Property Rescue Blog

House prices have now been falling steadily for more than six months, according to statistics published this week.  In April, prices were more than one per cent down, bringing the average UK house price to approximately £178,500. 

There is a mixed reaction amongst home owners to the decline in property prices.  Some are worried that money is being wiped off their assets, especially if they own a buy-to-let property as well as their main residence as this sector has been particularly hard hit in recent months.  But not everyone is as down-hearted.  Many feel that property prices in the UK have been over-inflated for too long and see the current dip as no more than an overdue adjustment that will serve to create a sustainable market place. 

Those who are about to buy their first home find themselves benefiting on the one hand and losing out on the other.  The price drop will mean that there are bargains to be had, but the mortgage shortage is causing heartache on all sides.  Estate agents are reporting that first time buyers are nervous about entering a market in potential decline and are having difficulty raising the mortgage they need at a price they can afford.

At the end of the day, it’s the poor seller that seems to come off worse.  Reports of people who have had their home on the market for more than two years are not uncommon.  Despite these home owners spending time and money on redecoration, landscaping the garden and generally making their property more attractive, a buyer – at least a buyer with a secured mortgage – remains elusive.

Private sales offer a real alternative to people who are facing such a crisis.  When a sale is important (i.e. family or job reasons are behind the move) then action needs to be taken.  Selling privately means that the offer price is the price that is paid – no renegotiation of the sale price further down the line, no estate agents fees, no collapse of the chain, and no mortgage problems with your buyer.  Selling in this way will mean that your home is valued below the market rate, but with house prices continuing to fall, sellers having to lower asking prices, and sales taking months or years to complete, the benefits are becoming more and more attractive.

For information about how to sell your home privately, talk to Property Rescue.  They will give you all the details you need to make an informed decision, without pressure, and will deal with you in complete confidence.  Call for a no obligation chat to see how they can end the misery of not being able to sell your home.

Gordon Brown and Allistair Darling are facing opposition from their own back benchers over the controversial removal of the 10p tax rate band.  By no means will everyone lose out from this cut, but some could have debt problems exacerbated by unexpected reductions in their pay-packets.

Of particular concern are younger people who are already suffering because their fixed rate term has come to an end and their mortgage repayments have shot up, or they have just got on to the housing ladder and their income is already stretched.  The 10p tax rate abolition will affect people under 25 who don’t quality for working tax credit and don’t have children, plus those working part time without children. 

The cut coincides with steep rises in fuel and petrol prices, plus higher supermarket bills.  World economies are concerned about the cost of food and urging us to be less wasteful – a lesson we should all learn – but cutting back on a few groceries is almost certainly not the cure for those who face real debt problems.  Whilst the 10p rate cut is unlikely to push anyone into serious debt, it could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Credit card debt is endemic in today’s culture but that may have to change as the banks and other lenders start tightening the purse strings.  Last summer (2007) the UK’s consumer debt rose higher than our level of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a critical indicator of the state of the British economy.  This was fuelled by the ease with which almost anyone could borrow money, regardless, it seemed, of their credit rating or ability to pay. 


When debt gets out of hand it is a major cause of stress, family problems and even breakdown.  If you are facing debt problems the best course of action is to talk to your lenders and take advice from voluntary or charitable organisations that will be able to help you budget and, in some cases, liaise with lenders or creditors on your behalf.  These people are non-judgmental and have resources at their fingertips to help you.

If your home is under threat of repossession or your levels of debt are serious enough for you to consider bankruptcy, then you need to take action.  You might want to sell your home so that you can make a fresh start or raise cash to pay off your loans; relocating to a cheaper area may be an option, or moving into rented property might give you the chance to get yourself back on a solid financial footing. 

In the current housing market, selling is not easy.  Talk to Property Rescue about their guaranteed offer for your home, plus their sell and rent back scheme.  There are no hidden costs in the offer they make, you don’t have to pay for a valuation on your property, and everything is done in complete confidence.  There is no obligation to proceed and you won’t be subjected to ‘hard sell’ tactics.  Property Rescue could be the answer to your debt problems.  Give them a call today and move on with your life.

