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A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying

Zanet — Sat, 19 May 2012 11:35:59 +0000

The Buying Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now I’m about to reveal my normal process for buying a property. Years ago a walk along the local high street and a visit to each estate agent was my only option while taking a day off work. Today its all changed. Far from my priority to visit shops and talk to estate agents, I can now search for my ideal property at any time a like from the comfort of my current home.

Until recently I only really bothered with Rightmove. More than 90% of all UK Estate Agents choose to be members of Rightmove. It’s the largest and most established site with a boasts of 4 times more property than any other house buying site. Though it would be ignorant to think that that is where your search should finish. Findaproperty, Fish4homes and Zoopla are well established and worth a search. The new kid on the block is Sarah Beeny’s Tepilo. This has only a few properties, but it looks likely to grow and is worth keeping an eye on as I’m a believer that this might just succeed far beyond its predecessors as its entirely free for sellers and it uses Google maps to the full.

So what do you need before searching to buy a property?

buying your house online

Below are a list of what you need in effect if you entered these site with the basic four details you would probably get some good ideas of what you can buy for your money.

Where you want to live eg. place name or post code
The Minimum number of bedrooms required
Your Minimum price
Your Maximum price

Other details may be useful but for our favorite 5 you’ll find it will get you started

www.Rightmove.co.uk

Rightmove.co.uk is the UK’s number one property website. We are not estate agents but we aim to be the place for UK home movers to find details of all properties available to buy or rent.

postcode
radius of postcode up to 40 miles
Type of property eg. flat or house
Minimum number of bedrooms
Maximum number of bedrooms
How recent it was added to the site (anytime, 24 hours or last 2 weeks)

www.findaproperty.com

FindaProperty.com claims to be one of the leading property web-site with a comprehensive search facility for house-hunters to find a home – both sales and rentals.
It now publishes the details of over 626,614 properties to buy

place name or post code
Minimum number of bedrooms
Minimum price
Maximum price

www.zoopla.co.uk

Zoopla recently announced that it has acquired UpMyStreet.com, one of the UK’s leading and longest standing property information websites, for an undisclosed sum. You can’t ignore Zoopla and its claim of being the UK’s leading market resource for a property finder to search property for sale, find houses and flats to rent, see house prices paid and current property values all in one place.

place name or post code
Minimum price
Maximum price
Type of property eg. flat or house
Minimum number of bedrooms

www.tepilo.co.uk

Tepilo is an alternative way to buy, sell or let your property and it’s free. You maintain 100% control and pay 0% commission! Search across the UK and get advice from me along the way

place name or post code
refine with price
refine with distance

Advanced Details
property type
bedrooms
Bathrooms
Receptions
Outside Space
Parking
Tenure

www.fish4homes.co.uk

Claims to be the leading property website, fish4homes, celebrates a decade helping agents generate enquiries.
claims 276,653 houses and flats for sale
it looks a little run down the site with its latest news almost a year old!

The ten steps below cover the main stages you will go through when buying a home.

Work out how much you can afford
Get a mortgage agreement in principle
Choose your home from the list above.
View the properties as soon as possible.
Hire a solicitor or conveyancer
Make an offer
Have a survey and valuation
Finalise your mortgage
Exchange contracts
Organise your move

Over the coming weeks we are running some simple tests on the online sites we use to help our visitors buy a property.

The tests will include :

Which property site is the most usable?
Which site has the greatest number of properties?
Which property site provides the easiest search?
Which site provides the best support?
Which property site is best value for money for a buyer and seller?

7 Homes Never Seen on Rightmove

Zanet — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:03:14 +0000

Chances are these homes will never be seen on Rightmove. Ok they are all based in America and Rightmove is UK based, but even so. Could you really afford these Hollywood homes?

So we present 7 homes you can’t afford

1. Bill Gates home

Bill Gates Home

He has the finest home technology. Apparently has an automated human dwelling. I bet it has windows too.The hillside is in an earthquake zone, so the foundation sits on concrete piers and uses tiebacks and steel reinforcements several times stronger than the minimums set by the building code. Massive retaining walls, several feet thick in places, created a drainage problem, solved by collecting runoff in buried pipes that feed into the estuary.

