Buying a new home is always exciting, but it can be a bit nerve-wracking as well. Before you go out and look at your first potential home with the realtor, there are some things you should do first to make the process run a lot more smoothly.

If you’re considering a move to MK, you’re in good company. Below are 10 reasons why people are racing to this amazing town.

Milton Keynes was built in the late 1960s/early 1970s and is therefore considered a young town. Because of that, it was built so that cyclists and pedestrians don’t have to worry about getting too close to cars, meaning that everyone is safer.

In addition, MK was intentionally built so that you could get to any other part of the city in 20 minutes or less. This beats out bigger cities that often require two-hour commutes to get where you’re going.

For a small village, MK has some amazing shopping opportunities, especially if you love to shop for vintage items. In fact, there are tons of stores to choose from, including Retro 23 in Stony and good-quality clothing boutiques in nearby Olney.

Or if you’re more into the mainstream shopping scene, Milton Keynes is home to the impressive Centre MK, The Hub, and the Xscape.

Whether you’re looking for cinemas, High-end shopping, arcades, vegan restaurants, and food stalls, and indoor skiing, and skydiving, Milton Keynes has something for everyone.

Not only are these vintage items in excellent condition, but they’re super cheap.

And when you consider the charity shops in town that allow you to get great items for just a few pounds, you’ll understand why this city is so popular.

You simply no longer have to go into London to enjoy some great vintage shopping.

MK has all of the conveniences of a modern town but is close enough to the country that you can enjoy fantastic rolling hills and a lot of greenery simply by driving a mere five minutes away.

It’s like having the best of both worlds at your fingertips.

And if you love country pubs, you’re in luck because there are several of them in the area, including The Navigation, which sits on the canal and has some of the tastiest food you’ll ever eat.

Yum! Finally, when you consider that two-fifths of the city is open green space, it becomes just another incentive to move here.

Just because MK isn’t as big as London and some other cities in England doesn’t mean that you can’t get out at night and enjoy exciting nightlife.

You can visit tons of bars and restaurants there that allow you to eat, drink, and be merry every night of the week.

You can also visit the theatre district and sip cocktails, listen to live music or be around flashing lights on the dance floor as you dance the night away.

It’s all there for you in Milton Keynes.

Getting to London only takes around 30 minutes when you live in MK, but it is much less expensive to both rent and buy a place to live here.

In fact, more and more people are moving to MK for that very reason, and most people consider the rents especially to be super cheap.

If you’re interested in enjoying a great quality of life without having to pay the high rents and house prices that are found in places such as London, MK is a great alternative.

Campbell Park in MK is nothing short of amazing. It offers something for everyone regardless of the season.

This includes pop-up events, food fairs, open-air cinemas, funfairs, circuses, and sledding come wintertime.

In fact, you can visit Campbell Park all throughout the year and never get bored of being there.

There are many companies doing business in MK, including Red Bull Racing, Mercedes-Benz, Domino’s, and BP, to name a few.

This means that it’s always easy to find a great job that pays well. And the average home price is just over £300,000 in MK, which is less than half of the average property price in London.

These things make it especially attractive to young people interested in getting ahead in their careers.

MK even has a high percentage of start-up businesses every year at roughly 67 per 10,000 people, which is higher than the average in most cities.

When it comes to technological advances, MK is definitely ahead of its time.

Pizzas can be delivered by little white robots if you order from the right company, and the city is even testing out self-driving pods that they’re trying to perfect in order to share the driving machines with the public.

So, if you’re living in MK and think that it’s just another small town with nothing to offer, think again.

In some ways, it is even more technologically advanced than some of the bigger cities in the UK.

Yes, Milton Keynes is a relatively new city, but it is still steeped in history in many ways.

In Bletchley Park, citizens from all over helped crack enemy codes during World War II, and the nearby Newport Pagnell area is the birthplace of the Aston Martin automobile.

In addition, the 2015 Rugby World Cup was held in MK, lending even more importance to this amazing town.

And of course, no town is considered great unless it has some great people living there, and Milton Keynes is no different.

Whether you’re young or old, it’s easy to make friends here, even if you had no local friends when you first moved there.

Because most of the people who live there are super friendly, you’ll find making friends very easy and it won’t take you long to have a whole host of friends in no time. 

his is one town where it won’t take you years to make a lot of friends because you’ll have a lot of them in just your first year of living there.

There’s no doubt that Milton Keynes is a fantastic option when it comes to moving to a town that is both well-connected and offers a lot of activities, modern establishments, shopping, and a sense of community.

