online firms.

The report, from regional solicitors Rix & Kay reported by Property Eye, suggests there is a lack of support from online agents which is driving up the cost of sales progression for high street agents.

Traditional estate agents are finding that they are having to come in and ensure chains do not collapse because sellers have chosen online firms. It means that in a lot of cases agents are having to take the hit on higher costs of sales progression.

Jo Summerfield-Talbot, Dawsons’ Sales Director, has warned vendors to beware.

“What most vendors don’t realise when using an online ‘DIY’ agent to sell, that they are at an immediate disadvantage when buying on,” said Jo.

Jo Summerfield-Talbot
Jo Summerfield-Talbot

“It is becoming more and more apparent some of these ‘agents’ do not fully check the chain details when recommending and accepting an offer on behalf of their client, which is completely beyond me and certainly not in the interest of their client.

“It is a huge frustration to our dedicated sales chasers when we find ourselves in a chain with some of these ‘agents’ to find they are completely ignorant to the circumstances surrounding the sale/purchase and any subsequent parties in the chain.

“We invariably find ourselves doing the work for them, just to ensure both our vendors and purchasers are kept fully in the loop, avoiding any unnecessary stress and progressing matters to a swift completion.”

Rix & Kay, which covers Sussex and Kent, said that 98% of traditional estate agents agreed that the home buying process is more likely to collapse in the absence of experienced professionals.

The firm said that the most skilled and critical phase of the home buying and selling process was sales progression but that online agents who are paid upfront and not reliant on a sale completing to get paid had little motivation or incentive to support their clients.

It also found that the public has little awareness of how critical sales progression is and that traditional agents needed to do “far more” to differentiate their services from online rivals if they want to avoid being selected on cost alone.

In the estimation of the agents Rix & Kay spoke to, a total of 84% thought that the public don’t truly understand the role of the traditional estate agent.

Meanwhile, 76% felt they were not doing enough to ensure the public is aware of the differences in service traditional businesses can offer.

The report also recommended that traditional agents consider alternative business models if they wanted to remain profitable.

It found that 70% of traditional estate agents agreed with this idea, whereas only 8% disagreed (with 22% neither agreeing nor disagreeing).

Rix & Kay added that better regulation of the home buying and selling process was “fundamental” to improve service quality, as well as the reputation and credibility of the industry.

Of the agents surveyed, 66% strongly agreed this was the case, with a further 28% simply agreeing.

Not a single agent disagreed with the idea.

And it urged agents to embrace technology to improve their service, and to learn from their online rivals in this respect.

Treherne

What does a Conservative government mean for housing?

So, the Conservatives have won the majority vote in Parliament and David Cameron is set to return to Downing Street as Prime Minister once again. But after this

somewhat surprising victory, how will homeowners, prospective buyers and landlords stand to benefit from the refreshed government?

Amid all of the parties’ manifestos, first-time buyers found themselves at the helm of attention. Labour pledged to give first-time buyers priority on new homes built for a period of two months and the Liberal Democrats proposed a ‘Rent to Own’ scheme where first-time buyers built up shares in their homes through renting.

The party that matters though is the Conservatives. David Treharne of Mortgage Advice Bureau looks at what the Tories plan on bringing to the table.

What have they proposed?

Their flagship policy, albeit a controversial one in the industry, is the expansion of the Right to Buy scheme which will see tenants of housing association properties receive huge discounts, allowing them to consider purchasing their homes.

1.3 million tenants could qualify for discounts of 35 per cent up to a maximum of 70 per cent up to a maximum of £102,700 in London and £77,000 across the rest of the country.

Help to Buy ISA

Announced in the Budget in March, come the autumn, hopeful and prospective homeowners will receive a Help to Buy “savings account” that will see the government top up £50 for every £200 saved towards a deposit, up to a maximum of £3,000.

Aspiring homeowners under a Conservative government would have access to a Help to Buy Isa, which would top up £50 for every £200 saved towards a deposit, up to a maximum top-up of £3,000. This was announced in the March Budget.

Only available for the next four years and being introduced in the autumn, the new savings account will only be available to consumers who are yet to buy their first home and will have no limit to how long people can use the accounts for.

First-time buyers based in London will be able to use the savings to buy properties worth up to £450,000, whilst the rest of the UK will see a ceiling of £250,000.