2.Eddie Murphy’s House

Eddie Murphy’s House

The Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-, Screen Actors Guild Award- and Golden Raspberry-winning actor and comedian lives here. Murphy’s all-brick, gated and walled 32-room property is in the East Hill section of Englewood and sits high on a 4-acre knoll. It is star-studded estate with a full-size racquetball court, an indoor pool with a glass roof, a two-lane bowling alley, professional recording music studio, elevator, and carriage house with gym.

3. Oprah Winfrey’s House

Oprah Winfrey - Montecito, California

Oprah Winfrey paid $50 million in 2001 for the 23,000-square-foot Georgian-style home she calls the “Promised Land.” Last year the spread was appraised at just under $85 million. For such a public persona, Winfrey ferociously guards the privacy of her home, situated on 43 acres. At a Barack Obama fund raiser last year, guests were strictly prohibited from entering the house, and cameras were forbidden.

4. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s House

Lopez House - Los Angeles, CA

Good thing J.Lo and March Anthony have all this space what with their twins and all. Marc Anthony probably requested a house of this magnitude so he can hide from his wife’s diva demands. J.Lo lives in a seven bedroom and fourteen bathroom, 12,217 sq. ft home

5. John Travoltas House

John Travoltas House Ocala, Florida

John Travolta is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor, dancer, and singer, best known for his leading roles in films such as Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Pulp Fiction, John Travolta is aviation-mad and has lived with planes outside his door for a while now, previously living in a fly-in community near Daytona but had to move after other residents said his jet’s were too big for their facility. Now he lives in his current house in Ocala, Florida and he has a airstrip where most people have a driveway.

6. Halle Berry House

Hale Berry House in Malibu, CA

Halle Berry’s owns an $8 million estate in Malibu, CA. Nearly every room has a coastline view. Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model and beauty queen. Berry has received Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in Monster’s Ball, becoming the first and still only woman of African-American descent to have won the award for Best Actress.

7. Ryan Seacrest House

Ryan Seacrests - Los Angeles, CA

This 10,000 square foot crib once belonged to Kevin Costner. The house boasts five bedrooms, a media room, billiards room, tennis court, gym, pool, spa and staff quarters. Los Angeles, CA – Ryan Seacrest recently purchased Kevin Costner’s Los Angeles home for $11.5 million.

Now please let us know if you find any of these on Rightmove or Zoopla
We are convinced that these are never seen on Rightmove and never will be!

Do you know of any other Houses in this league?

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Rightmove House Price Index

Zanet — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:46:00 +0000

Rightmove has long released it’s monthly House Price Index. But we are impressed to see that this months index for April 2012 uses the trendy infographics. So take a look at this months Rightmove House Price Index using a Infographic.

The infographic reveals that the average asking price for a property in the UK is now at a new record

Back in May 2008 we saw the previous peak in London along with the South West also set new asking price records this month. This is actually keepingthe national average up and as is seen on the chart the national average property is now peaking at £243,737

But how far are the other UK regions from their last peak price? The infographic from Rightmove gives you a clear indication on how things have changed in your ara of the UK.

Rightmove House Price Index Infographic

The read areas indicate the amount of time since the last peak.

The larger the red slice the longer the time since its peak – so with the North West area its now 5 years ago since its last peak of £184,122 and currently 9.1% below the last peak with an average property currently asking £167,352

You can see the complete House index graphic on http://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/files/2012/04/INFOGRAPHIC-April-HPI-regional-peaks-digital.jpg

Highest House Prices According to Rightmove

Zanet — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:37:01 +0000

According to Rightmove we now have the highest house prices since 2008

House prices rose 2.9% in April according to Rightmove. Although the average house price is now at its highest in the country, this is not reflective of all UK areas. In fact many are lower.

The best advice is to look at your own area as an isolated situation as the UK average disguises a lot of hidden issues.For example, 30% fewer properties were brought to market this month compared to April 2007, and 0.5% fewer than April last year. So it’s not a recovery by any means, just the interesting figures to consider from Rightmove.

“Not a Housing recovery though” - According to Rightmove

This is not a housing market recovery though as the average is due to increases in the South West and London holding its value. London average asking prices are at nearly half a million pounds. This is a historical high, as sellers in the capital drag their heels in bringing fresh property to the market.

This means the average asking price in England and Wales is now at an all-time high of £243,737 – up 0.5%, or £1,237, on the previous record, which was set in May 2008.

