Shortt launches Home Maker

An information evening about the Home Maker concept, a new initiative by local auctioneer, Martin Shortt, aiming to help boost the flagging property market was held in the Lakeside Manor Hotel, Virginia last Monday evening. Mr. Shortt devised the concept, which centres on the prospective purchaser moving into the house that they intend to buy, rent-free for two years, after paying the seller a €3,000-€5,000 booking deposit. Instead of rent, they accumulate funds that will go towards a deposit on the house when they secure mortgage approval two years later and buy the property. The parties may agree to a bonus for early completion of the sale. The buyer is protected if property prices fall, as the house is valued in line with the house price index and purchased according to the value at the time of its purchase rather than the value when the agreement is first made. Although the concept is very buyer-focused, Mr. Shortt believes that many sellers would agree to sign up to the Home Maker concept - 'because there is nothing selling at the moment'. He also described the Home Maker concept as 'an escape route' and 'an opportunity' for sellers in the current economic climate. The payment of a booking deposit as a potential penalty to a prospective purchaser would be crucial to the success of the agreement. 'There is a big risk on the seller"s side, so why would they not be entitled to ask for €3,000-€5,000 to protect themselves,' says Martin. Idea Acknowledging that the concept may need some time and some tweaking before it would take off, Martin stated that, 'People are always sceptical about new ideas,' but added, 'any idea has to start somewhere'. 'Normally if you"re dealing with reasonable people, this concept will work,' he added. Mr. Shortt was inspired to come up with the Home Maker concept, because of the lack of confidence in the property market at the moment. 'There is no point in saying there is no confidence and doing nothing about it,' he told the audience at the information evening. It"s in nobody"s interest for house prices to fall any further - not homeowners, builders, banks or the government - according to Mr. Shortt and he believes that the Home Maker concept, which was featured on TV3 on Tuesday morning would go some way towards addresssing the problem. Among the problems that Mr. Shortt identified were: that people are afraid prices are going to drop again; people can"t borrow money as easily as previously and because people (especially those paying high rents) can"t raise deposits for property purchase. 'This is a concept that a lot of people see merit in,' said Mr. Shortt, who introduced speakers, Mickey Harte and Jim Deeney, to lend their support to the initiative. Mickey Harte Tyrone GAA Football Manager, Mickey Harte, endorsed the auctioneer"s sense of innovation. 'Martin is being very creative in generating this concept,' he said. Regarding Martin"s approach of 'thinking outside the box', Harte asked whether it was 'better to light a single candle or sit in the dark'. In light of the current global crisis, the football manager observed that 'there is no point in thinking the same way we did a year ago, because things aren"t like that anymore... We need to be thinking is there anything we can do.' 'The pessimist doesn"t care about tomorrow because he knows it"s going to be bad anyway,' he said. 'We can sit on our hands and cry into the bucket, or we can do something,' said Mr. Harte. National Irish Bank Mr. Jim Deeney, Regional General Manager, National Irish Bank, also spoke at the information evening in support of the concept. Mr. Deeny opened by saying that he has known Mr. Shortt since 1974 and hasn"t met a more honourable individual since then. 'I think this is a great idea, because it is really favouring the buyer,' he said, adding that the track record of saving for two years would support the buyer"s mortgage application as they reached the conclusion of the agreement. Mr. Deeney also noted that too many people have used equity in their homes for additional borrowings. 'A house is a home and shouldn"t be treated as a cash-cow,' he said. Commending Mr. Shortt on his initiative in the face of the global downturn, Mr. Deeney said, 'It is people like Martin and initiatives like this that will get us out of this.' Speaking to the Anglo-Celt after the public meeting, Mr. James Bradley, National Irish Bank, commented that individual contracts drawn up for buyers and sellers interested in the Home Maker concept would have to 'tie down the details', but said Mr. Shortt"s concept offered a 'broad framework'. Contact Martin Shortt auctioneers at 049 8541888 or log onto www.martinshortt.com