Greene & Co - Family Fun Day raising money for Grief Encounter
Greene & Co. have gone through a lot of planning and organisation but it is finally here. Our Fun Day is this Sunday 4th July at the Hornsey Cricket Club Crouch End and it is going to be a fantastic family fun day out. The thing about this fun day is that it is raising money and awareness about a great London charity Grief Encounter, who dedicate their time to helping bereaved children and their families. We are really looking forward to the day, there will be loads of family entertainment and a special performance from the Shalon Monks from Britain’s Got Talent which is going to be incredible. Now all we have to do is cross our fingers for good weather.
Are property prices coming down?
Since the abolishment of HIP’s some interesting things have been happening in the property market. According to Rightmove “the market is starting to turn due to increased competition among sellers and fewer potential buyers”. This could be a great time to buy, as each day more properties are coming on the market and prices are also dropping. Our Managing Director, David Pollock had this to say about the current market situation.
“The London market is a different market place to the whole of England. London is in a bubble and therefore it is always a little dangerous to base house buying and selling strategies on whole of UK indexes. Having said that the abolishment of HIPS in the long run will be great for the London and UK market but without doubt there is going to be a period of adjustment. Will prices in London go up, go down or stay the same. Is now a great, average or poor time to buy or sell? The experts don’t and cant seem to agree. My advise is see property firstly as a home and secondly as an investment, its when you do it the other way round that things start to go wrong.”
We will have to wait until the emergency budget is announced to see the true effect on the market as many fear that capital gains tax could be increased but we wont find out until everything is revealed tomorrow.
HIPS - going going gone
Today HIP’s have been suspended which means that people who wish to sell their property no longer need to provide these. This comes as a great relief to many agents, our Managing Director, David Pollock has given us his opinion on this change
“Like most agents, we are delighted to see HIP’s get abolished. In our opinion, they have been an absolute disaster on two fronts. Firstly, they took away any spontaneity in the market, if someone was thinking about selling and just wanted to test out the reaction that putting their property on the market would get, to see if there are buyers out there for it, etc, it would cost them £300 to get the HIP done first.
Secondly, no one ever truly bought into using them, ranging from solicitors to buyers to sellers to agents. There will be no tears shed here about their demise”
House Prices Rising
The housing market seems to be going from strength to strength at the moment. Asking prices have risen for 11 consecutive months with and increase last month of 0.7%. The average entry level price for a house is approximately £155,242. If you are looking to buy a house for the first time now could be a good time to get hunting as prices are going to continue to increase, and although stamp duty does not apply on purchases under £250,000 for first time buyers they still need to have a significant deposit to get into the market.
An article from find a property ““The building blocks are present for a sustained recovery, but we do need lenders to step up to the plate and free the purse strings for first-time buyers. That will not only help the buyers themselves, but also the market overall and the wider economy.””
It could also be good to look into a property for investment purposes as there is currently a huge demand for rental properties in many areas of London, which means there are people out there looking right now! But this is not something you should enter into lightly. A huge amount of research is required to find the right investment property however there are many avenues which can help you along the way. Getting your finances in shape is also one of the keys to getting started with property investments, as depending on how long you keep the property expenses will vary.
To read more about the topics above click on the link below
http://www.findaproperty.com/displaystory.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&storyid=23504
Greene & Co. raising funds for Grief Encounter
One of the best things a company can do is give back to the community that helped to create it. Greene and Co. have supported the local community through various projects over several years, this year we are supporting a truly special and deserving charity, Grief Encounter.
Grief Encounter support children and their families during the loss of one or both parents. The loss of someone you love is difficult for anyone but it can be extremely taxing on a young child who can’t quite grasp what is happening around them. This is where Grief Encounter becomes an invaluable organisation. They have many avenues which help support, care and guide children and families through the most difficult time they will face.
We are aiming to raise in excess of £10,000 for this wonderful charity. If you would like to find out more about them please click here. If you would like to help us with our mission please click here to donate.
