Kiri Te Kanawa wore a £20 Zara bedsheet as a skirt – so should we all try duvet dressing?

The New Zealand soprano presented an award dressed in a sheet from Zara Home. Here’s how to get the look

When the New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa walked on to a Cardiff stage to present the Ukrainian baritone Andrei Kymach with the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2019 award, she did so wearing a bedsheet. The watercolour flower cotton flat sheet from Zara Home, to be precise.

“I have been looking for a hydrangea print for years,” she told reporters. Stumbling across this pattern, she said, felt like the answer to her prayers. A dressmaker fashioned it into a full-length skirt with a blue satin trim. “It’s Dame Duvet,” shouted the tabloids, predictably.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/31Re8Ru
via IFTTT

Garage conversions: A step by step guide Nottingham Estate Agents

Giving an underused garage a makeover can unlock precious space in your property – and increase its price. But where to start? Before you book the skip and reach for the sledgehammer, there’s a lot to be considered. OnTheMarket.com puts foot to pedal. Give it some thought It’s worth spending a bit of time thinking about what […]

The post Garage conversions: A step by step guide appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

from OnTheMarket.com blog http://bit.ly/2LeiVXh
via IFTTT

My siblings and I inherited a house – will we be liable for stamp duty?

The house is probably worth £80,000 to £90,000, but three of us already own property

Q My three siblings and I inherited property from my great-aunt after she died in 2006. It’s a tiny cottage in Wales, with one bedroom, one living room, a small kitchen and a small bathroom. There is a little bit of land around it by way of a garden which slopes down to a river. I don’t think that it’s worth terribly much – possibly in the range of £80,000 to £90,000. Three of us also own property in which we live, and two of us are planning to sell and buy somewhere else in the near future. So my question is: what is the situation with stamp duty land tax? We each have a 25% share in my late aunt’s cottage, so will we be liable for the higher rate of stamp duty on our potential purchases because of this?
KM

A No you won’t be liable for the higher rate of stamp duty land tax (SDLT). Because you are selling your main residence and buying another main residence to replace it, the higher rates of SDLT – which are standard SDLT rates plus three percentage points – do not apply. They would apply if you didn’t sell your current home before buying a new one – although you would be able to claim a refund if you sold the old home within three years of buying the new one. However, because your individual shares in your late aunt’s cottage are worth less than £40,000 (if your estimated value is correct), you are let off paying the higher rates of SDLT. This would also be the case if your fourth sibling decided to buy another property provided his/her share is still worth less than £40,000 at the time he/she acquires a second property.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WZ1Na5
via IFTTT

Thompson & Morgan customer service is still a growing pain

I need to know if my complaint about its mail order tree will ever bear fruit?

I, too, have issues with the mail order gardening firm Thompson & Morgan (you ran an item in April). I ordered a fruit tree in January and received it without the instructions. I emailed and got a copy of the online info (which I already had), then, after further emails, got a reply. By April, there was no growth and by early May only a shoot on the graft. I called twice and was kept waiting an hour, then cut off. No one called back. I thought it might be due to the RHS shows, so I waited until they were over and tried again. I was offered a replacement by the end of the week. I was then told it was not in stock and that I had been refunded – I cannot see a refund. I asked to speak to a manager, but was told it was not possible. This is completely unacceptable – with no apparent intention of resolution. Caveat emptor loud and clear.
JD, Stowmarket, Suffolk

Thompson & Morgan’s commercial director, Chris Wright, blamed (as last time) an upgrade to its computer system which led to “a number of teething problems”. He said extra staff had been recruited and worked 24/7 to resolve the difficulties, although looking at Trustpilot the negative reviews are still rolling in. Wright reassured us it had taken steps to resolve your complaint adding: “I would like to point out that 95% of our customers would not have experienced any issues or delays.” Of course, that leaves a very unhappy 5%.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XCMR65
via IFTTT

Thompson & Morgan customer service is still a growing pain

I need to know if my complaint about its mail order tree will ever bear fruit?

I, too, have issues with the mail order gardening firm Thompson & Morgan (you ran an item in April). I ordered a fruit tree in January and received it without the instructions. I emailed and got a copy of the online info (which I already had), then, after further emails, got a reply. By April, there was no growth and by early May only a shoot on the graft. I called twice and was kept waiting an hour, then cut off. No one called back. I thought it might be due to the RHS shows, so I waited until they were over and tried again. I was offered a replacement by the end of the week. I was then told it was not in stock and that I had been refunded – I cannot see a refund. I asked to speak to a manager, but was told it was not possible. This is completely unacceptable – with no apparent intention of resolution. Caveat emptor loud and clear.
JD, Stowmarket, Suffolk

Thompson & Morgan’s commercial director, Chris Wright, blamed (as last time) an upgrade to its computer system which led to “a number of teething problems”. He said extra staff had been recruited and worked 24/7 to resolve the difficulties, although looking at Trustpilot the negative reviews are still rolling in. Wright reassured us it had taken steps to resolve your complaint adding: “I would like to point out that 95% of our customers would not have experienced any issues or delays.” Of course, that leaves a very unhappy 5%.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XCMR65
via IFTTT

How many estate agents does it take to sell a house?

