Records broken at Christies Network Auctions December sale

Auctioneer Guy Charrison’s gavel was glowing red hot at the Christies Network Auctions London auction on 10th December as lot after lot was successfully sold.

In total 93% of lots offered in the catalogue were sold, the best result of 2015 and the second best result in Christies Network Auctions history.

There were also some exceptional results achieved.

Lot 26 - a bungalow in Christchurch in Dorset sold at £585,000, some £205,000 over the guide price.

Lot 22 – a bungalow in Rochford in Essex achieved £241,000, some £31,000 over the guide price

Lot 13 – a studio flat in Holloway in London N7 sold at £175,000, some £35,000 over the guide price

There were also a number of successful sales of plots of speculative land being sold without reserve, proving that properties of all size, shape and value can be successfully sold at auction.

Christies Network Auctions have their December Birmingham sale in conjunction with Pennycuick Collins on December 16th where a further twenty one lots will go under the gavel.

Jeremy Richardson said: “With sales well in excess of £30 million pounds in 2015, it has been a great year for Christies Network Auctions and we were also voted auction house of the year by NAVA, the National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers.”

There are eleven auctions planned for 2016 (six in London and five in Birmingham) with lots now being taken for inclusion for the sale on 25th February.

Christies Network Auctions can be contacted on 020 8643 7777 or at sales@christiesworld.com or via our website at www.christiesworld.com

An Estate Agent’s Christmas Carol

Nick Churton of our London Mayfair Global Network tells a heart-warming Christmas story.

Scrooge had been trying to sell his house all year - but to no effect. He was fed up with cold winters and longed to move to Spain where he had found a villa at a knockdown price being sold by a motivated seller. Now it was Christmas again and there was still no sign of a buyer for his own house. Scrooge hated Christmas.

Bob, at the local estate agent, Cratchit and Co, had almost given up on ever selling the house. Scrooge was far too mean to put the lights on inside or light the fire to make the house look cosy and inviting. Instead it was unwelcoming and cold. He refused to let people see the house when they wanted to and only allowed viewings when it was convenient for him.

The few offers he had received he had treated with derision - even though the asking price was really far too high - which put everyone off taking it any further. Scrooge was even insisting that any buyer would have to purchase, at extra cost, the threadbare carpets and even some wet logs at the end of the garden which he described as firewood.

That night Scrooge had three disturbing dreams. The first vividly showed him what life had been like before he had become so mean and his wife had left him. The second dream showed Christmas dinner at his estate agent's house. It was a jovial family affair with Bob, his wife and their small son, Tim, all enjoying themselves. But slowly the scene changed to illustrate what life would be like if Bob couldn't sell any houses and had no money. The third dream showed Scrooge's grave. He had died an embittered old man who had never sold his house or moved to sunny Spain.

Waking up in his bed Scrooge realised that wasn't too late. He raced round the house putting lights on and setting the fire ablaze in the living room. He then rushed down to see Bob at Cratchit & Co, and told him to reduce the price immediately and to tell everyone that he would heartily entertain any reasonable offers. Scrooge even told Bob that he would increase the commission if the house was sold quickly.

So Scrooge did sell his house and moved to Spain where he enjoyed many long years in the sun. He even married an attractive lady he met in a local tapas bar.Scrooge never forgot to send Bob a Christmas card, as without all Bob's tenacity, forbearing and hard work he would never have had his new life.

The moral of this story is to be as accommodating with potential buyers as possible and always try and find a estate agent like Bob.

Christies is just such a firm as Cratchit & Co. Call us - we might change your life.

Happy Christmas everyone - with apologies to Charles Dickens.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Christies Network Auctions December sale set to end the year on a high

Christies Network Auctions’ two day December auction catalogue has 52 lots with guide prices ranging from several plots of land with no reserve for a parcel to £350-380,000 for a detached bungalow in Christchurch with development potential.

Other lots include a number of ground rent investments starting at guide prices of just £4,000 plus.

Seller clients include lenders in possession, local authorities, executors, private sellers, PLC’s and asset managers all of whom appreciate the certainty, transparency and speed benefits of selling by auction.

The auction will take place at The Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane on 10th December and Birmingham City Football Club on 16th December.

Christies Network Auctions hold eleven auctions a year with six in Central London and five in Birmingham. This is providing both sellers and buyers with increased opportunities and exposure to make a successful sale or purchase.

To date, their auctions in 2015 have produced sales in excess of £31 million.

With bidding now possible live in the room, by telephone, by proxy and via the internet, Christies Network Auctions are ensuring that every opportunity to secure a sale is available to their seller clients. For buyers, these bidding options help make buying fast and straightforward.

The London auction on 10th December starts at 2pm and the Birmingham auction on 16th December will start at 11am.Network Auctions ensure excellent exposure to the market and their auction catalogues and newsletters are distributed to circa 20,000 investors, potential buyers and property people. 