If you’re looking to move your family to Milton Keynes, get in touch with us today so we can discuss your next move!

Buying a new home is always exciting, but it can be a bit nerve-wracking as well. Before you go out and look at your first potential home with the realtor, there are some things you should do first to make the process run a lot more smoothly.

Getting pre-approved for a certain amount is smart because it means that you won’t be looking at houses that are too expensive -- or not expensive enough -- to meet your needs.

Before you even think about going house-hunting or speaking to an estate agent, below are some things you need to do first.

Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is something that a lender will look at when you go to buy a house, but you can estimate it ahead of time if you decide to go house-hunting before you get officially pre-approved by a lender.

To do this, count up all of your regular expenses, including your rent, utilities, credit card bills, and loan amounts, and compare that to your income.

Figure all of this out in monthly terms; in other words, how much are you spending and earning in any given month?

Theoretically, your DTI ratio should never be more than around 40%.

So, if you earn £100,000 per year, or £8,333 per month, your expenses, including your mortgage payment, should be no more than 40% of that number, which is £3,333.

If they end up being less than that, that’s good for you because you’ll have more disposable income. The bank always takes this DTI number seriously.

This is the hard part, but it’s not impossible. If you put down 20% or more when you buy your house, your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio will be lower.

This pleases the lender because it will decrease their risk, which is what they look at when you apply for a loan.

The good news is that many UK financial institutions accept down payments as low as 5%, so while this may make your monthly payment a little higher, it’s good for people who don’t have a lot of cash on hand.

And if you’re wondering how you can save up more money before you go to the lender, here are a few tips that you can try:

• Make a budget and stick to it. Most people don’t realise how much money they waste until they write everything down. You might not meet your savings goal every single month, but you can meet it most months if you make a budget and always stick to it as closely as possible.
• Get a second job. For people who have the time to do this, a second job is a great idea. You can think of it as temporary if you like, but the thing is that a part-time job on the side can help you save up a lot of money in a short period of time.
• Enroll in some type of automatic savings plan. Many employers offer this option, and the good news is that you won’t even notice the money because it’s taken out of your check automatically. Automatic savings add up quickly, helping you increase the down payment that you’ll have on closing day.

Of course, if you put your mind to it, you can think of other ways to save money, which is a good idea.

The bigger your down payment is, the better for both you and the bank.

Trying to buy a house on your own is nearly impossible, and when you consider what a realtor can do for you, you’ll quickly understand why you need one.

Realtors abide by a certain code of ethics; besides, they have access to hundreds of homes that you couldn’t possibly find on your own.

This is perhaps the biggest advantage to working with a realtor, but it’s still important that you find one with who you can establish a rapport.

Realtors also do a lot of leg work for you, and they’ll make sure you fill out your paperwork properly once you decide to make an offer on a house.

They do a lot of things that would take you even longer to do, and they provide the advice and assistance you need when house-hunting.

If you’re a first-time homebuyer, choosing the right realtor is crucial because you’ll have tons of questions that only a good realtor will be able to answer for you quickly.

When you get pre-approved for a loan, not only will you learn exactly how much house you can afford but you’ll also get some of the important paperwork out of the way, which will minimise the amount of paperwork you’ll need after you find the home you wish to buy.

Even in this day and age of digital documents, the banks still require a lot of paperwork and you can get a jump start on it when you get pre-approved.

The bottom line is that the more paperwork you can get out of the way before the day of closing, the faster your closing will go.

Pre-approvals are necessary so that you’re not looking at homes in the wrong price range, but they also help to get some of the paperwork filled out and submitted before you start looking at those homes.

It’s a great way to save yourself both time and money throughout the home-buying process, and it gives you great peace of mind every time.

Buying a house doesn’t have to be as stressful as you think.

If you start early enough, you can be out looking at houses before you know it, and you’ll feel more relaxed on the day of closing because you’ll know that you’ve done everything possible to make the transaction run smoothly from start to finish.

In fact, the more you get done ahead of time, the more confident you’ll feel going out with the realtor to look at various homes, and the faster you can start looking forward to the day when the home of your dreams is in your possession.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax, or SDLT, is a tax paid on properties in the UK when those properties cost more than £125,000. The tax is equal to a certain percentage of the price of the home, and that percentage goes up the higher the price goes.

In July 2020, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the government essentially eliminated the SDLT for any home that cost less than £500,000. As of June 30 of this year, however, that is changing and the pre-pandemic taxes are now being reinstated.

