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The rise of a new industry owing to the UK house purchasing trend
HONG KONG SAR – Media
OutReach – 23 March 2021 – Different from other agents, BNOOK Property Limited (BNOOK) does not
only source properties for clients, but also follow-up all the search documentations
as well as surveyor reports, handling and advising any critical matters that
possibly happen in purchasing a property. No matter for clients planning to
relocation or buy-to-let, the whole BNOOK team assists all buyers from the
beginning to completion, walking through all this uneasy UK property purchase
journey with clients.
As a registered company in both HK
and UK, BNOOK specializes in searching for second-hand brick and block
properties. The service locations cover from the South (such as Southampton) to
the North (Scotland). BNOOK is a Property Consultant who almost covers the
largest number of areas in the UK.
Top 10 potential risks when
purchasing UK properties
Everyone especially for the Hong
Kong (overseas) buyers seem to be fancy about properties in the United Kingdom lately.
Some of them aim at investing for stable
cashflow returns; while some of them are for living because of relocation to
the UK. The new demand leads the rise of a new industry. Nowadays, there are people claimed to be Property
Sourcing Agents. However, some of them are one-man-band; while some do not even
own a company, but are helping Hong Kong people to do “viewings” only as
part-time “viewers”.
Below are the top 10 potential risks
that overseas buyers must pay attention to. These are gathered by BNOOK which
is founded by a group of experienced UK property investors. BNOOK reminds all
overseas buyers should carefully select a reliable UK Property Consultant who
helps to avoid all these traps.
1)
New-built property, Property under construction, Second-hand property, Auction
House, Retirement House, etc. There is a huge variety of UK properties.
It’s not like
all the apartments in HK, there is a huge variety of UK properties. For
example, an “Auction House” is immediately exchanged (must be completed) once the
buyer wins the bid, even though there are any defects after reviewing the Home
Buyer Report. BNOOK provides due diligence service of filtering all these
properties for clients and to make sure that there are no tricks before
recommending and putting offers.
2)
Title and ownership are not just a fine line in between
In the United
Kingdom, purchasing a house is usually with the land. Some of them are
Freehold, Leasehold or even Shared Ownership. There was a case happened to one
Hong Kong buyer who was originally looking for a Freehold property,
unfortunately the previous owner had ceded certain part(s) of the territory for
building one another house and sold it for profit. Eventually the buyer had
lost the part of the territory. Therefore, an experienced Solicitor /
Conveyancer as well as a
Property Consultant (but
not the part-time Sourcing Agent) who are proficient in UK properties would be
helpful to the buyers to figure out and advise whether the property is worth
purchasing at no risk.
3)
The complexity of a Home Buyer Report
A full Home
Buyer Report is conducted by a professional Surveyor. The report contained more
than 30 pages that listed the conditions of structural problems, any signs of
damping, any potential risk of asbestos, and all of these conditions will be
labelled with 3 levels of urgency. The report is explained with many technical
terms and jargons that are not easily understood merely by a “Google Translate”
tool. BNOOK’s service includes reviewing and analysing the details of the
report, help judging whether this property is worth purchasing, and these are
more than just a “property seller” can handle.
4)
The solicitor disappears or neglection after engagement
In terms of
working attitude, there is a cultural difference between Hong Kong and the
United Kingdom. The former one used to be fast-responding, efficient, and more
flexibility in work; while the latter one is rather following the prescribed
route and not to be too aggressive. There was a case of client’s previous
experience before reaching BNOOK Property Limited – there was no news in 2-3
months after engaging the solicitor, and it was found that the solicitor did
not even started any searches after the mortgage has been offered. As a result,
the seller was not willing to wait anymore and terminated the sale. What the
client had lost was not only the time, but also the surveyor fee of that
property as well as the solicitor deposit. Hence, choosing the reliable solicitor is critical.
One of BNOOK’s services is to recommend the reliable solicitors with reasonable
price that could contribute in completing the property smoothly.
5)
Earning stable and high salary does not necessarily mean that the
mortgage application will be successful
Unlike HK,
there is no so-called “stress-testing” in the UK. Earning high annual salary
and stable employment may also result in a failure in mortgage application
because of the applicants’ large amount of spending and private loan. Each bank
has its own formula of calculation. Mortgage brokers are here to explain to the
applicants on the requirements of the lender, and select the most suitable
lender based on the applicants’ financial situation. It is always recommended to
declare all the items that are required. The case might still be disapproved
even though the Approval in Principle has been obtained. BNOOK refers
experienced mortgage broker with large bank network which can help finishing
the property purchase.
6)
There is a “chain” on the property that delays a property completion
BNOOK has
handled a real case: A client entered the UK via LOTR in September last year.
