good property and holiday guide
Lifestyle Exhibition - Property Direct From The Owner Exhibiting At Large Exhibition In Spain
Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com are one of the leading internet property portals allowing owners of international property to advertise their property on the Property Direct From The Owner website with no commissions or fees to have to pay when the property is sold or rented.
If you are looking to sell your home, even in a slow market, you have to take steps to make it appeal to buyers. One of the best ways to do that is by staging your home. There are many steps involved in staging a home to make it appealing to buyers and one of the most important is giving each room a purpose. If you’ve got a spare bedroom or extra living room that you have many different types of furniture in or are using for several purposes, you’ll need to make a strong statement with it if you want to sell your property.
Staging is a sales technique that helps buyers envisage what it will be like to live in the house. You’ve got to detach yourself from your home and think about it as an investment. What will appeal to the buyer the most? In most cases your combination office, playroom and craft room isn’t going to make people want to sign on the dotted line.
Even though rooms like this make sense to the homeowner, they don’t appeal to buyers. On a walkthrough of your home, buyers need to get a clear sense of how they’ll be able to use the space. Combination rooms do not work. A buyer can get confused by the room’s purpose and may well not know what to do with the space – even if it’s pretty obvious that they can use the space in any way they want to just as you have.
In order to stage your combination room, you first need to decide what type of room you want it to be. Spare bedrooms should be staged as bedrooms. Bonus rooms should have a clear focus. Home offices are very popular these days and you can’t go wrong with giving your potential buyer a place to house their computer and important paperwork. Craft rooms and indoor playrooms are also another good idea for single purpose spaces, but they won’t appeal to as many people.
Once you’ve declared the purpose, you need to move all furniture and items that don’t meet that purpose out of the room. Since you don’t want to clutter the garage with more junk, you should put your extra furniture in storage while you are selling your property. This little bit of inconvenience can make a huge difference in your selling price, so it’s well worth the rental cost.
Design your new single purpose room with a lot of space to walk through. Buyers like rooms that feel big and open. If you are making your room into an office, use a single desk with a computer and perhaps one other piece of furniture. Bedrooms should be furnished with a single bed to show off the floor space.
By declaring a purpose for a room you eliminate confusion for your buyers and give them a clear idea of how they can use the space. This investment of your time and energy can make a huge difference in your selling price.
For more information on how you can sell or rent your property visit the Property Direct From The Owner website at http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com See us featured in this month’s ‘Living Spain’ and ‘The Good Property and Holiday Guide’ magazines or visit us at the Palacio de Congresos de Estepona on 28th/ 29th November.
Buy Property Abroad - Selling Property Abroad - www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com At Property Exhibition In November 2009
It is a big decision to buy property abroad, whether it’s for a holiday home or a retirement home. There are many factors to consider, such as, what is the ideal overseas property for you, what type of property is there for sale that suits your needs, and how do you go about actually buying properties overseas. One of the most important matters to consider is in which location you want to buy property abroad and are particularly attracted to. It might be that you have already made the decision on whereabouts you want to buy property abroad or you may still be deciding on location. Whatever phase you are at, it is good advice to complete detailed research into the area and country you are thinking about, looking at topics such as exchange rates and the climate. There is a range of information you can use when buying overseas property.
Websites and Internet
Overseas property websites such as Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com are a great way to find information on how to buy overseas property and also to search for properties abroad for sale and/ or rent. Owners of worldwide property list their property on the Property Direct From The Owner website for sale and/ or rent and prospective buyers/ renters can then search the site for a property that suits their criteria before contacting the owner directly to arrange a viewing. You’ll need to know about the buying process, tax implications, legal and financial information, likely costs when buying property overseas and visa and emigration rules depending on where you decide to buy property abroad.
Shows and Events
There are many property shows and events that will give you information and advice to buy property overseas. Paul Wilson, Marketing Manager at Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com says, ‘We have a stand booked at the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos de Estepona (exhibition and Congress Centre at Estepona) at the end of November for a lifestyle show aimed at the ex pat community on the south coast of Spain. At the show we shall be showcasing a number of our Spanish properties to prospective buyers whilst at the same time being available to clients looking to list properties they may have for rent or sale’. When you visit these events, experts are there to answer questions and advise you. These property shows will also have a range of experts in one place, making it easier for you to do your research.
