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Appear on ITVs Trevor McDonald

Propertyfriends has been contacted by ITV1s 'Tonight With Trevor McDonald', who are in the process of making a programme about how to 'Beat the Property Market Boom'.  They are aware that large numbers of people are finding it increasingly difficult to get on the property ladder and in some cases stay on it, because they are being priced out of the market and are looking into the various ways to get around this - co-buying, parents remortgaging and providing a deposit, buying abroad, buying to renovate to make a profit/deposit, buying property at auction, living on a houseboat etc etc.

They would like to feature people who are actively looking to find a co-buyer or have co-bought with another.  Are you looking to find someone to buy with to live with, are you an investor hoping to find a partner to purchase a property for them to live in, are you living at home with your parents and want to invest in a rental property so when you're ready to buy your own place to live in, you'll have a good deposit? They would like to discuss your co-buying situation and will be filming in August but are flexible with dates / times.  The show will be broadcast in Septemer / October and you will only be required for a couple of hours for filming.  You can be based anywhere in the UK.

If you are interested in this opportunity or would just like to speak to ITV to find out more information please contact Leonie on 07717 578 888 or leonie@propertyfriends.co.uk at your earliest convenience.  All discussions with both Propertyfriends and ITV will remain confidential.

Your questions answered...

We receive a lot of questions about the website and have covered them in our FAQs section.  These include how to create a detailed and informative profile which will attract other members, how to search for members, along with a large number of other queries we regularly receive from members. 

If you can think of anything we should add please email them to admin@propertyfriends.co.uk

Going Green Tip: Clean green

Rather than buy harsh chemicals which can be expensive and extremely damaging to the environment, use natural products, such as salt, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and lemon juice.  You will use fewer chemicals, less packaging and have more in your purse!

Going Green Tip: Recycle

Waste not, want not - give or sell your old clothing and furniture to second-hand shops, borrow books/DVDs/playstation games from the library instead of buying new, swap items with friends, drop your old mobile phone into an Oxfam shop which could be worth £5 or more, reuse your plastic carrier bags or use a long-lasting cotton shopping bag, send e-cards rather than paper cards and save a few trees, get yourself a wormery and turn those kitchen scraps into high-strength plant feed.  All these things will help save the planet.

Something to think about…

-  The average person in the UK throws out their body weight in rubbish every 3 months

-  In one year there is enough rubbish in the UK to fill dustbins stretching from the Earth to the Moon

-  Each year enough carpet to cover 57,000 football pitches is sent to landfill in Europe

Source: www.savecashsaveplanet.org

Going Green Tip: Reduce your waste at home

Use energy saving light bulbs - they last up to 12 times longer, insulate your hot water tank with a jacket - can save you £20 p/y, double glaze all your windows - will cut heat loss through windows by 50% and could cut your heating bill by £80 to £100 a year, eliminate drafts - fills the gaps with newspaper, sealant or beading.

Would You Like to Share your Co-buying Story?

If you are a co-buyer or have co-bought a property in the past and would be interested in sharing your story on the website, please email leonie@propertyfriends.co.uk

Bank of England Raises Bank Rate by 0.25 Percent to 5.5%

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to raise the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.25 percentage points to 5.5%.

It is becoming more and more difficult for first-time buyers, following on from today’s increase in interest rates .  With higher interest rates you must save a large amount for a deposit, stamp duty and fees, as well as spend an ever increasing share of your income on your mortgage payments each month.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders shows the typical maiden homebuyer spent 18.3 per cent of their income on mortgage interest payments in March, up from 16 per cent in the same month last year.  The size of loans compared to salaries has also risen due to house price inflation.

CML figures today show the number of first-time buyers has dropped by 8% in a year as soaring house prices and rising interest price young people out of the market and affordability is at its lowest level for 16 years, reports The Telegraph.

First-time buyers in March took out a home loan that was on average 3.31 times their income, up from 3.15 in the same month last year.

Sadly, home ownership is becoming a distant dream for more and more people, forcing them to stay at home or to rent and pay someone else’s mortgage.  About 3.1 million of today’s over 30s who had expected to retire in their own homes will actually live out their golden years in rented accommodation.