Interest rates have seen a further cut today with the announcement by the Bank of England that the base rate will be lowered to 5%.  But the recent series of cuts is not filtering through to the mortgage market, where loans are in short supply.

If you are moving home you will probably need to look at costs carefully.  Your mortgage might cost you more, and you may not achieve the original asking price for your home.  It is surprising, especially in this economic climate, that few people bother to prepare a budget for their move and even fewer remember to include everything they should.  Naturally, anyone’s costs can escalate out of control if they get carried away with the credit card, so here are some top tips to help you keep your finances under check:

1. Getting your existing home ready to sell might cost more than you thought.  Buyers today are fussy about what they buy, and in a slow market they can afford to be!  A pot of paint and new cushions won’t cost much, but if you need to change the avocado bathroom suite, landscape the front garden and replace the rotten window frames you’ll be looking at thousands of pounds.  Property Rescue buy houses as they see them.  In the current market, that’s great news!
2. If you are selling on the open market you will need a Home Information Pack, which can cost several hundred pounds to prepare.  HIPs are now obligatory on all property types unless you sell privately.  Selling to Property Rescue classifies as a private sale and therefore saves you this cost.
3. Shop around for your estate agent.  Don’t necessarily go for the lowest price (a low price is useless if he or she can’t sell your home) but find out what the market rate is and try to negotiate a deal that at least matches it.  In today’s market fewer houses are being sold so the agents will want your business.
4. Do the same with removal firms.  Unless you are completely satisfied you will get a good job it might be sensible to avoid the ‘man with a van’, but do get quotes from several different companies.  Find out what insurance cover they offer and remember that large or valuable items sometimes need a specialist remover.  If you don’t have a great deal of furniture, consider hiring a van and enlisting the help of friends for the day.
5. Choose your solicitor with care.  Any solicitor worth his or her salt will be prepared to give you a quotation for conveyancing fees so make use of this service.  Best of all, get a recommendation from a friend – their experience is likely to be representative of how you will be treated.  Choose someone with whom you can communicate easily and who will keep you informed every step of the way.  You will have to pay fees on selling and buying, unless you sell through Property Rescue when legal fees on your sale are included in their valuation for your home.
6. If you’re buying a brand new home remember that nothing will be left behind by a previous owner.  This might seem like good news, but it probably means you’ll have no lampshades, no carpets, no curtains, no blinds, no curtain poles and no washing line.  Put something in your budget for these items; look for cheap blinds and laminate flooring from DIY stores to provide an adequate solution whilst you save up for your silk drapes and hardwood floor!

Property Rescue buys houses of all types, in all locations and in all conditions.  The valuation they give on your home is fully inclusive.  Call today to see how their service can provide a quick easy way to achieve a guaranteed sale.

We reported a couple of weeks ago on ‘A Buyer’s Market’, focusing on a fall in the number of properties sold and the downward trend in the price of housing stock.  Since then news for sellers has worsened, with this week several mortgage lenders withdrawing offers and all becoming more particular about where they allocate limited funds.

Only a few months back lenders were falling over themselves to offer special rates to get mortgage customers through their doors.  But now those very same doors have been slammed in the faces of would-be borrowers.  First Direct, owned by Britain’s largest bank, HSBC, has responded to what it terms ‘overwhelming demand’ by calling a halt to mortgage lending for new customers and cutting the number of mortgage products it has on offer.  It seems that the bank has been over-run with applicants after other lenders have increased their prices.

The 100% mortgage could be a thing of the past if speculation that lenders will require a minimum 10% deposit is correct.  With the average house price in the south east over £260,000 that works out to a considerable sum, but bear a thought for the buyer who wants an average home in Windsor or Maidenhead; they would need to fork out a deposit of around £43,000 and take on a substantial mortgage to finance the other 90%.  Although we are not yet at that stage, in the current economic climate a mandatory 10% deposit isn’t hard to envisage.

