Do Not Sell Until After Emergency Budget

With the general election finally over and the formation of a Conservative - Lib Dem government, this is an uncertain time for the UK economy.

There are only a few certain things that will come out of this, and that is change and hopefully for the better.

Now a word of caution one thing that has been announced is an emergency budget in around 50 days, and although we have just had a budget no one really knows what will happen until after this budget and mainly the new government having some time to govern.

So my advice is to take the time between now and the emergency budget to fix up your home, make the most of the weather, and remember such things as kerb appeal, first appearance and workings if you want to sell your home.

As for the actual sale, it is a safe bet that something will come out of this budget to help the economy and that will help house sales, whether this is directly connected to home sales or simply an increase in buyer confidence. So do not actually put your house on the market until after the new government has had time to adjust and the emergency budget is over. Doing this you will stand to make a better profit on your house, with a lot less hassle.

New Stamp Duty Threshold for First Time Buyers

As you may or may not have heard there is a new stamp duty threshold of £250000 for firsttime buyers. This means that for anyone who is buying there first home will not have to pay stamp duty unless the house value is above £250000.

So remember to bear this in mind when selling your home, if you are hoping it will be snapped up by first time buyers you can probably get away with raising your asking price a bit, but not too much as you will over value your house and make it a poor option.

For example if you value your house at £250000 a first time buyer will pay no stamp duty, but if you value your house at £250001 the first time buyer will pay around £7500 in stamp duty, effectively reducing your house to a real market value of around £242500 and potentially losing you the sale.

So remember if your home is valued at over £250000, you may be better off reducing your price in order to sell your house.

Also remember that is you are buying your first home, this double in the threshold means that you can now spend around £2000 more for every £100000 of asking price, on your new home up to £250000.

Springtime is finally here.

As Spring is fast approaching its now time to take care of the annual tasks, such as spring cleaning the house, tidying the garden, washing the windows.

Although this may seem like they are very selfish tasks, these are an essential part of your home selling toolkit. Think of it this way, when you go into a shop is it tidy or messy? You need to make your house look and feel like a show home and not just on the inside.

As Kerb appeal is the most important part of selling your house, as research shows that over 90% of people who are looking to buy a house will visit the house prior to making any viewing appointments at all. So make sure you get rid of the winter blues from your house and remove all the dead stuff in your garden. Making your house look as appealing as possible without needing to go in.

Just remember the viewing process as follows.

1. Kerb Appeal
2. Front of House
3. First Impressions (smells, sight and sounds on entering)
4. The grand tour
5. The specifics (Kitchen, Bathroom, back garden)

Just try to visualise the journey a potential buyer takes and make sure its a tidy one.