Overseas Property Publications
There is also a whole range of property publications. These include supplements in National and Local newspapers, with details of properties abroad for sale by country and region. There are also a host of glossy magazines that feature property overseas for sale, and in-depth articles focusing on particular countries and regions. Magazines can specialise in general information or specific areas, such as Cyprus, Turkey, USA, New Zealand or the Caribbean to name a few. These offer detailed information about the location you are interested in and they may give you some new ideas about what is to be expected from the area. For example you may learn more about the culture and then be able to assess whether this is what you are actually looking for. Paul continues, ‘At Property Direct From The Owner, we are committed to advertising the properties that we showcase on our website through the media for our clients and we regularly appear in ‘The Good Property and Holiday Guide’ along with featuring in the autumn 2009 edition of ‘Living Spain’ magazine, which is available in high street newsagents in the UK’.
For more information on Property Direct From The Owner visit their website at http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com
Selling Property Abroad - Selling A Property
Selling Property Abroad
Selling a property without an agent is not for everyone but for those with determination it can be the best way to sell a home. FSBO (For Sale By Owner) companies such as Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com allow owners of worldwide property to sell property without an agent and therefore save on commissions and fees normally associated with a sale via an agent. The internet is now one of the first ports of calls for a buyer to ascertain certain property types before arranging a viewing and websites such as Property Direct From The Owner give vendors additional exposure that they might not normally associate when listing with an estate agent. Here are a number of reasons and advice in how to sell your home without an estate agent.
1.No agency fees or commissions. This is the top of anyone’s list to sell your home yourself. You can save thousands of pounds or euros by selling your home privately without going through an agent.
2.You can value your home correctly, without the aid of an agent. This will take a little bit of research, but if you sell your home through an agent many people will do this anyway to make sure the home is properly valued and if they don’t they should. Many agents do one of two things: Value your home too high to get your business or value your home too low to make a quick sale. Either way, you end up on the short end - it takes too long to sell, or you lose money on the sale.
3.Advertise anywhere you want - local print ads, real estate websites such as Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com and even international web portals. Depending on your home and where you live, you can target the ideal potential buyer.
4.You make the first impression - it takes only a few seconds to impress or turn off a potential buyer. You don’t have to worry if your agent is having a bad day, or wants to sell a bigger, more expensive home. You get to impress the buyer, which leads to the next reason.
5.You know your home better than any agent ever will. No matter how much time an agent gets to know you, he or she can never know all there is to help sell your property.
6.You know the area. Many agents are local and can do a good job of selling a neighborhood, but having lived there you certainly have an advantage in talking about all the reasons to move into an area.
7.You do the negotiating. For some people this is definitely a plus, and for others it isn’t. Those who like to get the best deal will be able to negotiate in their favour and get exactly what they want for the house. There is no one pressuring you to make the deal and therefore they can get their commission. It’s all up to you.
8.Choose your own solicitor. You will need a solicitor to close the deal, and you can choose whomever you want or know rather than an associate of the agent. There are plenty of good ones you can find for reasonable rates, and you don’t have to use the one the agent knows or steers your towards.
9.Show your house when you want to. You don’t have to be on an agent’s schedule. You can show your home whenever you want, depending on your schedule. Of course, the more flexible you are the better chance you have to sell, but it’s your choice.
10.Set your own timeline. All too often, you are at the beck and call of an agent or solicitor when it comes to finalising the deal and conveying the property. When you are the one in charge, you make sure the timeline works for you and your buyer. You can make sure everything is done in a timely manner and that all parties are satisfied.
For further information on selling property abroad or selling your home privately visit the Property Direct From The Owner website http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com for further details.
Selling Property - Property Direct From The Owner
Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com are a leading web based FSBO (For Sale By Owner) company, allowing worldwide property owners to list their property for rent or sale and undertake commission fee rentals and sales. When you put your house on the market, it’s important for you to consider how you’re going to get pertinent information to your potential buyers. A tried and true fact; having attractive flyers with the right information works. Actually, you need four types of flyers and there are three points to consider when deciding on your FSBO flyers.
Where should you put your flyers? What are the locations that will get your information to the buyers who need it?
1. In the house - Obviously you’ll want to have flyers on display in the house.
We recommend placing a guest book near the front door, asking agents and buyers to sign in. If you’re dealing with an agent, you’ll want a record of which ones showed your house. Place your flyers next to the guest book in a spot where they are highly visible.
