how to Avoid Property Market Dirty Tricks

This article by The Telegraph on October 3rd, 2013 reveals property expert Sarah Beeny's tips on avoiding being ripped off in a rising market.

The housing market is picking up again, which means the familiar cast of property nasties - greedy vendors, gazumping buyers and the oily agents in between - are rising like ghouls back from the dead. And they are bringing with them the old array of dirty tricks that can turn the homebuying process from being merely difficult into pure hell.

Here, Sarah Beeny gives her top tips for avoiding them.

When a property market is busy, there is a lot of pressure on the buyer to move quickly or commit more money than they initially planned.

In this situation, it is crucial for buyers to do their homework.

“I truly believe that people shouldn’t panic buy. You should buy when the time is right for you, not in reaction to what the market is doing,” said property expert Sarah Beeny. “You are buying for 25 years and in that time the market will go up and down, so don’t rush into it.
“Make a considered decision and don’t stretch beyond your budget.”

Before you start looking for a property, you should have a mortgage agreed in principle, Ms Beeny said. “Find out how much you can borrow based on your income and then look around for the best mortgage available,” she said.

Ms Beeny also recommended lining up a solicitor in advance. “You can establish a good relationship and have everything in place when you want to put in an offer – it means the process is less painful and you lessen the risk of losing the property because of delays.”

When you start looking at properties, the most important thing is to look at prices in the surrounding area. “If a new build flat is being valued at £100,000 more than the surrounding properties, for example, there is something out of place,” said Ms Beeny.

Information on sold prices nearby is available online and you can ask neighbours for further details.

Article Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/10352319/Sarah-Beeny-on-how-to-avoid-property-market-dirty-tricks.html

Wind Turbines Don’t Hurt Property Values

This article by John Upton of grist on August 28, 2013 declares that wind turbine won't hurt property values in contrast to the previous reports.

Some people who learn that wind turbines are going to be built in their neighborhood freak out about a couple of things, but science can help put their minds at ease.

First, they worry that their health will be harmed if they develop so-called “wind turbine syndrome.” But there is no evidence that wind turbines actually cause any of the ailments commonly blamed on them.

Next, they worry that the value of their property will fall. “Here come those eggshell-colored spinning things that produce energy but no pollution,” they might mutter to one another in hushed tones. “There goes the neighborhood.”

Fortunately, this concern is equally unwarranted, according to a comprehensive new study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers [PDF]. From the study:

We collected data from more than 50,000 home sales among 27 counties in nine states. These homes were within 10 miles of 67 different wind facilities, and 1,198 sales were within 1 mile of a turbine — many more than previous studies have collected. The data span the periods well before announcement of the wind facilities to well after their construction. …

Regardless of model specification, we find no statistical evidence that home values near turbines were affected in the post-construction or post-announcement/pre-construction periods. …

[T]he core results of our analysis consistently show no sizable statistically significant impact of wind turbines on nearby property values.

This was the largest study of its kind, but it was not the first. Studies published by the same laboratory in 2009 and 2011 reached the same conclusions.

“Although there have been claims of significant property value impacts near operating wind turbines that regularly surface in the press or in local communities, strong evidence to support those claims has failed to materialize in all of the major U.S. studies conducted thus far,” said lead researcher Ben Hoen.

Hoen and his colleagues dug up similar but highly localized academic studies focused on parts of Illinois, New York, Ontario, the U.K., and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Only the latter study found any evidence of a potential effect of wind turbines on property values.

So unless you’re investing in real estate in western Germany, you can breathe easy about any nearby wind energy developments. They won’t harm your health, and they won’t diminish the value of your property portfolio.

Article Source: http://grist.org/news/wind-turbines-dont-hurt-property-values/