Hope is on the horizon with the rapid rollout of Covid vaccinations, the R number on the decrease, and restrictions soon to lift. Perry Bishop, one of region’s leading estate agents, is offering at risk customers contact free virtual valuations, as well as the usual in-person visits with all Covid safety guidelines in place. Interested in finding out how much your property is worth? Uncertain as to whether your online estimate is correct? Now you can learn the accurate value of your home, all from the comfort of your sofa. Interested in taking the next step to put your property on the market to take advantage of the Spring market surge? At Perry Bishop viewings too can be conducted virtually. The company have employed a local videographer who films a comprehensive tour around each listing – both inside and out. This becomes the first viewing, bringing serious buyers to the fore, who can then go on to view in person.

Whilst locked down at home many have wondered how much their house is worth and whether it has increased or decreased during the pandemic. It’s quick and easy to find a figure on an online property valuation portal, but Perry Bishop warns of the dangers of trusting online home valuations.

Says Gavin Wallace, Sales Director at Perry Bishop:

“The risks of relying exclusively upon an online property estimate are significant. We would always advise anyone considering selling their home to consult an experienced estate agent who is based in their area. We have unique local knowledge and insight, which is crucial in order to estimate correct property values. Property estimate websites rely on averages, which can inflate some prices dramatically and undervalue others. This misinformation can lead some to make false financial judgments with serious consequences.”

The basis of estimates displayed on websites like Zoopla is primarily data freely published by the department of land registry. This includes the price a property has been sold for and some other basic information such as tenure (freehold or leasehold), property type (detached, semi-detached, etc) and an indication if the property is new. The websites then use this basic information to estimate a value for the property based on algorithms. To do this they make some assumptions about price trends and may look at other properties sold on the same street or nearby. If any of these assumptions are wrong, the estimate is unlikely to be accurate.

The approach of a professional Estate Agent or chartered surveyor is different. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) expect surveyors to follow strict standards when valuing properties. These are the same standards estate agents use to conduct their own appraisal. Firstly, the surveyor is required to conduct a visual inspection of both the interior and exterior of the property to assess the size, condition, and location of the property. Then, he or she would be required to identify a minimum of three comparable properties in the same location which have sold in the last six months.

These comparable properties must be similar in size, condition and location. Finally, experience of the local property market is essential to evaluate the impact of current demands and other local factors which can have a dramatic impact on the likely resale value of a property. Local knowledge of a future development, like a bypass or the opening of a new secondary school close to the property for example, can have both a positive and an adverse impact on the value. All of this information is then used, along with many years of market experience, to provide a current market value.

After being provided with a virtual or in person valuation Perry Bishop also offers virtual tours for those wanting to sell. The majority of first viewings are now being conducted by interested parties being sent a video tour of the home that they’re interested in, then moving on to a viewing in person. Perry Bishop finds that this is a very useful way to just bring the serious buyers to the fore. The seller can either take advantage of Perry Bishop’s professional videography service or take this video on their own mobile, even providing a commentary if preferred, including showing highlights of their home and talking about why they fell in love with their abode. Clients are also advised to  talk about their home working space, as many will continue to need a haven to work from at home for some if not all of the time post Covid.

Contact your local branch for further details of our virtual and in-person valuation service so that you take advantage of the anticipated Spring property surge.

Due to Covid the commercial property landscape will never be the same. Premises even on the High Streets are swapping hands, with bigger businesses having to close up shop, and small start-ups burgeoning and enjoying local support. Perry Bishop, one of the region’s leading estate agents, is announcing the opening of a Commercial Arm, ready to advise customers looking to purchase, and also sell. A surprising amount of commercial property is coming on to the open market. Have you ever dreamt of opening up tea rooms, an art gallery or an artisan bakery? Or perhaps running a quintessential country pub, or setting up a small hotel or B & B? Or acquiring a property to convert into luxury apartments in the town centre? This is an unprecedented time for entrepreneurs and the brave dreamers!

