Ten things you need to remember when you move house

You’ve got the keys and you’re finally in so now you have a long list of things you need to change.

There is so much to think about, and as you become overwhelmed with excitement and panic amidst all the (organised) chaos, it’s easy to forget some important things from your ‘to do’ list.

So, here is a recap of ten really important jobs that you need to do once you’ve moved in.

1. Re-direct your post

Make sure you don’t miss out on receiving all those corny birthday cards from your best friends. On a serious note, you can get all your post redirected via the Post Office (although you do have to pay a fee). Also, be sure to inform your bank of your new address as soon as possible; in the age of digital banking, you can sometimes do this online or via your app.

2. Sort out your TV licence

While you spend more time online watching Netflix and YouTube there still remains the legal requirement to have a TV licence. If you had a license at your previous address and need to have it reassigned to your new home, you just need to change your address with them, and the contract will continue as usual. Otherwise you will need to purchase a new one which can be done simply by going online to register your new address and to confirm your payment preferences.

3. Set up the internet

Arguably the most important job of all … it’s best to ring up your current provider and ask about your contract terms. You might even be able to transfer it over to your new house or it could be a chance to shop around if you’re finishing your contract. You’ll need to book a date for installation though and that could take several weeks so try and plan ahead if possible.

4. Arrange your Council Tax

This is something you’ll want to sort out as a priority. Contact your local council to finalise your current bill, and to change your address if moving to an address that remains in the area covered by the Council. If not, then set up an account with your new council as soon as possible as you need to pay from the date you move in. The Council Tax due will depend on where you live, the size of your property and how many people live in your home. Local council websites are the best places to start to work out how much you’re likely to be paying.

5. Register to vote

It may seem like the last thing on your mind when you move in, but if you registered to vote in your old home you’ll need to register again for your new address to be able to to vote in national and local elections. Do not wait for a notification to arrrive through the post. This can be set up online using the local Council website.

6. Notify your Gas & Electric supplier

You should have already taken final meter readings before you moved out. Then you need to take new meter readings at your new home to ensure you get the most accurate bill possible. When you move home you can stay with the same energy provider or change to a new one, although check the conditions of your contract first.

7. Do the same with your Water supplier

This is another job that requires you to set aside time in your day to speak to a supplier although you might be able to do change your address online. Your water supplier needs to be notified so that they are made aware that your details have changed. Your new area’s water supplier will contact you once you’ve moved in to work out a payment plan with them.

8. Register with Doctor & Dentist surgeries

There may be a waiting list for good doctor and dentist surgeries in your new local area so sign up with your new address as soon as possible – you never know when you may need them.

9. Arrange insurance

Last but by no means least, make sure that you have your buildings and contents insurance in order. Be aware that you need to have building insurance from the point of exchange, not on completion – so make sure you remember to have signed up to a policy before proceeding with the exchange of contracts.

Finally... contact all your suppliers including credit card companies, DVLA, passport agency to confirm your change of address.

This can sometimes be done on a website where all the suppliers will be notified on your behalf saving you time and effort. Finally, let every company you make regular purchases from, typically online, know your new address to save deliveries still being made to your old address.

Do investment decisions require divine presence?

When speaking to a local landlord recently about buying investment property in the streets surrounded by Rydes Hill, Aldershot Road, Northway and Shepherds Lane he had two questions. The first was why are the roads named after cathedral cities - Canterbury, Durham, Peterborough, Lincoln, Gloucester and Worcester; and secondly would it make sense to buy more investment properties in these roads?

When finding an answer to his first question it did make me wonder. No doubt the streets were named many year's ago but did they have a link to the town having its own cathedral?

Guildford Cathedral, built between 1936 and 1961, is the seat of the Bishop of Guildford.

Guildford Cathedral

Guildford residents have always wondered why the town has not been granted city status. Traditionally this is given to towns with diocesan cathedrals, an association established in the early 1540s when King Henry VIII founded dioceses in six English towns and granted them city status by issuing letters patent and has continued to this day. As of 2014, there were 51 cities in England.

