Perusing through some reports in the national media, it makes for very interesting comment on the West Cork Property scene.

Starting with television, the recent report on RTE’s Prime Time highlighted some of the problems associated with sharp practice and downright dishonesty amongst certain auctioneering firms. It also underlined how seemingly complimentary practices within firms (such as auctioneering and mortgage advice) actually formed a structure that was inherently dodgy. This is due to be changed by long-promised legislation but independent auctioneers such as Harrington Estates are already ahead of the game in this respect. It is also unattached to any marketing groups, which means that we are focused on serving our clientele rather than being focused on strict sales targets with the aim of paying off the high franchise fees.

In the Irish edition of the Sunday Times recently, a report by Mark Keenan showed how worthwhile it was in investing in unique and out-of-the-way locations, with Peninsulas coming in for a special mention. West Cork Property enjoys the best of locations in this respect and, consequently they represent what is generally viewed as some of the safest investments, not to mention some of the prettiest.

Yesterday’s Irish Times property supplement carried a report on preparing your house for sale in order to maximise the return. These articles are always worth reading. As an auctioneer, I cannot stress often enough the importance of maximising your home’s potential for sale. It really does make a difference – a difference where it counts; in euros and cents. Apart from the usual tips in presentation of your home, it also mentioned another vital point; namely, ensuring with ones solicitor that all the title documents are in order and that there are no outstanding planning issues. Up to 10% of sales fail due to the owner’s failure to prepare, not that it’s a great failing on the part of the owners… But it is important to get this message across to people putting their house up for sale.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 1:03 pm and is filed under News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.