Many people are wondering how this reinstatement of the SDLT is going to affect the housing market in the UK, and some of the answers may surprise you. Let’s take a closer look at what the stamp duty break will mean for those purchasing homes in England and Northern Ireland.

Before the pandemic, UK homeowners paid a stamp duty tax on properties over £125,000, or £300,000 if they were a first-time homebuyer.

The pandemic changed all of that, but now the tax is slowly being introduced back into the market.

From July 1 to September 30 of this year, the SDLT is as follows:

• £0-£250,000 = 0%
• £250,001-£925,000 = 5%
• £925,001-£1,500,000 = 10%
• £1,500,000+ = 12%

Then, on October 1, the numbers will go back to the way they were pre-pandemic, which means they’ll look like this:

• £0-£125,000 = 0%
• £125,001-£250,000 = 2%
• £250,001-£925,000 = 5%
• £925,000-£1,500,000 = 10%
• £1,500,000+ = 12%

If all of this sounds confusing, it really isn’t that difficult to understand. The taxes will slowly move up to the way they were pre-pandemic in the coming months, and they’ll be back to the way they were over a year ago starting on October 1 of this year.

If you’re planning to buy a house this year and you aren’t sure how the changing laws are going to affect you personally, you can consult with an estate agent to get your answer.

The pandemic wreaked havoc on a lot of people’s lives, and the break was meant to boost the property market because many buyers’ finances were directly affected by COVID-19. For many people, savings of up to £15,000 was realised during this break.

Everyone seemed to benefit from the stamp duty break, not just homebuyers. Landlords were also at an advantage, and it meant extra money in their pockets.

Still, the prices of homes in the UK rose 13.4% as of June 2021. This was the fastest pace since November of 2004, but was this a direct result of the stamp duty break?

Many experts don’t think so. In fact, there are numerous things that can directly affect rising home prices, including low supply, low interest rates, and the race for space, among other things.

In other words, the higher-than-normal home prices may or may not be related to the stamp duty break, at least not completely.

The break caused demand to be higher than supply, and that alone could be the reason for the increase in housing prices.

Many experts are amazed by the fact that the prices were rising at all, considering we’ve been in a pandemic for a year and a half now.

The break was also good for first-time homebuyers, and not just for obvious reasons.

With many financial institutions now requiring a down payment of only 5%, many people have bought homes since the pandemic that didn’t think they’d be able to do so.

Most estate agents and other experts believe that from now until the end of September, there will be no impact at all on the housing market.

This means people will continue to buy homes and the prices of those homes will likely keep going up.

In fact, this break in the stamp duty tax has produced two main results: housing prices have gone up, and there has been a buying frenzy in all of the UK.

The buying frenzy is a surprise to no one, but the resulting higher home prices are.

Indeed, many homebuyers have found they really didn’t save much money overall simply because they paid more for their home than they would’ve paid a year and a half ago.

Still, the buying frenzy continues, and while some people expect it to slow down starting October 1, many others believe it will not slow down that much. This means the economy will continue to get a boost.

In fact, many financing and banking experts believe the market will continue to thrive even after October 1st, even though it may slow down a bit.

The fact that regular spending habits were affected by COVID and therefore many potential homebuyers have money in their savings accounts right now doesn’t hurt, either.

Is this positive attitude unrealistic? Many people don’t think so.

The more experts are interviewed, the more the results have remained the same.

Most experts now believe that the housing market will continue to thrive even after the SDLT returns to normal on October 1st.

There is also the possibility that the government will extend the break past October 1st, although that has not been announced as of this writing.

The stamp duty break has certainly done its job to boost the UK economy. With the programme coming to an end soon, some people are nervous and unsure what it will mean for the future of the housing market.

But by most accounts, there is little to worry about. While the market may slow down a bit, most experts agree it will continue to do well overall, meaning the economy will benefit as well.

Of course, it’s still a good idea to purchase a home soon if this is what you want. While housing prices may go down later this year, they may also stay the same.

No one can predict the future, but the UK housing market looks like it will continue to do well even into next year.

Interior design styles come and go, but two things that are always in fashion are sustainability and cost-effectiveness, both of which are manifest in furniture upcycling. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that there has been a surge in interest in furniture upcycling fashions in the UK.

Here are just a few tips and tricks for upcycling your furniture into something special.

Good interior decorating is a fusion of form and function; great interior decorating often means playing with the latter to reignite some spark of inspiration in the former.

The great ethos of Modernist artwork was “Make it New,” and furniture upcycling has a similar ethic.

