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Another Successful Year For Chamberlains Kingsteignton & Chudleigh!

Chamberlains Kingsteignton are pleased to report that for the second year running they have sold the most properties in the town! They have also main-tained being the number one agent for taking on new instructions month on month since the beginning of the year, an accolade they also achieved last year.

Staff at the Kingsteignton office have increased turnover of completed sales by 32% this year compared to last year, and have sold over double that of the next leading competitor in the town.

They have also increased the level of new property coming onto the market by 37%, again taking on nearly double the number of new instructions than any other agent. This increase highlights that there is plenty of activity in the current housing market with many more people opting to take the plunge into buying their first home, upsizing, downsizing or investing their money into buy-to-let properties.

Leanne Distin, the manager of the Kingsteignton office looks back at the last 12 months achievements

The office has recently been awarded ‘Best Estate Agent in Kingsteignton 2014’ by AllAgents.co.uk (the UK’s largest customer review website for the property industry). Individual successes include Scarlett Hill achieving ‘Silver’ and Leanne Distin achieving ‘Gold’ in the ‘People’s Award for Customer Service’.

Manager Leanne Distin says ‘We are so thankful to all our customers for their comments and recommendations. We have had a really busy year, so it is re-warding to see that all our hard work has paid off and that our customers are pleased with our service. We are also excited to welcome Hannah Bathard to the team who is already proving to be a valued addition and I am sure will add to the success of the office over the coming months’.

If you are thinking of moving to or from the Kingsteignton or Chudleigh area then call the team on 01626 355055.

Sold Market Share in TQ12 3*

For Sale Market Share in TQ12 3*

“All staff I contacted were very pleasant and willing to lis-ten to my individual requirements. They all tried very hard to find a bungalow in the specific area I wanted and very quickly did so. The staff kept me informed through the ne-gotiations that took place to a satisfactory conclusion. Very happy with the service provided.”

“We sold our property using this agency. All stuff are very friendly, helpful and easy to approach . Stuff took our ideas on board and were very fast in creating advert and putting property on the market. Generally were very helpful up to completion. Highly recommend this estate agency.” .

“Chamberlands were a great help, helping us buy our first

property, they kept us up to update with the whole buying

proccess through out, we definatly reccomend if buying a

property, we would use them again when buying/ selling in

the future. many thanks again.”

“Very helpful and efficient. Would highly recommend to

anyone selling a house. We needed a quick sale and they

were very good at talking to both solicitors as well as the

buyer to help move things along. They're very friendly

and their extended office hours make it easy to keep in

contact.”.

what our customers have said about us:

Eye on Kingsteignton...

An honest, reliable service continues to bring success for Teignmouth!

The Teignmouth office have had another successful year this year. Sammi joined the team here in January and is currently taking her Technical Award in the Sale of Residential Property to become an Associate Member of the National Association of Estate Agents and become qualified. Helen and Max are both Fellows of the National Association of Estate Agents and have 60 years of estate agency experience between them.

Client satisfaction speaks volumes about the service we offer, there is no better way of sharing our success this year! Here are some of our successes at Teignmouth office this year and some of our happy customers of 2014!

Please see www.allagents.co.uk for all of our glowing customer reviews. There’s lots more!

We had many chains of two where we were selling both properties and formed great relationships with both parties. Ann and Derek pictured here said “This was our sixth house move and Chamberlains certainly can claim to lead the field with their customer care and constant contact and attention”

We sold 4 properties in the same Close in Bishopsteignton this year. We don’t have room to print all of the testimonials from the clients here but words used were “Brilliant, professional, considerate, responsive and determined…” from one vendor.

Another said “They were professional from the start giving a realistic valuation and constant updates on their efforts to create interest in a property that had stalled using 2 other local agents. With regular advertising and good use of their website they generated a number of viewing s and eventually a sale. That is when the real work started and again regular updates and follow up led to a very smooth exchange of contracts”

The sale of Tideways, Bishopsteignton involved great teamwork with our Newton Abbot office and we had previously acted in sales and purchases for the families involved so it was lovely to have customers coming back to us to use us again.