Guildford's 2002 application to be granted the status of a city was unsuccessful, losing out to Preston, the only English town that was formally recognised as a city as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.

No information as to why these streets should be named after cathedral cities in England so one must assume that the local authority named them for no other reason than to celebrate these other cities.

This area attracts landlords because the properties have been relatively inexpensive to purchase and are located within travelling distance of the Surrey Research Park, the University of Surrey, the hospital and the town centre so are suitable for students and young working professionals happy to share their accommodation with others.

Properties in the area covered by Durham Road, Lincoln Road, Canterbury Road, Worcester Road and Durham Close typically comprise 3/4 bedrooms and are currently valued at an average of £337,053. This is an increase of 361% over the last 18 years. Average rents are £1,995 pcm though landlords charging by the room will receive an estimated monthly rental income of between £2,400 and £3,000 depending upon whether they convert a reception room into a bedroom.

Keeping to the theme of cathedrals, Cathedral Close located close to the cathedral and behind the University campus is therefore ideally situated for the tenants living in the roads discussed above.

However the properties located here and in the adjoining road, Ridgemount, are owner-occupied family homes. The average price for a 4 bedroom property here is £840,900 and a typical rental is £2,500 pcm so the gross yield in the roads named after cathedral cities will be nearly three times greater than for the properties in Cathedral Close and Ridgemount.

However, we must remember that yield is not the sole consideration when investing in Buy to Let properties. When compared to the capital growth of 4 bedroom semi-detached properties in the cathedral roads area the properties in Ridgemount have risen by 390% over the same period. Some may say that this is due to divine intervention because Guildford Cathedral overlooks Cathedral Close and Ridgemount but no doubt the reason for the higher capital growth has to be supply and demand.

Nevertheless the landlord would be wise to buy in the roads named after cathedral cities as his objective to maximise gross yield will be realised while gaining capital growth at the same time. History has proving this so there is no need for a miracle to take place.

How to ensure a sale proceeds without delay

Sellers often ask how long will it take to move into a new home. If we lived in a perfect world an offer would be accepted and you'd be unpacking boxes six weeks later. Sadly this isn't a perfect world and there are many factors that they can influence the timeline of your property sale or purchase.

The first step is to make sure you have an estate agent and solicitor in place that are both aware of your time frame. It's also essential to check that your buyer has sorted out their finance. This is something that your estate agent should have checked before recommending you accept an offer from them, as a part of their vetting process, in order to make sure they are in a position to proceed with a sale. If this is not completed then this could be a real issue and therefore cause an unnecessary delay, or worse, result in a sale falling through.

Ideally a sale could be completed within six weeks if it's a simple straightforward sale with no chain and it is unusual for a house sale to take any longer than three months. If there is a chain there can be unexpected delays with other parties to the sale having their own challenges resulting in delays so you can expect your house sale to take typically between three and four months when this happens.

It is advisable to establish a completion date as soon as you can for all parties and to make this a part of the negotiations. Solicitors and surveyors will be busy especially during peak periods when sales are higher and therefore find themselves stretched which can hold things up. It's therefore important that you use a recommended solicitor that you feel confident will get things moving for you and help to speed up the process and mitigate any delays.

Solicitors who can appear to have no incentive to act quickly are one of the biggest causes of frustrations to clients so it's important to choose an agent that is on the case, chasing any missing paperwork and communicating frequently with all parties to minimise delays and therefore ensure a smooth transaction.

If you cannot rely on your estate agent to communicate between all parties in a timely manner then this will only cause delays and hassle leaving you with no option but to try to get things sorted out yourself. Avoid an understaffed estate agent and do not choose an agent based purely on price.

The most important thing you can do is to choose a great estate agent and a reliable solicitor other than that make sure that all the relevant property searches are up to date and have all of your paperwork prepared and ready with your funding in place in order to help the sale and purchase process progress quickly.

If you would like to talk to us about property in Guildford please feel free to call me on 01483 320207 or go to https://instantvaluation.newman.uk.com/ to discover how much your property is worth today.

