Selling your Rural Property?

Imagine this – you are selling your rural property, your estate agent has arranged plenty of viewings and you have received an offer which you are delighted to accept. Fantastic, excitement all round and you can start making plans now that you have found a willing buyer.

However, there is still a long way to go before reaching the golden certainty of exchanging contracts and as we all know there is many a slip twixt cup and lip.

Conveyancing

Stage two is where the conveyancing process kicks in and over a sometimes lengthy period any problems are rooted out by the purchaser’s solicitor – and this is crucial because we have come across plenty of examples where sales are bogged down or even terminally delayed by complications that could so easily have been sorted out before marketing even commenced. Common examples of these include problems with Title, making sure that boundaries are registered correctly and indeed if the property is not registered then sorting out the first registration; easements (rights of way); planning consents, listed building consents and building control approval if alterations have been carried out during the property’s history; a discharge permit for the septic tank if there is one and it’s not exempt; restrictive covenants in favour of a neighbour; the list goes on and while some buyers may take a view on a few glitches, others will be hesitant to do so and mortgage lenders certainly won’t.

As Agents we always strongly suggest to our clients that they iron out the creases prior to marketing, and while we understand that when selling a house they have already moved on emotionally, the practicalities remain.

Information on your home

A few years ago we had to endure the imposition of Home Information Packs which covered this very process, and more. They were unpopular and unworkable for a variety of reasons, but the principal was spot-on, that relevant and up to date information would be immediately available to the buyer so that an exchange of contracts should not be delayed. Here in South Wiltshire we face another delaying factor with the time that local authority searches are taking to be returned, but that’s another well publicised gripe which we have covered before now.

Our advice, therefore, is simple – if you want a stress-free move speak to your solicitor before you go to market and make absolutely sure that what you are selling has no grey areas which will delay or even scupper a sale. It will no doubt cost you a bit of money, but if you are a motivated seller then you will be more incentivised to do it and your solicitor will have to spend valuable time ironing out the creases anyway.

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

Wiltshire, Dorset & Hampshire Cricket Clubs

The thwack of leather against willow followed by a polite round of clapping must surely be an integral part of village life on a summer’s day. A game of mysterious rules, strange traditions and bizarre terminology for many, cricket is an essential part of living in the country even if they don’t play or even understand what it’s all about.

Cricket is a very sociable sport and still largely played in a gentlemanly and friendly spirit between the two teams and has the ability to unite different generations and backgrounds. The traditions and rituals are an essential part of the game including the preparation of the wicket, changing room banter, toss, the fielding team clapping in each new batsman, gargantuan teas, dozing in a deck chair at cow corner and post-match beer. It is also the subject of many a conversation in the village pub over the winter months.

Integrating into the local rural community

Most clubs are very welcoming of new members irrespective of age or ability. If you are looking for properties to sell or rent in Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset or Hampshire and are interested in cricket, get in touch with us and we may be able point you in the right direction.

For anyone interested in reading more about the joys of village cricket or wanting to grasp the concepts of the game and its language, Si White, a friend of Mark’s and fellow team mate at Damerham Cricket Club, has written an excellent, information and funny book called The Effing C Word. Mark even gets a couple of mentions in it!

Local village cricket clubs

It’s not often that we blow our own trumpet but we are thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted out of scores of firms to receive a coveted ESTAS Award for best regional Estate Agent’s Office (Southern England). The industry equivalent of the Baftas will be held at the Park Lane Hilton in May and we are looking foward to it with great excitement!

The pertinent thing about these estate agent awards is that they are categorised specifically for exceptional service, as voted for by both vendor clients and buyers that we had the pleasure of dealing with in 2013. Mark and I are so grateful to all customers who took the trouble to cast their vote and to all the wonderful testimonials that we received…and are rather embarassed!

Watch this space…even if we don’t get to make a speech we are delighted to have had such a positive impact on the sales that we have handled and the people that we have helped  over the year and we aim to continue this with enthusiasm into 2014 and beyond.

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.