I've purchased 2 other domains that I hope will result in this site appearing higher in Google search results for the term private property sales. The domains are www.privatepropertysalespages.co.uk and www.advertisemyhouseforfree.co.uk and they both redirect to www.housekeys.co.uk. This site doesn't have a huge marketing budget so I have to try inexpensive, creative methods to increase it's ranking. It takes time to see the effect changes like this have - hopefully it will be a positive change as currently this site ranks 130 for the term 'private property sales'.

I came across this article earlier this week that surprised me. Amongst all the doom and gloom about falling house prices, a slowdown of property sales, repossessions, interest rates and the like, it's nice to hear a bit of good news.

Of course, just because the asking price of properties rose in May, it doesn't mean those prices are the prices the properties sold for.

It's all go in the world of private property sales - I know it's been a while since I last updated this blog but I didn't realise it has almost been a month!

I took a 1 week break in Egypt at the end of last month and came back at the start of the Bank Holiday weekend and since then I don't know where the time has gone.

I've made a mental note to myself to find the time to update this more often.

Rightmove have confirmed what a lot of us have been thinking lately - if you're a buyer with cash, now is a very good time to buy property.

According to Rightmove, average asking prices fell by 0.1% in April, the first fall ever recorded by the property website. This means buyers are getting more property for their money.

Those who are looking to move up the property can benefit as well. Although the value of their property may have fallen, it's likely the value of property further up the property ladder has also fallen and probably by more.

For example, if you have a £250,000 property that has fallen by 1%, your property is now worth £2,500 less. If the property you are interested in is was valued at £500,000 and has also fallen by 1%, it has fallen by £5,000 meaning a net gain of £2,500.

It is those buyers with cash or those looking to move up the property ladder to take advantage of the current market that will actually help the market recover.

News over the weekend and today is full of the Bank of Englands decision to swap £50bn of government bonds for banks mortgage backed assets in order to help them operate during the current credit squeeze.

This type of help is unprecedented and is just the start of efforts to bail-out the banks - no other central bank in Europe has gone this far which shows the concern the Bank of England has for the housing market. In the US, the Federal Reserve took similar action last month with a $200bn programme to boost liquidity in the financial markets.

The sheer size of the help is mind-boggling yet some analysts have described the £50bn bail-out as a drop in the ocean. I really hope the safeguards the Bank of England say they have in place include arm bands and a float.

You have to feel sorry for the couple who have found skeleton's under their dining room during work on their £150,000 extension. The extension includes a cinema and home gym but I'm sure a quaker cemetry was never in their plans but this is what they have discovered.

The house was built around 1830 on the site of a former quaker house and graveyard and builders started finding bones and skulls when they excavated under the property owners dining room.

It is thought up to 40 bodies may be found there and under current law, since no-one has claimed ownership of the remains, it is the responsibilty of the owners to ensure the remains are disposed off in a dignified and resepctful way. A quote of £800 per body means the owners face of bill of around £30,000!

I hear the Bank of England is in talks with the Banks to come up with a solution to the problems with the current credit crunch. To encourage lending between banks which has more or less dried up, the Bank of England is proposing a swap deal where banks will swap mortgage backed assets for cash. In other words mortgage debt for cash. The Bank of England will want a deal where there is no risk to taxpayers money so would, for instance, swap £100 of mortgage backed assets for £80 of cash, effectively having a 20 per cent buffer against falling property prices.

We'll see what happens next week.

I read in the press today that Grosvenor, the development company owned by the Duke of Westminster (the 3rd richest individual in Britain with an estimated fortune of just £7 billion) are 'concerned' that house prices may fall more than 10 per cent over the next couple of years.

If they're concerned, how should the rest of us be feeling?!

Like 1.4 million other brits, my 2 year fixed rate mortgage deal ends this year. In fact, it ends in about 3 months and I've started looking around to see what's out there. The best deal I've found at the time of writing is a 2 year fixed rate deal with HBOS at 5.79 per cent and an arrangement fee of £1299. This compares to my current rate of 4.69 per cent and would mean my monthly payments increasing £250 not to mention finding the money for the arrangement fee. Of course, there are mortgages out there without arrangement fees but you will have to pay a higher rate of interest.

I'm in two minds about what to do. 5.79 per cent is a good deal in the current market but I wonder whether the lack of competitive mortgages is an over-reaction by the banks and building societies in light of the sub-prime fiasco and that the rates will be less in 3 months time. After all, the Bank of England have cut interests rates and the banks are under pressure from the Government to pass on the cuts to homeowners. Here's hoping.

housekeys.co.uk is a private property sales website where homeowners can sell their property for free themselves. With housekeys.co.uk, you are in full control of your advert, you will deal directly with people who are interested in your property and along the way will save thousands of pounds in estate agent fees because you are selling your property yourself.

The aim of this blog is to put down in writing my thoughts on all things property related. I'll write about interest rates, mortgages, the credit crunch, the consumer squeeze, government policy, HIPS - more or less anything that's relevant to the purpose of this website - saving money selling property.