Guildford Property Market update - November 2019

This month I am taking a look at the current market plus the weeks leading up to Christmas and the New Year. There is some good news too for homeowners with properties currently for sale.

Rightmove have just published their monthly House Price Index. This provides some encouraging news. When comparing today's housing market with the market a year ago the figure for the number of sellers is down by 13.5% due to the unsettling nature of the market putting off speculative sellers. Meanwhile buyers seem just as determined to buy so the number of sales remain virtually unchanged compared to the same time last year.

The number of sales falling through is also at its lowest since 2015 possibly because there are fewer speculative sellers currently on the market. This means that the more determined sellers have less competition for their property from other sellers. Buyers also have less negotiation power, now they fewer properties available to them so sellers should realise a sales price closer to their asking price.

The current market is price sensitive due to the uncertainty around BREXIT and the upcoming General Election. There is some thought that now is therefore a great time for sellers to prepare their property for listing in preparation for selling early in the New Year. Many sellers make plans during the Christmas break for the New Year. These often include selling their current home to move on in their life.

Taking the initial steps required to list a property now, rather than in the New Year will ensure sellers not only take advantage of the lack of speculative sellers but also benefit from a possible pent-up demand leading to a price rise, due to the General Election result and hopefully, a final decision being made on BREXIT.

This is why there is good news for current sellers willing to consider re-listing their home in order to attract new and more committed buyers.

And now for an update on the Guildford property market ....

Guildford has fallen in line with the conclusions arrived at in the Rightmove report. Property stock fell again in October with overall stock levels falling fractionally.

Asking prices for Guildford property have decreased up to 1% during the past month but sales prices for all property types increased slightly, with the exception of semi-detached properties. This might be because the asking prices were a little higher at the time these properties first came onto the market, typically during the Summer period.

Properties were on the market, for an average of 147 days rather than 157 in October 2019. Three bedroom houses and properties between asking prices of £500,000-1,000,000 typically spent less time on the market than properties in all other price ranges.

As we approach the end of the year the market does appear to be slowing down, as suggested by the Rightmove report. However there do remain signs of potential sales growth as buyers stay on the market and now that the General Election has been called, now really is a good time to consider listing your property.

See you again soon for next month's property update.

To request a copy of the Rightmove Price Index report please email richard.hodgson@newman.uk.com or call 01483 320207

Dreaming of your first home

If you are in your twenties, or possibly thirties, or you have children of this age then you are probably giving considerable thought to the idea of buying a home for first time buyers. Hopefully you have reached the stage where you are settled in your work and have been saving up for a deposit to consider affording a home.

Whether you are wanting to extricate yourself from your parents house or are tired of renting and paying off someone else's mortgage, especially if you are sharing with others, it's hard not to dream about finding a property to call your own.

The next thought you probably have is will this be possible in Surrey, especially as it has a reputation for property prices that might not be affordable? If you've searched online it can be depressing looking through the many million pound houses for sale around Surrey but as a first-time buyer you're certainly not alone in that respect.

First-time buyers made up more than a third (36%) of all property purchases in 2018, according to Zoopla. These numbers are up by 85%, from 2010.

So, how does Surrey hold up against the national average of a first-time buyer home?

Typical asking prices in Surrey

The national average price for a first-time buyer home purchase is £220,000 so, of course, you would expect to pay more in Surrey. However, if you manage to set your expectations at a realistic level by looking to buy a starter property like a studio or one bed flat, research suggests that studio apartments can be found for as little as £100,000, in Sunbury-on-Thames and Farnham.

More realistically, the average asking price for a one bedroom flat in Surrey, is currently around the £200,000 though this is likely to be located in less desirable areas of the county.

If your desire is to live in Guildford, a studio flat can be found for as little as £150,000 with the average asking price for a one bed flat at around £265,000, only a little higher than the national average.

The facts

Thirty-three is the typical average age of a first-time buyer in the UK, according to the Government’s most recent English Housing Survey (2017/18).

Twenty-nine is the current average number of years for a first-time buyer mortgage term and therefore four years more than the more traditional 25 years recorded just a decade ago.