Old wine bottles and washing machine drums? Instead of tossing them out, why not recycle them into candles or planters for your foliage?

There are plenty of minimalist bookshelves that use a ladder-like design anyway, so if you already have a ladder, why not simply employ it to give yourself a “free” bookshelf with some bohemian chic?

Remember, part of the point of furniture upcycling is sustainability and affordability. A trip to the high street doesn’t do much for either of those goals.

Besides, there’s every chance that you can find a homemade or small business equivalent to many items for which you might otherwise pay far more on the high street. Set a budget and stick to it.

One of the great sins of interior decorating is clashing styles or eras. Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco, and Minimalism all have their pros and cons, but that doesn’t mean that they mix well. Just as you want to stick to a budget, you should pick a style ahead of time and stay true to it.

This in turn will help you determine which upcycled furnishings go with your aesthetic and which clash and can be safely jettisoned.

Sometimes, addition by subtraction is the best way to add to a home’s aesthetic.

Getting rid of items that simply don’t fit with your style can help reduce clutter, and if you sell them off they might even fetch a few extra pounds to help you afford some other items that can better mesh with your overall style.

One item on which you will want to invest a few extra pounds are your paint brushes. Whether you plan on repainting your entire home, want to do some accent work, or simply need a bit of a touch-up here and there, good paint brush quality is essential. The last thing you want is to spend days or weeks redecorating your home only for patchy scratchy flaws in your paint job to become apparent due to subpar brushes.

You will also want to be careful to make sure that you are using high-quality paint.

To extend the life and freshness of the paint and paintbrushes (as well as any rollers you might use) wrap them in cling film or tin foil when they aren’t in use during your paint job.

(A word to the wise about painting drawers and cabinets – remove the knobs first and reattach them afterward to make the paint job smoother and easier.)

One thing you don’t want to have any doubt about is when you’ll need to repay the higher rates for your Stamp Duty as required under certain conditions such as those described above. For example, if you purchase a new main property but experience delays while selling your old one, you’ll still have to pay the higher rates for the Stamp Duty as mentioned above for those with two properties. You may not have “intended” to be “owning” two properties simultaneously, but intent aside, you now technically do and thus need to pay these higher rates until such time as you sell off the latter one.

However, if you sell or give that previous main property away within three years of purchasing that second, new property that you now count as your primary home, you can apply for relief. This comes in the form of a refund on the elevated SDLT rate in your Stamp Duty.

To be eligible for this, you’ll also need to claim that refund within three months of selling that property, or else within 12 months of your filing date for that SDLT, whichever is later.

As important as these sources of inspiration can be, they cannot take the place of the individuality and uniqueness that is at the soul of all good artistic endeavours, furniture upcycling and interior design included.

Try not to use the exact same fabric styles as others in your old furnishings, or consider arranging them in a different way. Think outside the box and define your space for yourself.

Nothing says “sustainability chic” quite like a lovely garden decked out in upcycled furnishings. Consider the layout of your garden and yards and think about which furnishings might fit with them.

Old kitchen tables and chairs can be transformed into lovely garden sitting spaces. Properly covered, an old armchair can find new life outdoors.

The last thing you want is for all your hard upcycling work to go to waste because you failed to protect them from the elements.

If you are going to move your furnishings outside, make sure they are properly covered. Inside and outside, you should make sure that you varnish things so as to protect them from the elements or the ravages of aging.

“Everything old is new again.” That old line from All That Jazz still holds true, and embracing vintage chic with your old furnishings can be a great way to jazz up your décor.

Just because something is old or worn doesn’t mean it can’t be a dynamic part of your interior design.

If you are designing things after a certain period, old furnishings can fit right in. Investing a little bit to have these old furnishings refurbished can give them whole new life.

What’s more, older, vintage furnishings are often rarer than newer ones.

Upcycling the right old furnishings can thus give your home a somewhat rarefied air of classic oldness made new once more.

With a thrifty spirit, creative eye, and some estate agent savviness, you can upcycle your furniture and inject new life into your interior decorating.

For those new to the term, a Stamp Duty is a tax that is paid on residential properties or land in England and Northern Ireland on properties costing as much as £500,000 after June 30, 2021. (Buyers in Scotland and Wales instead pay the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Land Transaction Tax, respectively.) Properties that cost more £500,000 will also pay a Stamp Duty at a different rate set on properties above.

Between July 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021, you won’t have to pay Stamp Duty charges on residential properties that cost up to £250,000, or up to £300,000 if you are a first-time buyer, and up to £500,000 at a discounted rate.