2. Sale Sign - You’ll most likely have a for sale sign in the garden so buy a flyer box and put flyers outside so that people driving by can easily pick up your information.
3. Agents - If you’re dealing with an agent, take flyers to each office and distribute them. Let agents know you’re willing to work with them.
What kind of flyers?
1. A photo feature flyer - A total of two photos is probably enough. You definitely need one photo of the exterior; one of the garden if it is attractively landscaped, or the kitchen or the living room. Do not try to display a photo of every room. It’s just too much. You can create a virtual tour or have one created. If you choose to use a company such as Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com then put the page link of your advert on your flyer. That way a buyer can go to the Property Direct From The Owner web site and view everything. There is not enough room on a flyer to do that.
2. A features flyer - List the top five to ten features of the house. What makes it special? Here again don’t try to list every feature, just the top five to ten.
3. A floor plan flyer - Buyers love floor plans, so if possible put a floor plan on the back of your photo feature flyer. Include room sizes as the buyer will mentally start moving in. They will try to visualize where their furniture will go.
4. A financial flyer - Call one or two lenders. Ask them to prepare a financing flyer for you. This gives the buyer a picture of how they might finance the purchase. It’s a great free service for you and the lender gets free advertising. It’s a win-win.
5. Area Services - A really nice touch is to list the name and phone number of local services such as SKY TV, utilities, phone etc. Help your buyer to mentally move in.
How to create your flyers:
1. You can make them yourself.
2. There are lots of online services that will create professional flyers for you. The fees vary but are usually reasonable.
3. Check for some local services that specialise in that type of advertising.
4. Call a title company; many of them will provide free flyers; they get advertising and expect you to do the closing through them.
5. The lender who did your financial flyer may also create an information flyer. Many of them provide this service. Ask them.
To summarise, flyers are important to your sale. So it’s imperative that you put the right information on the flyer. It is a fact, FSBO’S who do the homework of preparing for the market, sell houses faster than those who don’t. So prepare the right kind of flyers and let the buyer take away information that continues selling your house long after the showing.
For further information on how Property Direct From The Owner can help expose and ultimately sell your property, visit their website http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com
Sell Property With Property Direct From The Owner
21st century real estate is filled with exciting opportunities for companies who have acknowledged the impact of the internet on their industry. More than 70% of homebuyers first saw the home they eventually bought on the internet. The fact of the matter is that many buyers and sellers know about product availability as quickly as the agent.
The internet and today’s technologically savvy clients have changed the real estate industry forever. Agents who have not stayed current on technology are one click from extinction. In a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) more than 70% of respondents said they preferred to locate a potential home online.
Why not? Perusing online listings saves time and fuel, reduces frustration and makes important tax, plot size, square meter-age and disclosure information easy to access. Prospective buyers are finding they can concentrate on certain areas and narrow down their searches in minutes. Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com are a web based real estate company allowing owners of international property to list their property online with no commissions or booking fees to have to pay when the property is sold or rented. Prospective buyers or renters can use such a site to view current worldwide listings and enquire accordingly.
Meanwhile, current and prospective sellers are watching how the market is faring. They want to know the competition, see what is selling and what is not as well as run the comparable analysis programmes featured by FSBO sites such as Property Direct From The Owner.
Let’s face it, today’s buyers and sellers are on the internet. They are browsing for new homes, performing market research before listing their homes and seeing what agents are moving real estate in their areas of interest. These buyers and sellers represent a hotbed of opportunity for companies who want to succeed.
Wherever real estate prospects gather, agents need to get involved. Dynamic new online services such as Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com put the vendor and buyer of a home into direct contact and in doing so, these prospects are generating live enquiries for the property owner who realises the power of the internet and the personality of today’s real estate client.
Imagine procuring names and contact information about clients who reside out of town and are considering relocating to your area. These are the best buyers. These are buyers with a compelling need to find a home. Typically, they also have a desire to acquaint themselves with their new area before they actually start looking.
FSBO companies such as Property Direct From The Owner is an online platform where buyers and sellers come into contact. These prospects become immediate leads to the owner. The owner quite often contacts the prospect and actually introduces themselves to the prospect before the search is closed. This is new-age lead generation at its best.