The average earnings for those living in Guildford is £26,481 so the price earnings figure for those wanting to afford a flat for £265,000 will be 10 times. This is a useful calculation to make when comparing the affordability of one area with another.

Opportunities to reduce your purchase price

There will be instances where a property may be reduced in price because it is not selling (for whatever reason) or where there is work, or modernisation required, so the price can be negotiated downwards to allow a contribution towards the building costs.

There may be the opportunity to purchase a property at a lower price through an auction; or even from the local council, if it is empty and has no proven owner.

However these properties are unlikely to be mortgageable so may need a substantial cash input. In these instances it is always wise to consult with a mortgage broker experienced in funding investment properties.

While Surrey property does cost more doing one's research should unearth more affordable properties. If a first time buyer does manage to get onto the first rung of the property ladder they will potentially realise a capital gain over future years, and if so, this equity will gradually allow them to upscale so you never know, they may even be able to afford the home of their dreams one day to prove that dreams really can come true.

You should have bought in Markenfield Road 10 year's ago!

One of the most frequent questions asked by those starting out in the world of property investment is "when is the best time to start investing?" The response from experienced investors tends to be "10 year's ago". I suppose this is based on the assumption that properties are assumed to double in price every 10 years. The secondary response is "and if not 10 year's ago, the answer is now!"

How are landlord's properties performing?

One of my more established landlord friends has been investing for 10 years so was interested in discussing how his investments in Markenfield Road had performed during this period. I suggested we look at both the sale prices and rental figures achieved for properties in the street during this time. Then we could determine how the gross yield had changed as a result of these price changes.

Markenfield Road

This is a well established street situated opposite the cricket pitch, where Surrey County Cricket Club have played in the past. This pitch is also home to the annual Guildford beer festival. The street is located within a 10 minute walk of Guildford town centre

The properties in this street were built in Edwardian times, all to a similar design. Most comprise of 2 reception rooms, a kitchen and three bedrooms plus bathroom. Many have been extended by moving into the cellar or up into the loft to provide an extra bedroom plus bathroom. Several houses have been extended out to the rear to provide a larger and more modern kitchen.

Ownership status

The last census suggests that half the properties in the road are owner occupied and approximately a quarter are privately rented, so is popular with landlords. In fact one sixth of properties are occupied by more than 3 people suggesting that they are multi-lets.

The majority of owner occupiers are in professional or managerial roles, between the age of 30 and 44 with many being single. The number of degree educated people living here is also greater than the average number in streets local to Markenfield Road. This might have something to do with the proximity of the bars and restaurants in the town centre plus The Stoke Pub and Kings Head pub, at the top of the road. 

The figures

Returning to the figures the average value of a typical 3 bed semi terraced house on Markenfield Road was £245,250 in 2005. This figure had risen sharply to £360,395 by 2007 but dropped back to £335,950 for two years before recovering in 2010. Prices have continued to rise with the average value now standing at £469,900. A house in the street has recently sold for £524,950, a 214% increase in 14 years.

Then the landlord stated that the rents he had achieved on Markenfield Road seemed to be fairly stable over the ten years. In 2005 the average rent was £1,535 per month but is now between £1,695 and £1,850, dependent on the size and quality of the accommodation provided so rents have risen by just 10-20%. 

This is all great news for the landlord because his investment back in 2005 would have achieved a gross yield of 8% and now that rents have increased he is achieving 8.3% where as a landlord investing at today's current prices in Markenfield Road would achieve a gross yield of only 4% i.e.50% less. If the new landlord were to rent out to sharers he might increase his gross yield to 5.5%. 

The answer

It therefore seems that the maxim that states the best time to start investing was 10 year's ago is therefore true. Just imagine what the yield would have been if one had invested (say) 50 years!

If you would like to have a chat regarding property prices in a specific street and how they compare with prices elsewhere in Guildford or to just talk about investment opportunities in general your call will always be welcome. Phone 01483 320207 or email richard.hodgson@newman.uk.com