We get literally hundreds of questions and enquiries from you a day, so we have tried to collate the most regularly asked questions here with answers from Sarah herself.
Can a leaseholder of a flat make structural changes such as removing non-loadbearing stud walls to make the rooms larger? If so, what permissions etc are required?
As a general rule as long as you don't affect the structure or outside you would not need the freeholder's permission (or planning permission or building regulation approval) but you need to get your solicitor to check through your lease.
Should a potential buyer be interested, how can I work out the price for:
1) Fittings & fixtures (i.e. carpets, curtains etc)
2) White goods (i.e. cooker, fridge/freezer etc)
3) Some furniture...
The fixtures and fittings you mention are generally included in a sale - your solicitor will send you a form to complete in readyness for a potential buyer to offer - if there are any particular curtains you plan on taking with you you need to specifically mention these.
The white goods have little/no value - if you want them at your new home then you need again to specify that they are not included on this form - if you don't want them I think it unlikely that a buyer would pay extra for them.
Furniture however is generally not included - if the buyer specifically wants to buy a piece of your furniture they would normally have to negoatiate separately - or sometimes they may ask for it to be included if they pay x price.
The long and short of it is that there are no rules as to what is included or not but these would be considered normal - ultimately it depends on what you put in your paperwork.
How do I edit my advert?
There are several ways to do this:
1) Using the direct link, which you should have received via email when adding your property.
2) When you login, just select "selling" to manage the home you are selling.
3) When looking at your own listing, there is a tab saying "edit this home"
4) From the "my tepilo" area on the top right of your screen.
Do I furnish a newly converted barn for sale out in the countryside or not? Developers locally seem to leave a 'blank canvas' which is what I have been doing, but there are very few viewings out here. Is it worth spending more money on this when I've spent so much already - I get mixed answers from my friends. I'm not desperate but not everyone wants two houses and they wouldn't split, but rather convert into one.
Whether you convert to one or two should depend not only of course on planning but also on the land you have with the building - if it is a big family home it needs a good sized garden especially in the countryside. A blank canvas is fine but there is a big difference between bland and neutral. You need to inject a bit of good style into the property for it to really appeal to buyers.
We have an interested party in the bungalow and she wants to put down a deposit to secure the property. Unfortunately her property has not gone on the market yet. We want a buyer but if she cannot sell her property we may be missing other buyers who are in a stronger position to buy. Do we give her first refusal with a time limit say 3 months in the meantime still keeping our bungalow up for sale or is it a matter of first past the winning post. No chain on our end.
A very tricky one - you may be better off suggesting that the buyer exchanges contracts but has a delayed completion of say 3 months enabling them to have time to sell but securing your sale. This is a big risk though for the buyer as if they do not sell they are legally bound to go ahead with the purchase and would have to borrow money to do this. However if you are not too bothered as to exactly when you sell the property you could accept a non refundable deposit which effectively 'buys' her a window in which time she will be able to buy the property and you are not entitled to sell to anyone else - this is generally called an 'option' and any good property lawyer will be familiar with the paperwork required for this. At the end of this period if she is unable to buy the bungalow at the level agreed you would keep the deposit in payment for you not being able to agree any other sale. I think if I was you though I would be tempted to either go down the deposit line or agree that you would accept her offer when she is in a position to definitely buy.
Is there an index that I could go to to see how house prices have moved over the last 10 years? e.g. 2001 = 10%, 2002 = 14% etc...
Yes, you can simply search the Land Registry data here: http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/houseprices/ They have data since 1995 there by region.
Please can you advise how I add the "Contact Seller" tab to my advertisement?
"Contact seller" is actually on your listing already, although when you are logged in then this will not show. If you were to log out and look at this, then you would see this option available. We removed this from your own listing, as you presumably wouldn't ever want to contact yourself.
I have a property for sale in Spain. Will you be doing property abroad or is it just in UK?
We are looking at adding an overseas section to Tepilo, and will launch this as soon as possible. At the moment we are obtaining databases of information for different countries and making sure we comply with relevant legislations in each one.
If I decide to use an estate agent and have a sole agency agreement can I still use your website to sell privately? Will I have to pay the estate agent if I sell this way?
Yes, you can still use our site, even with a sole agency agreement. You will need to check the terms and conditions of your contract with your agent regarding whether you would have to pay them commission though, some of them state that however the house is sold they are due commission - even if this was to one of your friends.
The site is completely free to use, so if it gets your property sold quicker then we hope this is still beneficial.
How much do you charge for a private consultation?
Unfortunately I am unable to offer a consultancy service, mainly due to my schedule being manic and I have very little time to offer this. I'm sorry I can't help in detail, if there is anything specific then please let me know.
I own a 3 bed terrace in Derby, which has a small rectangle bathroom that currently has shower over bath, if I remove bath for a shower cubicle could this damage resale value of the house?
I would certainly not recommend it for a 3 bedroomed house - as only having a shower will tend to put any families with young children from buying the property.