Owners who understand that prospects are online know there are means to connect with those candidates. This new lead generation technology allows owners to be the first connection the relocating buyer or seller has. One old adage still pertains to today’s real estate leads; “First come, first serve.” There is good old-fashioned merit to being the first owner to connect with a prospect. Today’s technology can make this happen.
Some real estate agents stubbornly resist internet involvement. Others embrace online services. Doubtless, the continuing emergence of online technology will continue to evolve, but quite simply there is no better way or more cost efficient way to connect than through these online services. Join a site such as Property Direct From The Owner today http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com and start tracking your enquiries tomorrow.
Sell Property, Sell Property Overseas, Holiday Lettings, Holiday Rentals
The last 12 to 18 months has seen the property market both in the UK and overseas take a tumble for a variety of reasons. The recession has had an impact on consumer confidence with people more interested in ‘tightening their belts’ rather than speculate on an uncertain market, whilst oversupply of property in certain overseas locations has dampened investor confidence. The market will of course return along with renewed confidence from buyers and investors alike with already certain parts of the UK seeing house prices rise which is contrary to reports delivered at the beginning of 2009 from some property experts.
The overseas property market has seen massive investment over the last 10 years with many people looking at buying that dream holiday home, choosing to relocate or indeed acquiring multiple units on a development for investment purposes. Places such as Spain, Portugal and France have been favourites for the UK investor during this time before the emergence of developing markets such as Bulgaria, Dubai and Brazil attracting significant overseas investment. However, in some locations the bubble has well and truly burst with some investors struggling to sell on a property and rental returns now lower than originally forecast 3 or 4 years ago when the property was bought.
Paul Wilson, Marketing Manager at Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com explains, ‘The UK housing market has seen a slump in recent times, yet not nearly as bad as some analysts had predicted. The overseas housing market has perhaps been harder hit, particularly in some parts of Spain with property prices falling and rental returns much weaker than years gone by. The days of being able to rent out your holiday home on the Spanish Costa for 40 weeks of the year are long gone and may never return. Home owners with overseas property need to budget and be more realistic with 15 to 20 weeks a good rental return. One of the prime reasons for the development of a site such as Property Direct From The Owner was to give worldwide home owners another outlet in their efforts to sell or rent their primary or indeed overseas home. The process to get your home up and running on the site is an easy one and for just £99 an owner can have 12 months advertising with all enquiries generated going directly to the owner to handle. What is more there are no commissions or fees to have to pay when a property is sold or rented via our site. Estate agents, both in the UK and overseas, have suffered most during these times and whilst we would certainly advocate that an owner looking to rent or sell uses a local agent, additional exposure of the property via our or site to a worldwide audience cannot be a bad thing’.
Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com spend significant amounts on advertising for their clients as Paul explains, ‘Exposing our clients’ properties is critical to the success of Property Direct From The Owner and this is an area we invest heavily in. Getting to the top of popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo is a priority for us and we can be seen in ‘The Good Property and Holiday Guide’ which is one of the most respected property magazines available. We also have a feature in next month’s Living Spain magazine. All this backs up our commitment to our clients that their property can and will be seen. Right now we are very focused on obtaining more property for the site in order to be able to satisfy enquiry demand.’
In order to find out more about Property Direct From The Owner and to search for a property for sale or rent or to list your property for sale or rent visit their website at http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com
Holiday Rentals, Holiday Lettings, Sell Property
Property Direct From The Owner http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com is one of the leading websites for property owners looking to list their worldwide property for sale and/ or rent. It costs £99 to advertise a property for sale or rent for 12 months via the Property Direct From The Owner website and to do so is a simple procedure. Creating an account takes a matter of minutes and once payment is processed, a property owner can upload their property details for the property to be immediately exposed to a worldwide audience. There are discounts available for owners who have multiple units wishing to sell or rent and further information on prices etc can be obtained by visiting the Property Direct From The Owner website http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com
There is a good selection of property available for prospective property buyers and people to rent a villa or rent an apartment for their summer/ winter holidays. Paul Wilson, Marketing Manager at Property Direct From The Owner says, ‘The property portfolio we have has steady increased over the last few months which has been very pleasing to everyone but is not yet at the level we would like based on the enquiries we receive. We have many people contacting us saying that they like the concept of the site and are interested in purchasing or renting property direct from an owner in that respective country. This is great to be able to tell new subscribers to the site as enquiries for property can start to be processed but at the same token a little frustrating that we cannot service all enquiries at present. However, at least we know the concept of the business and the site in general is being warmly received!’
