Autumn is always a busy time for selling your home as people start to focus on making plans for the following year after the summer has ended and before the winter sets in.

A lot of psychology goes into home buying it’s all about how the buyer “feels” when they are in your home and can they see themselves living there.  

If you’re thinking of selling your home this autumn here are some suggestions to help bring the season inside and create a warm and cosy atmosphere that prospective buyers will love.

Think about your home from the outside in

It’s important to consider the first impression that buyers will get of your home. Unpredictable weather in Autumn can expose your home to the elements and mean that it may not look its best.

Clear falling leaves from paths and keep entrances clear from piles of leaves which can become slippery and create a hazard. Cleaning windows and doors and adding perhaps an autumnal decoration can make your property frontage seem more appealing.

Making an Entrance 

As outside is wetter and muddier in Autumn investing in a door mat or shoe covers could help to save your carpets from multiple people traipsing in and out of the house with their shoes on. 

Create a place for people to take off their shoes as they enter to avoid muddy footprints on the carpets. 

Have the Heating on

No one wants to walk into a cold, draughty house, so even if your home is empty, make sure that you heat your home and warm it up before viewings. Having the heating on can make your property feel cosier and more appealing to potential buyers. 

Keep the Lights on! 

Autumn days can turn dark quite quickly so keeping the lights on, even in the day time can show your home in a cosier light, especially now that the clocks have changed.

Create Extra Light

Autumn conjures up thoughts of roaring fires and twinkling lights, so having the fire going during viewings on cold days, or some twinkly lights hung around the home or strategically placed can really help to brighten up your home, as can the odd uplighter or spotlight in the right place. 

Accessorise for the Season

A few well-placed Autumn accessories can really help to bring your home. to life. Accessorise lounge areas with Autumn throws and cushions. Tactile buyers will love a chunky throw over a cushion or arm chair or some plush welcoming cushions on the sofa. 

Have an “autumnal display” in the hallway, kitchen or on the dining table can also help to create a homely, welcoming feel. Create centre pieces or displays with candles, pine cones, acorns or leaves.

Autumn Scents

Welcoming scents like cinnamon, pumpkin spice, baked apple can invoke happy memories and warm people up to your home. Less is definitely more though. The last thing you want is someone needing to walk out of the home because the smell is too over powering, so try to keep scents minimal. 

Keep your Home Well Ventilated 

On the topic of scents, unwelcome scents from rooms not being well ventilated during the Autumn can have a negative effect on buyers. For example, smells from cooking, animals, or poor ventilation can put buyers off, so be sure to try and ventilate your home in Autumn, but especially before viewings. 

Help your buyers imagine the space

Sometimes it can be helpful to give examples of the way that you use your home during the Autumn season so that potential buyers can imagine themselves in the space. Give examples of Autumn events that you take part in with the neighbourhood, or reasons that you like your home in the Autumn.  

So there you go, a few tips for you to help sell your home during the Autumn period. 

We are always happy to help and advise on property related enquiries, so if you are considering selling your property or looking to buy or rent then please do feel free to give us a call on (01727) 221290 as we’d love to help. 

Are you thinking about selling your home at the moment? Are you concerned whether it’s the right time to be making such a big financial decision in the current climate?

Well now that the housing market has opened up once again, with estate agents able to conduct viewings and house sales able to take place again, you may be pondering whether now is a good time to be selling your home or getting on the property ladder and making that first move. 

Maybe your house sale is being forced by necessity of external factors, so you have to move and you’re questioning whether you will be penalised for selling or buying over the next few months.

Well, although no one has a crystal ball, here’s what we know based on activity over the last few months since lockdown lifted.

The good news for buyers, is that all of the UK governments have temporarily cut stamp duty, so this means that if they move home before April 2021, buyers could potentially save up to £15,000 in tax which is a fairly big chunk of money to be able to save or put towards other costs of moving or invest into refurbishing your new property.

The government hopes that this hiatus on stamp duty will help to reinvigorate the housing market and with 70,710 property sales going through in July, up 14.5% on June’s figures it does look like people are keen to get moving again. In fact, the land Registry’s latest figures demonstrate a 2.9% year-on-year rise in prices.

It seems that nationally, there is a great deal of optimism around the property market at the moment. Rightmove recently reported its busiest month for 10 years as lockdown lifted and people flocked onto the website to find their next property, although this could be a short-term burst, and the housing market could slow in the long term with wider economic concerns taking effect as we move towards the colder months and into 2021.

Yes, that’s all great we hear you say, but what does that mean for my house move down here in leafy Hertfordshire?

Well, reports indicate that mid-range buyers in more expensive parts of England are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of the stamp duty cut, with savings of £10,000 on a £400,000 property and £15,000 on a £500,000 property encouraging more moves, so that means that being situated within commuting distance of London and in prime commuter belt territory to other places too, properties in sought after areas such as St Albans could rise in the short term and before April 2021 it all looks promising. However, remember that crystal ball we talked about? At the moment, not even the government seems to be able to second guess their next set of announcements, so depending on what happens within the political and economic climate, we could see house prices fall over the next 12 months.

So, in the short term it seems to be good news if you are considering selling, as it definitely means that there are buyers out there wanting to move and willing to pay market prices, and good news for buyers, as they save on the stamp duty and so may well be looking to move before April to make that big saving.

We’re always happy to discuss the housing market locally and to showcase the range of properties we have available for sale and rental, so if you are considering selling, buying or renting, then why not give us a call on 01727 221290

Have you become an intentional landlord, or perhaps an unintentional landlord?

