The Foreshore Debate

Not only the Foreshore but what about other property in Jersey.

Recently an article in Jersey Evening Post caught my attention concerning the actions of the Public in dealing with property boundaries and potential encroachments near the beach, technically, "The Foreshore" and the findings of the States Complaints Board.

In Jersey, where there are boundary problems, there is in most cases a friendly agreement between neighbours which is ratified in Court, the only cost being that you pay your neighbours legal costs. This helps the house sales flow more easily.

Not only the Foreshore but what about other property in Jersey.

During my many years as a conveyancer in Jersey, I have on a few occasions dealt with this issue relating to properties built on or near to the foreshore, i.e. the boundary of the property was the high watermark over the years the seawall was constructed both by the Public and on occasion by private contractors or owners as well . Not only this I have also dealt with property inland which has bordered on the Public property (owned in a "private" capacity).

In recent years the Crown, represented by the Crown officers department or Law Officers Department and subsequently, the Public (the States) or the Crown have on occasion sought compensation from owners where their properties may have been found to be constructed on or close to the seawall generally within 12 feet of the rear of the seawall.

In some cases, owners have been required to pay compensation where planning approval has been granted by a public authority to construct buildings, patios and balconies, and in some cases, owners have suffered setting out errors by their builders and been forced to pay compensation.

But, and it is important but, what about all those owners who live inland and have properties which border on Public property, which the Public claim to own in a "private" capacity, (which seems to be patently nonsense to any layman, I have never understood how the Public own something in a private capacity). Many years ago, I lived in a block of flats which bordered on a private lane which had been compulsorily purchased by the Public (the "States"). Despite a deed, at cost to the original owners, allowing windows, overhangs and openings, the windows of apartments were opening outwards, (all approved at the time by Planning) a change was forced upon the owners to open the windows inwards so they didn't overhang the road.

In my view it is not just these two transactions relating to the foreshore that should be reviewed, but perhaps all transactions within the past 20 years whereby compensation has been sought by the Public from private property owners, how the matter was handled, and if needs be, an inquiry to look at matters and to discuss a sensible way forward for all owners affected by this issue all over the Island.

The link to the JEP Article is here.

Nick Dodsley is the owner of ND Estates, a Jersey based Estate Agency.

If you are resident in Jersey please follow our company on LinkedIn or like us on Facebook and Twitter.

Thoughts on local sales

I have only 33 years experience in local property.  This is knowledge of the Jersey legal conveyancing matters.  My company entered in to the Estate Agency arena just over 4 years ago and we are steadily expanding our offering as Jersey Estate agents and have an expanding team.

However we are a little surprised at some of our competition notwithstanding they are members of local Associations or indeed in some cases members of National Association.

This year we had believed on the basis of written e-mails that we had a joint agency with one agent, they had written suggesting it, written to the owner and thereafter my firm worked on that basis.  When the sale was negotiated through the other agent they reneged on the deal they had with us.

Another agency can't be bothered to take their own photos.  This is an interesting one because they are of course breaching copyright and using our employees time.   Not only that, what service is the client paying for.

Our New Website

Don't forget to visit our new website at www.ndestates.com where you can see our latest properties, see floor plans and book viewings.

Our website has been designed by us to show case properties to their best effect using large photographs done by a trained photographer.

We also use modern estate agency software which matches applicants with properties that will suit them.   Please register with us if you are looking to buy or rent.

An Open Mind

The start of this year has been very busy for ND Estates.  We have received instructions in the sales and lettings of in excess of 30 properties on far more properties than we anticipated in all price ranges.

One thing I do wonder is the benefit of an open viewing and so far this year we have not undertaken any.  We are not closed to the idea, rather when we discuss it in the office, we are concerned that a reading of the local press on a Friday evening reveals in excess of 70 open viewings.

That sheer number of Open Viewings leads us to question whether, if we undertake an open viewing,  is that viewing likely to be very sparsely attended, as happened on the ones we conducted last year.

We prefer to direct our resources to viewings in the weekdays at times to suit Vendors and viewers and also to appointment viewings at the weekend.

You can see all the properties for sale and rent at the ND Estates website.

January 2012 - Green Shoots?

Somewhat surprisingly given the supposed economic environment we have noticed both a significant level of increased instructions in our Jersey Estate Agents business as well as a doubling of viewings of properties compared with the same month last year. Anecdotal evidence from people viewing properties with us and through other agents is that other agents are seeing an increased level of interest. Hopefully these green shoots of interest are a sign of better times to come. We have to remember that the dark side of October where business ground to a halt and enquiries dried up is now being reflected in the statistics for the final quarter of 2012.

Let us hope that both nationally and locally politicians wake up to the needs of business.