Do you think that I should put my house on the market before I start looking for a new property or wait until I have found a house I like before putting it on the market?
Generally speaking it is much easier to find somewhere to move to, than to sell your property. I would suggest you put your property on the market well in advance of looking for the next one, purely because of timescales. You don't have to accept an offer on your current property before you have found a new one, and can also ask a potential buyer for time to find one before you move out.
We've had 3 estate agents value our house and their figures were £275k, £300k and £325k. With such a wide variation, should we get another valuation or go for the middle - i'm sure there'll be negotiation on whatever we decide to put it on for.
Valuation is actually just trial and error really - if you can find other houses at £300,000 that seem less exciting than yours then you should perhaps ask more - the market will tend to find its own price for the house - if it is too cheap you will have considerable interest and many offers and if it is too expensive nobody will come round to see it at all.
I would try putting the house on at somewhere in the middle, and then raising or lowering this depending on the level of interest.
We are considering buying a second home and letting out our current home until the housing market improves or as an investment for the future.
Mortgage wise - can we move our current £72K mortgage to the new property and take out a buy to let on our current property. I have £70K of savings to use as equity but am confused on how it would work in practice?
This can be done although you would need to check out a couple of points. Firstly speak to your existing lender and check that your current mortgage is portable. If it is you can then apply for them to move it onto a new property although it would be treated as a whole new application, so they will probably want to credit check you again, and check your income as well as requesting a valuation on the new property. If this is all within their criteria you should have no issues.
Taking a buy-to-let product on your existing property should be straightforward enough as long as the rental income is sufficient to cover the interest payments on the new loan amount by around 125%. Beware that at present however, lenders generally will not lend more than 70% - 75% of the value of your property if it is rented out and, though the actual rates of interest are not bad at between 4.5% to 6%, the fees added on can be anything between 1% of the loan amount to 3.5% of the loan amount .
What would be a sensible minimum percentage return to make on a property development worthwhile. I.e. is there a minimum guide that you would work to for the effort?
As a rough guide, as a developer, you want to aim for a 20% profit from a development and a 20% annual return from a rental investment.
What is the best way to finance property development? Via an existing business account or release of equity from current property?
In terms of obtaining finance for developing properties, although things have tightened up a bit there are a few products available if you look hard enough. However, this sector at the moment is not prescriptive and therefore the terms and amounts available will vary dramatically from project to project, dependent upon the property itself and the amount of works that need to be done. A simple "tart and turn" could be done via a traditional buy-to-let lender such as Birmingham Midshires or The Mortgage Works providing you can get a rental income initially to support the loan.
Something requiring more work that is not habitable initially will mean more specialist commercial finance. It is worth discussing with your own bank first and speaking to an independent mortgage broker to get a feel for the market. Generally lenders offer more favourable terms to those with a good track record and experience in this type of project and you would be expected to put in a sizeable deposit initially, around 40%. There are other methods involving initial bridging finance whilst the works are being done but this can be expensive and you need to make sure there is a lender in place to take out the bridge when the work is done.
Is now a good time to begin buying investment property again?
I think at the moment we are bouncing along the bottom of the market, and won't see many further reductions, but are also unlikely to see many rises in the next few years. If you are looking at buying for the long term then now is a good time to find some bargains, but don't expect to see huge returns for some time.
I'm a first time buyer in London and looking to place an offer on leasehold flat. Is there anything crucial I should be asking about the lease before I place an offer?
The main issue is how long it is - you really want to get a lease longer than 75 years - also it might be worth checking to see who the freeholder is and whether you are able to buy the freehold at the same time.
My partner is expecting our 3rd child and we live in a 3 bedroom 3 story town house and we are not sure whether to move or do a loft conversion can you help please?
The cost of moving can be up to 10% of the value of a home (obviously less if you sell through www.tepilo.com!) assuming the loft space has enough head height and the ground floor/garden are good sizes it is likely to be better value for you to convert the loft rather than move.
If you have found a house you want to buy at £250.000 what should be your first offer be?
It rather depends on how much you want it and how much you think it is really worth - if you think the price is high then come in at the level you think it is worth - if you would be happy to pay £250,000 and really like it, I would come in at £245,000 and be prepared to pay the asking price. Despite what you might read there are no rules about this as it all depends on what the seller is happy to accept.
I have an endowment policy on a property which matures in 2017. I want to move, can I transfer this endowment to my next property. The policy includes life insurance?
The endowment and any associated life insurance is generally separate from the mortgage and as such can be transferred to any subsequent property. Lenders very rarely physically "assign" policies to the loan any more so you should be free to use the proceeds in any way you see fit. Just keep an eye on the growing value of the plan and estimated maturity value as it may not be quite enough to pay the whole mortgage loan back, particularly if you are increasing the loan amount.
How do I change the schools shown on my listing?
Let us know the names of the nearest 5 schools and we will add these for you. The database has thousands, but there may be a few missing.
How do I change the location of the marker for my property on the map?
You can edit the location whilst adding or editing your property. When on the map page, just click the correct location and hit save under the map.