Marc Blackford will be heading up the Commercial Arm and guiding clients with specialist advice on freehold sales, lease assignments, new lease agreements, tenancies and change of use at their fingertips.

Phillip Bishop:
“We’re delighted to be launching our Commercial Arm, and to have Marc at the helm. Before joining Perry Bishop Marc was National Sales Director for a leading commercial agent. He has over 16 years of experience working within the licensed/leisure/hospitality/sports and commercial property industry.

He is also Associated RICS qualified. I would go for as to say that he is the person with the most specialist commercial market experience in this area. We’re very excited about this new offering.”

Marc and his dedicated commercial team will be providing help and guidance with sourcing the perfect premises in the three counties in which Perry Bishop operate – Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. They will provide specialist advice on Freehold Sales, Lease Assignments, new lease agreements, tenancies and change of use.

Marc Blackford:
“I’m excited to be launching the Commercial team at Perry Bishop Chambers, at a particularly exciting time. We’re going to be providing a one stop shop for buyers so they can take advantage of the changing property landscape over the next couple of years. It’s going to be an interesting marketplace, with more commercial property becoming available to convert. Landlords and property owners are going to have the opportunity to play with space, with commercial becoming available to change into residential or other possible commercial uses. The change of planning process will also liven the market up.”

Preparing your home for viewers, or ‘staging’ as it’s called, is important. It will not only ensure your property is sold faster, but can potentially add thousands of pounds to its value.

1. Declutter – but don’t depersonalize

• Get rid of all the excess stuff that has accumulated in every nook and cranny. Put it in storage or give it to a friend.
• People need to be able to envisage what the property would look like if they were living there. People often find this difficult, so make it easy for them to see all the fantastic living space you’re offering them
• Don’t make it look like a generic hotel; leave some personality. Apart from anything else it gives unimaginative buyers suggestions as to what they might do.
• People are often buying into a lifestyle as much as a property. Show them the attractive side of your lifestyle.
• Consider removing any bulky furniture that makes the room feel small and replacing it with smaller furniture. 

2. A fresh lick of paint

• Giving your walls a fresh lick of paint, neutral paint will make your home seem lighter and bigger.
• It will enable the viewers to more easily imagine how they would adapt the rooms to their needs.
• It will be easier for the buyers to move in and use the rooms immediately than if the walls were still bright purple or lime green.
• Create a good first impression – give the front door a new coat of brightly coloured paint.

3. Fix and clean

• Make any minor repairs necessary – holes in walls, broken door knobs, cracked tiles, torn or threadbare carpets. Many buyers want to move in without making changes, so allow for this.
• Clean everything until it sparkles. Get rid of limescale, clean and repair tile grout, wax wooden floors, get rid of all odors, hang up fresh towels. This will make the place more appealing and allow viewers to imagine living there.
• Tidy up the garden: cut bushes back, clean the patio and furniture of lichen and dirt, and cut the grass. While this doesn’t add much value to your home it makes it more likely to sell as people visualize themselves using the garden.

4. Update the kitchen

• The kitchen is the most valuable room in a house. It is worth the most per square foot and can make the difference when buyers are unsure.
• Upgrading kitchen counter tops is expensive, but can add serious value.
• Declutter the surfaces and just leave a bowl of fruit out. Take out any bulky appliances.
• Consider upgrading the plumbing fixtures and white goods, but keep in mind that while that could make your property sell faster, you will be unlikely to recoup their full value.

5. Light and airy

• Wall mirrors make a room look much bigger and lighter. Consider putting some up, especially in smaller rooms or hallways.
• Clean windows inside and out, and replace any broken light bulbs. Making the place feel light and airy makes rooms feel bigger and the property more attractive.
• Ensure that you have lamps on in any dark corners.

6. Light a fire

• If it’s a cold evening, or even chilly day, light your fire. Consider burning some pinecones for the delicious smell. This will make your home feel warm and inviting. If you don’t have a fire then ensure the fireplace is clean.

