St Andrews Property Market

St Andrews Property Market

What is going to happen to Stamp Duty

on 11th March?

 

If you are buying a home in England costing more than £125,000, you will have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase of your new home. In the provinces, it’s called something slightly different, so if you are buying a property in Scotland over £145,000 you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and for any property over £180,000 in Wales you will pay Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Whatever the tax is called, it is an important factor when moving, when you consider that

(more…)

Kirkcaldy Property Market

Kirkcaldy Property Market

What is going to happen to Stamp Duty

on 11th March?

 

If you are buying a home in England costing more than £125,000, you will have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase of your new home. In the provinces, it’s called something slightly different, so if you are buying a property in Scotland over £145,000 you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and for any property over £180,000 in Wales you will pay Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Whatever the tax is called, it is an important factor when moving, when you consider that

(more…)

Levenmouth Property Market

Levenmouth Property Market

What is going to happen to Stamp Duty

on 11th March?

 

If you are buying a home in England costing more than £125,000, you will have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase of your new home. In the provinces, it’s called something slightly different, so if you are buying a property in Scotland over £145,000 you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and for any property over £180,000 in Wales you will pay Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Whatever the tax is called, it is an important factor when moving, when you consider that

(more…)

Dunfermline Property Market

Dunfermline Property Market

What is going to happen to Stamp Duty

on 11th March?

 

If you are buying a home in England costing more than £125,000, you will have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase of your new home. In the provinces, it’s called something slightly different, so if you are buying a property in Scotland over £145,000 you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and for any property over £180,000 in Wales you will pay Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Whatever the tax is called, it is an important factor when moving, when you consider that

(more…)

Cupar Property Market

Cupar Property Market

What is going to happen to Stamp Duty

on 11th March?

 

If you are buying a home in England costing more than £125,000, you will have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase of your new home. In the provinces, it’s called something slightly different, so if you are buying a property in Scotland over £145,000 you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and for any property over £180,000 in Wales you will pay Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Whatever the tax is called, it is an important factor when moving, when you consider that

(more…)

East Neuk Property Market

East Neuk Property Market

What is going to happen to Stamp Duty

on 11th March?

 

If you are buying a home in England costing more than £125,000, you will have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on the purchase of your new home. In the provinces, it’s called something slightly different, so if you are buying a property in Scotland over £145,000 you will pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and for any property over £180,000 in Wales you will pay Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Whatever the tax is called, it is an important factor when moving, when you consider that

(more…)

A Guide To Moving House With Children

Moving to a new home may be stressful for you, but it’s even tougher on your children. But while adults tend to focus on the practical problems, a child will focus on all the losses that the move causes. This can be the loss of their friends or of a safe and familiar environment.

Children need time to get used to the idea of moving house so don’t put off telling them. Highlight all the positive reasons for the move i.e. new friends, school, closer to family, garden etc. We all know that every child has a natural explorer inside so make the whole experience into a huge adventure.

(more…)

The Five Questions you MUST Ask an Estate Agent When Selling in Fife!

Life is a relentless stream of decisions.

What to wear?

What to have for breakfast?

Where to go on holiday?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Some are trivial choices. Some are life-changing ones.

And deciding to sell your house is right up there towards the top of the decisions pyramid.

Choosing to sell is an important step but selecting the right estate agent to market your property is a crucial one. It is often the difference between a successful sale or a stress fuelled nightmare.

A key point to remember is that not all estate agents are the same.

To sieve out the good from the bad, the exceptional from the average, ask any estate agent you call in for a valuation, these five questions.

 

  • Show don’t tell. Any old agent can tell you how good they are. But you need to dig a little deeper and ask them to show you testimonials and reviews. An agent worth their fee won’t have an issue with answering this.

 

  • What’s your plan for my property? A well organised, efficient agency will have already know how they will market your property to give you the best chance of selling success. Ask them to outline the steps and marketing actions they’ll take to put your home on the road to success.

 

  • How long is the contract? This is a VERY important question to ask. A good agency won’t tie you in to a contract as they should be confident on doing an outstanding job. Less scrupulous agencies insist on people signing long contracts which works in their interest NOT the home sellers. Ask to see a copy of their standard contract upfront.

 

  • Ask for valuation evidence. When an agent tells you what they think the current market value of your home is it’s not rude to ask them how they arrived at that figure. This is a commonly asked question, and good agencies have plenty of data and comparable evidence to support the valuation.

 

  • How Much? Perhaps counter-intuitively this is one of the least important questions and should never be the first you ask. Why? Well, there is a difference between cost and value. Consider this. Agent A charges a 0.5 % commission to sell your home. They value it at £200,000. But only secure a sale at £190,000. Meaning you end up with £189,050 after their £950 commission.