It’s inevitable that many first time buyers will be put off entering the market amidst such uncertainty.  Without them, those further up the housing ladder will find it more difficult to sell, so it looks as if the credit crunch and the subsequent mortgage shortage will further slow an already sluggish market.

People who need to sell quickly could find themselves backed into a corner.  Until recently, putting property on the open market was considered the one and only way of selling your home – perhaps with the exception of going to auction.  The service offered by Property Rescue provides a way out of the ‘can’t sell’ trap through a guarantee, which it gives on any residential property.  This guaranteed offer extends to farmhouses, flats, buildings in a poor state of repair or those in a less than desirable location.

The team at Property Rescue is experienced in property transactions and mortgage matters.  This means they can advise people who are having difficulty selling their homes.  Property Rescue will give a valuation for the property in question and, if the seller accepts that valuation, the deal will be tied up quickly, without fuss and with the minimum of complexities. 

In the current market selling can be at best difficult and at worst impossible.  Get in touch with Property Rescue and find out about their guaranteed offer for your home.  You don’t have to sit and wait for a buyer to walk through the door – help is literally a phone call away.

House sales are in a slump and prices are falling.  So say the latest reports on house price trends throughout the country.

The key reason appears to be the disparity between the number of buyers and the number of sellers.  The credit crunch has made lenders reluctant to say ‘yes’ to those with poor credit histories or those that want 100% or near 100% mortgages.  This is understandable because in a falling market 100% mortgage today could mean negative equity tomorrow.  But that leaves sellers in a poor position.  With more houses on the market than there are potential buyers to snap them up, the only way to ensure a quick sale seems to be to slash the asking price.

Even the traditional stronghold of London has seen a reduction in prices with a 0.3% drop in the six months up to February this year.  Other areas have been harder hit; Wales, for example, has seen a 3.5% fall.  Some say that the reduction in property value is long overdue and is nothing more than a reaction to the over-inflated prices that we’ve seen over the past few years.  Whether or not you believe this argument is somewhat academic; if you have a house that won’t sell you’re likely to be more keen on resolving the problem than on understanding the reasons behind it.

To reduce the asking price might seem the obvious answer, but in itself this raises further questions: how much should you reduce it by; will the reduction ensure a sale; will the sale go through; will the buyer simply push the price down further at a later stage when it’s difficult for you to back out?  If you don’t need to sell your home quickly then you might decide the best thing is to sit it out and wait for a buyer to come along, or drop out of the current market altogether and try marketing your home at a later date when, we all hope, property prices are more stable and the buying public more confident.

Not everyone, however, has that luxury.  In some cases the property sale is imperative if financial or family difficulties are to be avoided.  In situations like this, consider asking Property Rescue to value your home.  The best thing about their offer is that it is guaranteed.  From the time you accept it, you can have confidence that the sale will go through.  You won’t be let down at the last minute, nor will the price alter from the original valuation.  This is a guaranteed way to sell your home fast and although you probably won’t achieve the same value as you might on the open market, you will have a confirmed sale at a date that suits you and avoid paying costly extras such as estate agents’ fees.

You can find out more by calling Property Rescue in complete confidence.  One of their advisers will be pleased to explain the process to you.  The valuation is completely free and at no stage will you be put under any pressure to proceed.

In the simplest terms, BMV is an abbreviation for Below Market Value property. What this means is that the prospective buyers pay less than the expected market value for a property. There is a section of the housing market that specialises in this area and they usually offer a sell and rent back option (at market rent) to the seller, often with a fixed term lease.  

Companies specialising in BMV property usually offer a minimum of 80% below expected retail value. Valuations are normally free and are estimated by examining the local market trends.

There are a number of reasons that people decide to sell their property at below market value. BMV sales are generally paid in cash and offer an expedient sale. Currently, the general turnaround for a house sale in the UK is 7 months and BMV sales can be completed in 24 hours. Also, companies that specialise in this area tend to deal with all aspects of the sale, including dealing with the mortgage lenders.

