How Important Is a Good Property Sales Brochure?

When selling a house, the printed property sales brochure should be fundamental to your property marketing strategy. Alas, all too often many vendors do not think of the brochure as a 'pro-active sales tool' and they simply regard it as nothing more than a point of reference for prospective buyers, giving them room dimensions and an idea of what the property looks like along with the estate agent's details on should they wish to make an offer. Many vendors do not realise how, with just a little effort, their humble printed property details can become a highly effective promotional aid that actively entices buyers.

Many people selling houses in the UK go down the traditional route of simply listing their property with a local estate agent. They then leave all of the marketing and promotion in the hands of the professionals - after all that's the agent's job isn't it? However the quality of sales particulars produced by estate agents varies widely, so it is in the vendor's interests to ensure that the printed details given to prospective buyers are as effective as possible.

In most cases the estate agent's fee will probably include some local advertising, listings on property websites or a photograph and summary details of your property in their shop window. Most estate agents will also produce a printed description of your property to give out to prospective purchasers. This will very often be in a pre-formatted standard template design.

A typical house buyer may cast their eye over hundreds of properties when searching for their next home, it is therefore important that your house stands out from the crowd. To have any chance of being noticed among the dozens of other similar properties for sale in your area or buyer's price range, it is imperative that your property looks as appealing as possible when prospective buyers first see it on-line or in the estate agents window.

Capture the imagination:

Estate agents in the UK are of course legally bound by certain rules regarding the descriptive content within a property sales brochure, but it is the photographic content that usually lets the side down. You only have one chance to make a first impression, so ensure the photographs of your property are the best they can be. If your leading photograph is an exterior shot of the whole house then simple things like ensuring the frontage is tidy will make a world of difference to the overall impression, also try to take the photograph on a sunny day. If your house has a driveway or garage then leave the car off the parking space while the photograph is being taken, this will draw the buyer's attention to the fact there is parking available rather than to what kind of car you drive. Additionally buyers will not be attracted by interior shots of kitchens with washing-up on show or scruffy laundry-strewn bathrooms - remember you're selling a lifestyle - and they will not be enticed by photographs of houses taken at night with only pitch darkness visible through the windows.

To avoid such mistakes ensure your house is clean, tidy and well lit before the photographer arrives. If your estate agent visits at night time to list your property, ask him to come back during the day to take the photographs. You wouldn't expect your estate agent to bring along 'David Bailey' to take photographs of your home, but if you feel your agent isn't a good photographer and hasn't captured the best possible image of your house, then find someone who is proficient and supply the photographs yourself.

One of the most common photographic errors is not keeping the printed details up-to-date; for example still using a photograph taken in winter with snow on the ground to sell a house in the middle of the summer. Perhaps the worst offence is an out-of-date photograph that shows flags in neighbouring windows taken during major sporting events - especially if the football word cup finished over a year ago! These kind of errors effectively 'date' your house and you could be giving buyers the impression that there must be something wrong with it to have been on the market for such a long time.

Retain the interest:

Once your beautifully presented property sales brochure has caught the buyer's eye, it should then entice them to come and view your property. Apart from containing an accurate description (fixtures and fittings, room sizes, floorplan, tenure etc), your sales brochure gives you an ideal opportunity to tell prospective buyers all about your property's unique benefits over other houses they may have viewed. You do not need to write a lengthy essay, but a few carefully chosen points in an opening paragraph that outlines your property's attributes can quickly give the buyer a 'feel' for how your house could become their next dream home.

A small section on local amenities, highlighting local schools, shops and entertainment facilities can also go a long way to enticing a buyer to view your house.

In summary then, a well-designed sales brochure should firstly promote your property and attract the right buyers to view your house by capturing their imagination. Secondly it should be a tangible piece of informative literature that retains the buyers' interest by answering many of their questions; highlighting the unique benefits of the property to make it stand out against the competition. Finally it should be kept up-to-date and underpin your whole marketing and sales campaign and complement any other marketing activities (such as advertisements or websites promoting your house for sale) by carrying the same sales message and clear, quality images.