Being a Private Landlord can be a fantastic way to make an income, whether it’s a primary income, a secondary income or a or retirement plan.

If you’re considering letting your property and being your own landlord then it can be tempting to manage everything yourself and want to avoid paying fees to Lettings Agents.

However, being in our game, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of Lettings, so here are some considerations to think about if you are thinking about becoming a private landlord.

Time and Convenience

Letting your property can be a very time-consuming process. You need to ensure that you have the time to do all of the viewings on your property. People may want to view your property in the evening or at the weekend rather than during the day, so you may find yourself having to give up your evenings and weekends to do so. Having an agency looking after your lettings process means that they can find great tenants for you and save you so much time!

Legal Considerations

The legalities around being a property Landlord can be an absolute minefield. You need to ensure that you have all of the right documentation in place to fulfil your legal responsibilities as a private landlord, that all equipment in the property is safe and is tested regularly and that you have all of the correct insurances in place to keep you covered, plus other considerations surrounding the current COVID-19 situation also. Navigating all of this on your own can be a nightmare, whereas a lettings agency can help to ensure you have everything covered.

Marketing Your Property

Have you considered your marketing strategy? Depending on your property and your network, you may not have issues finding someone to let your property, and you could always use social media and other local marketing strategies to find yourself a tenant. However, a Lettings Agent will typically have a wider customer base and reach and be able to market your property effectively within the local market. They will also deal with all of the interactions and enquiries for the property, saving you time, stress and hassle in the process.

Helping you make more Money

Letting agents will typically have a better idea of market value and will be able to help you price your property competitively. They will also be able to advise on realistic rent rises year on year.

If you are letting your property yourself then it can be tempting to let to friends and relatives or people you know, and to strike some kind of “deal” but although this may seem like a good idea which will save time and hassle, you may have ended up earning more renting your property through a lettings agent at market value than to a friend or family member at a reduced rate.

References and Vetting 

Do you have procedures in place to vet your prospective tenants and have a rigorous referencing process in place? Having nightmare tenants can be a tumultuous emotional journey and can end up costing you a lot of money in the long run. This could be prevented by ensuring that rigorous referencing leads to a fantastic experience for you and your tenants.

When something goes wrong

If you are a private landlord, then when something goes wrong with your property, it will always be down to you to fix it. This means that you need to have the time to deal with any issues that crop up, and have a good list of local suppliers to call on in times of emergency.

If you don’t want to be getting phone calls with emergencies in the middle of the night or have to drop everything and what you were doing to deal with an emergency at your rented property, then letting your property through a lettings agency can take away this stress and worry for you as they will typically deal with emergencies and have trusted suppliers in place for maintenance work.

Tried and tested Industry Knowledge 

Here at Aubrey and Finn, we like to think that we hold the key to a successful let. We have many years of industry experience and we work with private landlords to Let their properties throughout St Albans, Hertfordshire and the UK for short term and long-term rentals. If you are considering letting your property then we’d love to help you especially if you are new to being a property Landlord and just want some help and advice.

Why not give us a call on 01727 221290 to discuss letting your property with Aubrey and Finn?

Things have been very quiet on the property market in recent months for obvious reasons, but the government has recently given the green light for people to be able to move home again which is good news for the market, but more importantly, good news for those whose property plans have been on hold. 

We are hoping to get as many people moved as we can this year, because we know that life still happens and family circumstances, work relocation and school or personal lifestyle preferences will be guiding the necessity to move imminently for some people.

Our office in St Albans will be open again from Monday 1st June and so we wanted to let you know what our plans are, and how we are taking steps to working safely and in accordance with government guidelines. 

Firstly, just because the way we work has changed, it doesn’t mean that our service has. We are still offering the same professional, friendly and personal service we always have, just in a different way! 

If you are looking to sell or rent your property, then we’re conducting “virtual valuations” online with prospective clients to allow us to give you a valuation on how much your property is worth in the current market.

We have also been conducting “virtual viewings” for our clients and these are being used as the first initial introduction for prospective buyers to get a feel for a property rather than having lots of people traipsing in and out of the home unnecessarily. 

We are now also able to offer face-to-face viewings, with a maximum of two people who will attend, with everyone gloved, masked and two metres apart.  We will of course observe social distancing ourselves and we ask our clients to do the same. At this time, we aren’t carrying out open-house viewings.

During physical viewings, we are encouraging those we show around to avoid touching surfaces, plus we’re also suggesting that they bring hand sanitiser and wash their hands before and after viewings. 

Home owners and current tenants can make viewings safer by vacating the property whilst viewings take place in order to minimise contact with those outside their household. 

If people are looking around your home, we also suggest keeping internal doors open and cleaning door handles and other surfaces regularly with household cleaning products.  

Please be assured that we will be doing everything that we can do keep our clients safe when conducting house viewings and face-to-face meetings. 

With people looking for a way to live and work socially distanced, it’s predicted that even more people will be looking to leave London for the home counties and further afield, so St Albans is going to be in demand than ever!

If you are looking to move in the local St Albans and Hemel Hempstead area then please do get in touch, as we’d love to help you find the home of your dreams and we have properties on offer for sale and rental. 

If you are considering putting your home on the market, then we’re always happy to offer a free no obligation valuation to help you get off to a great start with selling your property.

For any questions on what’s happening with the local property market, please give us a call at the office on (01727) 221290 or and Nick and the team are very happy to answer your query either over the phone, via a zoom meeting or face to face (or mask to mask) at our Victoria Street office.