The rent and sale option is often utilised by people in financial difficulty, as a way of consolidating debt. The main reason for this being that it offers them the security of their own home whilst repairing their financial situation. Repossession orders have increased year on year as Britain attempts to deal with the spiralling cost of living. The advantage of a BMV sale is that it can stop a repossession order and, probably more importantly in the current credit climate, prevents the seller from acquiring a bad credit rating. The CML has recently highlighted that lenders are finding the credit crunch severely limits their members ability to advance the money for a mortgage. A bad credit rating in the current climate may prevent home buyers from achieving a reasonable interest rate.

In simple terms, Sell and Rent back (or Rent and Sale) is when you sell your house and then rent it back at a rental price affordable to you. Typically the reasons people choose to sell and rent back are for equity release, debt consolidation or motivated selling. In most cases, sell and rent back schemes will have a buy back option for the tenant, at the rate of the new mortgage.

The ability to sell your house and rent it back is a viable alternative to equity release schemes, especially if there is a need to generate cash quickly. There may be a case where you are looking to start a new business and need immediate funds as start up capital

The economic slowdown has forced many homeowners into defaulting on their mortgage and has put them at risk of repossession. IVA’s have increased year on year and debt consolidation companies has become an ever present part of the UK’s economic landscape. The advantage of selling and renting your house back, is that you are guaranteed a quick sale and the security of a roof over your head whilst attempting to deal with your financial situation.

For example, if you were looking to sell your property and emigrate overseas, an expedient sale not only releases the required funds, it also gives you the option to rent back for a certain period whilst searching for your new home. The same applies if you are looking to start a new business overseas, also providing a certain amount of flexibility if you decide eventually that you would like to emigrate as well.

Sell and Rent Back in London has been steadily increasing due to its position as the focal point of the economic market. Comparatively speaking, house prices and the cost of living have grown exponentially in London. Debt management is now of growing concern to people in the capital.

The vast majority of Sell and Rent Back companies are based online. The advent of the Internet and World Wide Web have caused many people to ask, “Should I sell my house online?.” The advantages being easy accessibility to the company and a vast array of choice. However it is important to be happy with the company you choose. The need to sell a house quickly often leads to bad choices. Do your research and look for a company that will sell your house online professionally and takes your personal situation into consideration.

If 2007 was a less than perfect year financially, you might have welcomed in the New Year with open arms in the hope that your fortunes will change as 2008 progresses.  For those lucky enough to have had promotion at work or have moved to a higher salaried job there is every opportunity to become more financially stable.  The rest of us, however, will have to make do on the same, or a very similar, income and brace ourselves for the economic downturn that many forecasters are predicting.

One of the ways in which we have come to perceive wealth in this country is through the value of our home.  We ‘feel’ wealthy when we know that our home is worth a lot of money, even if we can’t realise the capital tied up in our property or are still paying off a large mortgage.  The question is whether a downturn in the housing market will alter that perception, affecting not only our attitudes but also our buying behaviour.  A slow down in credit card spending may be good for personal wealth management but would doubtless hit high street retailers where it hurts.

So how will property price stability or decline affect us personally?  Commentators expect the cooling down of the housing market to continue throughout the year; some feel that property prices will fall dramatically but the overall consensus seems to be a levelling off rather than a huge drop in values.  The greatest effect will be felt by those who have bought or re-mortgaged recently at the peak of the market, or who have a high level of consumer debt which they’re unable to repay.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders predict that the number of homes subject to repossessions will rise to 45,000 this year.  That’s against a backdrop of 17,000 in 2006 and 30,000 in 2007 (estimated on currently available figures).  The ‘feeling’ of wealth counts for nothing at all if you can’t sell your home when you are in a financial crisis – no matter how much it’s worth.  Whilst the current housing market slowdown is unlikely to have a dramatic effect on the majority of home owners, it will be particularly bad news for those who need to sell fast.  Buyers are rare commodities who are eagerly fought over by sellers; inflated property prices are no longer achievable and sale times are increased.  When facing the threat of repossession speed is of the essence if you are to avoid losing your home.  Property Rescue can help people in this situation even if it is the eleventh hour; they guarantee to make an offer on any property, regardless of condition or location, and will liaise with lenders to stop repossession in its tracks. 

