So, it happened, as expected - The Bank of England raised interest rates by half a percent. A two year fixed mortgage can be secured for c.3% which is half that of what rates were a decade ago. Will this recent rate rise damage the property market? In short, I don’t believe so - we are a nation of homeowners and whilst it is incredibly tough out there at present, the reality is that homeownership is not going to get cheaper anytime soon. We have somewhat got used to ‘cheap debt’ - interest rates have been held at such historic lows for so long, it was inevitable that they have had to rise. What I do believe is having more of an impact is the changing market that we are in.
I’ve been harping on about this changing market to anybody that will listen to me. It changed a few months ago but it always takes time to filter through to homeowners, they are the last to feel it. Why? Because they have been riding a market full of pace and momentum, the papers have referenced rising prices and agents have been achieving record prices week in week out - so why not, they proceed to market, some 6 months after they first thought about it and amidst all of this excitement and booming market.. “let’s list high and get as much as we can, someone will pay it”, say Mr and Mrs Bloggs.
The harsh reality is that those prices are not being achieved so freely now, of-course the best placed properties will sell, and that’s a combination of both marketing strategy, sale price and demand.
What we are now seeing is ‘vendor frustration’ - I’ve taken calls this week from people that are on the market with other agents - they said they would get me ‘£x’ and now they are suggesting ‘£y’ - I only went with them because they said they could get me ‘x’. Can you help me? The short answer is Yes, we can.
If you’re on the market, and have been for 8 or more weeks - you have to question what it is that your agent is doing for you and what you are prepared to do to achieve a sale.
Should you reduce the price or change agent, after all ‘The Best Agent Ltd’ has failed to get you the price that they said they would, do they deserve to benefit from the price reduction? Did it form part of your marketing strategy? Please tell me you had a strategy? How much have you ‘lost’ by starting too high? I see this all the time and it really really pains me to see.
There is far more to selling property than banging a property online, more so than ever in a market like today - don’t let that put you off, everything sells…at a price. Getting that price will mean that your agent has to work harder from the beginning and cannot rely on ‘Rightmove or Zoopla’ to do the job for them. This is a team game, work with your agent. If you can’t work together, don’t work together.
If you’d like to find out more about how DM & Co. can help you during these changing times, please do fire me a message or drop me a line - I am on 07595 903 811 and look forward to your call.
In other news this week, I spent some time catching up with old clients that are looking to sell, discussed the management of a 32-unit portfolio for the lettings team and met with Tony and Chelsea from Greenvilla Homes on the superb Collier Gardens sight that has some excellent homes for sale - I’m really looking forward to Ann showing buyers now that the site nears completion and looks stunning!
A thank you to David Gray for the athletics tickets, if you haven’t been to any of the games or ventured into Birmingham - you’re missing a trick, honestly the city has a real buzz and the atmosphere is phenomenal. It’s also REALLY easy to get in and out of on the train and shuttles. Trust me, get out there and soak it all up.
Right, that’s enough from me - over to the teams from across the business, starting with Lisa Smith, Sales Director and Branch Manager at the Dorridge office.
