Our First Time Buyers’ guide offers help and advice for those looking to get on the ladder and buy their first home. What follows below is a précis of the guide.

1) Define Your Buying Power

Before you start looking for a property speak to a mortgage consultant who advises on mortgage products across the whole of the market and find out from them what you can realistically afford to buy. Obtain a mortgage offer in principle.

2) Find the Right Property

Register with all the local Estate Agents and on Rightmove’s website search facility so that you automatically receive details of suitable properties which are new to the market.When
viewing properties ask the Estate Agent questions such as:
• How long has the property been on the market?
• What position are the owners in?
• What level of offer might the owners consider?
• What is included in the sale?
• Is the Agent aware of any problems with the property?

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60,000 homes are sold each year to fund Long Term Care. Don’t let yours be one of them!

Most retired married couples have worked hard all their lives, paid off their mortgage and now own their own home. If one needs to go into Long Term Care, as long as their spouse is still living at home, then the Local Authority cannot attack the value of their house.

The problem occurs after the first has died and the survivor then needs to go into Care. If the survivor now owns 100% of the house, the Local Authority can assess its value.

By changing the way Wills are worded and with the careful use of Trusts, we can create a situation in which the house is deemed valueless by the Local Authority and this valuable asset is completely protected.

To find out more, contact Ian Hunter of Quay Asset Management on 01 722 327427

Bassets has teamed up with the Salisbury Foodbank to launch a ‘Bring a Tin’ campaign to help feed the growing number of people facing short term crisis.

A crisis can crop up through many ways but the main ones are benefits delays, sickness and of course rising unemployment. The Trussell Trust’s foodbank network has fed 24,000 people across the UK in the last year – a 71% increase on the previous year.

Foodbanks work with frontline care professionals to identify people who have hit crisis point and provide people with three days emergency food, as well as support. For many, the foodbank is a lifeline.

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Floor plans are a must for anyone looking to sell and an absolute essential addition to any property brochure.

Floor plans play a vital role in our proactive approach to the successful marketing of a property. Comprehensive software packages and gadgets such as palm tops and laser measures are now readily available and help make it quick and easy to produce floor plans.

In terms of the benefits, prospective buyers get an excellent feel for the flow of a property before deciding whether to view it. The plans also give viewers an idea of how the layout might be altered even before they visit the property – for example indicating where they might put a door into the landing so that they could build over the garage.

In addition, buyers typically view several quite different properties in a short space of time, often finding it hard to remember the layout and potential of each. Here again, floor plans act as a very handy visual reminder.

From a seller’s viewpoint, viewings are simply more focused with potential buyers having a much better feel for the property even before they walk through the door.

It is for these reasons that we include floor plans as standard for all our customers, whatever brochure they require.

In these times of recession, all households need to save money on their utility bills and with the recent rises in gas prices, your central heating is the largest part of the household gas bill.

One of the ways we can all save gas is by having the boiler regularly serviced and with that service, a gas safety registered engineer can carry out an efficiency test on your gas boiler. The test will tell you how energy efficient your heating system is currently running at and also whether your gas boiler is safe and not producing too much carbon monoxide.

We all have a responsibility to cut down our carbon dioxide emissions and you cannot successfully do this without having your boiler efficiency tested. If you have the service and efficiency test carried out and you find that your boiler is below 70% efficient, then you may feel it is time to consider changing the boiler and/or updating the system and controls.

The newest condensing boilers are now running successfully at 98% plus efficiency, which should give a reasonable payback period on the investment of a new boiler and controls.

Also, GSI are about to announce a gas boiler ‘scrapage’ scheme which would enable people with inefficient boilers more than 10 years old to trade them in and receive a percentage discount on the replacement of a gas boiler and system update.

For more information, please contact
Tim Cubitt of GSI Energy Ltd on
01980 610030.