These rates apply to leasehold as well as freehold properties, that is, whether you are purchasing the home or property via a mortgage or outright.

If you own more than one property, you still have to pay Stamp Duty on the others. For example, if you have a second home, you pay an extra 3% to your Stamp Duty. This rate applies to properties of £40,000 or above, but it doesn’t apply to mobile homes, caravans, or houseboats.

As you might imagine, this added tax might add some stress to your property shopping. However, if you’re concerned about that, it may be helpful to note that there is some relief available for buyers. You’ll want to ask real estate experts who specialise in Stamp Duty to review your situation and see if you are eligible for any form of relief.

In addition to this general Stamp Duty relief, there is also relief available for first-time buyers. In this context, a first-time buyer is classed as someone who is purchasing their first or primary residence and has not previously owned a freehold property or otherwise had a leasehold interest in a residential home or other property inside or outside of the UK. If you qualify as a first-time buyer in England or Northern Ireland as of July 1, 2021, you won’t have to pay Stamp Duty rates on properties that are worth £300,000 or less. What’s more, on properties costing between £300,000 and £500,000, you won’t have to pay any Stamp Duty on the initial £300,000; above that, you’ll pay the 5% Stamp Duty rate for the rest, up to £200,000.

However, if the property in question is worth more than £500,000, even if it is your first time purchasing a property, you will not qualify for the relief offered to other first-time buyers and you will instead have to pay the standard Stamp Duty tax rate.

One thing you don’t want to have any doubt about is when you’ll need to repay the higher rates for your Stamp Duty as required under certain conditions such as those described above. For example, if you purchase a new main property but experience delays while selling your old one, you’ll still have to pay the higher rates for the Stamp Duty as mentioned above for those with two properties. You may not have “intended” to be “owning” two properties simultaneously, but intent aside, you now technically do and thus need to pay these higher rates until such time as you sell off the latter one.

However, if you sell or give that previous main property away within three years of purchasing that second, new property that you now count as your primary home, you can apply for relief. This comes in the form of a refund on the elevated SDLT rate in your Stamp Duty.

To be eligible for this, you’ll also need to claim that refund within three months of selling that property, or else within 12 months of your filing date for that SDLT, whichever is later.

Knowing when and how to pay Stamp Duty taxes can help you avoid penalties and other problems.

Stamp Duty Land Taxes need to be paid within 14 days of filing a return. If you do not submit your return and pay your Stamp Duty Land Tax within this time frame, you may attract the attention of HMRC and incur penalties and added interest.

To pay your Stamp Duty, you’ll typically need to work with a solicitor or real estate expert trained in this capacity to ensure that your tax is paid in the proper amount and on time.

By contrast, a Stamp Duty may not be payable under certain circumstances. For example, if the price of the property is slightly within the range that mandates a Stamp Duty tax, you may wish to ask your estate agent or the seller if they would consider slightly lowering the price.

Property that has been transferred as the result of a divorce or separation does not typically qualify for Stamp Duty taxation as long as part of the home’s value is paid to your spouse or partner. Likewise, if you have deeds transferred from your name to someone else, they shouldn’t have to pay a Stamp Duty. However, this is typically intended to cover “gifts.” If you instead seek to exchange properties with this person, you will both have to pay a Stamp Duty tax on the property in question in line with its overall market value.

As you can tell, the world of Stamp Duty taxation is as varied as it is complex.

However, with the right advisement from real estate agents, you can work your way through it and up the property ladder while minimising the amount you have to pay.

Homeownership is one of the great financial and personal goals the world over, and Britain is no exception. At the same time, home prices can be quite expensive, especially for first-time buyers struggling to meet the price of a mortgage. If this is you, however, you still have options.

Ninety-five percent mortgages are the most commonly mentioned of these, but what exactly are they, how do they work, and are they right for you?

Of course, these lenders aren’t just giving money away. There are several strings attached, not the least of which being having a good credit record and having a stable income that earns enough to satisfy your lender.

In addition, you’ll need to pass an Affordability Test. This examines your income still further, taking your expenditures, debit, and other factors into consideration to help determine if the property in question and the interest rates for paying back a 95% mortgage loan are “affordable” for you. 

They may also run a “stress test” on your finances, which involves checking to see whether you would still be able to afford mortgage payments in the event the interest rates rise or you run into financial difficulty. For example, furloughs have been common during COVID, and so this would be a potential factor they would account for in their “stress tests.”

It is advisable to speak to mortgage brokers or real estate experts before applying to put yourself in the best possible position to be accepted.

