Thinking of Selling in the first quarter of 2021?
Our top tips and advice if you’re thinking of selling your London property in the first few months of 2021…
People often ask when thinking about selling what’s the market like? Is it a good time to sell? How has COVID affected the market. The answer to all these questions really varies on your personal circumstances and the type of the property you are selling. I am of the strong belief that very few ever sell at the top of the market and even less buy at the bottom of the market, that said a few things to bear in mind if you are serious about selling in the next few months.
Stamp duty
The holiday on stamp duty on purchases up to £500,000 is scheduled to end at the end of March. Many will now feel they have already missed this deadline.
That is simply not the case.
Freeholds in particular, can change hands quickly and there are a wide variety of search indemnity insurance packages out there that will help speed through the process for both freehold and leasehold. It is also likely that this deadline will be extended in some capacity so please do not feel that the opportunity has been missed.
COVID19 has shut the property market.
At the time of writing estate agents are open and have been fully since May 2020. With the increased time at home more and more people are realising the limitations of their present accommodation and as a result we have recorded record web traffic (we had 97% more visitors in Dec 2020 than Dec 2019), something echoed by the big portals (Rightmove and Zoopla). Even if agents are no longer allowed to do viewings in the future if your property is backed up with great marketing, it will attract attention and sell faster once viewings are again permitted -assuming people are not willing to make an offer based on virtual tours.
The Price
In many cases the value of properties has fallen since just a year ago. There is little to suggest they will increase in the short term plus more threats of a capital gains tax increase.
As a landlord, if you decide to hold off and sell in a year, you might end up with an emptier wallet at the end of it. In addition, with the falling rents, and more regulations to comply with – is it really worth it?
What are the new regulations? Will you need to spend money to get it compliant and up to standard? We of course can advise on this.
Getting the property ready for market
We have written a number of blogs about what to do to get your property ready for sale, but in short, de-clutter as much as you can. Keep things clean and tidy and try to do all the little odd jobs that you have been putting off. We are of course able to offer more advice as and when its needed.
As you may already know, Greater London Properties now offer 3 types of Property Valuations to fit our client’s needs, you will find all options here.
We would love to meet with you either virtually or physically to discuss your property and see how we can help. Being on of the few independent Estate Agents left in Central London our business relies on our reputation, knowledge and transparency. This is something we are very proud of and why we are now the largest independent across Central London. Please give me or my team a call.
Warm Regards,
Rob Hill
Director, Greater London Properties
rob@glp.co.uk