House Hunter - Find Your Perfect Home!

Cold Bleak Winter

2006-06-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

In the next 5 months - August to December, the time seemed to go very slowly.

A few people came round but know one was making an offer.

I had stopped looking at properties up north, well what was the point? No one had put an offer in on my property and I kept on being told this was a quiet period for house sales.

Any colder and it would have been freezing.

I still looked at the property pages in the local area, but started to realise that unless
something was done I was in trouble.

If only I had put it on earlier I thought.

It came to Xmas and with the New year came new promise. We discussed how we would finally sort out this move...

Too Good To Be True

2006-06-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Some people like to show the prospective buyers around their house themselves.

I can see the advantages and disadvantages on both sides.

Advantages

You can point out the good bits.
Keep away from the bad bits!
Answer any quesions on the area.

Disadvantage

If they criticise you may take it personally.
May show it badly
Give away too much

With the people who wanted to see my house I got the estate agent to show them around. However they missed that appointment on the Sunday so I had to do it.

It went really well, I answered all their questions, they seemed to really like the house and we even exchanged mobiles incase they wanted to see it again.

To be honest I thought they were bound to put in an offer. The house seemed perfect for them and I was starting to wish I had put it online myself becuase I didnot want to pay the estate agent their fee for about 1 week of work.

I came away thinking they were going to call me back but they never phoned. My hopes and my girlfriends hopes had been raised and then they were dashed.

Its weird I started to question what I could do to improve the situation.

I decided not to show the house again, but always let the estate agent do it...

A week later

2006-06-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

The photos got taken, I approved them and then they were posted on the website.

I thought thye looked good and everything seemed ok. However we had made one mistake.

There is a website called rightmove and like loads of property sites they allow you to search for properties for a certain amount. Save searches and get them emailed to you.

Well we had priced the property just over one of the bands.

This meant it was right at the bottom of the next band up. I have found people know their budget and search right at the top of it. Whats the point of looking at properties you cannot afford! Ok maybe if you are just looking out of interest but not if you are seriously looking.

We ddid nothing about that price until a lot longer the new year!.

Dont make my mistake, check your property on the searches.

Anyway It went on thir own website too and wihtin 1 day, I kid you not, I got a phone call saying someone had seen it on the website, loved it and wanted to look around...

Enter The Agent

2006-06-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should have got three to come round but I only went for one.

To be fair he was good.

Gave me the figure I wanted to hear. A full 50 grand less than the previous house had been advertised for. Dont worry it had not sold for that price, infact it had been taken off the market!

Remember if you are selling or buying its up to you to find out the market in your area too and not just rely on your Agents knowledge.

We decided to give it a go and get it online and in the shop and property pages.
I had a few forms to fill in before this could happen. In this case I was going to let them be sole agents for a big 1.4% of the price.

The next day I gave them the forms, some keys and they came round to get the photos and measure up. I had to take in Id to prove who I was etc.

Things were moving ok and I was confident even though it was the middle of July. I thought I would be out by xmas that year (fat Chance)...

Just Before The Estate Agent

2006-06-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

People had always said to me get three estate agents in, but to be honest I already had my eye on a company.

I knew they had sold houses on my estate before and their shops were in good locations also their website looked good.

I had researched the area by using sites like nethouseprices and ourproperty. So I knew what people had sold for.

But before the estate agent came round I knew I had a few things to do.

I wanted to declutter the house.
Finish any small jobs that needed doing.
clean it from top to bottom.
Work out what I thought it was worth.
List its good points and bad.
Arrange the rooms to look their best.

I made an appointment and awaited the arrival...

In the Beginning

2006-05-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Last year in July 2005 I decided to sell my house in order to move up north to be with my girlfriend (ah).

I'd tried to get a job but it was not happening so I put my plan B into operation, sell my house, buy one up north and then leave.

After checking out the local market down south I realised that property had infact dropped since the last time I had checked at the new year.

