Since my house went under offer, my agent has continued to send me other offers – one of them actually lower than the one I have already accepted! Why?

This is one of those issues often raised as an example of how unprofessional estate agents can sometimes be. However, the plain fact is that your agent is actually legally obliged to pass on all formal offers right up until contracts are exchanged. Remember, it is only then that anything becomes legally binding on either party. Up to that point, your buyer is perfectly entitled to change his or her offer at any time – and by the same token, you are equally free to accept another offer altogether. Hence the legal obligation on your agent to continue passing offers on. 

Now, this might make sense in the case of higher offers. But why on earth would an agent continue to pass on any that are lower? Isn’t this just a case of taking the legalities a little too literally? 

Not necessarily. In certain circumstances, a slightly lower offer may actually be in your best interests. Imagine, for example, that you absolutely must move by a certain date. You’ve already accepted an offer, but your buyer is trapped in a slow-moving chain (a not-uncommon state of affairs at the moment), and time is starting to run out. Under those circumstances, a marginally lower offer from, say, a cash buyer – someone who can effectively guarantee completion within your time frame – may well be worth considering. 

There is a broader point here, too. Particularly in the kind of market we are currently experiencing, when buyers are rather spoilt for choice, offers of any kind are not necessarily that easy to come by. This is not to say that you should instruct your agent to continue actively marketing your home. But, it does mean that you shouldn’t be too quick to turn your nose up at any serious offer that happens to come your way. 

However…if when all’s said and done you really are set on accepting a particular offer, irrespective of any others that might materialise, then you can always absolve your agent of his legal duty by confirming your wishes in writing.

Increasing the opportunities to bid helps Tudor Estates Network Auctions achieve another excellent sale

Tudor Estates Network Auctions auction held in Central London on 1^st May achieved a sales success rate of 74% and saw bidders from across the UK and Europe getting involved.

Prior to the auction, a record number (418) of legal packs had been downloaded from the Network Auctions website. 

The May auction was the first time that Tudor Estates Network Auctions had provided an online bidding facility and, whilst none of the online bidders were successful, it kept auctioneer Guy Charrison busy as he juggled online bids with bids in the room and telephone and proxy bidders.

There were some notable sales at the auction including: 

Lot 1:  A flat requiring modernisation in Milton Keynes which carried a reserve of £62,500 was sold in the room at £79,000. 

Lot 25: A fire damaged house in Powys requiring a total re-build. This property had a reserve of £10,000 but with three telephone bidders as well as bids in the room, eventually sold at £26,000, a significant 160% uplift on the reserve figure. 

Lot 26: A commercial property in Leicester which was reserved at £160,000. In total there were three bidders in the room and one telephone bidder from Germany. The gavel eventually came down at £252,000. An excellent price especially considering that the property had previously been available at £225,000 on the open market.

Guy Charrison said after the auction: “With lots for sale from all corners of England, Scotland and Wales it is important that we create the opportunity for potential buyers to bid by whatever method they choose. By adding online bidding we have improved the opportunities for our seller clients to sell and our buyer customers to buy. An undoubted success” 

Network Auctions operate across the UK with a network of partner agents and therefore provide local expertise with national exposure. 

Tudor Estates Network Auctions next auction is scheduled for 3^rd July and will, once again be held at the Glaziers Hall near London Bridge. 

David Kirkman of Tudor Estates Network Auctions can be contacted on 01702 346818 or by email at davidkirkman@tudorestates.co.uk or via their website at www.trustintudor.co.uk/auctions

I’m what you might call a first-time seller. Can you give me some general tips on how to go about it?

