If you thought that selling property by auction was the last resort for a desperate vendor to get rid of shabby, vermin invested dive, a bank offloading its stock of repossessions or a family wanting to move from a severely compromised house on the North Circular, think again! Many sellers are turning to auction as an alternative way of selling their homes and many properties sold by this method are actually high-end houses in good condition and in favourable locations.
As progressive agents keen to increase the range of services we provide to our clients, Rural View have teamed up with a well established and experienced Auction House to launch our own branded auction department.
Traditionally auctions have been held in a venue such as a hotel conference room at a predetermined day and time with bidders either physically present, at the end of a telephone or represented by the members of the auction team by proxy via written bidding instructions. At the fall of the hammer, contracts are deemed to have exchanged and there is a legally binding commitment to complete the transaction, usually in 28 days.
In modern times, online auctions have become increasingly popular as they offer the seller flexibility and control of the process and with Rural View Auctions there is the option that it’s commission free.
So why is the popularity of property auctions on the rise? The answer is multiple; speed, security, price, cost and transparency.
SPEED – Timing is a key factor for many auction sellers. As long as the reserve price is achieved, their property will be sold on the auction day or earlier and completion will be set 28 days or if they prefer, 56 days later.
SECURITY – Rather than the period of anxiety in a standard private treaty sale between accepting an offer and exchanging contracts, there is the certainty that when the digital hammer goes down, the sale is secure. Having already carried out their pre-sale checks and surveys, the buyer is financially committed to their purchase and pays a non-refundable deposit and/or reservation fee.
PRICE – The property is only sold if it meets or indeed exceeds the reserve price set by the seller unless they agree to accept a lesser amount. The starting bid price is advertised at a more competitive level so as to encourage interest from buyers and generate competing bids to ensure that the best price is achieved.
TRANSPARENCY- The process is transparent with both the vendor and prospective buyers aware of the bids being made. Our proactive auction team is there to guide and advise both the seller and purchaser every step of the way.
COST – Vendors have the option of selling at auction without incurring estate agency or auction commission fees which will effectively be paid by the buyer through an additional reservation fee.
The only costs the vendor will occur prior to a sale will be for a legal sale pack that contains all the documentation required to process a sale including the searches. Sellers can use their own solicitor to do this but we have access to partner solicitors who specialise in this type of work and can produce complete packs within days for a highly competitive price. There will be subsequent solicitor’s conveyancing costs to be paid.
If selling your property by auction sounds like a tempting proposition and you want to find out more about it, give us a call on 01722 716895.

Rural View 29.3.19

For a bit of Christmas fun, we have devised a quiz asking you to name the 10 people below who during their lifetime had associations within an area covering a 20 miles radius of Tisbury. The first 5 you will need to identify them from their portraits and the second 5 from objects or places they are connected with.

There’s a magnum of champagne up for grabs for one lucky winner! Don’t forget to answer the tie-breaker.

 

A – E : NAME THESE PEOPLE WITH CONNECTIONS TO THIS AREA*

A

 

B

 

C

 

D

 

E

F – J : NAME THE ‘LOCAL’* PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THESE OBJECTS & PLACES

 

F

 

G

 

H

 

I

 

J

TIE BREAKER :
WHEN YOU HAVE ‘UNLOCKED’ THE NAME FOR PICTURE J TELL US WHAT THE CONNECTION IS
& THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 2018

Send us your answers for A – J & the Tie Breaker by
12.00pm Thursday 20th December

Email: admin@ruralview.co.uk
Post: 5 Manor Farm, Chilmark, Salisbury SP3 5AF

 

The question regularly asked by prospective house sellers is whether it is a good idea to market one’s home over the winter months or is best to wait until spring?