In addition, they can be found on Facebook as Network Auctions and on Twitter as @NetworkAuctions where over 3800 individuals and businesses follow them on a daily basis.

All auctions are video streamed live to the Network Auctions website (www.networkauctions.co.uk) and over 400 people regularly watching the auctions live via this video service.

Individuals can also elect to receive alerts on their mobile or by email and buyers can download auction catalogues and legal packs from the website.To discuss how selling by auction could work for you, please contact Jeremy Richardson at Christies Network Auctions on 020 8643 7777 or by email at sales@christiesworld.com

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Buying to Win

Nick Churton of our London Mayfair Global Network suggests some ways to ensure how buyers can get just what they want when buying a home.

There are homebuyers who demand the best of everything in anything they purchase. They want the latest granite-surfaced kitchen with steam oven, the Philippe Starck bathroom - like the one they had on their last five star holiday - and a decor in fifty fashionable shades of grey. If a house or flat does not have these things some buyers will not even view.

But this demand for instant satisfaction and perfection could mean they may be missing out on a couple of important things in buying a home. They are forgoing the opportunity to choose what they really want and instead getting what someone else really wanted – and to change it again would waste a fortune. They are also missing out on the increased value of their home once it has been transformed from flawed to fabulous flat, tired to trendy terrace, slumbering to slick semi, or dated to dazzling detached.

“But the bathroom went out with the ark”, say some buyers – great! “The kitchen has seen better days”, say others – wonderful! “There’s woodworm”, eek still more – so there’s woodworm! All these bad things mean one good thing – potential. Grotty can be good.

Yes it means more work and you should always get a survey so that you fully understand what needs to be done. But almost anything can be fixed. All you need are the right bones – windows and doors in the right places - and of course the right location: for maximum benefit always choose the smallest house in the best road rather than the other way round.

At the moment there is very little on the market and buyers are often looking for finished homes with a high specification. This provides lots of opportunities for buyers who are prepared to roll up their sleeves. Remember condition is temporary but location is permanent. Also, that perfection in property is a myth. So forget the 100% home. It doesn’t exist except in the minds of the romantic. Instead why not buy a 50% home and make it 90%. Choose wisely, modernise well and don’t go over the top and you will end up with more or less exactly what you want just about exactly where you want it. This usually results in two things. It makes you happy and makes you money. And there aren’t many things in life that do both at the same time.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

A Property Spending Review

Nick Churton of our London Mayfair Global Network looks at the Chancellor’s Autumn Spending Review and assesses the effects this may have on the property market.

Are things finally going to change for the better in the world of UK housing? Chancellor George Osborne certainly says that they are. In his autumn spending review he announced plans to “end the crisis of home ownership in our country.”  Fine words. But what do they mean?

The housing budget will be doubled to £2 billion a year and 400,000 new homes built across the country. The new building spree will be funded by public money and developers will be encouraged to build 200,000 starter homes. Funding will also go to build 135,000 shared ownership homes allowing for an initial buy-in from purchasers and then the acquisition of more shares as they can be afforded.

The government will also widen the Help to Buy Scheme so that it will be open to all households earning less than £80,000. Londoners will get extra help with a new London Help To Buy scheme and the Right to Buy is also being revised and tenants in five housing associations will be able to buy their homes immediately.

Young families will also benefit from the Chancellor’s decision to hold back the proposed cuts to tax credits by delaying implementation of these unpopular cuts. He is, however, capping housing benefit for new tenancies.

Other measures include 10,000 new homes to be built to rent out at a rental value which will allow tenants to save for a deposit while they rent. Also, 8,000 specialist homes are to be built for older people or those with disabilities.

The homebuyers that will lose out this time round are those purchasing second homes and buy to let properties. They will now be asked to pay a higher rate of stamp duty of 3 per cent above usual levels. Many will be greatly put out by this. But those non buy to let purchasers at the lower end of the market may feel that they have won back a slender financial advantage over commercial investors. Those about to enjoy the pleasures of a second home will also pay more for this luxury opportunity. Again, whether this will deter buy to let or second home buyers in the long run remains to be seen, but meanwhile the Chancellor will raise an extra £1 billion by 2021 through this measure.

How all this will help the overall housing situation is hard to gauge. Certainly even small steps forward are positive ones. Yet the elephant in the room remains. This is the inexorable rise of house prices – forecast by some to be between 6% and 10% next year. With so few properties coming onto the market now prices are being driven ever higher. The new home surge announced by George Osborne will provide some help in the long run. But in the short term it will only be a significant leap in the numbers of second hand stock that will put a brake on price rises and allow many buyers the vital time they need for their earnings to reach home purchase affordability.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com