It’s not all grim though, there are ways to buy your own home and Propertyfriends offers just the solution.  Register your details now, find your ideal co-buyer and step onto the property ladder today. 

People Sought for Confidential Research

Propertyfriends has been approached by a television production company, who are undertaking research into co-ownership of property. They are keen to speak to people who not only co-own a property but who actually live with their co-owners, rather than where co-ownership is purely for investment purposes.

The purpose of their research is to gain a better understanding of people's experiences in relation to co-buying including finding and deciding on the co-owners, to choosing a mortgage, deciding on legal agreements, choosing the property, the practical set ups etc.

Ultimately, they hope to develop a potential television series, with the aim of being informative and instructive as to the best way to co-buy a property and you could be vital in helping others achieve their dream of stepping onto the property ladder.

If you are interested in speaking with their researcher, or know of any family, friends or work colleagues (they don't have to have been strangers) who have co-bought and would like to share their experience, please contact Leonie at your earliest convenience on leonie@propertyfriends.co.uk or 07717 578 888.

All contact will be confidential with both Propertyfriends and the television production company.

Propertyfriends is going green

We at Propertyfriends are true believers in doing our bit to reduce our carbon footprint in the hope we can save the planet we've all grown to love. To help you do your bit we will be including a 'Going Green' tip in each newsletter.

This month's 'Going Green' tip is: Recycle: Waste not, want not - give or sell your old clothing and furniture to second-hand shops, borrow books/DVDs/playstation games from the library instead of buying new, swap items with friends, drop your old mobile phone into an Oxfam shop which could be worth £5 or more, reuse your plastic carrier bags or use a long-lasting cotton shopping bag, send e-cards rather than paper cards and save a few trees, get yourself a wormery and turn those kitchen scraps into high-strength plant feed. All these things will help save the planet.

Something to think about…

- The average person in the UK throws out their body weight in rubbish every 3 months

- In one year there is enough rubbish in the UK to fill dustbins stretching from the Earth to the Moon

- Each year enough carpet to cover 57,000 football pitches is sent to landfill in Europe

Source: www.savecashsaveplanet.org

The Wharf profiles Sharon Spencer, a Propertyfriends.co.uk member

Meet Sharon - she has been renting for the past three years since breaking up with her partner and is keen to buy a house in London, zone 1-3.  She has registered with Propertyfriends.co.uk in the hope that she will be able to finally buy a home.

"Being a single girl, if I bought on my own, realistically I would be able to spend about £150,000.  So with another person I could get a much better flat.  I have to travel a lot with work, so I would like to have somewhere I could let out if I'm sent abroad for a year, rather than renting a flat that's just lying empty."

Propertyfriends.co.uk co-founder, Leonie Sloan said: "Rising property prices have meant that many first-time buyers are finding themselves priced out of the market, with the deposit and monthly payments simply out of their reach.  The increasing trend is for prospective co-buyers to look outside their cirlce of family and friends for someone to invest in a suitable property.  Co-buying is also especially attractive to property investors."

Property prices have risen by 90 per cent since 1991, driving the average age of first-time buyers in the UK up to 34.

To read the whole article, click here

Would you like to appear on ITV and share your co-buyer search?

Propertyfriends.co.uk has been invited to take part in a 30 minute programme about co-buying by ITV Meridian’s current affairs show, Focus.

Serving around 5.5 million people (10% of the viewing population) Meridian is one of ITV’s largest regional broadcasters extending along the south coast from Weymouth to Dover, round Thanet and the Thames estuary to Southend in Essex. The region also takes in a major proportion of the Thames Valley, stretching to Reading and Marlborough.

Focus is looking to interview participants in the local area who would be happy to share their search for their ideal co-buyer. Why are you are considering co-buying, in which areas would you like to co-buy and have you met or had interaction with any suitable co-buyers are all things which will be covered in the story.

If you would be interested in participating in this opportunity please email leonie@propertyfriends.co.uk at your earliest convenience and register your profile for free on www.propertyfriends.co.uk

If you are chosen to feature on the programme Propertyfriends.co.uk will feature you in our newsletter, reporting your Focus story. You will also be included on the Blog and News section, furthermore creating traffic to your profile.