Discount homes for first-time buyers

David Cameron has pledged to offer up to 100,000 new homes to first-time buyers under the age of 40 at a discount of 20 per cent.

The ‘starter homes’ initiative has been created to encourage home ownership among young buyers and to boost construction of new homes by building on brownfield land – land previously used for commercial uses or industrial purposes.

While this means that, if you qualify, you will be able to afford a property that you would have previously struggled to, it should be noted that you will not be able to sell the home at full market price for five years after you purchase it.

A London Land Commission will also help release brownfield land owned by the public sector in the capital for building by promising a £1bn brownfield regeneration fund to unlock sites for around 400,000 homes.

With the general election now over and done with, new policies from the Conservatives will be coming through thick and fast which is why it is important to speak to a professional mortgage adviser who will have the latest information to help you through the mortgage process.

Treherne

First-time buyers to receive help with deposit for first home

In light of the 2015 Budget, David Treharne of Mortgage Advice Bureau discusses the new Help to Buy savings accounts announced by Chancellor George Osborne.

First-time buyers will get £50 for every £200 they save towards a deposit for their first home.

Announced in the budget, first-time buyers are to receive a new ‘Help to Buy ISA’, which will see the government add £50 to every £200 buyers manage to save towards a deposit.

Only available for the next four years and being introduced in the autumn, the new savings account will only be available to consumers who are yet to buy their first home and will have no limit to how long people can use the accounts for.

The account will also be available per person rather than per home, which means that couples looking to buy their first home will receive double the amount.

The accounts will come with no minimum monthly payment, though it should be noted that a maximum of £200 can only be saved in a month. The government has also capped the bonus they will pay in at £3,000.

First-time buyers based in London will be able to use the savings to buy properties worth up £450,000, whilst the rest of the UK will see a ceiling of £250,000.

An example of how the scheme could work was given by the chancellor George Osborne delivering his Budget: “A 10 per cent deposit on the average first home costs £15,000, so if you put in up to £12,000 – we’ll put in up to £3,000 more.

“A 25 per cent top-up is equivalent to saving for a deposit from your pre-tax income – it’s effectively a tax cut for first time buyers. We’ll work with industry so it’s ready for this autumn and we’ll make sure you can start saving for it right now.”

Head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Brian Murphy, believes that the Help to Buy ISA is a: “crowd-pleasing move and another sign of greater commitment to improving accessibility in the housing market.

“First time buyers will welcome the measure. But in many cases, their next step will be to ask which of the many schemes and incentives on offer is the best suited to their needs?

“Offering the savings bonus on purchases worth up to £250,000 outside London or £450,000 in the capital looks far more sensible than the maximum £600,000 limit that currently applies to house purchases through the Help to Buy equity loan or mortgage guarantee.

“The £600,000 cap has proved unnecessary for the vast majority of homebuyers using either scheme to secure a mortgage. The new ISA is a welcome innovation – but the fact that different rules and timescales exist for the various elements of Help to Buy has the potential to cause confusion, and first-time buyers will want to understand how they work in tandem.

“We are sure to see more pre-election policy ideas to support first time buyers, and politicians must work closely with industry to ensure new measures are as clear and accessible to first time buyers as possible.

“Anyone confronting the array of choices is likely to find that expert advice is essential to make headway and ease their path towards homeownership.”

David Treharne is from Mortgage Advice Bureau – for further information call: 07501 720320 E mail: davidtr@mab.org.uk or visit: www.dawsonsproperty.co.uk

David Treharne

As the government introduces 100,000 new homes, could the Starter Home initiative be your ticket to an affordable first time buy?

Since the credit crunch of 2008, housebuilding has notoriously wilted. It is no secret that, whilst the number of new homes in construction has slowly improved since then, the market is still some way off where it really needs to be.

Here the UK’s leading independent mortgage broker, Mortgage Advice Bureau, explores how the new government scheme will help first-time buyers in the New Year.

“Although there are no quick fixes, increasing the supply of homes on the market needs to be a focus in 2015 if conditions are to improve, specifically for first-time buyers. This is why the new Starter Home initiative announced by the Prime Minister on the 15th December should be welcomed with open arms,” said David Treharne from Mortgage Advice Bureau.