I often get asked the question, “Should I use more than one estate agent to sell my house?” Once upon a time, this strategy made perfect sense.  After all, before properties were advertised on the internet, how else could you make sure that buyers across different geographical areas would see your home, if you didn’t use two, three or more agents to market it?

But then came the property portals, and everything changed.  Almost all buyers (93% at last count) look online to find their home, often browsing a couple of portals, then simply call the relevant agent to book a viewing on a home they like.

What’s the point in being listed twice like this?

So is there any point these days in instructing more than one agent? The short answer is ‘no’.  If a buyer spies your home listed several times online, at best it’s annoying, and at worst it’s misleading, because if the agents involved have used different photographs and descriptions to advertise the property, a buyer could be forgiven for thinking that the adverts belong to different houses.

And doesn’t this look like a different property? It’s not!

When a buyer enters a search criterion on one of the property portals like Rightmove, properties appear in a list, in descending price order, ie with the more expensive houses showing first.  Any properties that are marketed at exactly the same price will appear in a random order, to be fair and not favour any particular agent. However, one agent I know gets around this rule by adding a pound to his prices, so that his properties will show first, and therefore you’ll see property prices like £300,001 from him!

Another factor to bear in mind, is how does it look to a buyer if you as the seller have instructed several agents? Desperate perhaps? In need of an urgent sale?  This could have the effect of generating some very low offers from those buyers looking for a bargain, whilst genuine buyers may stay away completely, fearful of being stuck with a property that they themselves can’t sell when the time comes.

Finally, there’s the question of cost.  If you instruct more than one agent, depending on the type of agency agreement you have, you’ll either pay the standard agency fee, but only to one of the agents; sometimes called ‘winner takes all’. Or else you’ll pay a higher fee, and it’ll be split between the two agents, typically 2/3:1/3 or else 50/50. The average uplift for a joint agency agreement is around 25%, meaning that if the average fee in your area is 1.5%, you will be paying 2% – 2.25% for a joint agreement.  This could be an extra £2250 on a £300,000 house – not an inconsiderable amount, particularly if it doesn’t actually net you any higher a sale price.

So my advice is to pick one agent, show them your loyalty and let them do their job. Don’t agree to a long contract, and if after say, 3 months, you’re not getting the interest in your home you had hoped for, drop your price, or find another agent and improve your marketing. Or all three….

Happy selling!

Sam

The post How many estate agents does it take to sell a house? appeared first on Home Truths.

from Home Truths http://bit.ly/2ICZtl9
via IFTTT

How many estate agents does it take to sell a house?

I often get asked the question, “Should I use more than one estate agent to sell my house?” Once upon a time, this strategy made perfect sense.  After all, before properties were advertised on the internet, how else could you make sure that buyers across different geographical areas would see your home, if you didn’t use two, three or more agents to market it?

But then came the property portals, and everything changed.  Almost all buyers (93% at last count) look online to find their home, often browsing a couple of portals, then simply call the relevant agent to book a viewing on a home they like.

What’s the point in being listed twice like this?

So is there any point these days in instructing more than one agent? The short answer is ‘no’.  If a buyer spies your home listed several times online, at best it’s annoying, and at worst it’s misleading, because if the agents involved have used different photographs and descriptions to advertise the property, a buyer could be forgiven for thinking that the adverts belong to different houses.

And doesn’t this look like a different property? It’s not!

When a buyer enters a search criterion on one of the property portals like Rightmove, properties appear in a list, in descending price order, ie with the more expensive houses showing first.  Any properties that are marketed at exactly the same price will appear in a random order, to be fair and not favour any particular agent. However, one agent I know gets around this rule by adding a pound to his prices, so that his properties will show first, and therefore you’ll see property prices like £300,001 from him!

Another factor to bear in mind, is how does it look to a buyer if you as the seller have instructed several agents? Desperate perhaps? In need of an urgent sale?  This could have the effect of generating some very low offers from those buyers looking for a bargain, whilst genuine buyers may stay away completely, fearful of being stuck with a property that they themselves can’t sell when the time comes.

Finally, there’s the question of cost.  If you instruct more than one agent, depending on the type of agency agreement you have, you’ll either pay the standard agency fee, but only to one of the agents; sometimes called ‘winner takes all’. Or else you’ll pay a higher fee, and it’ll be split between the two agents, typically 2/3:1/3 or else 50/50. The average uplift for a joint agency agreement is around 25%, meaning that if the average fee in your area is 1.5%, you will be paying 2% – 2.25% for a joint agreement.  This could be an extra £2250 on a £300,000 house – not an inconsiderable amount, particularly if it doesn’t actually net you any higher a sale price.

So my advice is to pick one agent, show them your loyalty and let them do their job. Don’t agree to a long contract, and if after say, 3 months, you’re not getting the interest in your home you had hoped for, drop your price, or find another agent and improve your marketing. Or all three….

Happy selling!

Sam

The post How many estate agents does it take to sell a house? appeared first on Home Truths.

from Home Truths http://bit.ly/2ICZtl9
via IFTTT