How To Sell Or Let Your Property Faster

Selling or letting your home can either go very smoothly and very quickly or it can turn into a nightmare of viewings, no offers and huge amounts of frustration. This is, of course, largely dependent on the state of the housing or lettings market at the time you want to sell or rent, but there are certain things that you, as the home owner, can do to make things go a lot more smoothly.

The Look of the Property

The first thing you should do is take a look at your home. You will have lived there for a quite a while and grown used to the building, including all its faults. Potential buyers, however, will spot these a mile off and it could put them off. Make sure all your interior and exterior paintwork is up to scratch, make sure no wallpaper is peeling, get your garden in order, make sure your bathroom and kitchen are clean, your windows clean, your floors and carpets clean.

First impressions really are important so you definitely want your property to look its best. Just because you have lived with something for a long time, doesn't mean your prospective buyer or tenant will want to!

Incentivise your Buyers / Renters

If your property has been on the market for a while it could be worth offering some kind of incentive in order to entice a firm offer to buyers or renters. You should be careful how you go about this, but the type of incentives you could offer include:

Include white goods

If you can sell or let your property with the fridge, freezer, washing machine, dryer and all the other white goods included, this could prove to be a great attraction, especially for first time buyers or those looking to rent. Not having to fork out extra for essential appliances could give your property the edge over similar ones in your area.

Cover buying / letting costs

You could also offer to cover some or all of the costs associated with buying or letting a property. This includes the Stamp Duty, solicitor fees, letting agents fees, even moving costs.

Obviously you need to be wary with this type of incentive as it could end up costing you more than you bargained for, but if you get your maths right it could prove to be a great selling point.

Something different

If you're in a unique position and can offer something no-one else can you could turn this to your advantage. Perhaps you own a holiday home - would you be willing to offer up two weeks a year holiday to whoever buys or rents your property for the duration they live there? Or maybe you run a nightclub - free admission to the buyer / renter while they are in the property could be a good incentive.

In fact, if you run your own business then whatever product or service you supply could be offered up in some sort of incentive to entice people.

Think a little bit outside of the box, always being careful not to do too much, and you could sell or rent your property much more quickly than you might have imagined!

Ian Grainger is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour, letting agents Manchester and estate agents Manchester.

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Manilva Property Rentals

Manilva is a municipality located in the province of Malaga which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Andalucia. The whole of the south coast of Spain lies within Andalucia as do both the Costa de la Luz which extends along the Atlantic coast and the Costa del Sol which runs along the Mediterranean Coast. Manilva is on the Mediterranean coast and hence lies on the Costa del Sol or "Sun Coast".

Manilva is situated 11 Km to the west of Estepona and 30 Km to the E of Gibraltar. In addition to the inland town itself it includes on the coast; the old and delightful Spanish fishing of Sabinillas; The modern marina of Duquesa; And the charming village of Castililo de Duquesa

The town of Manilva is situated a couple of kilometres inland. It has remained mainly Spanish in character and atmosphere, as most of the English and other sizeable nationalities prefer to be on the coast. The town is still surrounded by vineyards growing Moscatel grapes which are converted to wine or. This local industry is continually declining with many acres of vineyard being developed for houses, apartments, shopping complexes and golf courses.

San Luis de Sabinillas, more commonly known simply as 'Sabinillas' was originally a small Spanish fishing village. Today there are squares and gardens with bars, cafés and restaurants where you can watch the world go by.

The Paseo Maritimo, which runs from the La Noria development of apartments in the E to well beyond the Duquessa Marina in the W offers the opportunity of a level walk of several kilometres, well away from any busy roads.

The "blue flag" beach stretches for over 1.5km between the Puerto de la Duquesa and the Rio Manilva and includes the entire frontage of the town of Sabinillas. Local fishermen still launch their boats from the beach and recover them with the use of capstan winches. The beach is cleaned daily throughout the summer and manned by both lifeguards and first-aiders.