“What a start to the month! Even with the holidays and current economic climate, my diary has been busy with sales appointments – people still want to move home 😊, and with five sales agreed this week, people still want to buy! I have been reflecting on how many conversations the team have had with our other departments this week, including Lettings and Land & New Homes. When meeting clients either on an appointment or over the phone, it often transpires that we can help with other matters which they may not have initially contacted us about. This may be a land development opportunity, advice on their property portfolio, mortgage advice, or as simple as putting them in touch with our Solihull sales team to widen their search area. We think outside the box to provide the best service we can, and you will never hear ‘’We can’t help you with that”. If we honestly can’t, we will find out someone who can. I never want anyone to feel that they have not received the best advice. We are not just a Sales team, we are DM & Co, working together as a whole team to be the best agent in the area. If you want to experience this first hand, and you may have thought we can’t help – pick up the phone, or pop in, we would love to meet you.” - Lisa Smith, Sales Director and Branch Manager of the Dorridge Office
“This week saw the launch of Warwick House in Solihull – 32 one bedroom apartments set within the heart of Solihull Town Centre. Prices start from £175,000 with rental returns/yields of over 5%! Register your interest today to be first in line for reservations on 15th August 2022, the date of brochure release! Plenty of land and development opportunities coming through too, handled mainly off market, with prospects including a site for planning of 10 houses, one without planning but with potential for between 3 and 8 homes as well as others offering an opportunity to purchase subject-to-planning. Completion at Links Drive, Solihull saw us close off the week successfully with buyer and developer happy with an asking price sale and purchase, reserved off-plan the day of release!” - Chris Evans, Land & New Homes Manager
“The million pound market can be a touch quieter during holiday season, viewings have started to pick up and we have secured a couple of exciting new instructions. One of these is the vendor that I have mentioned a few times that had called 10 agents, had 5 out, short listed 3, then this week were in touch again with a few more questions and a 45 minute zoom call. I am thoroughly delighted to say they have appointed us, I am chuffed to bits, but also super impressed with their analysis of the market, agents offerings and that they took into account lots of factors to determine their decision. On the flip side to that I visited a lovely couple who went straight onto Rightmove with another well known agent. Sadly they had to quickly reduce as they had no interest and had simply marketed at an ambitious price, with no offers on the table and little feedback they are very disheartened. What was really surprising was they only had one agent out to value. On the day of the photography, they hadn’t signed the contract, and it was merely suggested to sign and read later – which trustingly they did. None of the key contractual points were discussed or reviewed with them – they found out later that they had signed for 20 weeks!! They are unhappy with the service and want to change and are scared of the implications. This is not a unique situation, whatever agent you chose, please ask the key questions, about charges, contract period, withdrawal cost - it is so important and could save you a lot of pain, anguish and money in the long term. There is always somebody out there that will tell you what you want to hear, just be careful.” - Kathy Griffiths, Head of Premium
“Online marketing statistics winning agent's new business is OLD news. Number 1 for new listings in your area? Pffft. How about securing 2 lets this week with real hard work and effort speaking to the people we know that match the requirements of that property. You won't see that 2 bedroom house on Selma Grove, Yardley Wood at £895pcm online as we have already found a fantastic new tenant. You will see our new board saying 'I'm Let' though! And it so happens the landlord was one of our landlord club members giving us an opportunity over his regular go-to agent! Nothing makes me happier than seeing a team member grow & Chiara our lettings negotiator has gone above & beyond this week with a prospect of selling not 1, not 2 but 3 of our off market investment opportunities (exclusive to the landlord club). It's not easy...but it's fun! Off market opportunities tickle your fancy, join the landlord club today! - Gabrielle Argue, Lettings Manager
"Well I’ve returned from my annual leave, like many we’re in the midst of holiday session and many are getting away, which is normal, and typically we do see a reduction in viewing numbers. BUT what a whirlwind, first week back! I’ve been inundated with market appraisals, this is very encouraging and I’m hopeful for a good number of those turning into instructions for September, as many are preparing to market very soon! The team have been busy closing sales on our existing properties, we’ve had recent success in favourable areas such as Monkspath and Hillfield. I’ve met with a good number of home owners that have investment opportunities that are signing up to our Landlord Club as that continues to grow and word of mouth gets around. Victoria also overheard a conversation recently in a local store about moving house and how they were finding the market and the agents. Needless to say, I was delighted to hear the words DM & Co crop up, with encouraging words of our ethos being echoed…proactive and customer focused. Dominic’s sneak peeks are well known and familiar with many people that I meet with on a daily basis, this is down to consistency and no other agent doing this regular announcement as well. If you are thinking of marketing your property, I promise you - there is nobody out there today reaching as many eyeballs on your property as DM & Co. - get in touch and I will pop out and discuss how we would sell your property in this market." - Jo Sanders, Valuer / Trainer at the Soilhull Office
Thank you for taking the time to read this weeks market update - if you would like to know about anything property related, we would love to hear from, and help you. If you’d like to book a valuation, that is really easily done - click here!
Let’s be honest - selling your home is never going to be easy, there will always be something that doesn’t quite go to plan - what is incredibly important is how your agent reacts to these instances.
If you would like to learn more about how we operate, please get in touch with the Solihull or Dorridge office on 0121 775 0101 or 01564 777 314 respectively.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Dominic Murphy - email me here or WhatsApp on 07595 903 811
Managing Director – DM & Co. Homes
Share this with
Email
Facebook
Messenger
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Copy this link