According to Rightmove director Miles Shipside, he reported ”In real terms prices are actually down 9.9% as had prices had kept pace with inflation, as measured by the retail price index, they would now stand at £270,459, the property website explained.”

How to Find your Dream Property

Zanet — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:49:04 +0000

When you buy property on the web its easy to think, search on Rightmove – That’s it! Today we take you out of the box. As we saw last week sites such as Zoopla will give you an additional 25% more properties on an average search.

How to Find your Dream Property – The principle:

Simply think and learn from how you would buy property in the days before the web and you may be in a better position to find your dream property.

It’s easy to go down the road and ask your local estate agent for what property is available in a certain area, within your budget, but the chances are he will only have access to half the actual properties available. the next agent has a few more you havent seen. Then finally a few more estate agents have one or two more properties. So after 5 or 6 Estate agents you are convinced you have seen all the current property available. Well you are almost right, but they could be a few that are advertising on there own board without an estate agent, so a drive around the neighbourhood may find the property you really want.

Additionally if you make an effort to drive around the area and find a property with it’s own board, its likely you are doing something few others have done. Less competition and no agents fees means you will probably get the property for a good price.

So how does this analogy help you when your on the web?

Site 1 : Rightmove
- We all know that Rightmove is the number 1 UK propert search portal – so yes, go to Rightmove as your first point of call on the web, but don’t end it there as the gems are yet to be uncovered.

Site 2 : Zoopla
- As we recently saw in our analysis, Zoopla is a worthy 2nd site to visit and will cover many more properties that you would not of seen on Rightmove. Zoopla acquired Houseprices.co.uk and PropertyFinder along with several other databases. Don’t underestimate Zoopla as it has it’s eye on challenging Rightmove for the number one status

Site 3 : Findaproperty
FindaProperty.com was acquired by Associated Newspapers, the publishers of The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro, so in some areas such as London this is a worthy search tool. But it has lost grounds in recent years compared to Zoopla and Rightmove.

Site 4 : Prime Location
Prime Location is also owned by the Daily Mail. It has around 13,000 leading UK estate and letting agent branches list their properties on PrimeLocation.com, including Knight Frank, Savills and Hamptons. It has a niche market for quality estate agents and property.

Site 5 : Tepilo
Tepilo enables sellers to advertise their property for free. It has the advantage of belonging to property guru Sarah Beeny. Tepilo is an alternative way to buy, sell or let your property and it’s free. You maintain 100% control and pay 0% commission! You will find some gems from time to time, but it lacks the number of properties the above have.

Conclusion

So don’t forget, if you go to the sites where everyone else goes – you will pay what everyone else pays and live in a property that everyone else lives in. But if you are looking for something different, then surely going out of your comfort zone and checking out a few of the less know sites, will give you an opportinity to dicover something special.

You may even find your dream property if its out there!
.

Do you need an Estate Agent

Zanet — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:16:28 +0000

It’s not the first time we have asked the question, Do you need an Estate Agent in this day and age? With the mighty online agents like Zoopla and Rightmove, the little estate agent down the road needs to offer something different to make his value worthwhile.

We are looking at the debate from the perspective of someone wanting to sell their property. The options include advertising online only for a much smaller fee of around £500 rather than the 1 or 2% for an Estate Agent which can cost around £3000 to £7000 depending on your property price.

If property sells well in your area then you may wish to think about advertising on a free web site like Tepilo. If you go direct to Rightmove then regularly review your on-line advertisement, your asking price, the photographs of your property and the description.

For's and Against's - Do you need an Estate Agent

For’s and Against’s – Do you need an Estate Agent

The argument for having an Estate Agent

You should get a few extra viewings as they keep lists of potentially interested buyers
They will be able to show people round when you aren’t available
They may have a better understanding of the local market than yourself and can use this to negotiate a better price on your behalf
Some buyers may not trust buying any other way as they may remain suspicious if there is no Estate Agent
You may recover the cost of the Estate Agent as some buyers will deduct the calculated cost of not having one.

The argument against having an Estate Agent

They tend to dictate the photos and advertising, so you lose some control
You can change the price or details at any point with immediate effect.
You may have a greater motivation to get the best price whereas an estate agent may undersell your house by tens of thousands of pounds to achieve a sale and commission
If you sell quickly because the price was in the buyers favour, you could be paying out a lot of money for very little work
They see the property as the client sees it as they also are not as attached

So is this a harsh discussion if you are an Estate Agent?