Thank you to all of our customers who have given us repeat business and recommended us to others. We look forward to more success and delivering exceptional service to our clients in 2015!

If you are thinking of moving in the Teignmouth, Bishopsteignton or Dawlish area then please contact Helen or Max on 01626 815815 they will be delighted to advise you on your property queries or provide you with a complimentary valuation.

Helen Potts, the manager of the Teignmouth office reports on the power of exceptional customer service!

Eye on Teignmouth...

GOOD NEWS FOR HOME MOVERS!

Recent changes to stamp duty make it much cheaper to move for many

but why?Stamp duty land tax, to give it its full name, is a tax you pay when you buy a home. It doesn’t matter whether it is somewhere you hope to live or a buy-to-let property. All that matters is how much the property costs. The tax is ap-plied according to what you are paying. Before the 4th December there were 5 different levels payable all dependent on how much you are buying for. In short, the higher the purchase price, the high-er the percentage of Stamp Duty you would have to pay.

What was wrong with that?It’s not so much the rates that people were unhappy with but the way the tax was applied. HM Revenue & Customs used a “slab structure”. This meant that if a home falls into a particular band the entire cost of it is taxed at the re-lated rate. So, for example, a house costing £180,000 attracted stamp duty of £1,800 – unlike income tax, the rate

is not just applied to the bit above the £125,000 nil rate band. This meant that there was a big jump in the tax bill when you crossed a threshold.

For instance, a home costing £249,000 attracted a bill of £2,490, while one cost-ing £250,001 attracted a bill of just over £7,500. Mortgage lenders and estate agents have long argued that this does strange things to the market, with house prices bunched just below thresholds.

What has changed?The slab structure has been scrapped and from 4th December 2014 the tax will be applied like income tax.

There will still be no tax on purchases up to £125,000.

Between £125,001 and £250,000 the rate will be 2%

Between £250,001 and £925,000 the rate will be 5%

Between £925,001 and £1.5m the rate will be 10%

Above £1.5m the rate will be 12%.

On a £180,000 house purchase there will be no tax to pay on the first £125,000, then 2% on the remaining £55,000, which is a total bill of £1,100, versus £1,800 under the previous sys-tem, a £700 saving.

Of course, there is a more simple way to check how much tax is now payable, just go to our website

www.chamberlains.co/stamp-duty

We urgently need more homes in Teignmouth to sell or rent out.

call us on 01626 815815 to book your FREE valuation.

your local property experts

your local property experts

The September data from the Land Registry shows a monthly price fall across the country of 0.2 per cent. Not very encouraging then. But the annual figures paint a happier picture. The annual price change now stands at 7.2 per cent, bringing the average house price in England and Wales to £177,299.

The number of property transactions has increased over the last year. From April 2013 to July 2013 there was an average of 64,317 sales per month. In the same months a year later, the figure was 75,950 an 18% increase in transactions.

annual increase in property prices!...

This supports our own experience locally of an improving market with more transactions and a reasonably buoyant market.

So, locally, the south west has seen a 7.1% annual increase and an average price of £185,950. More locally still, Devon has achieved a more modest 4.8% annual increase, but with a better average price of £198,632.

Our own experience locally, after analysing our average selling prices in 2013 against the 2014 average would tend to indicate that the Land Registry figures are unduly conservative. The Land Registry only publishes figures for the whole of Devon and conversely our own figures are for the sales achieved by our offices in Teignbridge.

Notwithstanding, our own average sales price suggests price increases of around 10% over 2013. There are dangers in reading too much into this, however. It could be that our sales have tended to be of larger properties this year but undoubtedly the figure will partly reflect house price increases in Teignbridge.

If you really want to know the value of your home, there is one sure way to get a clear indication: call us for a free valuation on 01626 365055.

18.4%We are all used to the attention grabbing headlines...but what’s the picture locally?