7. Make it look pretty

• Make sure the windows are properly dressed with blinds or curtains as naked windows make a place feel impersonal and run down. Buy some cheap ones (eg from Ikea) if necessary.
• Plants and flowers bring colour, life and light to a room and also smell delicious. So does that fruit bowl on your kitchen counter.

8. Get the right smells

• Bad smells are the single biggest turn off for prospective buyers. Don’t just cover them up, fix the source of the smell. Clear drains, wash bins, open windows, air the kitchen from old cooking smells, get rid of furniture that is embedded with cigarette smoke.
• If you are a smoker, place bowls of vinegar around the house and leave out for three days. Though the vinegar will smell when you open the windows it will disappear quickly taking a most of the stale cigarette smell out with it.
• Conversely, good smells can make a property feel like an alluring home. While it might be impractical to bake fresh bread, cakes or brownies for every viewer that visits your home, you could perhaps brew some fresh coffee.

9. Showing the property

• You’ll have chosen a good estate agent so let them show the property.
• It’s their job to know what things to say, what to highlight and what to downplay.

10. Obvious conversions

• If there are any obvious conversions – adapting the garage into extra rooms, or going up into the loft – and you have some spare cash, why not take advantage of this cash cow rather than letting the new owners make easy money out of improvements. You should usually recoup your money.
• If you don’t have enough spare cash to make the conversion some houses will benefit from getting planning permission anyway.

Ask us too about our unique 11 Step-plan for attracting the Best buyer and selling at the Best price. We look forward to helping you with your next move. Book your valuation now.

Hot off the press, Rightmove’s latest House Price Index – the largest monthly sample of residential property prices across the UK – drills down to reveal what’s happened in the property market over the past few weeks.

Read the report in full.

If a move is on the cards for you this year talk to your local branch of Perry Bishop and Chambers, named one of the Best Estate Agents in the country by The Property Academy and Rightmove.

As the average time to complete on a property purchase is typically upwards of 18 weeks, it is now highly unlikely that you will be able to take advantage of the attractive Stamp Duty Holiday savings which expire on 31^st March – unless of course the Government chooses to extend the Stamp Duty Holiday, which they are debating in Parliament next week.

However, if you are looking to complete before the current deadline or simply need to sell quickly, we have a solution for you. Providing you are selling/buying with no onward chain above or below, you can take advantage of our Online Auction Service. When using this method of sale, exchanges must happen within 28 days of an online auction taking place. As a seller, when going down this route you incur the cost of preparing a legal pack – which takes approx. three weeks – and the successful purchaser has to pay a reservation fee on top of the price they have agreed to pay for the property. However, in most cases these additional costs are easily offset by the potential savings made on stamp duty.

Other benefits of choosing sell via our online auction service:

• Greater certainty – 99% completion rate
• Best sale price – the competitive online bidding process can result in achieving a price well above your reserve price.
• The online auction route can also be mobilised for properties which have attracted interest from multiple parties, replacing the more traditional and timely best and final offers process.

Ask at your local branch of Perry Bishop for further details about selling via online auction. We look forward to helping you with your move.

When someone dies their estate, which includes their own home, other property, money, investments and other assets, must be disposed of in accordance with their will and the law. A bereavement can be a very emotional and stressful time in itself and juggling the administration of putting the deceased’s affairs in order can be all consuming.

What is a valuation for inheritance tax purposes?

A valuation for inheritance tax purposes will be needed in order to apply for probate and this can be obtained from a qualified estate agent or chartered surveyor.

The type of valuation required is defined in section 160 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 as being market value and the calculation is done using the following principles of a hypothetical sale:

• The ‘seller’ and ‘buyer’ are prudent and willing parties to the transaction.
• The property is offered for sale on the open market by whatever method of sale would achieve the best price.
• There are adequate publicity and advertisements for the sale to take place.
  The valuation should take account of the ct that there could be a “special purchaser”, i.e. someone that is willing to pay more than the market value because they have a special interest in the sale.

Why use an estate agent?