Traditionally the spring/early summer has been regarded as the prime selling season but in recent years the peaks and troughs between the usual ebb and flow of activity in the housing sector over the course of the year have been much shallower. Indeed, it could be said that that the old rules no longer apply in that over the last few years there have been seasons when the market is normally busy which have turned out to be quiet and other times when it is usually quiet but have actually been busy. In 2016 for example, our most productive trading period by far was the last quarter of the year, i.e. autumn/winter.

The unsettling effect of the current febrile political atmosphere surrounding Brexit is likely to rumble on for some time yet and the market in 2019 is likely to be as uncertain as it has been in 2018. Despite predictions at the start of the year and contrary to what has been happening in the London and Home Counties, prices in the South Wiltshire/North Dorset area have remained firm.

This is partly explained by the lack of properties on the market locally coupled with demand remaining healthy and this has helped to shore up prices. Other factors are that people still need to move despite what is happening in the World and also this region is increasingly regarded as an attractive place to live.

It could be argued that with the political and economic situation only likely to become even more chaotic it is better to sell now rather than later. Furthermore, with fewer properties on the market during the winter there are fewer competitors than there might be in the spring. It is also worth bearing in mind that the Christmas holiday season is when the property portals record their highest levels of search activity.

Many years of experience has taught me that the quality of buyers house hunting over the winter months is as good if not better than at other times. After all, few would want to venture out visiting properties on a cold day in December or January unless they are genuinely serious about finding a new home.

A concern for some about going on the market at this time of the year is that their gardens do not look at their best but on a crisp sunny winter’s day good, flattering photographs can still be taken. Indeed, when it comes to viewings, some houses can actually look at their homeliest with cosy fires going and subtle lighting on.

Whereas the time of year was once a key deciding factor when to put their homes on the market, nowadays this is less important. Future trading conditions are likely to be an unknown quantity for some time to come and so my advice to prospective vendor clients is to take the plunge when it suits them and their onward plans but without the benefit of a crystal ball, it may turn out to be better to do so sooner rather than later.


MM
Rural View
Nov 2018

It may seem obvious to some that those moving house should be absolutely clear about the sort of property they want to move to and where it should be.

We are approached directly by buyers because they want to live in this particular area, but when one drills down in to precisely what they are looking for it often becomes apparent that they haven’t quite worked it out for themselves.

Village or Town?

The most common choice is actually whether they want to be isolated in a rural spot or to have neighbours and a community around them. The latter then leads on to where that community might be and the size and scope of the settlement and its facilities; in other words whether they want to be in a village house, or a town house.

 

We Advise

As agents for both village and town properties in south Wiltshire, north Dorset and south east Somerset, whether for sale or to let, we are well placed to advise on the most suitable properties in the most suitable locations, whether it be villages with a shop and a pub or small towns with more going on.  Budget doesn’t matter as long as lifestyle is realised and actually it’s the stage in life of individuals which will normally dictate where they decide to move to.

Stages in Life

Many villages in the area have the facilities and community to support incomers who are able to rely on having a car or two to get out to the shops and enjoy the surrounding amenities. These buyers or renters would often be younger families who would use the village school and become involved in the community, while always thinking of the next move when their little ones turn secondary school age. It is then that decisions have to be made with either a move in to a catchment, or even to town where it is easier for latch-door parenting to take over. Most teenagers also hate to have to rely on their parents to drive them everywhere!

We also see more mature couples moving away from the increasing stresses of the Home Counties to a quieter existence, and village life in this part of the world is a natural draw, being still within range of the Big Smoke, but just beyond commuter prices.

The other point at which to make the move to town is when those of a more advanced age become conscious that they will not be driving for very much longer and will need shops and facilities on their doorstep. This is often a downsize to a single storey property or certainly one that is more manageable. It can be a real wrench to have to go through this process and many will have been in their village home for decades, but once the decision has been arrived at it can be plain sailing.

Those who live in towns, of course, have all the amenities and activities around them that make buying or renting a town property an obvious choice. They might be missing out on genteel village life, but that may never have occurred to them as an option, although some do make the move to the villages to escape the bustle and street lights; after all, it is individual lifestyles and the promise of greener grass that drives the movement of people.