As part of the push to help people onto the property ladder, the Starter Home scheme will offer new homes with 20% discounts to 100,000 first-time buyers. New home builders currently face an average bill of £15,000 in Section 106 affordable housing contributions and tariffs when building properties, often adding tens of thousands to the final cost of a property.

However, under the scheme, which starts early this year, the properties will be built on under-used land, which will allow developers to build the homes free from any planning costs or levies thus lowering the price.

David added, “The homes will not be able to be resold at full market value for a fixed period of time which means that the savings should then be passed onto the next home buyers. The scheme is exclusive to first-time buyers who are under the age of 40. Prospective homeowners who are interested in the initiative will be asked to register from the beginning of this month – six months earlier than originally planned.”

Increasing the supply of housing is not a simple process, but by bringing forward more available land whilst assisting first-time buyers at the same time, the scheme is certainly another positive move by the government in an attempt to combat the shortage.

Saying this, the initiative will not solve the housing crisis on its own. The initiative should be viewed as another short-term solution that has been brought in to bring brownfield land back into use in a way that will provide an almost instant relief to the market by increasing the number of available homes, something that is so desperately needed.

“What the next government plan to do to attempt to end the crisis is yet to be seen, but in the current climate this scheme should be seen as a helping hand in what is currently a severe problem throughout the UK market,” concluded David.

To find out more information about the Starter Home initiative is it advised that you seek independent mortgage advice from a professional financial adviser.

For further information please contact David on 07501 720320 or email davidtr@mab.org.uk. Alternatively, please visit www.dawsonsproperty.co.uk

David Treharne

As record low interest rates continue, should you get onto the property ladder sooner rather than later?

We are now familiar with the headline ‘Bank of England keeps interest rates at record low of 0.5%’, in fact it’s been the same story since March 2009, some 68 months ago. But with this news comes a greater responsibility for the buyer.

Here the UK’s leading independent mortgage broker, Mortgage Advice Bureau, explores how the prolonged interest rates could mean that sooner could be a better time to buy than later.

In a survey by the Money Advice Service, 69% of people said that they did not have a plan for when interest rates do eventually rise despite 84% thinking that an increase would have an impact on their finances. But right now, homeowners and prospective buyers have other things on their minds as they have been presented with an opportunity to obtain some extremely cheap mortgages as a result of the Bank of England’s decision to delay the rate rise.

“The new lower rates come as a result of the UK’s low inflation levels, the stagnation of the Eurozone and the slowing of the national housing market. The aftermath of the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) also seems to have calmed as lenders begin to try and meet their yearly targets – hence the wave of lower rates – with some deals falling as low as 1.49%,” said David Treharne from Mortgage Advice Bureau.

Existing homeowners who do decide to take advantage of the current low rates need to consider the penalties that come with exiting their current deal. Many lenders will enforce fees and charges. Under the newer mortgage rules, application timescales are also longer than before, so homeowners will need to ensure that they are financially prepared for a lengthier process.

“Deciding when to take out a mortgage is always going to be a risk. The low rates that are with us at the moment may stay with us for a while, but there is a greater chance of them disappearing as quickly as they appeared. With the rise of interest rates being a popular topic for debate and opinions frequently changing, it is important to get advice from a professional mortgage adviser when discussing your next steps,” concluded David.

For further information please contact David on 07501 720320 or email davidtr@mab.org.uk. Alternatively, please visit www.dawsonsproperty.co.uk

 

We are now familiar with the headline ‘Bank of England keeps interest rates at record low of 0.5%’, in fact it’s been the same story since March 2009, some 68 months ago. But with this news comes a greater responsibility for the buyer.

Here the UK’s leading independent mortgage broker, Mortgage Advice Bureau, explores how the prolonged interest rates could mean that sooner could be a better time to buy than later.

In a survey by the Money Advice Service, 69% of people said that they did not have a plan for when interest rates do eventually rise despite 84% thinking that an increase would have an impact on their finances. But right now, homeowners and prospective buyers have other things on their minds as they have been presented with an opportunity to obtain some extremely cheap mortgages as a result of the Bank of England’s decision to delay the rate rise.

