Agents have a lot of tools at their disposal today, but which ones work for you?

Property portals- Rightmove, Findaproperty, Primelocation and PropertyIndex- these 4 sites (along with an agents own private site) will account for 90% (if not more) of all high calibre leads. Other portal marketing is good as, the more places your property appears the better, but more than this is really just to impress the Landlord. However this is the most important tool in marketing your property!

Photos & Floorplans- Professional photos are nice and for high-end properties (£750,000+) I would recommend them HOWEVER private photos taken carefully by an agent with a good standard camera will have the same impact online as professional work. Floorplans are another matter! All the portals state that floorplans mean more ‘detailed enquiries’- this means where people click on a property to see more info (e.g. the floorplan) however there are no stats to say that they help sell/let them quicker. If space or layout is a particular feature then I think these are valid and I think they are more appropriate in sales than lettings but I generally feel these are more of an agent marketing tool than a property one.

Magazine spreads- after almost 10 years in agency in London I can only attribute a handful of deals to an enquiry from printed page……but I can associate hundreds of property instructions to them. This is possibly the greatest trick of all agency marketing! As a Landlord or Vendor how can you NOT be impressed by an 8 page spread in the local magazine/property supplement? Wow- these guys really invest money to sell/let my home…..No! Although SOMETIMES this works the reality is buyers and tenants alike go online or walk in to a shop, they do not rely on a magazine to find their home as, by the time they are printed and distributed, half the properties have already gone (if the agent is any good). This is almost purely a ‘brand awareness’ exercise- don’t be fooled. Unless you are marketing a £1m+ property and want some ‘unique marketing strategies’’ then pick an agent based on whether you like them (yes I used the word like) and have they succeeded in selling/letting anything similar?

All the rest- there are a lot of other gimmicks out there including virtual tours, audio tours, 3D models, lottery prize sales….and more. The truth is most of these don’t actually sell property, they sell estate agents. These can ADD to a sales force but focus on the core elements when choosing someone. Local market knowledge & experience, likeability factor, recent success and finally professionalism!

The Conservatives and coalition, have stuck to their word and moved swiftly to stop the requirement of HIPs. An announcement made this morning stated that HIPs would be suspended with immediate effect whilst the full legislative change is drawn up.

Properties will still be required to have an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) in order to be marketed however these are much cheaper and quicker to arrange than HIPs ever were.

AHIPP, a body formed to support HIPs, is going to try and work with the government to try and salvage the ‘best aspect of HIPs’ in order to try and develop a genuine document that speeds up the buying process without delaying a property’s marketing- what this will mean or be remains to be seen.

Many agents and vendors will be delighted with this swift action although I remain sceptical that this will really make any difference to the sales market- particularly in London where HIP prices are very cheap in comparison with property value. However, it is nice to see that the government have moved swiftly and made good on their word- long may it last!

Searching for help with mortgages on the web can be a difficult and time consuming process. There are literally thousands of websites offering a wide range of services. The level of service ranges from hand holding all the way from a phone call or completing a short enquiry form, right through to sites that offer long, detailed questionnaires that allow you to choose your own product.

So what’s the best way to find the information you want and set about finding the right mortgage? Well as is so often the case the answer is “It depends�. There is certain logic in thinking that having recently purchased your household or car insurance online you should be able to adopt a similar strategy with your mortgage and within a half hour or so know exactly which product is best for you.

There are  a number of reasons why the fully DIY approach could end up either costing you a great deal more than you really need to pay over the duration of the mortgage – or it could mean you end up not being able to even get a mortgage.

In terms of eligibility Internet sourcing tools are getting better and can you give you a reasonable idea of products that you might be able to buy, provided your situation is simple; clean credit history with no missed payments, stable career with sufficient income, good deposit, no recent change of address, etc., etc. The reality of this is such perfect candidates are, like the people who religiously go to the gym four times a week, eat their five a day and limit themselves to a glass of chardonnay with dinner, few and far between.

So what’s the answer? Well if you want to limit the risk of unsuccessfully applying to a lender or paying too much for your mortgage, then homework on the web is a great first step. A good mortgage sourcing site  and set of up to date best buy tables can arm you with very useful knowledge – it’s just inadvisable as your sole source of information and not even close as a substitute for a good mortgage advisor.

So assuming that you now realise the benefits of expert advice what do you need to know?

Well you must make sure your advisor is experienced, independent, offers products from the whole of the market and is FSA regulated – that’s before you begin a conversation about your situation.

At very least the initial consultation should be free of charge so take advantage of this and make sure you are satisfied with the information you receive and have a good feeling about the person.

Mortgage advisors often do not charge a fee as they get paid by the lenders at standard agreed rates. This essentially means you are getting free professional advice to make sure you choose the most appropriate mortgage. Small administrative fees are sometimes charged for difficult cases or to safeguard against incorrect information from a client. For example, if someone wishes to remortgage but has overvalued the property and the mortgage application fails because of this. This is sometimes refundable if the mortgage goes through so ask about this.

Mortgage advisors are obliged to work in a very structured and open manner with clients and the FSA come down hard on brokers who fail to comply. There is an obligation to make sure you are fully informed at all steps in the process and understand all the mortgage rates, fees, monthly payments and restrictions.

Article provided by guest blogger- David Whitehouse