We are so fortunate to handle the sale and letting of a variety of village and town property and we do get to meet all sorts of people with different views. If we can be the ones to point the lost souls in the right direction, though, it does make our job that little bit more satisfying.

After the long summer which this year began early with the heatwave stretching back to May, the summer holidays have come to an end at last and our thoughts turn to the start of a new academic year, no doubt to the relief of parent and child alike!

Salisbury and its Valleys, Shaftesbury, the Wiltshire Downs, Cranborne Chase and Blackmore Vale between them have an excellent reputation for the high quality of education they provide all the way from nursery through to primary and secondary school stages in both the state and public sectors. This is one of the principal factors that attracts families moving into the area.

As local village property Estate Agents we are often asked to suggest schools, so listed below are the state, independent and special needs schools in this part of the World including the neighbouring area subdivided between primary and secondary stages. We think it’s pretty comprehensive but if we have missed any, please let us know!

STATE SCHOOLS

PRIMARY LEVEL

SALISBURY CITY
Bemerton St John CoE Primary School
Greentrees Primary School
Harnham Infant School
Harnham CoE Junior School, Salisbury
Manor Fields Primary School
Old Sarum Primary School
Pembroke Park Primary School
St Andrew’s CoE Primary School
St Mark’s CoE Junior School
St Martin’s CoE Primary School
St Osmund’s RC Primary School
Sarum St Pauls CoE Primary School
Stratford-sub-Castle CoE Primary School
Woodlands Primary School
Wyndham Park Infants’ School, Salisbury
Salisbury District:
Alderbury & West Grimstead CoE Primary School
Pitton CoE Primary School
Whiteparish All Saints CoE Primary School
Wilton and Barford CoE Primary School
Winterslow CoE Primary School

CHALKE VALLEY
Broadchalke CoE Primary School
Coombe Bissett CoE Primary School

NADDER VALLEY:
Chilmark & Fonthill Bishop CoE Primary School
Dinton CoE Primary School
Hindon CoE Primary School
Ludwell Community Primary School
St John’s CoE Primary School, Tisbury
Semley CoE Primary School
Wardour RC Primary School

WYLYE & TILL VALLEYS
Crockerton CoE Primary School
Great Wishford CoE Primary School
Heytesbury CoE Primary School
St Thomas à Becket CoE Primary School, Tilshead
Shrewton CoE Primary School
Sutton Veny CoE Primary School
Wylye Valley CoE Primary School, Codford

NORTH AVON & WOODFORD VALLEYS
All Saints CoE Primary School, Netheravon
Amesbury Archer Primary School, Amesbury
Amesbury CoE Primary School
Bulford St Leonard’s CoE Primary School
Bulford Kiwi Primary School
Christ the King RC School, Amesbury
Durrington All Saints CoE Infants’ School
Durrington CoE Junior School
Figheldean St Michael’s CoE Primary School
Larkhill Primary School
Newton Tony CoE School
Woodford Valley CoE School

SOUTH AVON VALLEY & FORDINGBRIDGE DISTRICT
Breamore CoE Primary School
Downton CoE Primary School
Fordingbridge Infants & Junior School
Hale Primary School
Longford Church of England Primary School, Britford
Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls CoE Primary School
Hyde CoE Primary School
St James CoE Primary School, Alderholt
Western Downland Infants School, Damerham
Western Downland Junior School, Rockbourne

BOURNE VALLEY
Gomeldon Primary School
Newton Tony CoE Primary School
St Nicholas CoE Primary School, Porton
Winterbourne Earls CoE Primary School