“The new lower rates come as a result of the UK’s low inflation levels, the stagnation of the Eurozone and the slowing of the national housing market. The aftermath of the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) also seems to have calmed as lenders begin to try and meet their yearly targets – hence the wave of lower rates – with some deals falling as low as 1.49%,” said David Treharne from Mortgage Advice Bureau.

Existing homeowners who do decide to take advantage of the current low rates need to consider the penalties that come with exiting their current deal. Many lenders will enforce fees and charges. Under the newer mortgage rules, application timescales are also longer than before, so homeowners will need to ensure that they are financially prepared for a lengthier process.

“Deciding when to take out a mortgage is always going to be a risk. The low rates that are with us at the moment may stay with us for a while, but there is a greater chance of them disappearing as quickly as they appeared. With the rise of interest rates being a popular topic for debate and opinions frequently changing, it is important to get advice from a professional mortgage adviser when discussing your next steps,” concluded David.

For further information please contact David on 07501 720320 or email davidtr@mab.org.uk. Alternatively, please visit www.dawsonsproperty.co.uk

 

Oliver Adair MAB

How will the new loan-to-income cap affect first time buyers?

Increasing house prices, restrictive lending and rising deposits have all been problems faced by first-time buyers in recent years. So, with the new loan-to-income cap now in place, how are newcomers to the market going to be affected?

Here the UK’s leading independent mortgage broker, Mortgage Advice Bureau, reveals how the cap will impact on the currently thriving first time buyer market.

“Recent figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that first-time buyer numbers were at a six-year high, showing that a once impossible market has rebuilt itself to become a competitive arena once again,” said Oliver Adair from Mortgage Advice Bureau.

“Now, thanks to the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), responsible lending is at the forefront of the industry and each lender has been monitoring their affordability limits closely in light of the recovery of the sector.”

Enforced at the beginning of October, the loan-to-income (LTI) cap began when the Bank of England stated that loans over 4.5 times the income of the buyer must account for no more than 15% of a lender’s new lending total.

“Affordability remains the most important factor when assessing a potential borrower and every lender will have its own procedures to carry out to determine how the caps are implemented,” added Oliver.

Despite the added regulatory changes, the number of first time buyers rose by 27% in the first half of this year, and with the Help to Buy scheme, increasing employment levels and growth in higher loan-to-value lending, the confidence in the market may potentially overpower any effects the LTI cap will have in the coming months.

“The effect of the cap on the market and on the first-time buyer arena in particular will continue to be a topic of discussion until the cap has settled and we can see what difference, if any, it will have made,” concluded Oliver.

For further information please contact Oliver on 07917 146 430 or email olivera@mab.org.uk. Alternatively, please visit www.dawsonsproperty.co.uk

Oliver Adair MAB

How will the new loan-to-income cap affect first time buyers?

Increasing house prices, restrictive lending and rising deposits have all been problems faced by first-time buyers in recent years. So, with the new loan-to-income cap now in place, how are newcomers to the market going to be affected?
Here the UK’s leading independent mortgage broker, Mortgage Advice Bureau, reveals how the cap will impact on the currently thriving first time buyer market.
“Recent figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that first-time buyer numbers were at a six-year high, showing that a once impossible market has rebuilt itself to become a competitive arena once again,” said Oliver Adair from Mortgage Advice Bureau.
“Now, thanks to the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), responsible lending is at the forefront of the industry and each lender has been monitoring their affordability limits closely in light of the recovery of the sector.”
Enforced at the beginning of October, the loan-to-income (LTI) cap began when the Bank of England stated that loans over 4.5 times the income of the buyer must account for no more than 15% of a lender’s new lending total.
“Affordability remains the most important factor when assessing a potential borrower and every lender will have its own procedures to carry out to determine how the caps are implemented,” added Oliver.
Despite the added regulatory changes, the number of first time buyers rose by 27% in the first half of this year, and with the Help to Buy scheme, increasing employment levels and growth in higher loan-to-value lending, the confidence in the market may potentially overpower any effects the LTI cap will have in the coming months.
“The effect of the cap on the market and on the first-time buyer arena in particular will continue to be a topic of discussion until the cap has settled and we can see what difference, if any, it will have made,” concluded Oliver.
For further information please contact Oliver on 07917 146 430 or email olivera@mab.org.uk. Alternatively, please visit www.dawsonsproperty.co.uk