The important thing is not to delay.  Call Property Rescue to see how their guaranteed offer for your home could stop the threat of repossession and help you look forward to a more financially stable 2008.

As we approach the end of the year it is a good time to look back at the property market during 2007 and look at the current situation.

The year began with what had become a familiar trend of rising prices, which, it seemed, would go on for ever.  But it was not long before some commentators and financial experts were warning of potential slowdown or even disaster in the months and years ahead.  The credit crunch in the US sent shivers through the economy, the effects of which are still with us today and likely to continue for a while yet, whilst bank interest rates rose and mortgages followed suit.  By mid year we were seeing a general slow down in property prices all across the country and in the final quarter of the year prices have begun to fall.

November saw a 1.1% drop according to the Halifax – the 3rd consecutive month of falling property prices.  The Bank of England lowered its interest rate by one quarter of a per cent at its meeting in early December but the effects of this rate cut seem to be limited.  Lending between banks has become very expensive and the Northern Rock crisis has done nothing to bring confidence back to the markets.

As if this weren’t enough, some commentators are predicting that the change in capital gains tax rules, due to come into force next April, will bring a lot of ‘buy to let’ properties back on to the market as investors seek to capitalise on their gains.  The net result of this could be a ‘buyers’ market where the number of homes for sale pushes prices down.  If this prediction is realised, those who took out mortgages during 2007 could find themselves in negative equity situations.

If you need to sell your home fast but can’t find a buyer you might, justifiably, be concerned about what will happen to the market in the months ahead.  For a guaranteed quick sale speak to Property Rescue, who will make an offer on your home within a matter of days, or in some cases just hours.  The price they offer will be a little below market value but it will include the legal fees on your sale, and will avoid the need to prepare a Home Information Pack, which could save you hundreds of pounds.

Property Rescue will be happy to talk to you in complete confidence and make a ‘no obligation’ offer on your property.  If you then decide not to proceed that will be the end of the matter – no salesmen will call, nor will you be pestered by phone calls.  Talk to Property Rescue and sell your property…fast!

The Bank of England has just cut the interest rate by one quarter of a per cent to 5.5%, but will it be enough to re-generate a housing market with a severe attack of the blues?

The rate cut was no surprise as pressure on the Bank of England was coming from all directions: the housing market as well as industry and business leaders.  The strong pound and fears about the level of borrowing are perceived as a threat to the future of the economy.  Fears over the credit crisis in the States further compounds the situation and surveys are reporting a generalised gloom from both directors and the high street.

Furthermore, sales of houses are slowing and in some areas prices are actually falling – unheard of even a few months ago.  A drive around any town is likely to show more ‘for sale’ boards than those that proclaim boldly that they have been sold.

If you plan to sell your home in this climate it’s not going to be easy.  Making your house as attractive as possible to purchasers is good advice, but it’s not everyone who feels confident in doing up their property to the extent recommended by popular TV shows.  In any case, for those whose home is in a hard to sell area no amount of off-white paint will deflect from the negatives of its location.

If your home is in good condition with excellent decoration, in a nice residential area and reasonably priced, then you will probably still be able to sell – if you’re prepared for the wait.  But if you can’t wait for whatever reason, or you find that your home simply isn’t shifting, give Property Rescue a call.  They guarantee to buy your home for cash no matter where it is or how long it’s already been on the market.   Once you’ve agreed the sale price, they take care of everything for you and conclude the deal within a few days; far quicker than you could ever do by selling via the traditional route. 

Give Property Rescue a call and find a way out of the ‘hard to sell’ trap.  Selling now could mean the difference between keeping or losing that dream home you want to buy.

Property Rescue will explain everything to you in clear detail and take care of the paperwork and legal necessities.  If at any time you decide not to proceed, you are free to walk away without obligation.