But – Agent B charges a 1.5 % service fee to sell your home and thanks to better marketing, superior skilled staff and negotiation nous they achieve the asking price of £200,000. Meaning you end up with £197,000 after their £3000 fee.  This scenario makes it clearer that cost and value are very different things. (Fees are often subject to VAT).

 

Ultimately the best agents are the ones you feel so comfortable with that you can ask them anything.

 

Because after all, they’ll be working on your behalf.

 

And they need to be on hand to help, advise and support you with decisions such as how to present your property, what sales strategy to take and which offer to accept.

 

For more information about how we help homeowners in FIFE give us a call at any of our offices.

How Renovation Can Affect Property Prices

More than 9 out of 10 UK homeowners believe that renovations and decoration can increase the value of a property, according to the results of a recent survey.

The study conducted by Co-Op Insurance found that 91% of those asked thought the price of their home had gone up. It was also discovered that they believe renovation and decoration work were accountable for a £14,900 rise in the value of a property.

(more…)

Fife Buy to Let – Past, Present and Future

Investing in a Fife buy to let property has become a very different sport over the last few years.

In the glory days of the five years after the turn of the Millennium, where we had double-digit house price growth, mortgage companies (notably Northern Rock, HBOS and their ilk) desperate to get on the buy to let mortgage bandwagon with rates so low it would make the belly of a snake seem high and an open mildness to give loans away with not so much more than a note from your Mum and with hardly any regulatory intervention… anyone could make money from investing in property – in fact it was easier to make money than fall off a log! Then we had the unexpected flourish of the property market, with the post credit crunch jump in the property market after 2010, when everything seemed rosy in the garden.

Yet, over the past five years, the thumbscrews on the buy to let market for British (and de facto) Fife investors have slowly turned with new barriers and challenges for buy to let investors. With the change in taxation rules on mortgage relief starting to bite plus a swathe of new rules and regulations for landlords and mortgage companies, it cannot be denied some Fife landlords are leaving the buy to let sector, whilst others are putting a pause on their portfolio expansion.

With the London centric newspapers talking about a massive reduction in house prices (mainly in Mayfair and Prime London – not little old Fife) together with the red-tape that Westminster just keeps adding to the burden of landlords’ profit, it’s no wonder it appears to be dome and gloom for Fife landlords … or is it?

One shouldn’t always believe what one reads in the newspaper. It’s true, investing in the Fife buy to let property market has become a very different ballgame in the last five years thanks to all the changes and a few are panicking and selling up.

Fife landlords can no longer presume to buy a property, sit on it and automatically make a profit

Fife landlords need to see their buy to let investments in these tremulous times in a different light. Before landlords kill their fatted calves (i.e. sell up) because values are, and pardon the metaphor, not growing beyond expectation (i.e. fattening up), let’s not forget that properties produce income in the form of rent and yield. The focus on Fife buy to let property in these times should be on maximising your rents and not being preoccupied with just house price growth.

 

Rents in Fife’s private rental sector increased

by 1.96% in the past 12 months

 

Rents in Fife since 2008 have not kept up with inflation, it is cheaper today in REAL TERMS than it was 11 years ago and some landlords are beginning to realise that fact with our help.

Looking at the last few years, it can be seen that there is still a modest margin to increase rents to maximise your investment (and it can be seen some Fife landlords have already caught on), yet still protect your tenants by keeping the rents below those ‘real spending power terms’ of the 2008 levels.

Buy to let must be seen as a medium and long-term investment ….

Rents in Fife are 10.28% higher than they were 3 years ago and property values are 11.04% higher than Jan 2016

…and for the long term, even with the barriers and challenges that the Government is putting in your way – the future couldn’t be brighter if you know what you are doing.

Investment is the key word here… In the old days, anything with a front door and roof made money – yet now it doesn’t. Tenants will pay top dollar for the right property but in the right condition. Do you know where the hot spots are in Fife, whether demand is greater for 2 beds in Fife or 3 beds? Whether town centre terraced houses offer better ROI than suburban semis? With all the regulations many Fife landlords are employing us to guide them by not only managing their properties, taking on the worries of property maintenance, the care of property and their tenants’ behaviour but also advising them on the future of their portfolio. We can give you specialist support (with ourselves or people we trust) on the future direction of the portfolio to meet your investment needs (by judging your circumstances and need between capital growth and yields), specialist finance and even put your property empire into a limited company.

 

If you are reading this and you know someone who is a Fife buy to let landlord, do them a favour and share this article with them – it could save them a lot of worry, heartache, money and time.