In theory, you can borrow as much as five times your present salary (or combined salary if you are a co-buyer with another person).

It is important to note that these loans often come with high interest rates due to the elevated risk for the lender.

Another good thing about 95% mortgages is that it is possible to seek assistance from family members. For example, they can help gift you money to help you afford the deposit. If this is the case, however, you’ll need to prove to the lender that this is a true “gift” and not another loan you’ll need to pay back.

Alternatively, they can act as the guarantor of your loan. For example, they could put up capital or property as collateral.

The first and most obvious disadvantage of a loan like this is, as mentioned, the high interest rates. As a result, it may be better to save up so you can put down more than just 5% for your deposit so you can avoid higher interest rates up to 95% later on.

At the same time, it is also hard to re-mortgage a 95% loan. Once you are locked into the terms of the loan, it is very difficult to change them, so you need to be careful to make sure that you know what you’re getting yourself into and that you’re up to it.

In addition, if the value of your home starts to plummet, you could be put in a position where you are stuck with negative equity.

If this occurs, this could mean that you owe more on the mortgage than the total rate of the property – which obviously isn’t what you intended when you tried to purchase the home in the first place. The more equity there is in your home, the smaller this risk is. As such, if you want to avoid the risk of negative equity, you want to put a larger deposit down at the start, which naturally contradicts the basic nature of a 95% mortgage.

If a 95% loan is ultimately considered to be too expensive or otherwise not right for you, either by yourself or the lender, Help to Buy or Shared Ownership loans are other options to consider.

Under a Shared Ownership plan, you can purchase as much as 25% to 75% of a given property and pay rent on the remaining amount. You only pay mortgage rates on the share of the property you own, so this can help you borrow at and thus qualify for lower interest rates. That said, if you aren’t careful, the combination of rent and the mortgage can add up fast, which in turn can mean paying more than you might have otherwise, so you need to do your research.

Help to Buy loans involve putting down a deposit of at least 5% and seeking out government assistance for more. (The current rates are 40% in London, 20% in the remainder of England as well as Wales, and 15% in Scotland.) Once again, this means that you only need to pay for part of the mortgage at a given time. That said, this can also run into the issue of costs adding up on you in a hurry if you aren’t careful and don’t calculate everything ahead of time before signing on the dotted line.

There are several options for making homeownership affordable, and real estate services can help you narrow them down and determine which ones are best suited to your needs and budget.

Scope out some initial properties, think over your options, and when you’re ready, place a call to a real estate expert and see if a 95% mortgage or other lending options are right for you.

COVID is not yet completely off the map, so it is difficult to determine exactly how it is going to affect the housing market by the time it’s done, but there’s little doubt that the pandemic has already affected housing prices. When the pandemic first hit, homes in most countries weren’t being put up for sale like they had in the past, with little wonder why.

Everyone was afraid of getting COVID, mask or no mask, so people were putting off selling or buying a home until it became clearer what would happen next. Now, over a year later, things are just starting to get back to normal, but what are the numbers like? Are things really back to where they were pre-pandemic? Let’s take a look and see.

In March of 2020, things essentially shut down throughout most of the world, and nearly all businesses were affected. In most countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, housing prices dropped during the spring of 2020, but by July of 2020 the prices had already exceeded the levels from before the pandemic.

This is mostly due to the easing of the stay-at-home rules and the desire for things to get back to normal as quickly as possible. In the United Kingdom, the government temporarily cut the stamp duty last summer, meaning that millions of people had an opportunity to save around £15,000 if they bought a home and moved before the program was discontinued.

In the United States, a massive real estate market and a good barometer to compare against, the median home price in April of 2020 went up 4.7% compared to the previous April, and it went up only 0.5% in May of 2020 compared to the previous May. But just like in the United Kingdom last summer, housing prices started going up in the United States, and since then it has enjoyed a small but steady increase. Nevertheless, even a year after the pandemic started, people are asking themselves certain questions before deciding to move, including:

• What if remote workers are allowed to keep working at home even after the pandemic?
• Why should I move if all of the restaurants and shops are still closed or have limited hours?
• Why should I shop at a brick-and-mortar store when I can continue to shop online?

So, instead of asking yourself, is the real estate market better or worse since COVID-19 came on the scene, the better question is, how has the market changed since COVID-19?

If anything, COVID has changed the way the real estate market works. For one thing, people are seeking different places to live than they once did. While Brits used to want to live in the big cities to be near the best jobs and schools, more and more people are now preferring to live in more remote areas and sunnier areas.

