There has recently been a survey of insurance claims resulting from damage to cars in car parks, the result of which is that the insurance industry has seen a substantial increase over the last ten years. The cause? Apart from careless and possibly impatient driving, the principal reason seems to be that cars have got bigger. The vogue for ever larger cars and SUVs has meant that that the older car parking spaces are now simply too small, resulting in dinks to car doors and scrapes to wings.

Older garages, too, are becoming less of an attractive proposition as their width restricts even the slimmest of us struggling to squeeze out of the car door – that is if you want to keep your car in a garage at all. Let’s face it, unless you have a prized classic car that needs to be locked up for insurance purposes or under cover to keep it in shape, are you likely to need a garage for keeping a car in? At this point I should apologise to those of you who do indeed store your car away from the elements, since I know that some do, but the majority of people these days are happy to park in the open.

So how valuable is it to have a garage at all? They are useful for all sorts of things; storage being the principal benefit, of bikes (motor and peddle), boats, gardening equipment, outside furniture and more. But they are also an escape, somewhere to tinker, somewhere to think. The Americanism ‘man-cave’ may have gender overtones, and when viewing a house it is normally the husband who is the most keen on the outbuildings, but the truth is that we all need that that getaway and a garage or other decent outbuilding is therefore an essential requirement for many.

The properties that we sell do invariably have a garage or accessible shack of some size, and they are held back in value if they don’t. Alternatively, most of the country houses and some of the village properties that we market will have space within the grounds to build a garage or car port and many heritage designs are very attractive, with plenty of space and often a first floor room for an office or hobbies. They come at a cost, but add a further dimension to a property and will generally see a good return.

Gorgeous Georgian townhouse sold in Heytesbury Park, once home of the famous war poet Seigfried Sassoon. We are looking for more property for sale on the edge of this attractive Wiltshire village.

The right choice of school can of course have an enormous impact on a child’s education, development, well-being and future prospects. It is for this reason that the region is so popular with parents due to the excellent choice of schools in both the state and private sectors across all age ranges. The location of the family home can therefore be crucial, particularly with state schools, so as to ensure that it is situated within the catchment area of the desired school.

Buying property near good local schools

Many buyers and tenants are drawn to Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Somerset from not only London and other parts of the UK but also from overseas because of the reputation of the local schools, some of which can claim to be amongst the most prestigious in the country.

There are one or two towns in the area that act as educational ‘hubs’ as they boast having more than one leading school. These include Salisbury (Wiltshire) with its two grammer schools; Bishop Wordsworth’s (boys) and South Wilts (girls) and several private schools with The Goldophin (girls) being just one.  The small town of Bruton (Somerset) is another and Sherborne (Dorset) is a third being home of one of the well-known boys’ public school.

Visit our blog posts for local school lists in specific areas:

south east somerset schools
north west hampshire schools
north dorset schools
south wiltshire schools

This has been a year when normality has been all but forgotten. Traditionally one would have expected a slow impetus in the earlier months building towards a bustling late Spring and Summer market, falling back for the holiday period and then pushing ahead again in the Autumn.

The housing market in 2012

2012, however, has been turned on it’s head for most of the year. January saw a great deal of activity as those looking to buy in the latter months of the previous year had enough of waiting and took the plunge. We then saw moderate activity over the next few months as motivated sellers went through the process of bringing their properties to the market. All was looking good…until we all downed tools for the pomp and ceremony of the Jubilee, followed apace by weeks on end of dazzling Olympics and Paralympics. There was actually a significant chunk of this period when the phone hardly rocked in its cradle. September then took a good while to get in gear and activity eventually returned in October.

Despite this, the market has remained fairly stable for the most part, if pretty flat. Much of the activity has depended on realistic pricing and location. As always, the houses in the best situations have faired better than those, for instance, on main roads. There has been a steady stream of price adjustments, especially since the end of August and possibly too late in the day due to the distortion caused by our Summer of Sport. These falls in value reflect the recognition that one cannot be too bullish in such a fragile and subdued climate.
Mortgage lending has freed up to a certain extent but interestingly is down on 2011 levels, possibly more a mark of personal confidence and ability. The better news, however, is that we are (for the moment at least) out of recession and although it is far too early to mention those green shoots, there is some positive talk around.

As an illustration of 2012 it is worth mentioning a couple of sales that we were involved in this year. Both very different, but displaying the key ingredients of Price, Location and Marketing.

A: Property X (attractive house in a road affected position), taken over from another agent after four months of little activity, marketing improved and price adjusted we were able to generate scores of viewings over a number of weeks and agree a sale.

B: Property Y (period house in a prime location), priced correctly, marketed well from scratch and a sale agreed within three weeks.

What we expect from the housing market in 2013

And what of 2013? Without the excuses of national celebration it will hopefully pan out a bit more sensibly than this year. A feel better factor of avoiding a triple-dip recession would be great and would surely provide some buoyancy. The market needs the lift that growing confidence can provide. In the meantime, though, people still have to move house and simply need the right recipe to achieve success.

Rural View country properties are on the telly! So far we have notched up four requests for village properties that we are marketing to appear on Escape to the Country. It may involve a couple of days of production executives and film crew, but the publicity can be well worth the effort and there is always a genuine buyer behind each episode.

We are delighted to participate and so far every Vendor has reacted in the same way. The only downside is that we have to wait for the properties to be televised, but it’s nice to be recognised for selling attractive country cottages and houses and even nicer for our clients to see their homes on the small screen.