They stayed in an Airbnb and in the meanwhile, they searched for houses by
themselves which they thought would be at lower risk. However, 2 months after
they have put an offer and proceeded the legal works, the seller kept rejecting
the inspection appointment from the Surveyor. Finally, they discovered that
there was a “chain” of buying this property because the seller had still not
started buying his new property. Turned-out they had to move to another Airbnb
for 3 times in total before they had their own property. They did not have an
official proof of address for applying school for their children. Eventually,
they contacted BNOOK which helped them to get a very lovely house with no chain,
introduced a reliable and fast-responding solicitor, and followed up tightly on
the schedule. During the purchase, BNOOK reviewed all the reports, arranged the
exchange and completion. As a result, the property was completed in 1.5 month
which was definitely the fastest case that have ever seen. Now the client had
already moved-in and the children are attending school. At the most critical
moment, a team of professional Property Consultant plays the most important
role.
7)
The ideal school and the house are very near, but they are from two
different councils
Although catchment
area is important when applying for school, only 0.1 – 0.3mile distance from the
ideal school to the property does not guarantee a school offer. If the council of
the property is not clarified, there may even has no eligibility to apply for
the school just because they are not in the same council. Having a completed
due diligence work to avoid such low-level mistake is the basis criteria of BNOOK
as a professional Property Consultant.
8)
Be aware of the high-flood-risk property
Some
dishonest (or unexperienced) agents promoted some properties with high flood
risk to Hong Kong people. As everyone knows, weather in the UK is always
unpredictable and raining is common. Apart from inconvenience, the most
concerned point is actually whether the insurance company would cover it, and
if the insurance company does not cover the high-flood risk property, there may
not be able to get any mortgage approval. The due diligence service of BNOOK
can be able to acknowledge all these potential risk in advance so as to reduce
the clients’ potential risk.
9)
The selling price is too aggressive
There is a
difference in property market from HK and the UK. In Hong Kong, seller is used
to place a higher price for the buyer to negotiate; in the opposite, in the United
Kingdom, seller is always placing a guide price for all buyers to bid, and
usually the buyer who placed the highest price got the offer. To be honest,
this practice made the Hong Kong buyers quite anxious because they never know
what is a reasonable bidding price. Of course, the seller will reject a price that
is far below their expectation; but the buyer will never want to offer a price
higher than the market value. BNOOK helps evaluating the marketing value of the
property, listing all necessary expenditures of buying the property, addressing
the potential risks, investigating and setting up an optimal ceiling price with
the buyer and making offer to the seller agent. The advantage of setting up the
ceiling price help control the budget and not to push up the market.
10)
A mixed-population does not equal to high crime rate of the district?
United
Kingdom itself is a diversifying country where people are from all over the
world, such as European, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Jewish, etc. A
community with a mixed-population does not definitely equal to high crime rate.
Talking about Reading where is located in the Southern part of England as an
example, many international companies set up their headquarters here, and thus
there are many people from different countries relocated to this beauty place.
They are young, lively, educated and polite as we can see. Immigrant who wants
to integrate into the UK and start a new life more easily, it’s also a good
choice to stay in a community with mixed-population. Therefore, looking only
into the figure of crime rate is always more representable than looking on the
data of culture diversification when choosing the location to settle. The team
of BNOOK who are based in the UK can reduce the risk of remote purchase, having
physical visit to the place for client. This can be done by live time
conference and video, feeling the environment and security level of each
district.
In a nutshell, purchasing UK
second-hand property is not as difficult as imagine, but there are many hidden
details that requires professional advice and follow up. When it comes to a trend
of purchasing UK properties, it is always recommended to select the Property
Consultant who are experienced in second-hand brick and block houses rather
than the general property seller. The former one provides professional advice,
follows up with the who purchase procedure
until the property is exchanged and completed; while the latter one (especially
for those part-time viewers who may not completely familiar with purchasing
second-hand property) requires the clients to handle all the documentations and
communications by the themselves.
Founders of BNOOK Property Limited
are a group of experienced UK property investors located in the UK. Any
property that they recommend to clients are up-to-the-standard of what they
would also live or invest, while the buyers will be well-prepared and rest
assured by advising every step and any risk of purchasing UK properties.
Understanding BNOOK Property Limited in 3 minutes: https://youtu.be/GfufaIIZziI
Company Website
BNOOK social media platforms
YouTube : 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeLmn_QNAqs4hLqoTtS3sXw
Facebook : 
https://www.facebook.com/bnookproperty
MeWe : https://bit.ly/3bvC1p0
Instagram : 
https://www.instagram.com/bnookproperty/
