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WIN the last pair of tickets to WBA v MUFC this Sunday
In case you didn’t know, Zoopla.co.uk are the official sponsors of Premier League Club West Bromwich Albion who, this weekend, are playing Manchester United at home at The Hawthorns.
Normally this would be nothing other than another Premier League fixture, however this match is set to be epic. It’s Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1,500th game as manager of Manchester United, but also this will be his last ever game as manager -26 years!
Consequently tickets sold out in a flash. West Brom are preparing a special edition 144-page programme which has already sold over 5,000 copies online and Sir Alex Ferguson will be given the guard of honor by the Baggies.
However, not ones to let you down, we have the last remaining two home stand tickets to this game. Yes, you read correctly!
Here’s how you can give yourself the best possible chance to win them.
To enter the draw, all you have to do is follow @Zoopla on twitter and re-tweet this tweet on Twitter – link to tweet here or click on tweet image below
As we anticipate some demand for this prize, please make sure you are aware of the T’s & C’s stated below.
Good luck!
T’s and C’s
1. To be eligible for the draw you must follow @Zoopla on twitter and retweet the competition tweet.
2. The winner will be chosen at random and contacted via twitter just after 5pm May 17th 2013 and must reply to @Zoopla within an hour or another winner will be chosen.
3. The winner may not sell the tickets and will be required to show proof of ID when picking up the tickets.
4. The winner must be over 18.
5. The winner must be signed up to the West Bromwich Albion website.
Housing market confidence at highest level in 3 years
The housing market has seen a number of positive events in recent weeks including initiatives in the Budget and the latest Zoopla Housing Market Sentiment Survey reveals that confidence is up amongst homeowners – a significant step towards a recovery.
According to the research UK homeowners are expecting house prices to rise by 4.5% over the next six months. This is the biggest predicted house price increase by UK homeowners in over 3 years and could signal that 2013 is set to be the best year for the property market since the financial crisis struck.
The proportion of homeowners who think that house prices will increase this year is also at the highest level for almost three years with three quarters (74%) of those surveyed predicting prices in their area will increase, the most since the second quarter of 2010.
Confidence has grown notably over just the past few months as only 65% of owners predicted an increase back in December. And only 13% of owners now expect prices to fall over the course of the next six months, down from 19% at the end of last year.
Owners in Yorkshire and the Humber are the least bullish with only 61% expecting property prices to rise over the next six months. In stark contrast, 89% of London homeowners predict prices to rise by the end of summer making them the most confident property owners in the UK.
So, with first-time buyer lending gradually increasing and mortgages becoming more readily available, there is real belief that the property market is starting to turn a corner and finally drag itself out of the hole since the financial crisis.
Methodology
- Zoopla invited registered users of Zoopla.co.uk to participate in this study.
- The survey was fielded from 25th – 29 March 2013.
- There were 4116 total respondents. 3485 of these were homeowners. Statistics based on a sample of this size are accurate to within less than +/- 1.0% with 95% confidence, if the sample is drawn at random from the population it intends to represent.
- These respondents represent the perspective of the Zoopla.co.uk user community, and could be considered to represent the population of people interested in the UK residential property market.
- All statistics are based on the full sample unless otherwise noted.
Instagram your home: are professional photos worth it?
For many people it’s the first impression, the curb appeal, the exterior views of a home that capture their attention. Of course, this is the same view you see when you pull into the driveway after a long day’s work.
Whilst first impressions are important for securing initial viewings, they don’t necessarily sell homes. Very often, a home buyer becomes interested in a property based on first seeing the photographs online. If house photos are integral to the sales process, how can you be sure you have the best images? Most agents will hire a professional photographer on your behalf and here are a few tips on getting the most out of the process.
Building perceptions
So many factors are important when preparing a home for sale (maintenance, landscaping, fixtures, staging…) but it is the final advert and property particulars that will help you secure viewings.
One of the best ways to get guidance at this stage is to contact your estate agent, who probably has plenty of experience photographing homes. We had a chat with Kaylene Smith from Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward about what their professional photographers do when taking photographs in order to advertise properties.
Smith explained that Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (like most agents) arranges photography for each and every property they market across both sales and lettings, and that the best photos to take of a home are of the interior and exterior; the wider the selection of photos, the better.
She said: “It’s definitely worth having professional photography taken, which typically your agent would organise on your behalf. Professional photographers understand the elements that create the best atmosphere, for example, lighting and composition and this is so important.”
