at home in wokingham
DESCRIPTION
Wokingham Offi ce Around the World in 80 Days, the Nine Mile Ride Primary School’s biggest annual fundraiser inspired the pupils with tales of travel. USEFUL NUMBE RS issue issue MOVIN G MATTE RS MARKE T UPDAT E BUSINE SS SPOTLI GHT IN YOUR AREA ... COMPE TITION Nicky, Nine Mile Ride Primary School PTA. Feature focus on a recommended business or service in the Wokingham area. Prospect in the community - how your local estate agency gives back to Wokingham. r ’s ,TRANSCRIPT
Prospect Branch Manager’s comment
atat Home......issueissue
11
IN THIS ISSUE
Your guide to Prospect’s new services and products to help make moving easy.
Turn to the back page to see the winning entry that scooped the £1,000 prize for a local school in our Mini Makeover competition!
IN YOUR AREA...
MARKET UPDATE
MOVING MATTERS
COMPETITION
USEFUL NUMBERS
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Looking after your Prospects.
Shaun Stevens, Branch Manager, Prospect Estate Agency Wokingham Offi ce
As the Branch Manager of Prospect’s Wokingham Offi ce, I am delighted to welcome you to the fi rst edition
of “at Home in Wokingham” and very much hope you fi nd it an informative read. Our offi ce is fortunate to see a great diversity of properties, and with our market share in the premier range increas-
ing this year following the launch of our new premier service at Wokingham, Prospect PhD, the local area provides an exciting marketplace in which to work. I very much look forward to meeting many of you over the coming months: whether you’re buying or selling a property, please don’t hesitate to call or pop in and see us.
Wokingham Offi ce ...in WOKINGHAM
PROSPECT WOKINGHAM OFFICE COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER / WINTER ‘07/08
Hot air raises funds for Nine Mile Ride With the theme of
Around the World
in 80 Days, the Nine Mile
Ride Primary School’s
biggest annual fundraiser
inspired the pupils with
tales of travel.
Each child was given a passport to be
stamped at every stall they visited at
the event, and they were entered into
a competition to win a ‘talking globe’,
a fun educational tool contributed by
ourselves here at Prospect.
Once again, Prospect Estate Agency’s
Wokingham offi ce were pleased to spon-
sor the school’s autumn fête which took
place on the 15th September.
Glorious weather and great support
from pupils, families, teachers and the
local community ensured the event
would be a great success - indeed,
around £3000 was raised and this will go
a long way in providing the school with
equipment, books and other resources.
Excited to contribute to the spirit - and
theme - of the event, Prospect provided
not just signage for the fête: we also ran
our ever-popular ‘Guess the number of
balloons in the Mini’ competition. Filling
our new ‘Streets Ahead’ Mini to capacity
with balloons, we invited children and
parents to guess how many were inside.
This year’s lucky winner, a parent of a
child at the school, guessed the exact
number and won a remote control Mini
for her delighted daughter. The prize
was presented by Sam Walters from
Prospect’s Wokingham offi ce.
It’s great to see tangible results from
funds raised too. The proceeds from
our fundraising last year, including the
successful ‘Race Night’, raised enough
money to enable the school to purchase
a new electronic White Board.
Prospect are active members of the
local community and through education
and supporting our local schools we
endeavour to make a real difference.
Prospect in the community - how your local estate agency gives back to Wokingham.
What’s happening with house prices and sales in the Wokingham area.
Your handy listing of new and useful businesses in and around Wokingham.
Feature focus on a recommended business or service in the Wokingham area. Thank you yet again
to Prospect and their staff for their continued support!
r
,
’s More than just hot air! Sam Walters from Prospect’s Wokingham Offi ce presents the winner of the ‘Guess the number of balloons in the Mini’ competition with their prize.
Nicky, Nine Mile Ride Primary School PTA.
For more information contact Shaun Stevens on 0118 979 7770
prospect.co.uk TEL:WEB:
A Home Information Pack
(HIP) is now a legal
requirement when selling a
property with 3+ bedrooms.
As part of the Government commitment to
lowering ‘carbon emissions’ coupled with
making the ‘buying and selling’ process
easier, the government has introduced a
legal obligation on homeowners to have
a Home Information Pack available when
marketing homes for sale.
The general feeling is that this will
provide an even greater increase in
stability within the housing market, less
property sales falling through, serious
offers being made and greater buyer
awareness.
The compulsory EPC gives prospective buyers information about the energy effi ciency of your home – rating it in a similar way to many domestic appliances.
The new energy rating ranges from A (very effi cient) to G (very ineffi cient), and two measures cover the home’s environmental impact, and its energy effi ciency rating.
Most homes will score between D-E.