They essentially want less densely populated places to live, partly because more and more people are working remotely and partly because a lot of people’s priorities have changed since the pandemic started. These things, in turn, have affected both buyers and sellers of real estate.

In the UK, people seem to be moving faster than they were before the pandemic. Page-per-property views on realtor websites such as Rightmove and others are up quite a bit since this time last year, the top large markets are finding fewer people wanting to move there, and more and more homebuyers are looking for homes that offer peace and quiet, more space, home offices, and access to the outdoors. 

The time from listing a home to the closing of that home has been shrinking, and part of the changes in what buyers are looking for are due to the fact that they are spending so much more time at home than they did before the pandemic started.

The lockdowns have meant that people are using their homes for everything now, including working, exercising, and even teaching. In many countries, these trends are because people are putting more emphasis on their overall quality of life and not location, convenience, and other factors they used to consider important when buying a home. If you look at the data associated with small cities and suburban areas located within an hour of major metropolitan areas, you’ll notice a lot of growth over the past year or so.

As a general rule, prices of homes are a bit higher than they were before the pandemic, with many areas seeing home buyers participating in “bidding wars” with another buyer when they find a house they love. Even the places that are not growing aren’t exactly dead; they’re just growing at smaller-than-average rates. For now, it’s difficult to tell if this trend will continue. Eventually, the pandemic will be “over” with, although most experts agree it will never go away completely, but it’s difficult to imagine that home prices will continue to rise like they are now. Indeed, it could be disastrous for new buyers for the prices to remain this steep.

For now, people who are considering selling their homes would be wise to put their houses on the market fairly soon. This trend toward homes selling fast and at good prices won’t last forever, so it’s best for prospective sellers to take advantage of this trend if they’re interested in selling their home anytime soon.

Selling a home is one of life’s biggest challenges, and since it’s practically impossible to sell a house on your own, looking for a good real estate agent is a must.

After all, you want to sell your home quickly but you still want to make some money on it and to accomplish this, you need a good agent.

If the thought of finding the perfect agent has you flustered, you don’t have to panic because there are things you can do to increase the odds of finding the perfect one regardless of where you live or what your situation is. Below are a few of those things.

Referrals are crucial when you’re looking for a real estate agent. Regardless of the research, you conduct or the things you read, nothing means as much as a positive referral from a previous client.

A good agent won’t mind giving you a few referrals to contact, and knowing that these people have already worked with this particular realtor means you can trust their opinion of that realtor, and this goes a long way in helping to determine if he or she is right for you.

While a good estate agent can handle most aspects of the process without your help, you’ll still want to make sure you agree with said agent on the important details.

These details include the commission you’ll have to pay, the length of the contract, and of course, the list price. You might also want to inquire about how many showings you can expect from them each week. Although they won’t be able to guarantee a certain number, they should be able to give you a realistic estimate.

While you’re essentially ‘interviewing’ estate agents, you’ll want to ask each of them the same set of questions, which means devising a list ahead of time.

These can include questions such as, how long have you been in real estate? How many active clients do you have? Do you work mainly with buyers or sellers? How will you market and promote my home? Just make sure you ask everyone you’re interviewing the same questions so you can get a better gauge of how they all compare to each other.

You can’t decide on an estate agent by meeting just with one or two agents. It takes a minimum of three agents to feel good about the choice you end up making in our opinion. While you’re at it, make sure you treat this like a job interview.

If you were an employer, would you hire this person? After the process is complete, you can compare and contrast the information they gave you and base your decision on that.

More often than not, we find that our gut instinct is steering us in the right direction. The bottom line is, regardless of the realtor’s level of experience, it is likely you’re going to make your final decision based on the rapport you have with that person, which isn’t a bad thing.

If there’s no chemistry between you and your estate agent, chances are good you won’t be able to work with that person, so trusting what your gut tells you is a smart decision on your part.

These days, it is easier than ever to check a person out, thanks to social media and a bit of ‘Googling’. While you have to be sure you’re visiting reputable sites, using search engines to find out about a particular agent is a great way to find out all you can about that person.

If you enter anyone’s name in a search engine, it’s almost certain a hoard of information will come up, and it will behove you to check out all of these sources so that you know as much as possible about that person.

Some real estate agents will tell you they only work part-time, and this should send up a red flag immediately. Real estate is a tough business, and you want someone totally devoted to their profession and someone who takes it seriously.

It’s nearly impossible to work as a real estate agent on a part-time basis and do a great job. Only work with someone who works full-time and is committed to selling your home no matter what.

