The Hub
Welcome to The Hub. We share:
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lots of ways to add value to your home or investment
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insight from industry experts
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client case studies
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Q&As with other industry professionals
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sort style and stage
- Nov 30, 2020
- 3 min
A Day in the Life of a Property Stager
As founder of sort style and stage, no two days are ever the same. Not only do we provide a range of staging services - property staging (for businesses such as developers and estate agents), virtual staging (used by all) and home staging (used by homeowners), we also provide interior and refurbishment services. In this blog, we'll share what a day in the life for us is about when we're working on a client property staging project. We mostly work with developers so the prope
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sort style and stage
- Nov 16, 2020
- 3 min
"Second Stepper" Home Prices Soar
Rightmove have reported that 3-4 bedroom, excluding 4 bed detached homes, otherwise known as "Second Stepper" homes are selling at record prices, with the average in August at £291, 618. Why are Second Stepper Homes So Popular? Buyers are looking for more space not only to live in but also to accommodate their home working needs, so stepper homes normally allow for both these demands to be met. The number of sales agreed in August, compared with the same period last year, mor
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sort style and stage
- Nov 9, 2020
- 3 min
Lockdown 2: Business As Usual for Housing Sector
On 5 November 2020 we entered a new hybrid version of lockdown, so what does this mean for the housing sector? What differs for the housing sector, this time round, is The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020. These Regulations allow: you to visit estate agents, letting agents, development sales offices or show homes you to view residential properties if you are looking to buy or rent preparing a home to be able to move into it mov
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sort style and stage
- Oct 21, 2020
- 4 min
How to Meet the Stamp Duty Deadline
The first £500,000 of any property for sale is exempt from stamp duty up until March 31, 2021, if it is bought as a main home. With property transactions taking four months to complete, you “... really have to find a buyer before Christmas to complete by March” says Miles Shipside, Director and Housing Market Analyst at Rightmove. So How Do You Achieve And Complete a Sale by 31 March 2021 Deadline? Here's the key factors that will influence your success. Pricing is Key Altho
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sort style and stage
- Oct 14, 2020
- 7 min
Industry Roundup
Here's a summary of what's been happening in the housing sector, together with an outlook for the remainder of 2020 and beyond. In short, the market continues to be buoyant as buyers want to address their primary need of more space. We suspect this theme will continue for the foreseeable future as homeworking becomes the new norm for many of us. The buoyancy has resulted in a shortfall of housing stock which in turn has resulted in the continued growth in prices. It’s inev
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sort style and stage
- Oct 11, 2020
- 3 min
Shortlisted for Two Industry Awards!
We're incredibly proud to have been shortlisted in the 2020 Home Staging Association UK & Ireland awards. This is absolutely incredible, particularly given we have been shortlisted for two categories: Best Transformation - Before and After (Vacant Property) Best Virtual Staging Best Transformation - Before and After (Vacant Property) Working for developers, we routinely transform empty spaces into desirable homes. The project we've been shortlisted for is a large, multi-mill
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sort style and stage
- Sep 21, 2020
- 4 min
How Do You Achieve That SALE?
Redrow Homes, latest survey indicates that a quarter of those they surveyed are reconsidering what they want in their future home. Of note are: - 53% of those who have children under 10, or who are currently expecting a child, are most likely to have change their priorities, compared to an average of 24%. - 39% of those who've had to work from home (either part-time or full time), or are in furlough have changed their priorities. Priorities Post-lockdown Unsurprisingly as thi
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sort style and stage
- Sep 14, 2020
- 3 min
Housing Round Up: Nationwide
In line with what other industry commentators have shared, Nationwide's August House Price Index continues to highlight that the housing market is very active. This monthly report confirms that there was a 3.7% annual house price growth and prices were up 2% month on July. Source: Nationwide Their monthly summary indicates: Source: Nationwide Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, says: “UK house prices rose by 2.0% in August, after taking account of seasonal effect
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sort style and stage
- Sep 9, 2020
- 5 min
Why is My Development Not Selling?
This is a very interesting question now, given we are in the midst of a mini boom. Even though you may have an amazing build, quite simply, there could be a number of reasons why you are not selling. Learn what these reasons could be and what to do about them. Before we get into the detail - let's remind ourselves for a moment, what you are selling - ah yes, a property not a home. The respective definitions are: Property "a building or buildings and the land belonging to it
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sort style and stage
- Sep 4, 2020
- 3 min
Latest Market Update
Here's the latest news on how the housing market is performing based on input from Zoopla. Zoopla's monthly Housing Index confirms that: there is a +2.5% UK house price growth year on year activity is at its strongest since 2015. This is driven by two key factors - pent-up demand and a re-evaluation of what buyers want as a result of lockdown although the UK is in a recession, agreed sales per estate agent in August are 76% above the 5-year average 50% more homes are being l
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sort style and stage
- Aug 28, 2020
- 4 min
Top Tips for Viewing Properties
Although buying a property is likely to be your biggest ever investment, buyers normally spend less than 30 minutes viewing a property! It is therefore vital that you spend this time wisely. Although we buy with our hearts, we also need to think with our heads to avoid expensive mistakes. Here's our 7 value adding tips of the things you should look out for when viewing your potential next home. #1. Is the property well maintained? Although the majority of us are not surveyo
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sort style and stage
- Aug 28, 2020
- 4 min
Why is My Home Not Selling?
Once you've put your home for sale, you should expect to receive regular viewings from prospective buyers, particularly now - Zoopla has confirmed it takes 27 days on average to sell a home. The combination of the pent up demand brought about by lockdown and the stamp duty holiday means that we're in unprecedented times and in fact in a mini boom. Here's six reasons why your home may not be generating enough buyer interest and what to do about it. Poor Marketing Content Yes
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sort style and stage
- Aug 26, 2020
- 4 min
Record Housing Sales of £37 Billion
Rightmove's August Monthly Housing Index confirmed that August was a record in terms of sales, valued at £37 billion! Also of note are the following: the average house price was £319, 497 Rightmove experienced the highest number of sales since they started tracking data in 2010, up by 20% compared to the previous high, and with a record total sales value of over £37 billion! there was the highest number of properties for sale since March 2008 and 44% more than the same period
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sort style and stage
- Aug 23, 2020
- 2 min
What Puts Buyers Off?
Putting to one side the obvious things such as a poorly maintained home, what items can put off a potential buyer? Rated People have analysed almost a million jobs posted on their website and spoked to homeowners and tradespeople up and down the country. They have some surprising results, given the popularity of some design choices which have become staples for many of us over the last few years. Adrienne Minster, CEO of Rated People says: "We know from the many completed pr
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sort style and stage
- Aug 18, 2020
- 2 min
Asking vs Agreed Prices
Twentyea has shared their most recent analysis, focusing on the gap between the asking price and the agreed sale, referred to as the transfer price since 2018. So what does the Data Show? From the data, it is apparent that the gap between the asking price and the transfer price was as its lowest in 2019, despite the Brexit issue and the general election. It is also evident that sale prices have increased in 2020 following the market re-opening in May 2020. Source: Twentyea
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sort style and stage
- Aug 12, 2020
- 3 min
Home Office Boots Property Value £17,500
If you are fortunate enough to have a dedicated home office, it will add £17,500 to your property value, according to Direct Line. If you don't have a dedicated home office and you are thinking of selling, re-consider how you use the spaces within your home to create that all important home office or work space. Direct Line have analysed properties for sale and found that the average price of a home with a dedicated home office is £456,500 - 4% higher than equivalent propert
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