HIP, happening, and free!
prospect.co.uk TEWEB:
gh,
ater buyer
We have all breathed a sigh of relief as news that infl ation surprisingly dropped below the Bank of England’s 2% target in July, meaning further interest rate rises are likely to be put on hold for the time being. This will provide much needed comfort to all of us grappling with the effects of the past three rises this year. Caution is still advised as the Bank of England indicates that a further rise to 6% may still come.
Naturally, HIPs are free at Prospect, and we arrange it all to make your life easy.
Mark Towell, Director, Prospect
Estate Agency
Sales StatementA summary of the terms of sale.
Evidence of TitleTitle Deeds from the Land Registry.
Standard SearchesLocal Authority enquiries and a drainage and water search.
IndexList of pack contents.
Tenure documents Commonhold or Leasehold (as appropriate) documentation.
Energy Performance Certifi cate (EPC)A rating of the overall energy effi ciency of the property.
What’s in a HIP?
At Prospect, we have been ready and
prepared for HIPs for some time: we
introduced our own version of the HIP
as part of our conveyancing service. We
called it a Home Sales Pack – it contained
almost all the information required for
the HIP and our experience showed that it
produced encouraging results: speeding
up the transaction process, and making
for happier clients.
Naturally, HIPs are free at Prospect
and we arrange it all to make your life
easy. Our staff have undergone thorough
training to become an authority on the
new process, so please don’t hesitate to
call or pop in if you have any questions
about HIPs and the new legislation.
What is an EPC?
MARKET UPDATE
How do interest rates translate to your monthly repayments?
A look at average house prices across the regions, as of August ‘07.
FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY, BASED ON A 90% LOAN-TO-VALUE, REPAYMENT MORTGAGE OVER 25 YEARS AT A FIXED RATE OF 5.75%. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT PROSPECT FINANCIAL SERVICES WHO WILL ENDEAVOUR TO SOURCE THE BEST PRODUCT FOR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.
Q4
/07
Bank of England Base Rates (%)
Region
monthlyrepayment
purchase price
Average price
monthlychange (%)
AL
L D
AT
A C
OR
RE
CT
AT
TIM
E O
F G
OIN
G T
O P
RE
SS
. T
HE
PU
BL
ISH
ER
S A
RE
NO
T R
ES
PO
NS
IBL
E F
OR
ER
RO
RS
OR
OM
ISS
ION
S
DATA: www.landregistry.gov.uk
£150,000 £859.25£200,000 £1,145.67£250,000 £1,432.09£300,000 £1,718.51£400,000 £2,291.35
London 1.5 £349,838
North West 0.9 £137,871
South East 0.6 £227,667
Yorkshire/Humber 0.5 £145,583
West Midlands 0.4 £153,247
East -0.1 £192,457
South West -0.2 £194,100
Wales -0.4 £140,611
North East -0.9 £128,758
East Midlands -1.1 £144,945
5.75aug 5.75
sep 5.75oct
Interest Rates
prices by region
Mortgages
in your area
Issue #1, Winter ‘07/08
1 BED 2 BEDS 3 BEDS 4 BEDS 5 BEDS
* DATA COLLATED FROM PROSPECT’S WOKINGHAM OFFICE, SEPT. 2007
PROPORTION OF PROPERTY TYPES FOR SALE IN WOKINGHAM*
AVERAGE HOUSE PRICES IN WOKINGHAM*
£150,000
£450,000
£300,000
£600,000
£750,000
£675,000
£465,000
£332,000
£258,000
£155,000
Wokingham Offi ce39 Peach Street, Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1XJ
in WOKINGHAM at Home...
0118 979 7770
59%Detached
15%
14%
11%
Semi-detached
Terraced
Apts.
James MayDirector
In charge of residential property, James has been based at our Wokingham offi ce since opening it in 1999.
Steve SadlerLand & New
Homes Manager
Heading up our land & new homes department, Steve’s team of specialised land personnel & new homes representatives based at Wokingham are dedicated to all development related issues.
Stuart RossArea PhD Manager
Based at Wokingham and heading up our latest department, PhD is offered throughout the Berkshire & Hampshire regions.
Shaun StevensBranch Manager
Wokingham’s Branch manager, Shaun drives his team to offer an unrivalled service for his clients. Shaun looks forward to meeting you in our café-style offi ce for a chat on anything property related.
Lisa ThomasLettings Manager
Lisa has many years of property experience and looks after our property management department based at Wokingham.
Our combined experience at Wokingham ensures an altogether different Prospect!
Meet the team!
Imagine selling your home after just a single viewing...
Hot off the press!
A new driving force!
Property continues to be one of the
most dependable investments you can
make — with poor-performing pen-
sions and stockmarket crashes making
the headlines, whilst average property
prices continue to climb all the while.
