Feature | Residential market
A good year
to move
Prices are bottoming out and Home Report valuations
are helping to establish market rates. However, with a
realistic approach you can still make a good salenull
ack in March, the first property deals are being done. After all, the economy Barony House
B
from Savills Edinburgh with a Home might have got sticky but life goes on and people
Barony House, just
outside Edinburgh,
Report was sold following an still have to move house for all sorts of reasons.
was the former home
advertisement in The Scotsman. “If you have five children and you’re living in of Sir Walter Scott. On
There were 22 viewers and 10 days a terraced house you might be after a detached
the market in the midst
later at closing date, it received five house, or you might be taking a job in a new
of the downturn,
a premium was
offers. The final sale price was 10 per cent over area,” says Peter Lyell, Head of Edinburgh
achieved after a realistic
the asking price and £30,000 above the Home Residential. “There are natural forces at work that
asking price was set
Report valuation. There was similar success with ensure there will always be a housing turnover.
for this magnificent
mansion house.
a dilapidated town house that had 24 viewers The proof is that we are still selling houses.”
when it went on the market. It received eight
offers at its closing date and although there was Learning about a new market
no fixed asking price for the property, it achieved The qualification to all the activity that Savills
a good premium. has seen in the last couple of months is that
The above examples do not indicate that the sellers are not achieving the high premiums of
market is thriving again, but they certainly do the last few years. There is no doubt there has
help to demonstrate that while the market is been an adjustment in the market, which has
different, there are still buyers out there and that seen house prices in Scotland drop by around
The home report
Complete home information for prospective buyers
Since 1 December 2008, houses for sale a valuation and an accessibility audit for “We are now selling homes under a new
have had to be marketed with a Home Report people with particular needs. The Energy system, which has not been used before
which will be made available, on request, to Report contains a surveyor’s assessment in this part of the world,” says Peter Lyell,
prospective buyers. The price of the report of the home’s energy efficiency and Director of Savills Edinburgh. “There was
will depend on the price of the property but environmental impact. It also recommends an initial resistance to spending £1,000 or
for a typical £700,000 house, the price will be ways to improve its energy efficiency. more before going on the market, and some
around £1,000. The Home Report consists of The Property Questionnaire is completed concern that it would slow up transactions.
three documents: a Single Survey, an Energy by the seller of the home. It contains However, ironically the reports are helping to
Report and a Property Questionnaire. additional information about the home, such add stability to the current market, providing
The Single Survey contains a surveyor’s as Council Tax banding and factoring costs, both buyers and sellers with a good indication
assessment of the condition of the home, which will be useful to potential buyers. of price, and have been well received overall.”
6 savills scotland residential review
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