This is a brilliant opportunity for you to increase coverage of your personal profile through publicity and to help inform others of the co-buying concept, encouraging hopeful property buyers to take the step so please get in touch to find out more. We will then forward your contact details to ITV who will give you a detailed description of what will be involved.

As Tony Robbins says ‘One decision can change your life forever’.

Focus has run several programmes raising social issues including hazardous chemicals in the home, advised on handling student debt, highlighted the growing incidence of rate hate attacks in the South, and was instrumental in securing the release of a Hampshire man from a Moroccan jail. Focus also featured ‘dognapping, coastal erosion, and the pitfalls of buying property abroad.

The Bank of England rises interest rates to 5.25%

At the end of its monthly two-day rate-setting meeting, the monetary policy committee decided to act swiftly on recent inflationary economic data.  The Bank of England today issued a quarter-point bank rate rise to 5.25%.

The unexpected increase in the bank rate to 5.25% is the third rise since August.

The Bank of England said in a statement: 'In the United Kingdom, output continues to rise at a firm pace. Domestic demand has grown steadily and credit and broad money growth remain rapid. The international economy continues to grow strongly.

'Sterling has risen and oil prices have fallen back. But the margin of spare capacity in the economy appears limited, adding to domestic pricing pressures. CPI inflation was 2.7% in November.'

Its easier to get on the property ladder if you share the mortgage with a friend...

says Paula Hawkins of the Evening Standard's Homes and Property Magazine today.  In the article Melanie Bien, associate director of mortgage broker Savills Private Finance says "lenders are fairly relaxed about co-four people buying together.  Their main concern is that the mortgage is paid every month". 

Paula interviewed one of our members, Sharon Spencer, a first time buyer, looking for someone who is serious about co-buying. Sharon is specifically interested in purchasing a maisonette or a house and is open to suggestions of areas but would prefer to stay within London, zones 1-3. Sharon has an 11yr old dog (GSD x Blk Lab) so you must be a dog lover, her friends describe her as outgoing and down-to-earth, she describes her cheffing abilities as 'safe to eat as hers' and once lived with a flatmate who was addicted to diet coke, drinking up to 48 cans per week! Read article

To find out more about Sharon search for username 'sharonspencer', who also featured in The Wharf newspaper late last year.  

We will be featuring members profile's in our newsletter going forward.  If you would like your profile to feature, please email admin@propertyfriends.co.uk

Fact of the day

The Land Registry says that around £1million worth of property is processed every minute in England and Wales so we encourage you to register today, find your ideal propertyfriend and become part of the shopping phenomenon today!

Propertyfriends interviewed by the BBC

Leonie Sloan, co-founder of Propertyfriends.co.uk was interviewed today by BBC Radio on the breakfast show with Andy Burrows.

Leonie and Andy discussed the legalities involved in co-buying, spoke about Propertyfriends secure email service, the Ch@t member-to-member instant messaging service and blogging where people detail their property journeys online for others to read.

They also discussed members profiles and some of the questions members are asked when registering with Propertyfriends. These include 'what kind of property would you like to buy', 'have you had a mortgage approved' and some of the more personal questions, 'how would your friends describe you in 3 words' and 'what 3 things could you not do without if stranded on a desert island'.

Leonie also discussed her first property purchase, a 4 bedroom house she bought at the age of 18 in Australia, where she is originally from. Leonie joined forces with two others, purchasing the property in Brisbane and a house plot in Gatton which is an hour or so West and located in the country. The roof was removed and the house was transported on a large truck and relocated onto the land. Having kept the property for 12 years, Leonie has recently sold up allowing her to invest in her own property here in the UK.

You can listen to the interview on BBC Radio.

Co-buying is the answer to affordable home ownership

Life Style Extra reported recently on co-buying and posed the question 'is co-buying the answer to affordable home ownership'. The article covered things prospective buyers need to consider when co-buying a property and included some quite depressing statistics including:

"More than seven million people say house prices have risen too high for them to get on the property ladder", the research by Abbey showed. Property website Hometrack has revealed that house prices are growing at their fastest rate for more than two years.

New research by the Halifax suggests that property in nine out of ten British towns is now beyond the reach of first-time buyers. "Up to ten per cent of first-time buyers are having to club together with friends or family," says Firstrungnow.com

"Around 50 per cent of new first-time buyer mortgages go to couples buying together, some 40 per cent of new mortgages are lent to people buying alone and the remaining 10 per cent go to people buying with friends, taking on shared ownership or involving parents as guarantors" says Halifax.

