‘To sell or not to sell’
Author: Grace Willcocks
To sell or not to sell? The property market is still very much open, and despite last week’s announcement, there has been a lot of activity as many developers and savvy individuals want to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday. The pace of business last year after the first lockdown, meant that at Burbeck Interiors like many property businesses, outperformed their 2019 budget, despite condensing business into a shorter period.
The current market is buoyant, and shows no sign of slowing down. In November mortgage approvals for new home purchases rose to the highest level since summer 2007, according to the Bank of England’s latest money and credit data, meaning there are plenty of buyers out their sitting on funds, ready to move fast.
According to government data, Q4 2020 saw more property transactions over £40,000 (the base line figure) than the same period for the last 10 years, and January and February look set to see those transaction figures rise. With record numbers of properties listing on the market, the challenge is how to make a property stand out when the competition is fierce. In certain central London locations such as Hampstead, Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea, the markets almost feel as though they have reached saturation point. Buyers there are overwhelmed by the availability of property options, affording them more bargaining power.
With developers and home-owners alike tightening their belts to weather the latest lockdown measures, staging a property might feel like a luxury, or a an additional expense ‘too far’. Research states that, a staged home sells up to three times faster than one that hasn’t been dressed, according to the 2020 Home Staging Association report. As developers ourselves we know very well that staging increases the value of the property and the number of viewings. As people may be again moving towards virtual viewings, not only are your enhancing your space by dressing it, you also providing viewers with perspective. (See the transformation video in our journal for evidence of this).
Investing in dressing your property to sell will always be worth it, not only that, it could be the investment that makes all the difference as 70% of the properties we dressed went under offer in 5 weeks or less in 2020.