The advantage of instructing a professional estate agent to provide this for you at the start of the process is the advice they can give you to ensure the property achieves the best price once it launches onto the market. This gives you time to implement any of their recommendations before the photographs are taken and the marketing commences.

Can I sell the property before probate is granted?

The answer to this is no, but you can commence the marketing, conduct viewings, and agree a sale subject to contract. The buyer can apply for a mortgage, arrange a survey and the process of conveyancing between buyer and seller can begin. Exchange of contracts cannot take place until probate is granted and buyers should be made aware of this when enquiring about the property.

What do I need to do to the property before it goes to the market?

Advice should be tailored to each property but these are our top tips:

• Keep the garden tidy
• Clear the property of furniture and personal possessions
• In winter drain down the central heating or preferably keep the heating on low. Buyers will get a ‘warmer feeling’ for the property
• Make emergency repairs if necessary (to prevent damp penetration and the condition of the property deteriorating – if necessary)
• Inform the insurance company the property is empty
• Install security lights on a timer or ask a friendly neighbour to pop in and pick up post, turn lights on and move curtains
• Redirect post
• Instruct a solicitor to act on behalf of the estate in the sale and ask them to send you the protocol forms – fixtures and fittings list and property questionnaire. Complete these and return along with any warranties, guarantees etc.

NB Getting a head start on this enables the solicitor to react quickly when a buyer is found and can knock weeks off the time it takes to get to exchange of contracts.

Method of sale

If the property is in good condition then selling by private treaty on the open market in the normal way is likely to be recommended.

Many probate properties are homes with large gardens, needing refurbishment, renovation, or repair. This type of home attracts very good interest from buyers looking for a project and the added advantage of ‘No onward chain’ and are often the most suitable for sale by auction, achieving a fair market price with exchange of contracts guaranteed on the fall of the hammer.

If selling privately it can be difficult to prove a fair market value has been achieved, and satisfy all beneficiaries and Inland Revenue.

Perry Bishop are the proud new owners of Hardcastles, a long-established Lettings and Property Management service specialising in rentals primarily in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire. Based on Cirencester’s popular Black Jack Street – just around the corner from Perry Bishop’s Cirencester office – Hardcastles will continue to trade separately out of their existing office under the very capable management of Daisy Alban-Jones.

“We are thrilled to have been able to take over Hardcastles and look forward to building on their already brilliant reputation in the town and beyond,” says Perry Bishop MD Phillip Bishop. “We welcome the opportunity to look after their landlords and tenants across a wide and diverse property portfolio.”

Daisy has been with Hardcastles for 16 years. She grew up in Cheltenham, but now lives in Tetbury with her husband and two young children in a house that they renovated themselves from top to bottom. When she’s not immersed in helping landlords find new tenants and tenants find a new home, she enjoys cooking and running – as well as watching her son play football and trips to Pony Club with her daughter.

Earlier this month Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced a further extension to the ban on bailiff-enforced evictions for private renters in England. The new extension will be until 21 February and reviewed regularly.

However, serious rent arrears “greater than 6 months’ rent” are exempt from the extended evictions ban in England – removing the stipulation that rent accrued since the start of the first lockdown in March 2020 could be discounted.

This contrasts with the previous guidance, which stated that the exception would apply to rent arrears “equivalent to 9 months’ rent” – and only for rent owed that built up prior to the first lockdown in March 2020. The concession to allow action, irrelevant of when arrears started, is an important change and one that may have slipped under the radar of some letting agents and landlords.

Oli Sherlock, Head of Insurance at lettings software platform Goodlord says: “The concession to be able to apply legal action to arrears totalling six months no matter when they began is a helpful concession. Many landlords are now nearing breaking point. Scores are facing financial difficulties as a result of unpaid rent and ongoing mortgage costs, with a few facing uncommunicative tenants who are refusing to vacate properties even when leases come to an end (although this is a minority of tenants).”

