Using an estate agent is one of the most common methods of selling a property in the UK. When you choose an estate agent to help you sell your home, you are putting your faith in them to quickly find a buyer at the best possible price, and see the sale through to completion. But what should you do if things don’t go to plan? Estate agents charge thousands of pounds for their services, so you want to make sure you are getting your money's worth. If your current estate agent can’t sell your property, you’d be better off finding someone else who can, right? Well, that depends. As a seller, switc ..read more

If you live in the UK and you’ve put your house on the market but it’s not selling as quickly as you expected, don’t panic. Being stuck with a house you can’t sell can be a highly stressful situation, particularly if you urgently need to relocate or if the property has become a financial drain. But whatever the reason why you can’t sell your house, there are several things you can do to take control of the situation. Here’s our list of six of the best options. 1. Lower your asking price The number one reason why a house doesn't sell is because the price is too high. If there’s not much intere ..read more

Tips and tools to calculate your home equity and work out how much of your mortgage is left to pay Mortgage payments often make up a significant amount of a homeowners monthly expenses so paying it off can be a great relief. Whether you’re selling your home, looking to make additional payments, or just curious about how much debt you have remaining, there are a few ways that you can find out your remaining mortgage balance. Knowing how much remains to be paid also enables you to calculate how much home equity you have. This is very important to do this if you are thinking about ,selling your ..read more

If you are faced with the prospect of becoming an accidental landlord, here’s what you need to know before renting out your property If you have a property that you aren’t living in, whether you moved out to relocate, moved in with a partner, or inherited it, the last thing you want is for it to sit there empty becoming a financial drain. Being stuck with an empty house or flat can be costly, racking up bills including council tax, utility standing charges and mortgage payments, while running the risk of falling into disrepair. It would also be put to much better use as someone else’s home. S ..read more

Avoid being misled by inaccurate property valuations and find out what your house is really worth Do you know how much your home is worth? If you are thinking of ,selling a property or remortgaging it, you’ll need to get a valuation. Knowing the value of your home will also help you work out whether you have positive or ,negative equity. But how exactly is the value of a property calculated, and how reliable is that information when it comes to selling? Here we’ll run through some of the myths about how people think properties are valued, and how they really are. The value of your house is wh ..read more

If you have an existing mortgage and are thinking of selling your home, it’s useful to understand what happens to it when you do. Whether you are selling your home to buy another, or plan to use the money for something else, such as savings, investments or paying off debts, we’ll aim to dispel a few myths and explain what you need to know. Can I sell my house if it still has a mortgage? You don’t have to wait until the end of your mortgage term to sell since mortgages can usually be transferred to a new property or paid off with the money that comes from the sale. However, selling a property ..read more

Is your home in negative equity but you need to sell it? Here's what happens if your house is worth less than you owe, and what you can do about it... It’s a familiar story. You have put your property on the market months ago and you are not receiving offers anywhere near your asking price. You thought you’d found a buyer but their lender’s survey gave a valuation less than the agreed price and their mortgage offer fell through. If this is the case, the market is telling you that the house is worth less than the asking price. But if you accept a lower offer, selling your home won’t cover your ..read more

Rishi Sunak announced a stamp duty holiday in his summer statement in a bid to “catalyse the housing market and boost confidence” after turbulent few months for the economy due to the Coronavirus lockdown. It came as part of another stimulus package thought to add a further £30bn to the ,government’s spending during the pandemic.  Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is a property transaction tax that is normally payable on all residential properties over £125,000 in England and Northern Ireland. The temporary changes, which are effective immediately, mean that home buyers will pay no stamp duty o ..read more

The market value of a house is determined by what a ‘willing buyer’ would likely pay a ‘willing seller’ and a valuer or surveyor looks at the same things a potential buyer would when assessing the worth of your property. They use evidence of what similar real estate in the area has recently sold for, and how its condition and features compare. Improving on those features can significantly improve the valuation of your property if you are looking to maximise its future sale price. What adds value to a house? Economic conditions can cause property prices to fluctuate, but for most of the UK the ..read more

As the term suggests, passive income is any form of payment you are able to generate that does not require your time or presence. In other words, your money (or assets) work for you, as opposed to you working for money. Ways to earn money passively can include receiving rent from properties, dividends from stocks and bonds, revenue from advertising and affiliation of your digital assets, royalties of owned intellectual assets and interest from peer-to-peer lending. There’s no shortage of books and courses advocating passive income streams through ,real estate investment, as well as various ot ..read more