Choosing the right agent is the best place to start. Don’t simply go for the one who values your home highest (they’re just trying to buy your business), or the one who quotes the lowest fees (in estate agency, as in most things, cheap rarely equals good). Basically, you want an agent who really knows the local market and will give you reliable, professional advice and quality personal service at all times. Personal recommendation is always preferable, but failing that, your best bet is to go for a well-established, owner-operated local agent – one whose whole business depends on delivering quality service, rather than hitting arbitrary targets set by “head office.” If you really want to keep stress levels to the minimum, then it also helps to choose an agent who can offer a complete “one-stop” service, including things like conveyancing. Your asking price is obviously hugely important in determining how quickly and smoothly your sale proceeds. But it’s not easy to get it right. You naturally want the highest possible price, yet at the same time you don’t want to scare away the buyers, which you certainly will do if you ask too much – particularly in the current market. In reality, there’s a lot more involved in pricing than simply looking in other agents’ windows and adding a few grand on top just in case there’s a real sucker on the loose. So, my best advice here is, listen to your agent. Next, you yourself can make a big difference by ensuring that your home is presented in the best, most saleable condition. A neat garden; fresh paintwork inside and out; clean and tidy rooms; sparkling windows and pleasant smells can all work wonders. Finally, I would strongly recommend that you take the time to gather together any planning consents and/or building regulation approvals for work you’ve had done on the property, together with all relevant guarantee certificates (for things like gas and electrical installations, woodworm, damp-proofing, double glazing and so on). Much less stressful to do it in advance than in a last-minute panic!

I’m thinking of buying some land with a view to building on it. Do you have any general advice?

The best piece of advice I can give you is simply this: think very carefully about what you’re considering taking on! Of course, for many people, building their own property is the ultimate dream, and can be uniquely satisfying. It can even be relatively cost-effective. Nevertheless, the potential headaches and pitfalls are almost too numerous to mention. We’ve all seen those TV programmes! Obviously, you can employ an architect and project manager to handle the whole thing on your behalf, but this can be pretty expensive. Alternatively, you may like to make enquiries locally to see if there are any other people who might be interested in forming a self-build group. At least this will mean you're not tackling things all on your own – which is the only other choice. In fact, this is not necessarily a problem, but dealing with planning and building control departments, builders, suppliers, public utilities and all the rest can all too easily turn into a real-life nightmare. But be that as it may…if you really are one of those relatively rare people who thrive on this sort of challenge, then obviously your first step is to track down a suitable piece of land. That in itself is no easy task. After all, we live in a fairly small, crowded island. Obviously, if you’re not particularly fussed where you live, then this will be less of a problem. But that’s not true for most of us. Some estate agents – although by no means all – do deal in land. Alternatively, there are a number of websites these days that specialise in this area. Nevertheless, you need to bear in mind that buying land without planning permission can be a huge gamble – while conversely, land which already has planning permission is obviously going to be a lot more expensive. Believe me, I’m not trying to put you off. After all, it’s only a year or so ago that the Housing Minister himself was singing the praises of self-build, and launching a new initiative to encourage it. But then again, precious little has been heard of that initiative since – and of course, we now have a different Housing Minister…

How much difference will last week’s Budget make to the housing market?

In practice it’s much too soon to tell. Nevertheless, opinion does seem to be pretty sharply divided. Much was made of the new Help to Buy scheme. This comprises two elements. The first is a new shared equity scheme, starting next month, and designed to help people buy new-build homes up to a price ceiling of £600,000. Essentially a revamp of previous schemes, it means that someone with a 5% deposit will be eligible for a Government loan of a further 20% - effectively making it possible to buy a new home with a 75% mortgage. This has of course been welcomed by the house-building fraternity. However, previous schemes have proved fairly ineffectual. The second and more significant element is a new £130-bllion mortgage indemnity scheme, whereby the Government will effectively stand as guarantor for people taking out up to 95% mortgages to buy any property, old or new – again up to a price ceiling of £600,000. The aim is to stimulate the housing market as a whole – particularly, for example, helping those so-called “second-steppers” who want to move up to the next rung on the property ladder, perhaps in order to accommodate a growing family, but who are currently constrained from doing so by lack of savings or even negative equity. A good idea? In theory, yes. However, serious questions are already being raised. For one thing, the scheme isn’t due to start till next January – so what’s going to happen in the meantime? Why would anyone struggle to buy now, if in a year’s time they can do so with a nice comfy taxpayer-backed mortgage? On the other hand, why would lenders run the risk of offering any high loan-to-value mortgages between now and next year, when the guarantee scheme kicks in? Some in the industry therefore see this as potentially sending the market into hibernation for the next 9 months. But in any case, should the Government be involving itself (and all of us) in artificially supporting the market in such a way? I’m not so sure. Could the Chancellor have done anything different? Certainly – he could have announced a root-and-branch reform of the Stamp Duty regime. Now that really would have helped stimulate the market. But of course, it would also have hit the Government right where it hurts most, in the wallet!