Points to Consider When Buying a Repossessed Property

Repossessed properties usually offer good value for money; they normally require a certain amount of refurbishment (which can reduce the asking price) and most lenders in repossession will want to achieve a quick sale. However, there are a few issues buyers need to be aware of when delving into the repossession market.

The main issue when buying a repossessed home is lack of information about the property. Remember, you will not be dealing with the owner/occupier; instead the sale will have been forced by an organisation where the homeowner has used the property as collateral and defaulted on a loan or mortgage secured on it. The seller (or lender in possession) will usually be a bank or building society. They will want to dispose of the property as quickly and as cheaply as possible, but they will also have a duty to the repossessed homeowner to achieve the best sale price and mitigate their losses.

These circumstances can create a few difficulties for the buyer:

• As the seller will not have occupied the property they will have no personal knowledge of it, in some cases they may not even have the original deeds. Consequentially the seller's solicitor will be unable to answer many enquiries that are normally raised during a house purchase. You will therefore need to make your own enquiries to satisfy yourself (and your mortgage provider) that there are no legal problems with the property.


• It is highly likely that a strict and short deadline for completion will be imposed - sometimes as little as 14 days - so you will need to ensure your finances are in place.


• The seller will want to keep their legal costs to a minimum and limit their liability after completion of the sale. The seller may not have any paperwork relating to legal issues such as planning permissions, building control or NHBC certificates, therefore you will need to be prepared to do most of the legwork to obtain copies and cover any associated costs yourself. You can buy indemnity insurance to cover certain things (such as lack of planning permission), but these policies very often require answers to questions that only the homeowner would know. In that case you would need to obtain a bespoke policy which would be more expensive.


• You will need to rely on your own investigations for many other things, especially information about any issues with the neighbours, such as access or boundary disputes.

Firstly you should thoroughly inspect the condition of the property yourself and then get a structural survey. Repossessed properties are 'sold as seen' and the onus is on the buyer to ensure everything is in working order. The seller will usually state that it has no knowledge about the condition of fixtures, fittings or appliances, so it is very important for you to establish they are in good working order before you commit to an exchange of contracts; otherwise you'll need to factor the cost of replacements into your renovation budget.

If you are buying a repossessed house with a mortgage it is imperative that you do all you can to minimise delays by securing an 'in principal' offer from your mortgage lender before you make an offer on the property.

Once your offer on a repossessed property is accepted, the seller will impose a deadline requiring exchange of contracts to take place within a certain time frame - this is typically 28 days if buying with a mortgage, or 14 days if buying with cash.

The seller's estate agent will advertise the offer they have received in the form of a public notice, advising if anyone wants to make a higher offer then they should do so before exchange of contracts. Contracts cannot usually be exchanged until at least 7 days after the notice is first published.

The possibility of being gazumped at the last minute is a very real risk when buying from a lender in possession. One of the pitfalls of buying a repossessed property in the UK is that someone else could make a higher offer at any time before the exchange of contracts. The seller is obliged to get the best price and must therefore consider any offers received right up to the day of exchange. If a new offer is accepted by the seller, your purchase could fall through, but you would still be liable for any legal and professional fees incurred at that stage.

If your purchase proceeds to an exchange of contracts, then the seller will require a deposit payment from you (usually 10%). Provided you complete within their time frame (usually 10 days) the property will become yours. If however, you cannot complete on time, it is highly likely that the seller will withdraw from the sale, the property will be re-marketed and you will lose your deposit.

You will become responsible for the property between exchange and completion, so you will need to purchase house buildings and contents insurance immediately after exchange of contracts. It is therefore always wise to insist that exchange and completion takes place simultaneously; otherwise you will be insuring a property that you cannot access immediately.