Average incomes have risen by 50 per cent but Nationwide Building Society research shows that house prices have trebled since 1995 - trebled!

Propertyfriends.co.uk was mentioned in the article and you can read the full article on the Life Style Extra website.

MailBox, your personal email account

The MailBox is your secure personal email account. All correspondence between Propertyfriends members takes place through your MailBox or through the Ch@t facility which is Propertyfriends' answer to MSN Messenger. This ensures your identity is protected until you decide to reveal it.

The MailBox facility has the following functions:
- Ability to send one email to multiple members
- Save draft messages
- View your contacts
- Update your contacts (from your favourites)

To access your MailBox click on the MailBox icon to the right of the page, once you are logged in. 

Your privacy protected

Propertyfriends.co.uk consider your privacy of the utmost importance and we are committed to protecting the privacy of all personal information obtained from you during your visits to this website.

Our privacy policy explains what personal information we may collect from you and the purposes for which it will be used. All correspondence between Propertyfriends.co.uk members takes place through our secure email account (MailBox) or our Chat facility, thus ensuring your identity is protected until you decide to reveal it.

We use leading technologies and security measures to safeguard your information and keep strict security standards, preventing any unauthorised access to it.  We use industry-standard SSL encryption software when processing sensitive information such as usernames and passwords and we comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and are registered with the Information Commissioner.

To find out more about privacy and how you can protect your own interests see our FAQs.

Share your enthusiasm and support Propertyfriends

Word of mouth is the most honest form of marketing, building upon people’s desire to share their personal experiences with friends, family, colleagues and those they may meet in the future. Data analysis has proven an incredibly large number of our members have heard of Propertyfriends through word of mouth.

Word of mouth empowers people, giving you a voice to share your enthusiasm and support of our services and the co-buying concept, inspiring us to create a better service and provide genuine satisfaction. We work hard to make our members happier, we value customer opinion and honestly respond to your concerns.

We work to create customer enthusiasm instead of pushing marketing messages, if our members are happy, we’re happy. We provide an exciting, informative and no-nonsense website aimed at first time buyers and property investors wanting to purchase property with another.

We have worked hard to provide members with a service worth talking about, providing you with tools making it easier to share your opinions.

Please forward on our link and inform your friends they can join for free, for a limited time.

Are you interesting to other members?

If you have a detailed and informative profile, you will attract more members, simple as that.

Invest time in writing your profile and remember to be honest. Complete as many of the fields as are relevant to you - the more information people can see about you, the more chance you will have of your ideal propertyfriend finding you. When members search for other members they want to see as much information about each other as possible so we can't tell you how valuable it is that you fill in as many fields as you can.

Remember to include photos so people can see who they are reading about. It is proven that those members with photos receive more traffic flow.

If you have a profile which people can look at, you're halving your work - instead of you doing all the looking, you will have people looking for you by viewing your profile. They will contact you and therefore you will hopefully find your ideal propertyfriend faster. You are here to meet people and a profile will help you do that.

See our FAQs for more info relating to creating a profile.

Ch@t is Propertyfriends answer to MSN Messenger

Ch@t is Propertyfriends' answer to MSN Messenger and works in a similar way. To use the Ch@t facility, simply find members you wish to chat with online, during your search. You may either add all those members you would like to chat with to your 'favourite' and initiate Ch@t when you have finished searching. Or simply click on the Ch@t icon below each member panel on the search page to initiate Ch@t.

Once you have initiated the Ch@t, a ch@t request will be sent to the member you wish to chat with. You will then receive an acceptance notification if online, or an email if offline. Once your Ch@t request has been accepted, click the Ch@t icon to the right of the site and enter the Ch@t area. Here you will find the new member added to your contact list and if the member is online you may chat with them.

You think you had a wierd flatmate

We want to hear your wierdest flatmate stories, have you lived with a complete nutter, did you share with someone who had some serious problems, you had to move out to get your life back...

Some we've received so far are listed below for your amusement but we'd love to hear more so send them in and you also could feature on this page.

