Welcome to the September 2007 edition of your Privateseller.ie newsletter

It’s been an interesting month with the European central bank deciding not to raise interest rates as had been anticipated. We are now well ensconced in the busy autumn selling season. We’ve certainly noticed an increase in enquires and property sales over the last few weeks. So, lets hope that continues over the next few months.

In this month’s edition the Money Doctor – John Lowe advises Ted on how to invest in property, a business venture and plan for a move overseas, all at the same time!

The blousy blooms of your Summer garden may well be past their showy best. We give you tips on how to keep your kerb appeal right through to January and beyond with a little careful planning and planting now.

In this months Facts and Figures we look at the up’s and down’s of the property market and what it means for buyers.

If you’re a tenant of a local authority house and the much lauded increase in affordability isn’t enough to help you on the property ladder, we explore your options to buy your house outright or through shared ownership.

Finally our MD Fiona continues her series of monthly tips on how to get your property sold.

IIA Net Visionary Awards 2007

Fiona Mcloughlin, MD Privateseller.ie has been nominated for the Internet Visionary Awards under the category of Internet Entrepreneur. We are delighted here to have this opportunity to promote Privateseller.ie and our efforts to provide a real alternative to traditional commission based, auctioneering services.

The Money Doctor - Making Money - Hot Assets

John, I want to invest in my future lifestyle as well as property. I'm young enough to work at a new business venture, but far enough along in years to put sunny climes on my shopping list! How can I do both? Ted, Baltimore  

Ted, consider a 35 acre, award winning vineyard in Romania, complete with mini-castle and winery for under €460,000, a productive 10 acre organic olive grove with villa on an unspoilt Greek island for €275,000, a yacht charter business
based in the Mediterranean and generating a gross annual profit of €150,000 for €500,000, a successful seaside restaurant with living accommodation and sunny terrace on Majorca for €650,000, a small, popular bar in Marbella with studio apartment for €95,000, a 700 acre equestrian centre – including private airstrip and plane – in New Zealand for €1.2 million or even a motel with a stunning 1930s swimming pool and development potential in Miami for €1.9 million.

Tempted by any of the above Ted?     Read the full article on hot property  

Spring Stars

Although the gardening season will soon be over, there is still one planting activity to be done: planting bulbs for spring flowers. There is nothing as heartening as an early glimpse of colour after winter days, and if you have plans to put your property on the market in the New Year, a colourful garden will prove most appealing to that prospective buyer. Planning ahead now and planting during September and October will guarantee a glorious display for the early days of 2008.  

Why now?
The reason that we plant spring-flowering bulbs in the autumn is that the bulb needs time to develop a solid root system before winter sets in. Some plants need exposure to cooler temperatures to start the biochemical process which stimulates flowering. By spending some time perusing catalogues and the vast array of specimens available, you will be able plant a display of spring flowers from late winter to early summer. In order of appearance, the 'spring stars' of your garden or containers are: crocuses and snowdrops, daffodils, followed by tulips and grape hyacinth. Indian hyacinths (Camassia) are some of the last, along with Summer Snowflakes (Leucojum).

When choosing bulbs, opt for ones that are' large, firm and of good colour. Cheaper bulbs will produce poor, or sometimes even no, flowers. The bargain mixes and lower-priced bulbs are lower quality, younger bulbs. Their display will not be as impressive, but they will work in areas where you want to naturalise your bulbs where you just want to put some spring colour. Choose a site that has good drainage and some hours of direct sunlight a day. If the soil of your chosen site tends to be wet, consider raised beds, to prepare planting beds, dig six or eight inches of soil. Add peat moss or other organic matter then mix in special bulb fertilizer.

But I'm not ready!
Even if you are too busy soaking up the sunshine of our Indian summer to plan for springtime, buy your bulbs while there's still a good selection and wait to plant. You should try to get all your bulbs planted by the end of October to give them plenty of time to develop a good root system. Store bulbs in paper bags, because they can develop bulb rot surprisingly quickly when stored in plastic. Label the bags with the type, variety name, height and flower colour. Store the bags in a cool, dry place. The vegetable bin of a fridge is fine, or a shelf in the garage. Don't store them with any ripe fruit. Ripe fruit gives off ethylene gas that will kill the flower buds within the bulbs.

