Victor Michael

Proud to be the WINNER of The Property Investor & Homebuyer Show for THE BEST INNOVATIVE COMPANY OF THE YEAR!! Thank you! 🙌🏻

Posted by Victor Michael Estate Agents on Friday, 6 October 2017

The Victor Michael team was a winner at the Property Investor & Homebuyer Show this year.

Victor Michael received the award for the best innovative company of the year. The show happened between 6 – 7 October 2017 at London ExCeL International Exhibition Centre and it is the UK’s longest running exhibition of property.

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Photo source: Property Division http://bit.ly/2hKFy8Y

Valuable advice for Buy-to-Let landlords to be ready for 2018:

1. Mortgage Interest Tax Relief Changes

2. Utilising Airbnb To Avoid Void Periods

3. New PRA Rules For Portfolio Landlords

4. New Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)

5. London House Prices & Rental Yields

More in this article on Property Division:

5 THINGS BUY-TO-LET LANDLORDS NEED TO KNOW GOING INTO 2018

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Home automation or domotics is building automation for a home, called a smart home or smart house. It involves the control and automation of lighting, heating (such as smart thermostats), ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), and security, as well as home appliances such as washer/dryers, ovens or refrigerators/freezers. Wi-Fi is often used for remote monitoring and control. Home devices, when remotely monitored and controlled via the Internet, are an important constituent of the Internet of Things. Modern systems generally consist of switches and sensors connected to a central hub sometimes called a “gateway” from which the system is controlled with a user interface that is interacted either with a wall-mounted terminal, mobile phone software, tablet computer or a web interface, often but not always via Internet cloud services.

Even from the mere definition on Wikipedia, you know what to expect of a Smart Home. It is the ‘house of the future’ as we have seen it in movies a long time ago.

Complete automation of systems inside a house and the possibility to remote control them became a reality in the last few years. Because of the house’s ability to ‘respond’ to requests and needs of the inhabitants, it was named in the real estate domain a ‘smart home’. But is it smart enough to fascinate an English buyer?

Photo source: Property Reporter http://bit.ly/2x5GpDi

Latest research shows that most Brits are afraid of smart homes because of reasons like:

  • unapproved data collection;
  • hackers;
  • web viruses.

More details in the article on Property Reporter:

Majority of Brits are fearful of ‘Smart Homes’

Distrust in this type of a ‘connected house’ can be caused by lack of knowledge. Maybe testing the house before can prove to be a good way to increase confidence in home systems and technologies.

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Photo source: Property Reporter http://bit.ly/2wICfB5

Taken individually, these moves we hear about on the property market seem to be weird and with no rational basis: ‘biggest fall since…’, ‘highest raise’, etc. But if you judged them in the context of the market as a whole they make perfect sense.

For example, home buyers have been increasingly attracted by discounted luxury property. They now count for 45% of all purchases in prime central London. As an effect, the number of investors in buy to let (BTL) has seen a significant decrease, falling by 1/3.

Since luxury homes are the main target for the demand, the natural outcome is that the number of flat sales to fall easily. And this is exactly what has happened since the beginning of this year: flat sales went down 11% and prices have increased by 2.6%.

If you want to understand all the effects and, more important, the causes of the effects happening on the property market in the UK read the full analysis on Property Reporter:

Who is buying up Central London?

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Photo source: Fixflo http://bit.ly/2fon22j

Section 21 notices can get tricky for those who do not know all the laws and amendments.

You have to know:

  • when a Section 21 Notice can be served
  • when a Section 21 Notice becomes invalid
  • the paperwork you need to provide
  • when the courts might become involved

Fixflo created this useful fact-sheet for those searching to have a clearer image of section 21 and it can be downloaded from their website.

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Photo source: http://bit.ly/2uLUKZ5

New studies show that 82% of property buyers are willing to pay more for a green house. Energy saving improvements can make a substantial difference in the price of the house.

Buyers in the UK would pay more for an environmentally friendly home

Environmental friendliness and sustainability can be targets for anyone thinking a make over of their property. Moreover, as British architect George Clarke puts it, people need to see in their pockets and implement in their home. He actually gave a few tips to The Telegraph from which anyone can get inspired.

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Photo source: http://bit.ly/2w9W8Et

24 June / 31 Oct – RIDE THE SLIDE AT THE ARCELORMITTAL ORBIT.

178m of slide. Ride the world’s tallest and longest tunnel ride.

 

15 Apr / 30 Sept – ABSEILING AT THE ARCELORMITTAL ORBIT.

The U.K’s highest freefall abseil on the U.K’s tallest structure measuring 262 ft.

 

 

 

21July / 2 Sept – BEACH EAST.

25 Rides and attractions. A beach bar. Live entertainment. Beach volleyball. Kids paddling pool.

 

24 July / 3 Sept – ULTIMATE AQUA SPLASH.

UK’s largest indoor inflatable aquatic experience.

 

1 – 31 Aug – ACTIVE AUGUST.

Throughout everyday in August, a variety of activities will take place across the park.

 

19 / 20 Aug – ELROW TOWN.

A festival of surprise complete with a town square, markets, cafes and a bar. The park will become a vibrant festival for 2 days.

 

19 Aug – BASKETBALL.

Great Britain vs. Greece

 

26 Aug – LIVING ART FESTIVAL.

Celebrate arts and culture in the community with a whole day of fun across the North Park.

 

28 Aug – EAST LONDON WATERWAYS.

Join the celebrations for the restoration of the August Bank Holiday Weekend.

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Photo source: Property Reporter

Downsizing on the property market is actually the opposite of climbing on the property ladder. Reducing the size of your home should come as a natural resolution when the house you own is too big for your necessities or too expensive for you.

However, the decision of changing homes can come very difficult, especially within people of a certain age. A recent study showed that most retirees that should downsize choose not to because of a series of reason, the most important being the emotional factor.

Reasons why downsizing is a difficult decision to make:

  • emotional ties like memories created in their family home;
  • not finding the right new property to move in;
  • high moving costs;
  • the high stamp duty that should be paid.

Despite this, advisers and consultants should be prepared and recommend solutions to those who face a hard time choosing to downsize. As the article on Property Reporter mentions, equity release is a solution and should be carefully offered to some of the clients.

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It has been 10 years already since the Electronic Performance Certificate (EPC) is used on the property market as an energy indicator for homes.

Basically, you can find out 3 things from an EPC:

  • a grade for the efficiency of the property (A being the most efficient, and G being the least);
  • suggestions for improving the property’s efficiency;
  • an indication to what rating the property has the potential to achieve based on the suggested improvements.

A complete article upon the EPC and ways to improve your rating can be found at the following link.

April 2018 will bring a new ‘Minimum Energy Efficient Standards’ (MEES). The new legislation will affect landlords which will no longer be able to grant a new tenancy of the property with an Energy Performance Certificate with a rating below an E. This measure actually prepares for a more rough legislation: from April 2020 all rented properties must have an efficiency rating of E or better.

However, the real news is that once with the 10th birthday of the EPC the previous certificates (that date back more that 10 years) are invalid and will not be taken into consideration anymore.

 

Source of the article and photo.

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