The festive period is over. Stomachs are full from perhaps a little too much overindulgence, Christmas trees are sat forlornly outside our homes waiting to be taken to the tip and recycled, and decorations have been put up in lofts to collect dust for another year.
Once we've waved goodbye to relatives and friends, and rediscovered the normal pace of everyday life, thoughts will quite possibly move onto moving home.
2014 looks like it might be a year for the seller. In many parts of the country, property stocks already are dwindling, and there are pockets with practically nothing available at all.
Demand has outstripped supply to such a marked degree that prices are rising. Estate agents often get blamed for pushing up prices, but it is buyers who set the pace. Whichever way you cut it, a property is still only worth what an individual is prepared to pay for it.
So here are a few things to take into account if you are keen to move home this coming year.
By all means, continue to keep your eye on, and a bookmark active on, the major property portals - Rightmove, Zoopla etc. Obviously, keeping an eye our website is also a great idea.
However, all too often nowadays, by the time a property hits those sites, it is simply too little too late. There may be several people ahead of you in the queue. That is because they know what is coming on to the market before it actually does - and the key to this is simple. Know your estate agent.
It really is essential for you to get to know the estate agents in your area and ensure you stay in regular contact with them. In this market it will be the squeaky wheel that gets oiled. Making yourself known - and heard - is the best way to keep ahead in the buying game. Make your estate agent friend - not foe.
Within reason, in a rising market, dare to buy at a future value rather than a present one. Offer what you think the property will be worth by the time you complete your purchase several months down the line. By the time you do move, the value of the house may have risen by about one per cent. This means you can afford to outbid more timid buyers. So, don't be mean with your offer - you could lose a really good property.
Make sure you are in a good position to buy. If you have a property to sell - sell it. At least, have it under offer and a good, proceedable buyer lined up. If you were deciding between one buyer with a home to sell and another with no property to sell, or a sale in hand, who would you choose?
Be very careful of gazumping. Outbidding on a property where a deal has already been agreed may seem clever. But it very often leads to misery. Firstly, the original buyer may top your offer. Second, if the owner is prepared to go back on the original deal to take a better offer, what is to say he may not do the same with you? Gazumping is not illegal but, many would agree, it is far from moral. Take it from someone who knows - avoid gazumping like the plague. Instead, prepare and put forwards a sensible, intelligently chosen offer figure. Put your best foot forwards and suggest your 'best and final' price. This will deter gazumping and show the owner that you are serious, prepared to purchase and that they are getting a good price as well as you.
Don't be too gleeful at the amount you get for your property - the price you pay for the next one you buy could wipe the smile off your face! In other words, what you win on the swings you lose on the roundabouts. Prices are all relative.
This year, we will see many more initial asking price offers. As an office we have already seen this, barely out of the blocks in 2014. Yet some buyers, still believing that they can wait or make silly low offers, will be left behind. So do the best thing that you can do, enlist the help of an estate agent who experienced the market the last time this happened - and preferably the time before that. One who can guide you, help you, become your advisor and ensure you secure a good property at a sensible price.
But all this still doesn't mean that sellers can slap on any old price for their properties and expect a stampede. Buyers may be keen - but they are certainly not desperate, and definitely not stupid. They are shrewd, more often than not, and can tell if a property has been marketed at an incorrect price.
Happy New Year - and happy house hunting.
