Instant online valuation
These are challenging times as the UK Government has told us not to do anything other than what is absolutely essential for the health of our nation, our family, friends, colleagues and of course you our clients.
So what have we done and what service can we provide?
Is our office in Honley still open?
No. We have been told to close by the UK Government.
Is the business still open?
Yes. When I set up Belong I set it up with home working in mind. We can still receive calls (although some will go to answering machine), respond to emails and deal with enquiries from prospective buyers, tenants, house sellers and landlords.
What if my house is under offer?
That’s fine, we are still here to help. Get in touch in the normal way. Solicitors will be operating on a reduced service so the transaction may take a little longer, but that is understandable. The UK Government Minister Michael Gove has said this morning that people should stay in their existing home but understands some transactions are advanced and people may still move house.
What about viewings.
We have virtual reality viewings enabled on pretty much all of our properties, so people can still view the whole of your property. We also take many more photos than most agents so that people can still get a great idea of what the house is really like. The wider question of personal viewings is more simple. We have been told to stay at home and not to risk the health of anybody.
Traipsing around each others’ homes is perhaps the least important thing we can be doing right now. In any event there won’t be much demand for viewings; and we certainly do not want to bring the virus to your home. We will take names and numbers of any viewers and inform you of all viewing requests, but will have to store these up for now, until the government says it is safe for us to conduct them.
What about my rented house.
We can sort everything to do with rented property in an emergency, we are still here and so are our contractors, but they will only be able to do essential works. Non-essential works will have to wait.
I am due to move house soon.
The government have said that you still can but must maintain social distancing. This applies to rental and sale properties.
How do contractors get keys if the office is closed?
Good question. James will arrange to meet the contractor at the Honley office by appointment so normal service can be conducted.
Strict quarantine conditions will be in place though. Keys cleaned and gloves worn as well as no personal interaction.
Should I keep my house on sale?
Yes please if you can. If all of our clients withdraw their houses our business will disappear and have to close. We are still here and the reason we called our business Belong is because we feel like we Belong to the community. As soon as this is over we expect to see a real surge in activity.
What about house prices?
If everyone holds the line, doesn’t reduce their price and stands firm then this will help to protect price levels. If sellers panic, or remove their houses from the market en-masse then prices will surely fall and fall rapidly. This is no help to anyone.
My empty house is up for let.
If a tenant is due to move into your empty house, they still can. The government has said so. So we will ensure that we act responsibly and accordingly. However, the tenant may not want to move and this will require early communication.
Will you still be collecting rents?
Yes of course. We collect all of our rents via on-line payments and all of our tenants are up to date. Of course if the tenant loses their income this will pose difficulties which we will try our best to help with. UK Government is putting financial support in place for business and individuals, so hopefully this will assist, but naturally these are unprecedented times and things are very fluid.
We are here to help and guide.
If there is anything that we can help with do please ask. Our reputation is one of looking after people and we would like to be here for the long term. Please just call us or email us if we can assist. We are here 7 days a week as always, just at home rather than in Honley.
There will be lots of things that are not included in this short list that may pop up from time to time, so please do get in touch if you would like to have a chat or if you have any essential requirements. My mobile number is on my business card and it is here too 07764456553 but you can still get us on the normal office number which we have had diverted to our homes.