At Perry Bishop, we are pleased to report that our landlords remain unaffected by serious rent arrears and no Section 21 notices have been triggered.

The situation with Covid-19 is rapidly changing, for the latest guidelines, please refer to gov.uk.

A new report from property portal Zoopla reveals that both Cheltenham and Cirencester have seen house price rises soar by over £50 a day, after the coronavirus pandemic transformed them into some of the most desirable places to live in the country.

Both towns have benefited from a property boom which has been fuelled by people quitting big cities to live by the seaside or in the countryside and feature in Zoopla’s top ten places in the UK which saw the biggest increases in property prices outside London during 2020, as people look for a better quality of life.

Cheltenham homeowners have seen houses soar by an average of £20,000 over the last year, an average of £54.66 every day, as people flock to the spa town known for its festivals.

The architecture and cultural life of the town is much prized and sitting on the edge of stunning Cotswold’s countryside is also a big attraction.

Cirencester epitomises country living and home owners have benefited with prices soaring 20,178 over the last year, which amounts to £55.13 a day.

This compares to the average rise of about £10,000 or £27.81 a day for homes across the UK in 2020.

Prices only rose by just £8.64 a day in 2019.

Zoopla said the findings reflect the desire of many home hunters for a change of scenery and more space because property prices rose the most in coastal and rural locations.

The company’s consumer spokesperson, Tom Parker, said: “For many, the pandemic has led to a once-in-a-lifetime reassessment of how and where they live.

“With the majority of Brits now working remotely, this has opened up a wealth of opportunities for those who are based in cities but can now live rurally as a result of working from home.”

Cirencester ranked in eighth place and Cheltenham ninth in the Zoopla survey of towns with soaring house prices.

Read the Zoopla report in full here.

Perry Bishop have branches in both Cheltenham and Cirencester and have been helping people on the move in these towns for many years. Take a look at current instructions by clicking on the towns below and do get in touch if you are looking to buy or sell in either town.

Cheltenham

Cirencester

As we find ourselves in another national lockdown to help prevent further spread of the virus, you may ask what has changed since the first lockdown last year?

In lockdown 1.0 estate agents had to stay at home too and were not permitted to travel to prepare marketing of your home or to conduct viewings. This time the Government have confirmed house moves can go ahead, along with searching for a new home and marketing your home – providing you follow the national guidance on moving home safely.

To minimise any risk we are now conducting first viewings virtually by preparing a video to be e-mailed to interested buyers. Wherever possible, the first viewing should always be carried out in this way, with those most interested then visiting the property in person to confirm their potential purpose.

If you are just bringing your property to the market or don’t yet have a video, we can attend the property to do this for you. However, if you are extremely vulnerable or would just prefer not to have this visit to your home, then here are our top tips for producing your own virtual viewing on your smart phone.

1. Tidy Up! No one wants to see dirty plates in the sink or shoes left on the floor. Clear surfaces and clutter to make your home appear as spacious as possible.
2. On a dark day you made need to make sure your curtains are fully open and lights are on.
3. Turn your phone onto video mode.
4. Ensure you are in landscape (not portrait) as this will attract more views to your property.
5. Walk slowly and surely around your home as you would if you were showing a buyer around and if you would like to, talk to us about the hidden features or the best bits of your home. Why did you fall in love with it and what have you loved most about living there?
6. Start outside and walk up the garden path (assuming you have one). It helps buyers to see your home from the outside and a 360 degree view of your road outside also gives a good indication of the location.
7. Film downstairs and then upstairs if your home is on more than one level.
8. Film continuously if you can which will speed up the time it takes for us to get your video in front of buyers, but don’t worry if you can’t – we can edit for you.
9. Don’t forget the garden and views if you have them. Talk about sun if your garden is filled with it and parking/garaging. Maybe you are well located for a bus route, shops or schools.
10. Don’t forget the all important work from home space. If you have a dedicated room then tell us about it and how it has helped you this past twelve months.

If you have any more questions or concerns then please get in touch and let us be of help.

Good luck with your move!