An amazing opportunity to buy a converted double decker bus has arisen for only £15,000!
It is a fantastic 1972 vintage bus which is fully fitted out as a three bedroom home with kitchen, sitting room and bathroom along with solar panels, a satellite system and heating. It will be available from the 11th March and can be viewed now in Stratford, East London.
For more information take a look here.
There may be a glimmer of hope for the housing market as in November, for the third month in a row, there appears to have been a rise in buyer demand. This is according to a survey carried out by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who also reported a rise in sales amongst their members.
RICS housing spokesman, Alan Collett, said: ‘It is encouraging that buyer interest has edged upwards in the face of the endless diet of negative news from Europe and the turmoil in financial markets. However, a meaningful recovery still seems some way off.’
The November housing market survey found that most surveyors felt that the housing market was still being held back due to economic uncertainty, followed by lack of mortgage finance and fear of falling house prices.
There was an interesting article in the BBC Business News yesterday, giving advice to homeowners who might be trying to sell in the current market.
We all know that the housing market has been pretty inactive in recent months, so now more than ever, sellers have to try to make their houses more appealing to potential buyers. Figures from HR Revenue and Customs showed that in July this year, 10,000 fewer houses were sold in the UK compared to July 2010.
Good advice includes working out your target market – is your house or flat going to appeal to a family, professional couple or single person? Having identified your specific market you can promote your property accordingly, including information on schools, transport etc.
We know that when you have people viewing your home, you need to make sure that it is clean, clutter-free and that all minor DIY jobs have been dealt with. This might mean minor structural repairs or patching and painting a wall, or it could just be changing a blown light bulb. Whatever needs doing – do it.
Consider whether to leave pets and/or children with a neighbour or grandparent, and also whether you are the best person to conduct viewings. Leave the best room in the house until last when doing a viewing and keep positive!
If you have any hints and tips on selling a house, let us know, or even if you just need a whinge because it’s taking for ever to sell!
Fixing up a house for sale doesn’t have to be rocket science nor does it have to be extremely hard work. It’s really a matter of making it clean and inviting. With those attributes in place, a potential buyer is much more likely to feel comfortable both outside and inside of the house, and a sale is likely to follow naturally from that. The following tips could help put both buyer and seller at ease.
1. The first thing people are going to notice when they pull up to a house is the landscaping. If it’s unattractive in any way, they might stay in their car and keep driving. The goal is to make the front, as well as the back, look new again. This means that the grass needs to be watered and cut regularly, plants need to be trimmed short so they look new, and hard surfaces need to be cleaned with a power-washer. Also, container plants and flowers are not to be underestimated as they can add appeal to nearly any part of a yard. Additionally, fresh mulch in garden beds and around trees will accent the exterior in a natural yet inexpensive way.
2. No one likes a new home to be messy or cluttered. Part of the appeal of something new is the fact that it is usually clean and organized; those attributes always makes a home more appealing. Kitchen counters have to be clean and cleared, books need to be removed from book shelves, and knickknacks need to be packed up and moved away. A rented storage unit could be the perfect place to temporarily store excess baggage, so to speak.
3. Once inside, one of the very first things that a person is going to notice are the walls. It makes sense that this would be the case because walls tend to take up the most space in there. That means cracks need to be patched up and walls need to be painted a neutral color. The idea is for people not to be distracted and alienated by the walls and their color, but instead to see them as part of a background that they can feel comfortable living with.
4. If there’s one kind of room that can most definitely make or break a sale, it would be a bathroom. Because it is one of the most personal of spaces inside, a bad impression there will have a significant impact. There’s nothing worse than going into a bathroom and being greeted by an unspeakable stench. A nasty toilet could induce a gag reflex. A grimy shower can make people all of a sudden not feel so dirty in comparison. A leaky faucet could make people feel like they’d be inheriting structural problems if they go through with the deal. Sinks, showers, toilets, and flooring need to be scrubbed thoroughly with the appropriate cleaning agents, leaky faucets need to be fixed, and clutter needs to be removed. For a bit of extra credit, a large mirror or two placed in the room can add depth and class.
5. Minor repairs are major. Sometimes the little things count more than the big things. That’s because they tend to stick out more when the big things are taken cared of. To handle this aspect, minor structural repairs finally need to be made, walls need to patched and painted, old bed sheets need to be changed, old fixtures need to be cleaned or replaced, and light bulbs need to be changed out, among many other things.
Research done by the personal finance group, Saga, are publicising research they have done which reveals that women in particular are suffering financially, with one in five forced to allow their home to deteriorate as they cannot afford to repair it.
Our thanks to DIY Week for issuing the following story.
Saga’s poll of more than 14,000 over 50s in the UK found that 16% cite roofing as the area most in need of repair, while 13% say their drainage and guttering needs fixing.
When asked how they might pay for housing maintenance, more than one in seven respondents explained that they cannot afford it. Half of the people asked said they would use their savings and almost a third said they would turn to their regular income or pension.
More worrying is that many over 50s could be cold this winter as nearly one in ten said that their heating needs mending. London homes seem to be suffering most, with 42% of Londoners in need of housing repair, according to Saga. Meanwhile, 26% of Scottish respondents are in need of roofing repair.
Saga Group executive chairman Andrew Goodsell commented: “People are living longer which means that retirement incomes have to stretch a lot further to keep up with inflation. Many retirees find they need additional cash, whether it is to make every day life easier, fund house repairs, take the trip of a lifetime, or to contribute to care in later life.”