The seller is responsible for any arrears of service charges and ground rent which are outstanding at the time of completion. In the case of where the amounts are unknown, it is usual for the seller's solicitor to retain a portion of the sale proceeds to cover this liability. This is called a 'retention'. A lender in repossession however, will not hold a retention because it will want to finalise and close the mortgage account as soon as the sale has completed. The contract will usually be drawn so as to indemnify the lender in possession against any arrears that they were not aware of at the time of completion; so it is vital to get your solicitor to check the position before completion, and to pass any arrears details onto the seller's solicitors.

In a normal house sale the seller would repay all mortgages on the property and their solicitor would transfer the property using form TR1. A lender in possession however will use form TR2 (transfer under power of sale). This operates jointly as a transfer and as a discharge document. This means that any subsequent charges or bankruptcy restrictions registered after the lender's charge will be removed from the title by the Land Registry when the transfer is registered, otherwise this would have to be done using separate discharge documents.

You should always seek legal advice when buying a repossessed property as, if there is more than one charge on the property (and you fail to obtain a discharge document for an interest which is not covered by the TR2), you may be bound by it which can be extremely expensive. The lenders in possession do not generally provide the transfer on completion but usually send it on within 10 days of completion.

There are many things to consider when buying a repossessed property, compared to a normal house purchase. However, if you are able to get your finances in place quickly, are willing to keep chasing solicitors to keep things moving, can work within the seller's strict timescales and do lots of research yourself, then you may be able to bag yourself a property bargain.

Flipping Commercial Real Estate

Home-themed TV shows make it sound easy: buy a house, update it, quickly resell it, and bank the profit. But look behind the scenes of flipping commercial real estate and you may discover that this simple process requires (some) money, careful budgeting, strategic planning, and a certain amount of luck and skill.

Flipping basics

Flipping commercial real estate means investing in a residential or commercial property, updating that property (somewhat), and selling it. You should aim to make a net profit of 10% - that is, selling it for a price 10% to 25% higher than the original purchase price, including all related expenses. Flip + Sell + Reinvest.

Where and how to start

The process of flipping a house can seem pretty basic but there are important steps to take at each point of that process:

• Education: Education is your first property flipping step. Use the Internet, library, community college and seminars to learn all you can about property flipping and buying properties with little-to-no money down.
• Target property: Determine what type of first property you want to flip. Are you interested in homes that are new construction, fixer-uppers,or commercial properties? Focus your studies to that property choice.
• Credit: Check your credit score through the three free services. You need to know where you stand credit-wise before you begin applying for mortgage loans.
• Not having a budget may be your first step toward failure. Your property choice will influence the amount of loan you may qualify for. How much of a cash down payment will you make?

How much will it take to get the house up to code, habitable, and sufficiently presentable? Budget for repairs and materials, contractor services, permits and inspections. One blogger suggests planning to add 20% to your estimate for the final cost of a fixer-upper.

Your budget should also include the property price and the closing costs, any HOA fees, realtor and legal fees, inspection fees, mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc.

What to fix?

A new construction flip should require very little in repairs or updates. Fixer-uppers are different. You are not selling the fixer-upper "as is"; you are planning to rehabilitate it for better value.

• Structural: Budget for issues such as plumbing, electrical updates, and structural restoration.
• Best updates: Buyers want decent bathrooms and kitchens free of plumbing and mold problems. Don't kit your fixer-upper with a chef's kitchen and master suite spa. Do the important basics and make both areas look fresh and clean - and safe!
• Curb appeal: The exterior may require some refreshing to both the structure and the landscape. Again, do the important safety and refresh basics.

Continue your education

Learn with each step and each property flip. With a solid knowledge base and flip plan, you may find yourself becoming an experienced and skillful commercial real estate flipper sooner than you think. Remember - your success is in flipping that first property for a profit, reinvesting, and repeating the process. Best wishes for your success.