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Top Tips for a Stress Free Move.Take the stress out of moving with our top tips!1. Be cautious of over valuing your home! Some agents will tell you what you want to hear just to ‘win’ your business. Be sure that you ask them for evidence to prove any price they give you. The first 2 weeks of mar-keting are crucial so it is important to get the price right. Chamberlains will always give you an honest opinion so make sure you ask them to value your home when you are ready to move.

2. Dont let an agent tie you in to a long contract!Agents have always been known to tie you in to a long contract so you cant change agents if they dont perform. Make sure you choose an agent with a zero week tie in like Chamberlains. The service you receive should be enough to keep your business!

3. Dont rush your home onto the market!You have around 3 seconds to make your home stand out online, so it is vital that your home stands out from the crowd. Dont rush your property onto the market until the photos are looking superb and the floorplan is in place.

3.Go out for viewings!It may sound simple, but it is really important to let an agent do their job and sell your home. Buyers will feel far more at ease when you are not there, so give them the space to discuss the property with the agent so they can overcome any objections.

3.Try not to look before you find a buyer!This is where most of the stress can come from. Just imagine you find your dream home but you have no way of securing it until you find a buyer for your own house. Concentrate your efforts in agreeing a sale and then go out and look for your next home, then when you find it you can offer straight away knowing your chain is complete.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEfor

BESTESTATE AGENT

in TQ12

2014

“We would like to thank you for voting us your Best Estate Agent for the TQ12 area for 2014! Exceptional service iand recommendation is how we grow our business and this award highlights our achievments!

Thank you!”

To see why we have wont this award and to read what our customers have said go to www.allagents.co.uk and search for Chamberlains Estate Agents

There is no doubt that 2014 has been a very busy year in the residential lettings market. People have more and more reason to rent rather than buy including lack of deposit, short term work contracts, the fact that people are more likely to move area with work and just the fact that some people do not want the responsibility and commitment that home ownership brings. We have also seen a trend for retired applicants selling the family home to release capital and then renting whilst they enjoy the wealth that was previously tied up in their home. For those of us old enough to remember, home ownership is no longer the be all and end all aspiration that it was in the Thatcher years. All of this bodes well for the Landlord with quality property to let out and we do not see that this will change in the coming year.

Of course, the next question on many Landlord’s lips will be, if demand is so high surely I can increase my rent? Well, yes and no. We have seen exceptionally high demand at times through 2014 and as a result some properties have achieved rents in excess of what we would normally expect. If Landlords were lucky enough to have property available at just the right time the rules of supply and demand have proved favourable. However, during quieter periods in the market, rents will ease back to more ‘normal’ levels and the tenant who is ’overpaying’ may take the op-portunity to move to similar but cheaper accommodation.

It is therefore, crucial to strike the correct balance when valuing and mar-keting your property. A rented property is an investment that needs to work for the owner and obviously the higher the rent the greater the re-turn but, if a tenant subsequently decides that they are paying too much and decide to move on, any void period may negate the gains previously made, especially when you consider that the Landlord is now responsible for payment of Council Tax on an empty property after just one month.

As we move into 2015 we certainly expect the strong demand for qual-ity rental property to continue and, as a result we are likely to see some increase in rents although this is likely to ebb and flow depending on spikes in supply and demand throughout the year.

If you have a property you are looking to rent out, if you are looking to expand your portfolio or change to a managing agent that really looks after your investment, then please do call us on 01626 883156.

Steve Hill, the manager of Chamberlains Rentals, comments on the last 12 months in the residential lettings market.

...Lettings market goes from strength to strength in 2014

Doing what’s right for you

Call: 01626 883156Visit: Chamberlains, 1 Bank Street,

Newton Abbot TQ12 2JLOver 900 high street offices nationwide

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MAB 3156

1

Tax saving tips

for landlords

A buy to let

tax guide

Written by Taxwriter Ltd for Mortgage Advice Bureau

NEWEDIT

ION

2014

Chamberlains Lettings From Left to right: Louise Clark, Steve Hill and Laura Hopkinson-Cross