The buy-to-let market is a great indica-tor of this, remaining strong in spite of recent interest rates rises. Investors are savvy and still expect good returns on their money: 171,800 new buy-to-let mortgages, worth £21.2 billion, were taken out in the fi rst half of 2007. This accounted for 12% of all mortgage advances during this period and is the highest proportion seen to date.
With such demand for quality invest-ment property Prospect has the perfect
ty continues to be one of the
tments you can
Your guide to the new services available at Prospect
MOVING MATTERS
LAL
fl eet of Minis and are thrilled with their brand
new livery — inspired by your very words...
We organised a competiton too, to
mark the launch of the fl eet... turn
to the back page to see the winning
entry in our Streets Ahead mini
makeover competition!
solution for all budding landlords and the seasoned investor alike: a one-stop-shop for the property investor.
» Expert market advice to help you make informed decisions
» Sourcing the right investment prop-erty for you
» Arranging your buy-to-let mortgage should you wish, with free impartial fi nancial advice
» Processing your sale via our in-house conveyancing team
» Sourcing & vetting the tenant(s)
» Managing the let, should you wish, with one of our tiered services.
All you have to do is sit back and let us do the work!
d top-
u
rop-
gage eertial
With consolidated Open house view-
ings, every applicant is given the same
opportunity.
Each property receives a ten day
intensive marketing campaign involving
targeted mailouts, press and web adver-
tising, and calls to all suitable applicants
on our database.
Our experience shows that most
Open house viewings result in a sale!
Visit prospect.co.uk/openhouse.php to see all scheduled Open house viewings.
For anyone who’s ever sold a property,
you will immediately appreciate the
benefi ts of Open house: cleaning,
staging and preparing a property for a
viewing is time-consuming and incon-
venient — especially at short notice,
and particularly if arrangements have
to be made for children or pets.
For those looking for their next home,
you may not always get the opportu-
nity to view a property before a sale is
agreed, and may fi nd yourself chasing
properties that have already sold.
Making moving home an altogether different Prospect.
At Prospect, we don’t rest on our laurels.
Our standard practice is to ask clients
for feedback on our service and
performance.
The result is reassuringly
– and overwhelmingly –
positive.
It’s your feedback that
drives us further, and in
order to mark this con-
tinued success, we have
taken delivery of a new
Thehhhheeeeeee
Mini
No let up for the rental market
Prospect.
COMPETITIONresults on back
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y your veeeeerererrrrrere y yyy y wwy wyy ordordords...
ton too, to
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the winning gg gggg g g gg ggg g gg
ad aaaaaaaaaaa mini
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COMPETITIONresults on back
At Prospect, we’re renowned
for being refreshingly different.
We’re full of beans!
Our enthusiasm and friendly approach sets us apart from other agents. Pop into one of our café-style offi ces and discuss property matters with one of our highly trained staff over coffee!
Prospect Estate Agency’s Wokingham Community Newsletter
This month sees the launch of
our new Propertyexpress — a
regular bulletin, direct through
your door, keeping you informed
specifi cally about the properties
available in the Wokingham area.
Even if you’re not looking to move
at this time, it’s a great reference
guide to the local property market!
Call our dedicated Lettings Team on
0118 979 7773 for more information, or pop
in to any Prospect Offi ce for your free copy of
our Essential Residential Lettings Guide.
please recycle meResidential Sales • Lettings • Property Management • Financial Services • Apartment Lifestyle • Terrace Living Land & Development • New Homes • Premier Homes • Conveyancing • Commercial • Overseas • Investments
TEL:
WEB:
COMPETITIONAt Prospect, we really enjoyed designing
our new STREETS AHEADSTREETS AHEAD mini... and
we’ve shared the fun with you!
at Home...
send your comments, recommendations and questions to [email protected]
your feedbackSpeak your mind! Your opportunity
to offer comments, critique and contributions for the next edition...
you know where to write!..
Have you had great service from a local company and want to share your
experience with our readers? Tell us about it!
Is there something happening locally you’d like to share? Events, activities,
sports fi xtures, organisations, etc. - drop us a line!
TalkbackService with a SmileAnnouncements
Issue #1, Winter ‘07/08
USEFUL NUMBERS
After a phenomenal response, the
competition has now closed and we have
had the extremely diffi cult job of choosing
the winner. The quality of the entries was
superb and we would like to thank all of
those who took part and presented such
wonderful ideas.
The winner of our competition clearly spent
time bouncing ideas around, and served a
master stroke with his 'Mini-Tennis' Mini -
a 'top spin' on the traditional mini theme,
which truly delivered an ace! Aron Clarke
aged 13 from Sandhurst has won £1,000
for his school, Edgbarrow in Crowthorne,
plus tickets for him and his family to spend
a fun-fi lled day at LEGOLAND® Windsor!