Paul continues, ‘We have a double page feature in the bi-monthly publication ‘The Good Property and Holiday Guide’ which is a very well respected UK property magazine retailing at £3.25 and available in 5* hotels, Spas and club class airport lounges. This edition sees us promote a number of our worldwide properties which is generating interest for our clients. We are spending money on search engine optimization which shows our commitment to our paying clients that we do our utmost to promote their property and generate interest for them. It’s an exciting time right now at Property Direct From The Owner and I’d urge any property owner who is struggling to generate interest for their property or looking to increase the number of rental enquiries to have a look at the website and contact us’.
Renting and buying property direct from an owner, without using an agent, has been an increasingly popular way of buying and selling property in North America over the years and slowly it seems, given the slowdown in the property market in the UK and overseas, is starting to become an viable alternative for many home and overseas property owners. A recent article in the property section of The Daily Telegraph detailed a property owner in a fashionable part of London attempting to sell direct and in the process saving, potentially, £750,000 in agent fees.
Paul continues, ‘Selling direct without an agent has many benefits not least the saving of substantial monies in agent fees. In some parts of Europe, agents can charge anything between 5% and 10% of the sale price. This can end up being a considerable amount to have to pay the agent and all for introducing a buyer. We’d never suggest to a vendor not to list with an agent because at the end of the day the owner is looking to sell and however this can be achieved should be encouraged but it is well worth considering a site such as ourselves as additional exposure is what property for sale needs right now and if this can be achieved without paying any fees then surely it is worth considering. Here at Property Direct From The Owner we take no sales commission once a property is sold and no booking fees when a property is rented. Have a look at our site today http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com create an account and expose your property, whether it be for sale or rent or both, to a whole new audience’.
Selling Property Abroad / Renting Property Abroad
It’s been an excellent couple of weeks for the team at Property Direct From The Owner, the worldwide property company allowing property owners the chance to advertise their property to a worldwide audience and have no commissions or fees to have to pay once their property is rented or sold. Property Direct From The Owner are a web based property company http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com and have been operational now for almost one year. During that time the company has steady grown and now boasts a property portfolio across the globe featuring property from traditional tourist hotspots such as the Costa del Sol in Spain, the Algarve in Portugal as well as emerging markets such as Turkey, Bulgaria and far away destinations such as Mauritius and Thailand. For £99 a property owner can register and list their property for sale or rent via the website for a 12 month period. There are discounts available for multiple property listings. During that time frame all enquiries for the property go direct to the owner with no commissions or rental fees to have to pay once a successful transaction is completed.
Paul Wilson, Marketing Manager at Property Direct From The Owner remarks, ‘It really has been a great couple of weeks. We’ve been steadily increasing the property portfolio during this time with countries such as Spain and Turkey receiving a fair number of new listings. Most importantly however, is that we’ve been generating enquiries for our clients who have chosen to advertise with us. This not only shows us that the concept of the business continues to work but also the need for more properties. It really doesn’t matter what or indeed where your property is if you are looking to rent your villa, sell your house, let your holiday home, we want to hear from you because we are in the enviable possible of having more enquiries than we push forward owners way right now. People are finding out more about us from our double page spread in this month’s ‘The Good Property and Holiday Guide’ which is one of the most respected property and holiday publications in the UK, through local advertising channels in Spain and, of course, on the internet. Prospective buyers or holiday renters, like the fact that they can deal direct with the owner, perhaps negotiate a price and get themselves a deal. As a result we have people enquiring for property in certain locations which, because we are relatively new in terms of the time we have been live on the internet, we cannot always place. We’ve stepped up our advertising and search engine spend in order to increase the portfolio. If you have a property and are looking to sell and or rent then please visit our site http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com for more details on how your advert can be exposed to a worldwide audience in a matter of minutes’.
Paul continues, ‘Talking about search engines, last week we entered into a two year SEO (Search Engine Optimization) project with a UK based SEO company which further illustrates our commitment to be the number one website for property for sale and rent direct from the owner and also our determination to ensure our clients’ properties are exposed to as large an audience as is possible. It really is all go here right now and very exciting times are ahead that is for sure.’
For more information and for how you can list your property visit the Property Direct From The Owner website http://www.propertydirectfromtheowner.com Alternatively please call the office from the numbers published on the site for any further queries.