It’s human nature to assume that homeowners who work with their agent to take the time and effort to provide a comprehensive, and frankly, attractive listing will have put similar effort into caring for their homes. We were interested to know if there’s a correlation between the quality of an image and how properties are perceived to have been cared for.
“Absolutely,” says Smith. “If the property looks better – and lighting is a very important element – it creates an impression of having been cared for and well maintained.”
A picture is worth 1,000… pounds?
According to research done by American realtors Redfin, homes that had professional photos taken sold for thousands more than homes that went au natural. It’s an interesting correlation, but we wouldn’t go so far as to say that taking flattering pictures of a home will actually add value to something that isn’t there to begin with.
But people hire professional photographers to capture other eventful moments in their lives such as weddings, and when there are life savings resting on the sale of your home, ensuring your agent presents it in its best light seems quite sensible.
First impressions don’t always count
Going back to first impressions: if people rely on photos to some extent to make up their minds, do they also arrive at properties having made up their minds about what they’re going to see?
Smith says not.
“There’s so much more to viewing a home than the initial photograph, which presents flattering angles and lighting and encourages visitors to view your home in person. The more buyers who are attracted to your home, the better your chances of receiving an attractive offer; photos are just a small part of the preparations.”
Zoopla Housing Market Sentiment Survey Q3 – confidence up on last year
Homeowners are more confident now about the outlook for the British property market than they were at this time last year, according to the latest Zoopla Housing Market Sentiment Survey.
Two thirds of homeowners expect British house prices to rise over next six months, with average homeowner predicting a 3.4% increase (4.7% increase in London). A possible explanation for this is late summer and early autumn are busy periods for the property market which can lead to a boost in homeowner confidence.
The fact that optimism is up over last year is a good sign, however, confidence levels remain well below the levels seen in late 2009 and early 2010.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of homeowners surveyed believe that house prices in their area will rise over the next six months, up from 59% at this time last year. Only one in five (21%) homeowners expect property prices to fall during the next six months, down from (26% last year.
And the level by which homeowners expect house prices to rise has also improved over last year with the average homeowner now predicting a 3.4% rise in their local property prices over the next six months, up from 2.7% last year. Curiously, homeowners remain more confident about the performance of their own homes (expecting them to rise by 3.8%), than those of their neighbours.
London’s homeowners are the most optimistic about the state of the British property market. Four in five (82%) owners in the capital believe prices will rise in their area over the next six months with average growth of 4.7% expected over this period. Owner in Northern Ireland are the least optimistic with just 53% expecting property prices to rise by March next year.
Methodology
- Zoopla invited registered users of Zoopla.co.uk to participate in this study.
- The survey was fielded from 24th to 30th September 2012.
- There were 7,117 total respondents of which 6,495 of these were homeowners. Statistics based on a sample of this size are accurate to within less than +/- 1.0% with 95% confidence, if the sample is drawn at random from the population it intends to represent.
- These respondents represent the perspective of the Zoopla.co.uk user community, and could be considered to represent the population of people interested in the UK residential property market.
- All statistics are based on the full sample unless otherwise noted.
Exclusive: Pictures of Duffy’s flat before the fire
One of London’s most expensive penthouse apartments went up in smoke last night after a serious fire gutted the property, which earlier this year was up for sale at £8.75 million.
The apartment, which features a swimming pool, huge fish tank, private parking, four bedrooms, a cinema and two roof terraces, had been rented out to the ‘Rain on my parade’ singer Duffy while she records her new album in London. The Welsh warbler had, last night, been about to vacate the penthouse on the 10th floor of Abbot House off Kensington High Street when the blaze broke out.
Up in smoke: the gorgeous and celebrated interior of Duffy’s penthouse apartment before the blaze.
Duffy, along with around 20 other residents, had to evacuate the building late in the night as some sixty fire fighters tackled the blaze, which ripped through most of the penthouse before being doused in the early hours of the morning.
Two songs of Duffy’s point prophetically to the fire (well sort of) including ‘Smoke without fire’ and ‘Big flame’ but what many will lament are the penthouse’s now lost interiors, created by artist and architect Francis Machin who modelled many of London’s landmarks including Ransomes Dock on Battersea Embankment. His father, a designer, created the current Queen’s heads featured on UK postage stamps.
Lucky escape: singer Duffy had to flee her rented luxury apartment in Kensington, London as a fire ripped through the property.
While the blaze is a blow for design, luckily the apartment’s interiors were preserved within the property history section of Zoopla and after a bit of digging we found these. We can only hope they can be stored to such a wonderfully former glory (pictured above and below).