I used to live with this guy who would fall asleep with no warning, he had this sleeping disorder and could be halfway through a conversation and then boom, sleep. It was really odd at first and especially when I had friends over who weren't aware of the situation. Quite dangerous though when he was cooking - he even set the kitchen on fire, 5 times. In the end, he knew the local firemen on a first name basis.

My dad used to have this woman that rented a room in his house and she was an ex stripper. She used to walk around the house with nothing on when she was the only one home but sometimes he'd come home and she'd not heard him pull up in the drive so it was a shock for all, especially as she was 85 and had no shame. Gross.

Used to live with this bloke who snored so loud he had to sleep with cotton wool up his nose to drown out the noise so we could all get to sleep

What you like about Propertyfriends

I like Propertyfriends because it is clear, easy to navigate, full of relevant information and tailored to first time buyers needs

Propertyfriends is a really interesting website, using a great, eye-catching colour scheme and its easy to get around. Its creative, detailed and the members profiles have got some funny questions.

i enjoy the property news, the layout of the website, its easy to get about, there is no fancy or hard-to-understand terminolgy, its an excellent, excellent website

The good thing about Propertyfriends is that it was co-founded by two people who struggled to get on the property ladder so understand the desperation we first-time buyers can feel and have therefore created something to help those who want to take that step. Well done.

Interest rates hit a five-year high

Today the Bank of England raised interest rates by a quarter per cent to 5 per cent, its highest level since August 2001. The rise will have an immediate effect on all borrowers, meaning bigger mortgage repayments for millions of people.

Reaching a fifty-year low of 3.5% in July 2003, the base rate has risen to 5% due to the following rate changes:

Jul 2003 - Cut to 3.50%
Nov 2003 - Hiked to 3.75%
Feb 2004 - Hiked to 4.00%
May 2004 - Hiked to 4.25%
Jun 2004 - Hiked to 4.50%
Aug 2004 - Hiked to 4.75%
Aug 2005 - Cut to 4.50%
Aug 2006 - Hiked to 4.75%
Nov 2006 - Hiked to 5.00%

Mortgage bills will go up by £32 per a month to £1,413 on an average £200,000 repayment loan.

Feedback

We would be very interested to hear any feedback or thoughts you may have about the website.

Is there something you would like us to feature, should we detail a specific link a little more, is there anything that you think may help co-buyers?

Help us to help you.

Send your thoughts to general@propertyfriends.co.uk

Where can I find property?

There are many different ways to find your ideal property and as there is such intense competition in the market at the moment, the more savvy you are, the easier it will be.

A large number of properties are not even advertised as estate agents have a list of developers and those in a position to purchase quickly and with limited amount of work and will therefore be a quick and effortless sale, giving both the vendor and the estate agent their money fast.

What can you do in this situation? Become friendly with estate gents in the area you are looking to purchase property, stay in constant contact, be in a position to proceed with a purchase, know how much you can borrow, get an Agreement in Principle from your lender and be registered with a solicitor.

Register with the online property portals such as Rightmove.co.uk, Findaproperty.com and Propertyfinder.com to receive email alerts once a property with your requirements is listed.

Read property related newspapers and magazines, especially the local papers in the area you are looking.

If you can stick to your budget visit the auction houses but be warned, this is a quick and stressful way to purchase property with a lot of large number of people bidding over their budget. You will have to be in a position to put down a deposit on the day and complete within 28days normally.

To find out more take a look at our Property Options and if you have suggestions on ways people can find their ideal property, please let us know.

Save the planet

Are you doing your part to save the world?

If you’ve not seen An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary hosted by former US Vice president Al Gore which details the disastrous effect we are all having on the planet we recommend you go see it today!

Log on to www.climatecrisis.net which describes the documentary as “Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.”

Some things you can do to reduce your carbon emissions are: Change a regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, drive less, recycle more, use less hot water, avoid products with a lot of packaging, adjust your thermostat, plant a tree and turn off electrical devices.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas on other ways we could help save the planet…

Welcome

Welcome to Propertyfriends, the UKs most informative co-buying website. We are an introductory service, similar to a dating website but our members are looking for someone to buy property with rather than have a romance with!

Register today, create your profile and start searching for your ideal property friend.