'THROUGH THE KEYHOLE'…a weekly blog from Richard Morris
All things property, house prices and 'interestingness' from Newton Fallowell Managing Director.
In this three-minute read, I share four simple ways you can get your property ready for sale if you are thinking of moving when lockdown ends. And I share four things we're doing to continue serving our clients and to keep everyone as safe as possible.
As some sections of our society are slowly being 'unlocked' following Boris Johnson's address yesterday evening, there is some light beginning to be seen at the end of the tunnel.
The messages we've all heard from medical officers across the UK is that if we stay very mindful of the threat of Coronavirus, we can eventually defeat this awful disease.
The Government released their detailed report today at 2pm, however there wasn’t any industry specific guidance for the property world in there but I am monitoring the situation by the hour.
We can't rush this, the lockdown is a phased process, as outlined yesterday and everyone still has an essential part to play.
We are receiving more and more enquiries from people thinking about selling when this all ends.
The good news is there are some simple things you can do to get ahead and prepare, should you want to sell and move in the future.
By following these steps, you help give your agent the best chance of selling your property quickly, and for a price, you're delighted with.
Four Steps to Prepare – Help Us
1) Many of you have probably done this one already if you've had time on your hands. Declutter.
2) Get any property related paperwork like warranties, guarantees and manuals all in one easy to access place. Organise.
3) There's never been a better time to do those odd jobs around the home which need doing. Fix the squeaky door, clean the fascia, paint the spare room. Maintain.
4) It's spring clean time (ish) and having a fresh-smelling, clean home is good for your mental and physical health – whether you are selling or not. Clean.
And while we're on the subject of being clean.
Here are four things we will be introducing, but only when the rules around viewings are relaxed. And these will be updated depending on today's Government announcement.
Virtual Viewings– We're already doing them, and they will continue to be very popular with prospective buyers in the future. Contact us for more details.
Going Contactless – We'll be advising sellers to leave doors, cupboards, and gates open where possible to reduce any risk during physical viewings.
Protecting Each Other – We will carry hand sanitiser and other forms of Personal Protective Equipment to every viewing.
Take a (very short) Vacation – We will be asking people to vacate their properties if there is a viewing. This could be to sit in their cars or go into the garden. We feel the use of virtual valuations will mean that prospective buyers having a physical viewing are seriously thinking about buying the property they are looking at.
We're expecting the local property market to leap back into life once the pent-up demand to move is unleashed when the lockdown and social distancing measures are further relaxed.
And we'll be ready for it.
But the most important thing for us at Newton Fallowell is to ensure the safety of our team, our clients, and our community across Loughborough, East Leake and Charnwood.
Stay safe. We will get through this and look out for my update tomorrow.
Richard
Persistently banging on the door some 20 years ago with huge enthusiasm and a cheeky smile,
Richard landed the job of tea boy and trainee for then local independent Hartleys Estate Agents in Loughborough.
Armed with an exhaustive collection of industry knowledge later and Richard has ended up in the driving seat of his own
family run company Newton Fallowell, established in 2015 with offices in Loughborough, East Leake, Kegworth and Kegworth.