Stamp Duty – good news for first home buyers
Good news for people who are looking to buy their first home this week, with the government announcing that first home buyers who purchase property under £250,000 will be exempt from paying stamp duty. This is a great benefit for first home buyers and it will be a great saving which they could possibly now add to their deposit or it will simply allow more people who may not have previously been able to enter the market to purchase a home of their own.
David Smith from the Times commented that “Alistair Darling’s Robin Hood coup in last week’s budget was the two-year stamp-duty holiday for first-time buyers of homes up to £250,000, paid for by a permanent increase in the duty to 5% on £1m-plus properties. Clearly, there will be mixed feelings about this.
Despite the skepticism, stamp-duty holidays work, as previous experience has shown. Provided the bureaucracy can identify who is a genuine first-time buyer — a divorced wife or husband who was previously a joint owner will not count — this should give the market a boost, which is why the housing industry has welcomed it.”
Stephen Brown, Director of our Crouch End shop has said that “if we start seeing banks lend more then this will be a nice saving. Hopefully the stamp duty saving should be good for first home buyers as this will give more money to their deposit.”
Either way you look at it this will help more people purchase their first home which is a good thing!
Crouch End fun day -
This year’s fundraising is well and truly underway. The Cricket Match and fun day in Crouch End kicked off the proceedings on Sunday 12th July. After nervously watching the precarious weather reports all week, we struck gold and scored the sunniest day of the week. Hoorah! So off we headed to Crouch End, stilt walker and several hundred balloons in tow to raise a load of lolly for Fight For Life.
We raised a commendable £1,600 with lots of local residents popping along to catch an over or two of the cricket, chance their luck at the raffle, tap their toes to the live entertainment or simply enjoy a succulent burger provided by a local butchers in Crouch End.
Throughout the year we’re going to be holding lots of fun events, watch this space for more news…
Crouch End Fun Day - Sunday 13th July - 12pm
Click on the flyer to enlarge
Don’t miss out on all the fun this weekend - come down to Hornsey Cricket club and help us raise loads and loads of money for FIght For Life. A really amazing charity for children with cancer. All employees at Fight For Life are volunteers. All money raised on the day will be match pound for pound by Greene and Co. Anyway, I’ll shut up - here are the details:
Sunday 12th July
12pm
Hornsey Cricket Club, Tivoli Road, Crouch End N8 8RG
BBQ & DRINKS
Strawberrys and cream
Charity cricket match
Bouncy castle
Sumo suits
Face painting
Penalty shoot out
Lucky Dip
Raffles
Live entertainment.
Call or email for further details
Naomi Buffery
020 7490 0001
07792 376210
Greene & Co to raise lots and lots of money for Fight for Life
Click on the image to download the fun day flyer
This year we hope to raise £10,000 for our chosen charity - Fight for Life.
Fight for Life raises money for children with cancer and our contribution will go towards a radiotherapy unit at the New University College on Marylebone road.
So, we’ve decide to host a fun day in Crouch End on Sunday 12th July and we really want to make lot’s and lots of money to help this really worthy cause. So far, we have a charity cricket match arranged, the vocal talents of Milly Blue - myspace.com/millyin blue, a live caberet act, bouncy castle, stilt walker, face painitng, penalty shoot out, coconut shy, raffle and hopefully lots lots more.
We’re not there yet though and we need help!
Please come along and bring your family
Would you like to play on our cricket team?
We need lots and lots of fab give aways for our raffle
Donate to the charity?
Do you know a band or live entertainer that would perform at the event?
www.justgiving.com/greenefightforlife
Contact Naomi Buffery - naomi@greene.co.uk
020 7490 0001
Greene & Co support Crouch End Open Studios
Being community focussed, we thought this was a fantastic opportunity to get involved and give something back. On the weekend 8th - 10th May Crouch End Open Studios hosted an exhibition, giving the general public a chance to meet artists and buy their work. The weekend went really well, with lots of art lovers flocking to the event.
Interested in art? Why not visit their website to find out when their next exhibition will be.
Looking for something to do in Crouch End?
Crouch End is a lovely part of London, with a village feel.
There are loads to do there too. I just found this article in a copy of North Magazine…check it out and discover what Crouch End has to offer.