The Puerto de la Duquesa is situated halfway between Castillo de la Duquesa village to the west and the town of Sabinillas to the east. The attractive marina/port is used by fishermen and pleasure craft alike. A small boatyard offers repairs and maintenance together with storage ashore, including dry-stack. Prices are "eyewatering" even for this part of the coast.

Boats can be hired for fishing trips, as can pleasure trips on catamarans for a half or full day. The beach on the eastern side is "blue flagged. The harbour itself is surrounded by attractive apartments and an array of shops bars, and restaurants. Access to vehicles is limited and controlled by barrier. Puerto de la Duquesa is busy in the evenings with an extensive night-life.

Castillo de la Duquesa is a small village located just to the west of the marina of Puerto de la Duquesa. It took its name from the fortress that stands at the entrance to the village. The castle was erected in the 1760 and the architect Francisco Paulino was granted the command of a company of cavalry by King Charles lll for his services. Since then the building has had many uses and is currently used for exhibitions, cultural events and council offices. The village has a number of pleasant squares and gardens and boasts some of the best fish restaurants in the area.

Castillo de la Duquesa's history can be traced back to roman times when it was a busy centre for salted fish and a paste known as Garum. This was a "gentlemen's relish" craved by the Romans and as such brought great prosperity. The remains of the Roman settlement are southwest of the castle. Next to the Plaza de Banos is the bathhouse together with the old boiler house, associated hypocausts and a large stone bathing tank with patches of the original mosaic floor. They can be viewed but remain behind locked gates.

Getting to Manilva by air is easy. Malaga Airport, some 45 minutes away, offers flights from most airports in northern Europe. A new airport is being developed in Gibraltar to allow even more convenient access to this unspoilt part of the Costa del Sol. The nearest train stations are San Roque to the west and Malaga to the east. From Malaga trains run directly to Madrid with a journey time of just 2.5 hours Buses run to Algeciras in the west and Malaga in the east. From both stations it is possible to get connecting buses to the major cities of southern Spain and also to Madrid, the capital, in central Spain. The A7 coastal road or Autovia de Mediterraneo runs through the municipality and the AP-7 or Autopista de Mediterraneo, a toll road, runs just to the north of Manilva. The nearest exit is #142.

Ken Jones runs a site for Manilva Property Rentals.
Follow this link for more info on Sabinillas Long Term Rentals

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Speculation on the Auckland Property Market

After 5 years of unprecedented boom and the worst 3 years since the Great Depression, everybody is speculating on the Auckland property market. Here is my two-penneth worth:

2011 commenced with a fragile degree of optimism in the Auckland residential property market. Interest rates are low, unemployment numbers, although not necessarily reducing is not getting worse and business confidence levels are gently on the increase.

Prices are holding and in many regions showing healthy increases - albeit at sales levels lower than in more "normal times".

Come April, regions centred on the CBD had a mini boom with both volumes and prices showing healthy growth over any of the preceding 12 months. Causes?

Immigration figures are unchanged with a virtual zero balance in - out. So what caused the growth in the Auckland property market?

One can only assume that there was a spike in demand as people chose to leave Christchurch following major and frequently recurring earthquakes.

Why would Auckland Property have benefited as opposed to other cities or regions? I believe it was a simple pragmatic of employment opportunity - though many in the country may enjoy a love/hate relationship with Auckland, most understand that as the largest commercial and education centre, the opportunities are greater.

Wellington once held an attraction as a place to live, but with the cut backs in the government ranks it is not currently seen as presenting the same opportunity as may have been the case some years ago.

When it comes to residential Auckland property pressure, the ripple is one from the outskirts inwards, rather than from the centre out.

People purchase at the outer circles where prices are more achievable, enabling those selling to purchase towards the centre where transport costs are less and where the modern - European Lifestyle is more evident.

As developers have disappeared off the Auckland property scene those competing for property do so from existing stock rather than from the usual urban sprawl available in better times. Supply is static as demand increases.

Those wealthy or fortunate enough to own property within the city fringe are seeing their equity increasing.