Bulbs away!
For a more natural look, plant bulbs in groups or clumps rather than in rows. One method is to throw the bulbs over your shoulder and plant them where they land. [This is not recommended if you are planting a window box on a balcony!] Bulbs look most attractive planted in front of evergreen shrubs or among perennials and other flowering shrubs.
Plant bulbs upright, [pointy ends up], at the recommended depth. As a rule of thumb, bulbs should be planted three times as deep as the bulb's greatest dimension. Space bulbs according to size. Large bulbs such as tulips and daffodils should be placed four to six inches apart while smaller bulbs such as crocus and snowdrops, should be placed one to two inches apart.

When plants emerge in spring, fertilise lightly with bulb fertilizer at least two inches from the plant. Once flower petals fade, use scissors to remove the flower parts and stem before the plant produces seed pods. However, let the leaves remain until they have turned yellow, so the bulbs get plenty of nourishment for the following year’s display. You can camouflage the bulb foliage by carefully planting summer annuals around the bulbs once all danger of frost is past. If you have planted your bulbs in between shrubs and perennials, their emerging foliage will disguise the fading bulb leaves.

Although most spring-flowering bulbs are perennials, you may need to replant tulips and hyacinths each year as these blooms aren't as vigorous a second year. Daffodils, scilla, and crocus, on the other hand, are stronger and spread further with each season, so are best left undisturbed.

It may seem strange to be planning a spring display even before this year's autumn leaves have begun to fall.   A little work now will pay dividends in a few short months, whether its for your own enjoyment or an investment in the kerb appeal of your property to spring shoppers!
      

The ups and downs of the property market

We managed to avoid one interest rate increase recently and although there are predictions for another one or two increases. That means that we are coming to the top of the interest rate increase cycle which has to be good news for buyers. Interest rate increases to date have resulted in a reduction in property prices, enhancing affordability for buyers.

A recent permanent TSB/ESRI house price index shows that prices fell in July for the fourth consecutive month. According to permanent TSB, prices fell for the fourth month in a row. In July prices fell by 0.4%, after previous declines of 0.5%, 0.8% and 0.8% in the preceding three months. As a result, prices in July were 0.7% lower than year earlier levels having been up by 0.9% year on year in June.Simon, can you put in a link to the article in last months newsletter please? It is expected that prices will continue to fall over the coming months.

Most of the downward price trend has been in existing houses. Developers have been reluctant to cut the cost of new houses, choosing instead to cut back supply in response to reduced demand. Indicators point to fewer house completions next year.  House guarantee registrations fell by 37% year on year in the first eight months of 2007.
This cool period in the Irish housing market has also had a negative effect on the rate of mortgage growth.  The highest mortgage growth rate ever recorded was 28% in March 2006. In July the rate recorded, 17.9% was the lowest since 2002. Irish Banking Federation data show a 23% decline in the number of mortgage draw-downs. The number mortgages drawn down by investors fell by 26% while for first time buyers, draw-downs fell by16%. Stamp duty receipts (from all sources, not just housing) has turned negative, falling by 2.1% for the eight months to August this year, compared to +36.4% in 2006.

However, even though the housing market has slowed over the last year, and there has been a marked reduction in the number of houses completed, the mortgage growth rate has declined and the government has a reduced stamp duty take, these actually may be positive signs for the property market in the long term. It is likely that the supply and demand balance will recover itself, and when interest rates stabilise, conditions should prevail where confidence will be restored to the market.

Buying your council house

Read full article on buying your council house

This month's tip for getting your property sold - Price to entice!

Be careful when pricing your property that you are pricing to entice as many potential buyers as possible to view your property. Price and photos are the first two elements, after location, that buyers will look at, when deciding whether your property should be added to their “to view” list.