Or what is your view if you are a seller.

Do you need an Estate Agent in todays market of online selling?

Should you use Zoopla with Rightmove?

Zanet — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:27:59 +0000

In our house I always default to Rightmove and thereafter to Zoopla. I do use Zoopla which is more than others do in my household but I did make me wonder why do i use it. Not everyone agrees with me, in fact I’m amazed how many people I know only use Rightmove. So do you use Zoopla in addition to Rightmove?

I decided to run a test and see what percentage of properties can I find only by using Zoopla. The comments i hear all the time is why bother with Zoopla when you have all the properties on Rightmove!
Is that true though

Well lets do an experiment and see what the results are.

I will set a random criteria and i have no biased in this experiment as i genuinely want to see the outcome

Experimental Name : Should you use Zoopla with Rightmove?

Area : Swindon SW6 - Within 1/4 mile radius
Any property added at anytime
Any amount of bedrooms
Budget £200,000 – £250,000
See the criteria in screen shots below

So the results? Well Rightmove has one property more…

Rightmove : 23 properties for sale found

Zoopla : 22 results for SW6 property for sale within 0.25 miles from £200,000-£250,000

Should you use Zoopla with Rightmove?

Will Zoopla’s 22 properties be the same as the 23 Rightmove lists?

Well I went through each one to find the results and interestingly Zoopla is more generous on its 1/4 mile radius as is seen from the diagram below. Taking the map circumference 2 of the 22 properties Zoopla showed were outside the radius. So we would have to remove them to make the experiment like for like.

Well I was shocked as there were 8 out of 20 properties on Zoopla that were not on Rightmove!

Rightmove

23 properties in total
11 unique to Right move
12 shared with Zoopla

Zoopla

20 properties in total if taking the same radius as Rightmove
8 unique to Zoopla
12 shared with Right move

Rightmove Combined Zoopla will provide 31 properties that is 26% extra property

In other words using Rightmove only gives you 4 out of 5 properties.

For me that answers the question for any serious buyer. Should you use Zoopla with Rightmove?

A resounding yes ! Do you agree?

How to use Rightmove

Zanet — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:01:39 +0000

The other day Rightmove asked its users how they used Rightmove. We thought we would consider it from our standpoint today and provide you with our view on how to use rightmove.

With various ways of accessing Rightmoves data we have several options but for serious househunters the web site has to be the ultimate experience. Knowing that your saved searches and properties will always be in one place.

We prefer using the web site and the making sure when we use our mobile we sync the results to our account. So we recommend you log in to your account as you can then save any properties you discover regardless of which computer or application your using. Rightmove Mobile is made to sync with your online account as is the iPad and iPhone versions.

How to use Rightmove on an Ipad

The Rightmove iPad app is free and avaialble on the app store. It uses the same database as the standard web site, so you won’t miss any properties. It enables buying and renting property. Simply use the ‘Rent’ tab to see all the latest properties to rent on the iPad.

So I know many of you make a coffee, put your legs up and explore over a million UK properties for sale or rent at your fingertips using the iPad.

Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Download here

How to use Rightmove on iPhone and other mobiles

The iPhone version is ideal if your on the move and need to have a very quick access to the knowledge on local property. Similar features to the iPad version, but also boasts a QR code (Quick Response code). This is a type of bar code that can be easily scanned with your smart phone. It will take you straight to a web page, without the hassle of typing in long and complicated web addresses.

The iPhone app boasts Maps, account syncing, floor plans, bigger images than the previous version and of course is free to download.

The newly re-launched Rightmove app has some great features. Rounds and rounds of intensive user testing and learning have resulted in this super-sleek, intuitive and completely free app. So wherever you are, you’ll have over 90% of the UK’s properties for sale or rent at your fingertips.