NORTH DORSET
Cranborne CoE Junior & Middle School
Gillingham Primary School
Milton-On-Stour CoE Primary School
Motcombe Primary School
Shaftesbury CoE Primary School
Sixpenny Handley First School
St Andrew’s CE VA Primary School, Fontmell Magna
St Georges CE VA School, Bourton
St Gregory’s CE Primary School, Marnhull
St Mary The Virgin CE VA School, Gillingham
St Mary’s RC Primary School, Marnhull
Stower Provost Community School, Stour Provost
The Abbey CoE Primary School, Shaftesbury
Wyke Primary School, Gillingham

WARMINSTER
New Close Community School
Princecroft Primary School
St George’s RC Primary School
St John’s CoE School
The Avenue Primary School and Early Years Centre
The Minster CoE Primary School
Warminster Sambourne CoE Primary School

WEST WILTSHIRE
Chapmanslade CoE Primary School
Dilton Marsh CoE Primary School
Horningsham Primary School
Mere School`
Westbury Infant School, Westbury
Westbury CoE Junior School
Westbury Leigh Church of England Primary School, Westbury
Whitesheet COE Infants School, Kilmington
Whitesheet COE Junior School, Zeals

SOUTHEAST SOMERSET
Abbas and Templecombe C of E VC Primary School, Templecombe
Beckington CoE First School,Beckington
Berkley CeO First School, Frome
Bruton Primary School
Christ Church CoE First School, Frome
Hayesdown First School, Frome
Milborne Port Primary School
Our Lady of Mount Carmel RC Primary School, Wincanton
Rode Methodist First School, Rode
St John’s CoE First School, Frome
St Louis RC Primary School, Frome
St Nichola’s CoE Primary School, Henstridge
Trinity CoE First School, Frome
Vallis First School, Frome
Wincanton Primary School, Wincanton

SECONDARY LEVEL

SOUTH WILTSHIRE
Avon Valley College, Durrington
Bishop Wordsworth’s CoE Grammar School, Salisbury
Kingdown School, Warminster
Matravers School, Westbury
Sarum Academy, Salisbury
South Wilts Grammar School for Girls, Salisbury
St Edmund’s Girls’ School, Salisbury
St Joseph’s RC School, Salisbury
The Stonehenge School, Amesbury
The Trafalgar School, Downton
Wyvern College, Salisbury

NORTH DORSET
Gillingham School, Gillingham
Shaftesbury School, Shaftesbury

WEST HAMPSHIRE
The Burgate School & Sixth Form Centre, Fordingbridge
Southeast Somerset
Frome Community College, Frome
King Arthur’s Community School, Wincanton
Sexey’s School, Bruton

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

PREP SCHOOLS

SOUTH WILTSHIRE
Chafyn Grove School, Salisbury
Leaden Hall, Salisbury
Salisbury Cathedral School, Salisbury
Sandroyd, Tollard Royal

NORTH DORSET
Clayesmore Preparatory School, Iwerne Minster
Knighton House School, Durweston
Hanford School, Child Okeford
Port Regis Preparatory School, Motcombe
Sherborne Preparatory School

WEST HAMPSHIRE
Forres Sandle Manor, Fordingbridge

SOUTHEAST SOMERSET
All Hallows Preparatory School, East Cranmore
Hazlegrove Preparatory School, Sparkford
Springmead Preparatory School, Beckington

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

SOUTH WILTSHIRE
Dauntsey’s School, West Lavington
The Godolphin School, Salisbury
Leehurst Swan School, Salisbury
St Mary’s School, Calne
Warminster School, Warminster)

NORTH DORSET
Bryanston School, Blandford
Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster
Leweston School, Sherborne 3-19
Milton Abbey School, Milton Abbas
Sherborne School, Sherborne
Sherborne Girls, Sherborne
St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury

SOUTHEAST SOMERSET
Bruton School for Girls, Bruton
Downside, Stratton-on-the-Fosse
King’s School, Bruton

SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS

Appleford, Shrewton
Aurora, Boveridge, Cranborne
Exeter House School, Salisbury
Larkrise School, Trowbridge
Tumblewood Community School, Dilton Marsh

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