Wirral estate agent’s good news for first-timers

Jul 2 2008 by Matt Hurst, Birkenhead News

A WIRRAL estate agent has defied the economic gloom and called first-time buyers “king of the market” as uncertainty continues to reign.

David Bradshaw, of Heswall-based Jones and Chapman, acknowledges market conditions are far from ideal but claims there is a “real opportunity here for buyers” who are “motivated, committed and have their finances in place”.

David told the News: “While even the most optimistic estate agent would struggle to provide evidence that it is business as usual and market conditions are perfectly normal, there is a real opportunity here for buyers who are motivated to move to get a really good deal.

“There is more choice for buyers than there has been for the last five years, which means you are not competing against five or six other people for the same home.

“Many sellers are willing to listen to offers and if you have your finances in place, this puts you in a very strong position to negotiate.

“For those trading up, it’s true that you may have to reduce the price of your own home, but a good estate agent will negotiate up the chain so you don’t lose out.

“In fact, you could even be better off as the price gap between your home and the home you want to buy has been falling for the last six months.”

Treasury minister and Wallasey MP Angela Eagle said government is seeking to help those who bought at the top of the market, “the few” sailing close to negative equity and homeowners with soon to expire fixed rate mortgages.

She said: “For those who do have some money, the estate agent is quite right, so not everybody is equally affected.

“The difference between the situation now and what’s happened in the past is last time house prices fell, three million were unemployed.

“Now, we’ve got three million plus jobs and employment is still fairly stable.

“The economic framework is better now than it was before.”