The Blog

Anyone who has ever spent time scrubbing their oven shelves with Oven Brite will know it’s not the most fun job to do around the home. If you’ve ever repainted your garden fences, you’ll know it’s one of those tedious jobs that feel never-ending. If you’ve cleaned your blinds yourself, you’ll know it takes a lot more time in practice than you expect. Often jobs around the home take a long time to be done correctly and it’s jobs, like those mentioned above, which are usually neglected by home

Times are changing, and for the buy-to-let sector things are once again evolving for the better. We are now seeing the buy-to-let market on the rise, with it continuing to outperform most major asset classes. As Britain’s rented sector continues to expand, there are signs that property investment is consolidating itself as the investment of choice. Since the global financial crash of 2008, the UK has been in a significant housing shortage crisis and there has been a real shift in society, with

So, you’ve found the home of your dreams and your offer has just been accepted. Congratulations! Your journey to owning your new home has officially begun. If you’re wondering what happens next, here are five immediate things you need to do after your offer has been accepted to get things moving. 1. Provide Confirmation Once your offer has been accepted, your estate agent will likely give you a congratulatory call. But this won’t just be a courtesy. They’ll also request confirmation of a fe

One of the top concerns that many families have when moving home is finding the right school for their children. So many home moves happen for this very reason, as families are keen to move closer to the catchment area of a particular school. But what happens if you find your dream house first and then need to find the best school close by? We are asked so often by our buyers, which schools we recommend and whilst we always offer honest advice to the best of our knowledge, ulti

So, you’ve picked out your estate agent to help sell your home, but what’s the next step? While for the most part the baton is now with the agent, who’s responsible for keeping the progress of the sale on track, there are still some things you can do to achieve the very best desired outcome when selling your house. Try looking at it this way: you and your estate agent are now a team. You’re on the same side and are both equally motivated to secure the right sale. In light of that, it’s best t

Moving home is notoriously one of the most stressful things you can go through in life. This can be made worse when buying and selling a property due to the many additional layers involved in the process. In 2021 around one in three UK property purchases fell through, which would have caused so much stress for those involved. Before embarking on your home buying or selling journey, it's important to be aware of the risks involved. Your agent will be able to guide you through and keep you info

Nine times out of ten, where is the first place a potential buyer will see your home? You guessed it – in a photograph! Whether it be online through a laptop screen or mobile phone, or on the street in an estate agent’s shop window, that small viewing frame should be treated as the place to showcase all the best angles of your home and have people longing for the lifestyle they see at the end of the lens. This, of course, applies to any house marketing photography. But with a high-value home,

What does your garden mean to you? For us, it can be summarised in three simple words: entertainment, enjoyment and peace. With it being such a pleasurable, versatile space, it’s no wonder several studies show that it’s within the top three priorities for a potential buyer. Surrounding your house at both front and back, it’s a large area that requires just as much pre-viewing preparation as any room inside – and that’s where we’re here to help! Tidying the garden is one thing, but styling it

Spring is a wonderful time to sell a home – the buds are budding, gardens are springing into life, and a little bit of sunshine makes everyone’s home look better. Plus, buyers have traditionally always started home searching in the spring, and the property portals tell us this is still the case today. If you’re thinking of selling your home, or your home is on the market right now, you may have some questions about how to make your move a success. Here are some of the questions we get asked a

“Give your home the ‘wow’ factor!” We’ve all heard this advice from property experts, but what does it mean? And how do you do it? Most importantly, is it worth the time and effort it may cost you? All good questions, and the answers will be revealed in this article – so let’s dive in… “What’s a ‘wow’ factor anyway?” It’s that elusive magic ingredient that turns a home from standard to exceptional; from forgettable to unforgettable; from ‘meh’ to ‘wow!!’ “Ok I get that, but how do

2021 was a tremendous year for home price growth in the UK – the strongest since the mid-2000s – with many areas and types of home seeing values increase by double-figure percentages. This means a house bought for £500,000 only two years ago could be worth up to £600,000 today! The huge imbalance between supply and demand, with many more buyers than homes available, has been the key driver behind these extraordinary increases. If you own a unique home and you’re thinking of selling, you have

The new year encourages many of us to make positive changes in our lives. A popular choice is pledging to do more exercise, while some people might decide to learn a new skill. But if you were one of the many sellers who put their home on the market last year and you haven’t yet found a buyer, this new year you’re probably resolving to get that sale! As estate agents, we find that pretty much every new year brings with it not only a flood of requests from homeowners for valuations

Selling a home might not be an exact science, but there are a number of factors that will make a huge difference to how successful your sale will be. Our experience has shown us that homes that sell quickly and for a good price tend to have certain key things in common, so we’ve developed a checklist that we can use to analyse the saleability of any home. We rate various elements of your marketing approach across five categories, awarding up to a maximum of five points for each element to give y

If you’re ready to move, you might be wondering whether to put your home on the market now or wait until the spring. Well, although winter may traditionally be a quieter time for home-moving than spring and summer, the market is still very much open for business and selling your home in this colder season does have its benefits. As those who aren’t in a hurry to move tend to hunker down and focus on festivities, buying and selling activity usually dips a little over the wi

Are you thinking about making a change to where you live? If you no longer need all the rooms in your home, you might have decided to downsize into something smaller. Or perhaps it’s the opposite – you need more space, in which case, it could be time to upsize into a new place. On the other hand, if you love your home and it’s in the perfect spot, maybe you’re toying with the idea of getting the extra room you need by extending. A report from UK Finance found that people stay in their homes f