Nowadays, agents can be buyer’s agents or seller’s agents, but you don’t want one who is both. That person cannot have your best interests at heart if they’re working for the buyers as well as for you.

Make sure the agent you choose is an agent who works exclusively for you as a seller. It is simply a conflict of interest for that person to try and work for both the buyer and the seller, and the person it hurts most is you, the client.

Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you know exactly what services the real estate agent is going to provide to you.

Does this include a way to contact you seven days a week? Do they provide feedback each time the house is shown so that you can stay on top of this? Will they make sure there are lots of clear, professional-looking photographs of your home on all of the leading realtor sites? These things are important, so never sign any contract until you have the answers to these questions.

When you’ve decided to sell your home and you’re not sure how to get started, it can be a little intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Selling your home doesn’t have to be complicated or stressful, but it does involve more than just cleaning the house and getting it ready for an open house.

If you’re serious about selling your home quickly, there are things you can do to shorten the length of time it takes to sell the house, and those things are very simple and inexpensive to do. To make sure your home looks its best to potential buyers and speed up the home-selling process, pay attention to the tips below.

Potential buyers snoop when they look through a home, and they love looking inside closets. Storage space is always important to buyers, so if you remove half of the clothes out of the cupboards and store them away somewhere, it will give the illusion of a much bigger space and giving off the impression that your property has a lot of space is key.

The same goes for your cabinets. If they look too crowded, make them look less so by removing some of the items and making it look like there is more room in there.

The less crowded your cupboards and cabinets are, the better it will look to potential buyers.

When a home is well-lit, it will automatically look bigger and more attractive. Before a buyer comes over to look at your house, make sure all of the rooms have at least one light on so they look clean and spacious.

You may have to change your lampshades, put in newer and brighter light bulbs, and clean your windows, but it will be worth it in the end because of the way it makes the rooms look. More lighting simply makes the house look cheerier and more appealing, so do what you have to do to make this happen.

If you have animals in your home, just know that not all buyers will appreciate that. Not everyone loves animals, and not even animal lovers will appreciate getting pet hair all over their clothing and seeing it on every piece of furniture.

Keep your house clean at all times, and if you schedule an open house, consider taking your pets to a pet hotel for the day. You should also put pet food bowls in a separate hidden location so that prospective buyers don’t see them when they first walk into the house.

Although there aren’t any pets present in the house, you may have a potential buyer who is allergic to pets. Making sure that you do a deep clean of the house and to avoid any reminders that there were animals living with you is always a good idea.

You don’t have to run out and spend thousands of pounds on your landscaping, but make sure the outside of your home looks neat and trimmed. If you have overgrown trees or bushes, make sure you trim them. If the grass needs to be cut, go ahead and cut it.

When it comes to potential buyers, first impressions are everything. When buyers arrive at your home, they’ll be looking at the outside of your home first and foremost, which means it has to look its best for them to want to go any further.

A cluttered house will look messy and believe it or not, a lot smaller. Getting rid of clutter makes each room look more spacious and a lot neater. Pick up any clutter and consider using this as an opportunity to get rid of things you no longer use. At the very least, remove most of the items and put them in a location where the buyers can’t find them. The less clutter you have in your house, the bigger it will look, and this is attractive to buyers.

This doesn’t mean you have to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of your house, but you should do more than just snap a few pics with your smartphone and call it a day.

Not only should all of the photographs look good, but you should have lots of them from all different angles. The more pictures you have on the website, the more appealing it will be to prospective buyers. After all, they want to know what the house looks like inside and out, and only lots of pictures will show them that.

You can do this yourself, however, some estate agents like Alexander Lawrence have a professional property photographer available when you’re looking to put your house up for sale.

If you offer a virtual tour to potential buyers, they’ll get a much better idea of what the house looks like.

Videos personalise the process and give buyers a sense of what it feels like to be inside of your home. Buyers always want to see lots of pictures, but when they look at the video afterward, it can often seal the deal for you in our experience.

A good video is just what many buyers need to go ahead and schedule a showing so they can look at the real thing.

Videos do really give you those extra bonus points when selling your house, and it’s not difficult to do either. If you need a few tips on how to film a video for your own property, take a look at this really helpful article to get you started.

A good real estate agent will do more than just market your home. You should find one who can also provide you with advice on mortgage companies, title companies, and even professional inspectors.

The home-buying process involves a lot of different services that work together to make the sale happen, and the right agent will be able to refer you to anyone you need to make everything come together. When you’re trying to sell your home, a good agent is the icing on the cake that makes the sale possible in the end.