We were really impressed by Aron’s clever
mini-makeover and loved the idea behind
his Mini-Tennis theme – he really has been
a great sport. Congratulations to both Aron
and his lucky school, Edgbarrow.
Keep checking prospect.co.uk for details
of our next competition!
ng
Game, Set and Match!
What an ace! Aron Clarke’s winning entry (above) showed superb imagination and attention to detail, closely rivalled by
our commended runners up: Rachel & Kya Fordham’s dazzling
bejewelled entry, and Rebecca Smith’s forward-thinking eco design.
& K
prospect.co.uk
0118 979 7770Wokingham Offi ce
39 Peach StreetWokinghamBerkshire RG40 1XJ
in WOKINGHAM
If you’re thinking of moving
in the Wokingham area, an
enthusiastic, pro-active team at Prospect awaits your call.
With a county-wide network
of branches and a thorough
knowledge of the Wokingham
property market, avail yourself
of our exemplary service, marketing... and results.
f
Wokingham Offi ce
39 Peach Street
pubs & restaurantsBlubeckersFleet Hill, Finchampstead,Wokingham RG27 0RR 0118 940 3136
0118 978 9912
Miltons RestaurantCantley House Hotel, Milton Road,Wokingham RG40 5QG
01344 304 446The WarrenForest Road, Wokingham RG40 5SB
0118 979 5796
Rossini16 Denmark Street,Wokingham RG40 2BB
0118 978 0247The Retreat23 Denmark St., Wokingham RG40 2AY
The CourtyardTown Hall, Wokingham RG40 1AS 0118 979 4040
Nirvana SpaMole Road, Sindlesham, Wokingham RG40 1XH 0118 989 7500
St. Vincent’s Veterinary Surgery9 Crescent Rd., Wokingham RG40 2DB 0118 979 3200
Wokingham LibraryDenmark St., Wokingham RG40 2BB 0118 978 1368
Tudor House Surgery43 Broad St., Wokingham RG40 1BE 0118 978 3544
Holt Comprehensive SchoolHolt Lane, Wokingham RG41 1EE 0118 978 0165
St. Paul’s ChurchReading Rd., Wokingham RG41 1EH 0118 978 0629
Nine Mile Ride Primary SchoolNine Mile Ride, Wokingham RG40 3RB 0118 973 3118
Rectory Road SurgeryRectory Rd., Wokingham RG40 1DH 0118 978 4566
Emmbrook Comprehensive SchoolEmmbrook Road, Wokingham RG41 1JP 0118 978 4406
useful services
healthcare
schools
not listed?
If you’d like your business to be listed in our
Wokingham Useful Numbers, please email
us at: [email protected]
our next competition!
W
S9
4
HoHolt
EmEmWo
s
BUSINESS NAME
Anthony BlayPRODUCT/SERVICE PROVIDED
Formalwear hireDIRECTOR
David PeverellADDRESS
29 Rose StreetWokinghamBerkshire RG40 1XS
HOURS OF BUSINESS
Mon-Sat9:00-5:30
Sun:closed
David Peverell,Director
Established for over 25 years, Anthony Blay
formalwear prides itself on unique personal
service. Offering elegance, style and a sense of
occasion, Wokingham’s renowned outfi tter provides
formalwear hire for weddings, proms, black tie
affairs and other formal occasions. Holding a large
range of the latest menswear for sale, they also offer
a tailoring service to assure you of the perfect fi t.
All garments are of the highest quality and
competitively priced, and there is something to
suit all - from ages 2 upwards, to the outsize man,
along with a comprehensive range of accessories
for the perfect, and appropriate look.
The ladies evening department holds over
750 exquisite garments for sale: stock
is continuously updated and gowns are
periodically sold at greatly reduced prices.
For the perfect outfi t for your next formal
occasion, please do not hesitate to call in,
e-mail [email protected] or telephone
David on 0118 978 1861.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
TELEPHONE
0118 978 1861 David Pevere lll,
an,an,an, ririries es es
For individual attention and the highest quality service, choose Anthony Blay for your formalwear.
is a quarterly publication of Prospect Estate Agency. © Prospect Estate Agency, 2007, All rights reserved. Material contained herein may not be reproduced without prior written permission.
at Home...in WOKINGHAM
WEBSITE
anthonyblay.co.uk
worship
EstEsttEstablablablishishishededed forforforf ovovovererer 252525 yeaeayeayea
10% discount off all hire and 20%
discount off retail on presentation of
this advert. 1 offer per customer.
D I S C O U N T !