Although the iPhone app is aimed at iPhone or iPod Touch users, you can also visit the mobile site on any smart phone including Android powered phones. Mobile Site here or visit Rightmove web site and your phone should be recognised as a mobile.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later. Download here

Rightmove Desktop

Finally don’t forget the Rightmove Desktop – This isn’t the web site. It’s a full application to run on your laptop or notebook. Compare properties more easily than the standard Rightmove web site

Desktop is Rightmove tailored to your needs
Easy access to your latest searches and recently viewed properties.
Homepage created around your needs.
Instant pop-up property alerts while your on your computer
Be notified of newly added or updated properties instantly on your desktop.
See more properties, more easily
Gallery view showing up to 100 properties per page.
Sort by date added to Rightmove.

We’ve revealed How to use Rightmove on various application, now its your turn. Tell us how you like to access Rightmove

Rightmove could be knocked off top spot by Zoopla

Zanet — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:10:45 +0000

Its been on Zoopla’s mind for a long time, but Zoopla wont stop until its number one amongst the property search portals.

The merge of Zoopla, Primelocation.com and FindaProperty.com

It seems they have announced the largest step forward yet by merging all the other big names to take on Right Move. Zoopla Ltd and Digital Property Group, a subsidiary of A&N Media Ltd which operates property websites Primelocation.com and FindaProperty.com, have announced plans to merge.

This has been seen as an excelent move as it will provide the first serious challenge to compete against Rightmove since the internet provided property searches as a useful way of searching. Opinion is a merger such as the one announced is set to be a big win for estate agents and housebuilders across the UK, creating a clear alternative in a market that has had a single dominant player for a number of years.

Rightmove could be knocked off top spot by Zoopla

The combined business will be in a position to offer a superior value proposition and wider exposure and is expected to result in an audience to rival Rightmove, delivering at least as many enquiries to its members.

And for consumers either searching for property to buy or rent or doing market research, the combination will deliver a number of benefits including significantly greater coverage of property listings and enhanced features to help empower them with the resources that they need to make better-informed decisions in the UK residential property market.

Zoopla has become even stonger as they have put a huge budget into advertising in 2012. With London cabbies going purple and TV adverts like Kerching, Zoopla are insistent on moving to the top spot

Rightmove could be knocked off top spot by Zoopla - Zoopla’s Alex Chesterman gives his view:

“This deal will be transformational for both businesses allowing us to compete effectively in a market where it takes significant investment to challenge the current market leader. But more importantly, the deal will deliver real value for UK estate agents and developers and we will be in a position to provide them with the widest possible exposure and be their most cost-efficient marketing partner.”

So what do you think, can Zoopla with the merger of Primelocation.com and FindaProperty.com really prove to be an even alternative to Right Move?

Current property

Zanet — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:39:34 +0000

There are things some will love about your your current property and other things that some won’t. But putting that into a few words is a challenge.

For me I love our house and would probably describe my current property as
Spacious, Authentic, Home

A couple of days back Right move asked its followers : If you had to describe your current property in three words, which three words would you use?

Describe your current property in 3 words

This is how followers responded to there current property question

Best in world
Way too small
Portland Stone Cottage
On the market
Falling into disrepair
Stunning, sea views
Need loft room
Still not finished
Beautiful Dartmoor home
Move right in
Council own it
Not sold yet
Stunning Snowdonia views

You can see the full article on rightmove’s facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/rightmove.co.uk/posts/10150561696732162

Claire Sweeney was asked to describe her current property. but she wasn’t limited to 3 words

“I live in a very beautiful five storey town house in Pimlico in London. It has the traditional white frontage in a very lovely, quiet street and has a terrace at the back. I love interior design and I’ve made this house quite quirky, so it has my own individual stamp on it. I like having lots of light, so the sitting room is mainly white and silver with splashes of turquoise. I chose a Cole & Son silver wallpaper and added lots of turquoise glass vases and ornaments that reflect the light really well and give the room a wonderful glow. My bedroom is again decorated in white and silver with splashes of shocking pink. I treated myself to an amazing antique silver bed and accessorised with lots of bright pink cushions. I have mirrored furniture because, again, this reflects the light. When I moved in three years ago.”

“The house was a little dark. I wanted to make it brighter, so I did small things like adding mirrors to the back of the shelves. Otherwise, it only needed decorating. I do miss the views of a river, but it’s a very happy, rather special house and I think I’ll stay here for quite a long while. It may sound like it’s a large house and I do like space but, funnily enough, it’s very cosy and, because I have the room, friends and family can come to stay, which is fun.”

So how would you describe your current property? It doesn’t have to be in three words.

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