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As i write this, the sun is shining and there is blue sky above Diggins & Co HQ in Rochford.  That can only mean one thing.... Spring is finally just around the corner!

It's that time of year again. The time of year where clients, friends, family and colleagues ask what is going to happen with the local housing market next year. So with this in mind, i thought i would share my predictions arond the housing market for 2024:

Are you considering moving home next year? For those of you that are, the logical conclusion to arrive at would be to get Christmas out of the way and then look to market your current home for sale early in the New Year. Then, once a sale has been agreed, look to find your new dream home. 

If you have glanced at a newspaper or switched on the news over recent times, you will be forgiven for thinking that the housing market in the UK has taken a catastrophic downturn! Constant talk of recession, soaring energy prices, inflation and interest rates all point to the end of the world! With all this negativity, people are starting to ask whether now is actually a good time to buy a new property or are they better to wait until things settle down. We hope this blog will explore some of the facts about the current market and help you make the decision as to whether to make that move now.

When you take the decision to sell your home, it is important to get it looking as nice as possible to ensure any prospective buyers see nothing that might dissuade them from making that all important offer!

Quite often, we meet sellers who have brought up their families in, what was their forever home and now the kids have moved out the plan is usually to sell up, downsize and release some equity so that they can enjoy retirement and not have the maintenance of a larger home to worry about.

You may think that selling a property in the summer months was not a good idea as people tend to disappear off on holiday or have the children home from school so might not have the time to focus on finding a home.

We are often asked by potential buyers what is involved when looking to buy a Leasehold property and what things they should consider.  In this blog we hope to explain what it means to buy a leasehold property and what potential buyers need to know:

When it comes to property advice, their is a huge amount of advice out there for First Time Buyers, however the same cannot be said for those looking to sell ftheir home for the first time… Selling a home for the first time can be a daunting and sometimes stressful process and many first time sellers we meet genuinely don't really know where to start.  Therefore, by using our decades of experience, successfully selling property, we  thought we would share some advice to help making that sale happen more quickly and more smoothly:

The media are constantly reporting how difficult it has become for first time buyers to get themselves onto the property ladder.  Saving for a deposit, plus all of the other costs involved when buying a property is cited as one of the biggest reasons a lot of first time buyers are struggling to buy.

We first met Sandra, the owner of a lovely bungalow in Leicester Avenue, Rochford just before last Christmas.  She had been marketing her home with a very well known online estate agency for several months with very few viewings and no offers to purchase within this time.  She was hoping to sell what was her family home , but the lack of interest was causing undue delays and stress for all the family. Furthermore, she had already paid the online estate agent up front so felt incredibly agrieved that after all this time there was so little interest.

Despite the weathers best attempts to confuse us, we are now in Spring and in the estate agency world, Spring time usualy see's an upturn in activity as the sunshine (when it appears finally) brings out a greater number of buyers and sellers looking to move home before the summer.

One question we are asked above any other at the moment is what is happening with the property market? - Is there a slow down? Is it a bad time to move?

Most people are aware that they will need a conveyancer (a lawyer who deals with conveyancing) to represent them in a property transaction. However, what does a conveyancer do and what is the legal process they carry out? A conveyancing transaction has various stages to it - all of which must be complete before you get those much-awaited keys.

Six Things To Do To Get Your House Sale Ready For 2023: Here are our top tips to prepare your home for sale to ensure it sells faster and for the highest price possible:

Looking for some festive fun for you and your family over the next few weeks? Then we are here to help with our list of local Christmas events:

Are you considering moving home next year? For those of you that are, the logical conclusion to arrive at would be to get Christmas out of the way and then look to market your current home for sale. Then, once a sale has been agreed, look to find your new dream home.                        However, for the smart movers, this course of action may not be the one that benefits you most.  Let me explain…

Few people truly understand the frustrations you face trying to sell your home. Perhaps you’re in between jobs and need to start renting. Or maybe you want to buy your next home, but you feel paralyzed because you need to sell this home first.  The clock is ticking … and with each tick, in a toughening market, you are losing some of that equity.

With all the doom and gloom in the media recently and predictions of massive house price crashes ahead, I thought it might be worthwhile to give our opinion on the current state of the property market and our predictions of what we think will happen moving forward: It seems that you can’t pick up a newspaper or turn the TV on without seeing some “expert” tell us that we are heading towards a recession which will mean that the housing market will drop and everything is terrible. So, rather than all panic and accept these predictions without looking at some facts, let’s all think about things a little more logically.

There can be little doubt with all that is happening in the UK currently, the property market is changing and with talks of a possible recession around the corner this doesn’t appear to be a short lived change.

Despite what the media are reporting, demand for property locally is still as high as ever.  In fact, during the month of August we have registered a record number of new buyers all urgently seeking a home to buy in the locality.

It is widely predicted that the recent rise in interest rates will not be the last.  Economists , politicians and experts are saying that in order to attempt to try and kerb inflation, interest rates will most probably need to rise again, with some predicting rates to hit around 2% by the end of 2022.

The loss of a family member or partner is likely to be one of the most difficult times for anyone and this is often accompanied by having to deal with clearing and selling the home they lived in. The sale of a property in these circumstances is usually referred to as selling a probate property and in this blog, we will give some helpful hints and advice as to what is required when you sell a property in probate;

Peter's house was immaculate. He had lived there for the last ten years, over that time had meticulously maintained and improved the property to create a wonderful home.

Did You Know...? Visits to property portals such as Rightmove, Zoopla and On The Market TRIPLE over the festive period?!?

Anybody who keeps an eye on the news will no doubt have read or heard that inflation is fast becoming the next big problem that the Government are having to contend with.

After a period of ill health, the owner of a lovely bungalow had taken the decision to move in with her daughter so she could be looked after in her retirement.

Do you know how your property is performing online? Has your estate agent spoken to you about this. If your home isn't getting the level of viewings you expect then ths undoubtedly is the first thing to give some attention to