The wealthy are getting wealthier.

And over the winter of 2011?

It is my view that this winter will see the lowest turnover of stock for a decade as the wave of internal migrants has most likely been satisfied.

I believe stock levels in the Auckland property market will be right down with "good" properties selling with exceptional prices, and often with multiple offers presented to the fortunate vendors.

Written by Simon Damerell, co-principal of Ray White Ponsonby Real Estate. Ray White Ponsonby - Ray White Ponsonby in Auckland, New Zealand serves popular Auckland inner-city suburbs. This small, unique and increasingly sought after geographic area offers proximity to the city centre, the harbour and the lifestyle increasingly desired by Aucklanders. http://www.rwponsonby.co.nz/

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Last Chance for Compensation From the North Cyprus Property Commission

The background to the formation of the Immovable Property Commission, or IPC, lies in the effective partition of the island of Cyprus since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island in order to protect Turkish Cypriots from armed assaults by Greek Cypriots who were pressing for union with Greece.

The partition of Cyprus initially created a refugee problem as Turkish Cypriots moved to the north, and Greek Cypriots moved to the south. Both communities abandoned land and property as a result of the conflict.

The Greek Cypriot cause was given a boost in 2004, when Cyprus joined the European Union. This was a contentious decision as the EU recognised the Greek Cypriot administration of South Cyprus as the sole legitimate government of the entire island. The Turkish Cypriot administration of North Cyprus was denied any official recognition.

There were several high profile cases where dispossessed Greek Cypriots who had lost land in the north applied to the European Court of Human Rights for compensation. The ECHR made rulings in favour of several applicants, including Myra Xenides-Arestis in 2006 and the landmark case of Titina Loizidou in 1996.

The formation of the Immovable Property Commission was a response by the North Cyprus administration to the plight of dispossessed Greek Cypriots. The Commission accepted applications from Greek Cypriots who had lost land in North Cyprus after the partition of the island in 1974. The aim was to make available a local solution to the problem, and avoid the costs of defending claims in the European Court of Human Rights and also to stop the adverse publicity and financial cost of awards made by the Court to Greek Cypriots.

The formation of the Immovable Property body has been judged a success by both Turkey and the North Cyprus administration. This is because the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2010 that the Commission provided an effective domestic remedy. This ruling was made in the Takis Demopoulos case. The ruling effectively placed in limbo a large number of applications which were pending at the European Court of Human Rights. The outcome meant that all dispossessed Greek Cypriots would be required to make application to the Property Commission rather than the European Court of Human Rights.

The ruling was not welcomed by the Greek Cypriot government as it conferred a degree of international recognition on the Turkish Cypriot administration of North Cyprus and the IPC. Greek Cypriot politicians have, on the whole, advised voters against making applications to the Property Commission and, by implication, recognising the authority of the IPC to adjudicate on land claims in North Cyprus.

According to the Property Commission website, a total of 1,296 applications have been filed with the commission. Some 250 cases have been dealt with and decisions made. Of those, 68 applications were revoked and two rejected. Therefore, some 168 applications have been succesful, and compensation has been granted in return for giving up their property rights in the north. The Property Commission has to date awarded around GBP63 million Pounds Sterling to applicants.

Now that the final date for applications to the Property Commission draws near, Greek citizens, or their parents, who abandoned property and land in North Cyprus in 1974, face a difficult choice. If they apply for compensation from the Property Commission, they may receive a payment for the lost land, but could incur sanctions from the Greek Cypriot government.

Alternatively, they can await a political settlement to the problem of the divided island. However, as the two sides have been in acrimonious negotiations concerning a united island of Cyprus for over 30 years, one cannot expect that a settlement will be reached in the near future.

Therefore, it is likely that there will be a rush of applications to the North Cyprus Property Commission before 21 December 2011.

Leslie Hardy is a noted writer on North Cyprus Properties and the UK Chairman of Wellington Estates Ltd. Read more about North Cyprus Property Commission

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