Experienced property investors do not tend to follow the sheep, and now will be an ideal time to add to their portfolio. Inexperienced property investors buy when all around them are buying. This pushes the prices up and makes it more difficult to buy at a competitive price.

For an experienced investor, now is the time to look at buying property at a bargain. There is no such thing as a “cheeky offer” in the current environment. Some sellers will have to sell and therefore what seems to be a low offer to you may be acceptable to a motivated seller.

The profit on a property is made at the time you buy, not at the time you sell. Therefore, to ensure you have a good investment buy at a competitive price. Take into account any further falls in property you think are still to come.

Be assured that those who have made money from property will be viewing the current market as a buying opportunity.

What better time than now to nab a bargain?

The previous posting gave the advice to ensure you price your property realistically to get potential vendors into the property. Your property may be absolutely perfect for a number of people on the agents books but if you cannot get them through the front door they will never get to see that..

But against that advice of not pricing too high you must also ensure you do not price too low either.  We all love a bargain but often if the price is lower than we would have anticipated instead of viewing it as a bargain we are more likely to be concerned that the property has some defect or flaw which hasn’t been highlighted. Again, this may reduce the number of potential buyers you have through the door.

People love to bargain on property. We all know that the price the property is on the market for is not the price the vendor is likely to accept. So if you price your property at the absolutely lowest price you would find acceptable, you may well be deemed to be acting unreasonably if you do not accept an offer.

It’s therefore a difficult balancing act between not too high to deter vendors and not too low to not give you the room to negotiate. This is of course more difficult at the minute because there are often too few properties on the market to get reasonable comparables. It’s in this environment that a good estate agent will really earn their fee. Speak to a number of different estate agents and get their opinions. And do bear in mind that if you’ve already found your dream property yourself, it will be a greater priority to have a quick sale rather than hold out to get a slightly higher offer.

If you look around at the For Sale signs you can often spot properties which just do not appear to be shifting. True, it isn’t the best time to be selling, but despite the fact that the property market is not at its best there will be those who have to move. This may be due to anything from marriage, relocation or divorce. Remember as well, as you are moving up the property ladder, the same percentage fall in value of the house you are buying is greater amount than the percentage fall in your property.  This is why many see the fall in house prices as an opportunity to move up the ladder and buy a property that they may not have been able to afford before now.

If you are looking for an offer reasonably quickly you must price your property realistically. Gone are the days when you could put your property on the market for the highest price possible and have a queue of potential buyers waiting to view it. There are buyers out there but in a supply driven market you have a lot of competition. There’s a lot to be said to having a slightly lower offer price than you first anticipated in order to try to generate a lot of interest in your property. After all, if you can’t get prospective buyers through the door you’re never going to be able to sell, no matter how perfect it may be inside.

Price realistically and you stand a much better chance of getting an acceptable offer.

The Financial times has reported a significant increase in the number of first time buyers looking for a mortgage during the last 3 months. Figures show that applications from first-time buyers accounted for more than 40 per cent of all borrowers. This compares to less than 10 per cent in October last year.

The fall in house prices has at last made it easier for first time buyers to afford their first property. There are now a number of mortgage loans available at 90% loan to value and a handful at 95%. These rates are of course expensive and the most competitive rates are available for those with a 25% deposit.

First time buyers are the life blood of the property market since when they stop buying the chain can not get started. So this is at last some good news on that front. Long may it continue.

Due to the recent falls in house prices, now can be a very good time to move up the property ladder.

The Financial Times has reported that according to Propertyfinder.com those looking to make the jump from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom home now have to find an extra £31,000, while a year ago they would have needed £41,500. This is because the average price of a two-bedroom property has fallen 12 per cent in the past year to £160,600, while the value of a typical one-bedroom home has fallen 8 per cent to £129,874.

When prices are at their peak, all areas of the market tend to move up at the same pace. But in a falling market, certain areas, streets or buildings hold their own better than others.

The FT reports estate agents believe homeowners are increasingly willing to take a hit on the sale price of their own property as they are able to secure greater discounts further up the chain. Some people are even willing to sell their property for less than they bought it for two years ago, as the loss is irrelevant if the saving on their new purchase is bigger.

Homeowners considering a move up the ladder are advised to find the property they want to buy, and see what discount they can achieve, before putting their own house on the market

Selling your house in the current market generally means waiting a long time to find a buyer. But there are ways to speed up this process.

The Financial Times yesterday printed a “practical guide to selling property”. Whilst a number of points are mainly common sense I thought it was worth repeating them:

• Know the current situation in the housing market
• Price your property realistically
• But don’t go too low
• Smarten up your place to attract a buyer
• Beware of guzundering (where buyers pull the price down at the last minute)
• Avoid delays in the selling process
• Wait for a firm offer on your property
• Eliminate the problem

For the detailed article please click here.

Home Information Packs (HIPS) are to be enlarged next April to include further details such as a property’s risk of flooding, structural damage and parking arrangements.

Sellers will also lose the current 28 day period of grace whereby they are currently permitted to market their homes for sale provided they have commissioned a HIP. Following the introduction of the new rules the HIP must be made available at the point when the property is first marketed.

In the current environment when property sales have plummeted there is a concern that the introduction of the new regulations will cause further problems