Ask any of our clients, buyers or sellers, and they'll say we tell it how it is.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I'm always looking for a positive out of any situation. They'll also tell you I'm not a 'told you so' kind of person.

Well, I'm still ever the optimist, but I did 'tell you so'.

Search engines like Google, Msn and Yahoo are increasingly the preferred method to look for anything on the Internet these days, including property.

It used to be that one large property portal would do in terms of finding a suitable home but with more and more agents leaving sites like Rightmove can you really be sure any one portal has 'everything in one place'.

Portal sites are great for browsing, but if you're really searching for the perfect home try it next time.

For example 'property in Ipswich' or 'property in Kesgrave' will bring up a host of portals and agents ensuring you get the chance to really see what's out there.

The Bank Of England has just announced a 1.5% cut in the base rate to 3%!!

Waahaay!! I hear you cry. (that's if you're a borrower, not a saver)

This could, potentially, be great news for the housing market. I say 'potentially' as apparently over half the country's banks and lenders have yet to pass on the last reduction!

We know lenders are not legally obliged to pass on any reductions at all, but surely 1.5% in one fell swoop looks to me like the BoE saying ''just try not passing on all or some of that''!!!

After all , us good old taxpayers have just bailed out a lot of them, time for a bit of payback I say!!

It will be interesting to see if the govt/us owned Northern Rock lead the way!

Can't wait to see what happens next.

With all the differing opinions and varying 'advice' out there at the moment about the current housing market, it's no wonder it's confusing.

What's really going on?

In my experience the most successful price reductions over the last few weeks ( that have resulted in an agreed sale) have all been , on average, 20% lower than was being asked a year ago!

It's what I'm now calling the 20% rule. That's what it seems to take to sell, some people are just getting there quicker than others.

The implications are twofold. Firstly, if you bought a property within the last 1-2 years and are contemplating selling now, I'd say I wouldn't if I was you!

Secondly, if you reduce sufficiently and manage to pass that reduction on it's actually a good time to get involved, (i.e 20% off £275,000 is more than 20% off £170,000) assuming everyone in a chain follows the same principle.  If they don't, then move on to another one.

So, if you're determined to sell, it can be done!! Do the research if you're buying or selling, or both.

Remember, the 20% rule applies to the house you're buying as much as the one you're selling.

Happy hunting

At last some good news for once.

Whatever the reaction to todays announcement of a year long axing of Stamp Duty upto £175,000, (effective from 03-09-08), there's no denying that with the average UK house price now at just under £170,000 this should go some way to reducing the overall costs of moving for a lot of people.

All we need now is estate agents to do their bit and reduce fees from the ridiculous average of 1.5% - 2.0%. 

Now that would really be Great News, wouldn't it.

I regularly speak people these days that are keen to move home, even in this current climate, but who all make the same mistakes time and time again...

They assume they'll have to pay a certain price for the home they want.

In the Ipswich area alone I know of at least 5 agents to have shut their doors permanently since September last year.

If there's any indication the market's changed, surely this is it.

If you're thinking of selling I thought I'd share this recent conversation I had dealing with an offer I received on one of our properties.

The buyer had offered almost 10% off what, in my opinion, was an already realistic asking price.

I just agreed a sale on a property for one of our sellers and as I looked out of my kitchen window I thought to myself how much this business has changed since I got into estate agency in 1986.

Back then we didn't have Broadband, E-mail, Google or, indeed,  the World Wide Web.

The 14th of December is looming large and all 1 and 2 bedroom properties marketed after this date will require a Home information pack.

Although most agents agree that the majority of buyers are showing very little interest in HIP's  they do, at least, show some financial commitment from anyone looking to sell their home.