Dont believe all the hype about property average prices and going up. Remember it all depends on the current market conditions in your area.

I thought about putting it on the market myself but to be honest I didn't for a few reasons:

I did not know how to go about it.
Which website to use?
I hadnot met anyone who had sold it themselves.
I also wanted a quick sale (Yea chance would be a fine thing)

So I got an estate agent in to value the place like I said I wanted to sell it quickly...

So close yet so far

2006-05-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

Still not there on my house move.

I cant wait for it to be sorted then I will tell the full story of my move and hopefully you will either learn from my experience and maybe better prepared for your move.

However sometimes things are out of your control, which I am experiencing now.

till next time...

About This Blog

2006-05-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

I suppose I wrote this blog because I wanted one source of information for everything to do with buying and selling a house.

I'm in the process of moving home and its been a complete nightmare.

I want the information on this blog to be as simple and as straightforward as possible, so I concentrate on the following areas:

Finding a House.

Selling a house.

Useful tools.

Links to the best property sites on the net: Lets face it they probably can help you find the information you need a lot quicker than me.

Also business news updates. So you keep up with the latest information.

I hope you find this site helpful.

If you like it bookmark it and tell your friends.

Thanks

J

House Hunter Toolbar

2006-05-12T02:41:00.000-07:00

Finding a house is like a job in itself. You need everything infront of you.

This is what you have all been waiting for my House Hunter tool bar!

It's the daddy.

Not only with all my latest posts but with icons to access the following links for propery searching:

Agents
RIGHTMOVE

Also for links to great tools when checking out areas and houses

Google maps
Upmystreet
Checkmyfile
Council Tax
MultiMap
Our Property house prices

There will also be a popup blocker, search at google.
You even have the option to see if your email arrives with those new properties and even check the weather!

Everything can be added or removed from the bar.

Check out the banner above or here http://househunter.ourtoolbar.com
you can then see the features and download it from there.

It will even auto update for you so come on and get that house found.

Support this blog by telling your friends!

Sell That House

2006-05-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

I sold my house using an estate agent and paid an estate agent fee.

However there are sites where you can advertise it yourself.

I have links for a few here, there are many more so look around if you want to go it alone.

There is also a link to the house information pack website.

Hope this helps but remember its up to you in the end.

Check that House Out

2006-05-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

When you have found a house you like on the net you can use this sections tools to help you check out the area and see if its right for you.

If you already own a property check out your property first so you know how it compares.

You do need the properties postcode for most of these websites. You can find this out on the post office website but you will have to register.

Check out what the area around the house looks like on google map.
check out the credit rating of the area on checkmyfile
check out what other houses have been sold for on myproperty
check out the area on upmystreetget the council tax band.

All these websites can help you can a 'feeling' about the area.

Always remember the golden rule location, location, location.

Coffee Break

2006-05-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the links to some great games if you fancy a break

HANGMAN

PENALTY SHOOTOUT

JOSEMOURINHIO BASEBALL

ALLFOOTBALLGAMES

2DPLAY

PREMIERLEAGUE GAMES

STUDENTFREESTUFF GAMES

And of course they are all free!

Start Here

2006-05-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

Use the links in this section to help you cope with finding a house.

Rightmove is a great site for finding property. You can set up searches where you will be emailed new properties every 24 hours if you wish.

If you find a house go to this post Check That House Out in the Useful Stuff area which will help you check out the property and area before you arrange to view it.

Good Luck!

Hangman Game

2006-05-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hangman

Free web site content
provided by The Free Dictionary

Link To Us

2006-05-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

We would really appreciate any links you can give us to House Hunter on your site ( If you have one!).

Feel free to create a text link for this blog and copy it to your own site.

If you want me to link to your site. Leave a comment here saying what your site is or email me and if it’s a related site then I’ll add a link on this page and maybe the side menu.

Cant say fairer than that.

Thanks for your support.

J