Remaining cautious is probably the best way to be but perhaps with a little cautious optimism

The articles in 20/20 magazine by Peter and myself appear to have been well received. We have had a number of new sales properties on our website this week and these can be seen on the ND Estates website

New Homes in St. Peter

We are pleased to have been instructed in the sale of 13 new homes at Le Clos de la Fontaine St Peter on a multi agency basis.  A mixture of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes are available and are detailed on our website, www.ndestates.com

A Sale Testimonial

"Our property was on the market for eight months with two different estate agents before we switched to ND Estates. We had chosen them due to their use of new and innovative marketing techniques. Within two weeks we had received three offers and the place was sold a month later! ND Estates communication and professionalism was far superior to any other estate agent we had dealt with. We would not hesitate to recommend ND Estates to anyone looking to sell their property in this difficult market."

In fact I think the buyer found the property through our Facebook page and the Vendors had used us following our use of Facebook, so a Facebook transaction altogether really.

Now of course we are also using Google Street View and also Audio Tours to enhance our offering to Vendors. So if you have a Jersey property for sale or know of someone selling ask them to contact us to see how we can help.

A Question of Advertising

We have for some time wondered about the benefits of advertising in the local press. With the advent of Google Street and Audio Tours on our site we do not see much point in paying premium rates for advertising in printed press which cannot produce the quality of pictures we require or convey the details of the property adequately. We also do not have much of a choice in local press advertising and the response rates are poor and is no reflection on the quality of the property.

We have conducted research in the UK (London, Scotland and Wales) as well as Guernsey and for such a small location, Jersey being the size of a small provincial town we cannot see that advertising even on a weekly basis can actually now beat use of our own website.

We are interested to know where you think the best place for advertising is now. Do you look in the local press, do you look on the internet at the agents website or the portal sites.

Country Location & Sea Views

Located in Trinity in a quiet country lane this property has seen much life and was once owned by a diplomat. It serves as a great party house.

You have the garage and the parking and then enter the property through the first garden which is an East and South facing lawned area. You enter the house and you have a large lounge featuring hand crafted panelled furniture with windows looking North-East with views over the countryside to the sea and to France.

The dining room is a good sized room with a window on the south overlooking the first garden. This is an ideal home for entertaining. The dining room equally could serve as a third bedroom within the bungalow.

The kitchen has a range of high and low level cupboards and has a south facing window with doors leading to both hallways.

Off the hall on the other side is the main house bedroom and the second bedroom. Leading from the hall are a house bathroom and second shower room as well as the utility. Adjacent to the utility room is a sun trap patio area.

A large games room leads from the house currently housing a pool table but which could easily be incorporated to the main house or could be used as a childrens playroom. There is a staircase leading to the integral two bedroom cottage and also a door leading to the outside areas.

The two bedroom cottage can be used as part of the house or can be let or used as a two generation. It has its own kitchen, lounge and two double bedrooms and house bathroom. From the ground floor you walk to the gardens and the swimming pool area.

The swimming pool area has built in seating areas and bbq area and a pool house equipped with telephone and electricity. It provides the ideal entertainment area.

Leading from the pool you are in the vegetable garden and then finally to the orchard.

This is an ideal home and well worth a viewing. It also benefits from current planning permission to raise the roof and create additional bedrooms.

See our website for the full details.

Google Street View and Audio Tours

As part of our marketing we now offer Google Street and Map View and Audio Tours.   Our website is a bespoke designed website and not an off the shelf Estate agent website which means I can add and remove features as and when I want.  

We continue to promote more modern ways of marketing property and have also introduced a mobile site to our website for mobile browsers.

Check out our website at www.ndestates,com

Housing & Work

A brief read of the recently approved law requires some clarification but it looks very likely that all property will now fall in to the current a-j housing category which is quite a shift for those people who have flats.  Equally what will it mean for new build houses and will it improve the housing market which currently, whilst more active than last year remains somewhat moribund.

Premium & Featured

We have changed our search on our website so that now we have Premium Listings in addition to our featured properties.

Our premium listings are changed on a regular basis  and can be viewed at our ND Estates website

What happens when you find a buyer

When you have reached agreement to sell your Estate agent will instruct your lawyer with details of the sale price,the full names of the parties and a suggested completion date to suit all the parties.

So what does your lawyer do.  Well, your lawyer or conveyancer will contact you to verify the sale details.  Then he will prepare the draft contract of sale.

This details again the parties and the price to be paid.  In addition to this the draft details a description of the property, the boundaries and all clauses which the property is subject.  At the same time will check any charges that his client may have secured against the property so that he is aware of the loans that need to be repaid in good time.  Once the draft has been checked it is despatched to the purchasers lawyer who will then commence his work......

Welcome to our blog

ND Estates is a Jersey based estate agency dealing in Sales, Lettings and now property management.

Our blog is designed to give our thoughts on the market, views on selling your home and also highlighting some of the properties in our sales portfolio.