[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkxTUORO5k8 350x300]

If you haven't noticed yet, we have a new way of showing off your property. We can create 30 to 60 second videos of your property and show them off on this site as well as on our youtube site.

You can also share the link yourself with whoever you want.....

More confidence in the property market is leading to increased flexibility among mortgage lenders, according to an expert. 

First-time buyers could find higher loan-to-values being offered, said Ben Wilkie, editor of What Mortgage. 

Bigger banks are likely to be the ones opening up their finances, he suggested, as they want to get back into the property market to boost their profile. 

"It really should help first-time buyers, because even to get a ten per cent deposit is hard enough and to get any higher than that is outrageous, for many people," he commented. 

For first-time buyers really struggling to save money, the expert predicted a 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgage could be on offer "fairly soon". 

Figures from Moneyfacts have revealed that 1,798 mortgage deals were on offer at the beginning of March requiring deposits of up to 40 per cent, up more than six per cent on the previous month.

sourve: www.aboutproperty.co.uk

If you are one of the many people who have an iphone, you may be interested in the new findaproperty app.

Utilising the iPhone's GPS functionality you can quickly review property for sale and rent in and around your current location, before mapping a route to quickly reach them for a viewing. Select a map-pin to review comprehensive property information including asking prices, number of bedrooms, full screen photo/slideshows and pinch enabled floor plans. Read a full overview of each property, save the ones that make the grade, email them to friends or contact estate agents directly to arrange a viewing, all on the move and all on your iPhone.

Search in Your Current Location -using the GPS functionality you can perform a search and see what properties are available for sale and rent around your location.

Refine Your Search Results - See the initial results and then refine them to match your exact criteria, be it price, bedroom or location

Property Search Results on a Map - As well as displaying search results in a list format you can select results from the built-in Google map, allowing you to move around the map to view properties within the scope of your search and also map directions to reach a property

2010 has begun and I for one are quite happy to see the end of 2009, from a business point of view.
Whilst the last few months were pretty good, the first half had been awful, not just for Estate Agents, but for many businesses.

So how has the first monday of the new year been? Busy, very busy. If today was an indication of 2010, then bring it on!

A successful monday has seen us sell 2 properties and let 2 properties. There have been 5 other offers also. Is this the start of a successful 2010 property market? Here's hoping.......

Have you seen our new property videos? You can access them on our website, the latest usually feature on the home page, or yo can find them on our very own youtube page.
They are a new, fun and interesting way to show off the photos of your property. They are also easy to share around on social networking sites, such as facebook and twitter. 

If you would like us to make a property video of your property, just let us know.

www.twitter.com/munrolock
www.youtube.com/munrolock
www.facebook.com/munrolock

A report by the National Association of Estate Agents suggests that the majority of agents feel that mortgage lenders and the surveyors who value for them are downvalueing property based on what might happen in the future rather than the present.

Our own experience certainly suggests there is a discrepancy between the price a surveyor often values a property for, compared to the price the agent, the owner and the person willing to buy feel the property is worth.

So who is right? The surveyors have a duty to try to safeguard the money a mortgage company lend, that is fair enough, but surely it's wrong when their valuation is taken more into account than agents or buyers?

A much more sensible thing would be that surveyors are not allowed to put what they believe the property is worth, but instead the maximum they would suggest a mortgage company should lend on the property. They are two different things.

Quite recently we sold a property, only for it to be downvalued. We sold it again, the new buyer offered £3000 more than the first buyer, only for it to be downvalued again, but by even more than the first time!

Who is right in this case?

I don't believe it's as easy as that. The market varies throughout the country and most of the articles concerning property talk about the country as a whole. Property prices have not been as affected in some areas as in others.

Hayes for example has always been pretty good. Even during the worst months, we were more likely to sell a house in Hayes than we were a flat in Beckenham. Only prices had reduced from the previous couple of years. 

Now however, wherever the property is, we are likely to get interest. There is a shortage of properties for sale and some reports say there are 4 buyers for every property on the market.

That makes it a good time to sell. Though it could be even better in a years time, or 2 years time, or 5 years time.

There isn't an answer, so don't believe the people who try to convince you either way.