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Posts Tagged ‘asking price’

UK house prices increased by £3,687 to £236,939 in March, a 4.9 per cent increase compared with the 2011 first quarter.

The figures, from Rightmove’s house price index, represent the largest first-quarter rise in property prices since 2004, boosting hopes for an continued improvement in the market for the rest of the year.

In London, where interest from overseas buyers has soared, house prices increased by 7.3 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2011, to £455,159.

The average asking price in Kensington and Chelsea exceeded £2 million for the first time.

Rightmove director, Miles Shipside, spoke out against the end of the stamp duty holiday on properties valued between £125,000 and £250,000.

The 1% stamp duty on houses in this price range will be imposed again from 24 March.

Mr Shipside said: “For a first time buyer it’s already hard enough to raise the necessary deposit and now, as well as potentially losing between £1,250 and £2,500 in stamp duty exemption, asking prices for their target property types have increased by over £5,000 in the last year as well.”

A recent report by the Building Societies Association suggested that consumer optimism in the housing market is returning.

Four out of 10 people surveyed in the 2012 first quarter said they expected house prices to rise during the year, according to the BSA’s Property Tracker study.

Optimism is greatest in south east England, where 53 per cent expect property prices to rise.

In contrast, just 30 per cent of those surveyed in Wales, said they expected an increase.

Although there was a general mood of optimism, 56 per cent were pessimistic about employment, and said that job insecurity was a barrier to the property market recovering.

Stamp duty was also seen as a barrier to recovery, with 12 per cent of those surveyed saying that stamp duty was a problem, compared with 10 per cent in the final quarter of 2011.

House prices remained steady in January and February according to property analysis firm Hometrack, but there was a surge for interest from potential buyers.

The firm’s Monthly National Housing Survey found that property values fell across six regions, remained the same in three, and grew by just 0.1 per cent in London, in the first two months of the year.

However the number of potential house buyers registering with estate agents grew by 18 per cent in February, as people rushed to buy a property before the re-introduction of the 1 per cent stamp duty on properties valued between £125,000 and £250,000, on 24 March.

In the south east the number of first-time buyers grew by 28 per cent and by 22 per cent in the south west.

Hometrack reported an increase of just 1.5 per cent in the number of homes for sale, over the past six months.

The shortage of homes helped 92.9 per cent of sellers achieve the asking price for their property.

Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said: ‘With many buyers doubling as sellers, the stock of housing coming to the market grew 10 per cent over the month.

‘However, as investors and first-time buyers have no properties to sell, the growth in demand out-paced the increase in supply across the regions.”

Meanwhile, the financial advisory group Collins Stewart has warned that the housing market could suffer a ‘lost decade’.

The firms also said that the Government’s conviction that there is a housing shortage in the UK is based on flimsy evidence.

Collins Stewart is critical of the government’s Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee Scheme, which offers 95% home loans on new build properties.

The scheme follows “a long trail of policies that have distorted the market, lumbered first time buyers with negative equity and have arguably distorted competition by disproportionately propping up the top few housebuilders,” the firm said.

Tennis star (ex-star, really) Anna Kournikova has finally sold her Miami Beach home for $7.43 million.

That’s nearly $2 million less than than $9.4 million asking price.

The 6,600 square foot home is located on the exclusive Sunset Island, just off the coast of Miami Beach.

The very private property also includes a two-story guest house, a sauna, and a dock for a boat.

A view from above of Sunset Island

The outside of the home is covered with Spanish moss

The courtyard

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Lowball offers are not exactly music to a seller’s ears, but how you present your “underbid” can apparently make all the difference, according to a StreetEasy.com thread low on bravado and full of practical advice. 

“A low ball sounds like a price that’s way below fair market value,” says one commenter in the discussion which includes a sample lowball letter to a listing broker. “I think here we are talking about a low offer as compared to the ask but not compared to the comps.”

Preparation and patience are key. All agree you want to communicate in writing that you’re a serious buyer, you have the money and the lawyer, and you’re eager and ready to move. The ideal game plan:  

• Make an all cash offer 

• Don’t put any time pressure at first, so the seller has time for the offer and the situation to sink in if, as you suspect, the property doesn’t sell at the asking price.  ”Five stages of grief” is how one commenter described it. 

• Come back later for a second round, possibly with a slightly higher offer and definitely with a time constraint. (From one post, for example: “I am renewing my lease for a year and am willing to wait another year to buy, I really do like your apartment but this is as far as I can go, I need to have a contract in hand within 2 weeks, before I commit to my lease.”) 

• Consider adding proof that you can close quickly: “Buyers will be able to close in X days, will legally commit to closing in X days, and will pay Y penalty/day of delay.”

Opinions differed on providing comps to support your “underbid.”  The best suggestion: “Present a range based on some recent comps,  telling the broker you would like to submit an offer and feel $x-y is where you are thinking, and how would the seller feel about that? A range opens up a conversation.”

And conversation could end in a sale.  

This post originally appeared at BrickUnderground.

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The rebuilding efforts for the devastating Haitian earthquake have been ongoing for two years. The island nation is still in tatters and volunteers are on site helping with the process.

According to her Twitter, former Baywatch star and Playboy Playmate Pamela Anderson is pitching in by selling her personal Range Rover and donating all proceeds to Haitian relief.

The eBay sale is currently live. Her white Range Rover, which is surprisingly stock and in a tasteful color combination, has an asking price of just $30,000.

Her supercharged model has just over 75,000 miles and was also featured on the cover of DUB Magazine.

Unfortunately, the eBay site explicitly states that the DUB Magazine isn’t included and, even worse, there will be no chance for the buyer to meet Ms. Anderson.

Still, we commend Ms. Anderson for putting up her Range Rover for a good cause.

Now take a look at some booth babes from Detroit >

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