On the move. On the move. We're on our way again!

It's been ages! I know. I'm afraid I'm a blogger who only blogs when I have something to blog about and that is not necessarily on a daily, or necessarily weekly or monthly basis.

The last time I blogged we were in the throes of the house sale. To give a quick update, we agreed sale and purchase, 'disagreed' slightly with agents (not ours I hasten to add), haggled with purchasers and vendors alike, 'disagreed' with agents a little more, chased solicitors, did the job for solicitors, narrowly avoided disappointment on a couple of occasions and finally dragged the whole thing kicking and screaming through to exchange of contracts a week ago! Phew.

I think I have managed to keep my cool throughout the whole process so far...give or take the odd moment. I'm getting better at that in my old (ish) age I think. I have to credit to a large extent a friend for that, who, on a more serious note, is courageously standing up to a serious illness at the moment whilst raising 4 young children and supporting a fabulous husband with a demanding job. Her continued strength and positivity in the face of a horrible illness reminds me of how trivial and unnecessary our moans and groans can be at times. A house move is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

So now we begin the big pack up of the contents of our cottage. We are moving to a '50's detached house, so rather a large departure from what we have become used to. It's an exciting prospect for me though as it is certainly a project! What attracted us, apart from the area, was the plot and the potential that the house offers.....spacious accommodation, albeit
rooms that need a degree of re configuring, knocking around and changing to suit the needs of our young family. What also excites and challenges us is that we have to do this on a relatively small budget (actually...there's no 'relatively' about it....it's small!) as we spent most of our savings on the purchase.

To a large extent our current house was an easy one to re vamp. It's a traditional cottage in a central village location and although I guess I could have gone ultra modern it somehow didn't feel right to do that.

Not being a fan of '50's décor, I'm not so sure with our new house. My initial reaction was modern all the way.....high gloss kitchen, minimalist, wood floors throughout, clutter free. I spend a large part of my spare time engrossed in interiors magazines and love the look and idea of ultra modern kitchens....but then pondered in reality whether it would actually suit our lifestyle and my rather fickle nature when it comes to interior design. I get bored quite easily and worry that such a radical look may be inflexible. I then saw a fab kitchen in one of the magazines (part of the room is pictured on the front cover below...) that was a classic handcrafted solid wood painted kitchen but given a modern twist, incorporating modern appliances, white work surfaces etc. That may be the route for me. I like the idea of mixing classic with very modern and my children are itching for a blackboard wall! As long as they hoover up the chalk dust on a regular basis!

 

All these decisions we face again! Appliance choices, flooring choices. Gas hob? induction? I love this part and this is where my husband comes into his own! He is the master of research and finding the best deals on appliances and who recommends what and why! Thank god! I tend to look at the superficial, 'does it look right' bit and he solves the nitty gritty technical bit! 

 

My intention is to chart the ups and downs of progress in my blog and share choices and how we are doing relative to budget etc. along the way.

 

 

 



 

Another house and a plan chest coffee table.

Well, our search for a new home is certainly proving to be a learning curve if nothing else.

We were in the lucky position of having agreed a sale on our property within the first two weeks, to a lovely lady vet who is renting. Perfect. We were then gazumped on the house that we wanted to buy....but as many many people commented when it happened, as annoying as it was at the time, it was obviously just not meant to be and with time we have thought of so many reasons why in actual fact, that house would not have been right for us.

Oh hindsight........I sometimes wish you would reveal yourself prior to the decision making process!

It's a frightening thought when you sit back and consider that we make such big decisions with such considerable financial consequences when buying a house, often based on just two viewings.......or, as in our case, just one viewing!

We have found another house since gazump gate. We only viewed it once internally. We fell in love (possibly a little strong...as this decision is more of a practical one than an emotional one) with the position of the property in relation to the village it sits in. I'm not going to say too much about it as it is early days and we've not had the survey done yet!

When we started looking I wanted a bit of a project. Nothing major....but it's my thing and this new property will definitely test that! It's not a looker but it has plenty of space and bags of potential and a small face lift will make all the difference. I also wanted something different to the cottage we are leaving behind. This will be a radical departure and I can't wait to go modern! Anyway. I'll say no more on the subject until we are further down the line, but we've got everything crossed this time. These things are rarely straight forward though so let's just see.

With a move in mind, a good friend of mine got in touch with me and told me about her work's move to new, custom built premises and the fact that they were selling off all of the old furniture at the old building. What a result! It was like all our Christmases had come at once! My friend lectures in fashion/design that sort of area and shares a love of interiors and recycling interesting furniture. So, off we toddled to her old offices to be met by endless rooms of no longer needed furniture. Heaven! The fact that it all had a design based function meant that there were literally loads of bits and pieces that were worth snapping up.

 

My friend and I both paid quite literally a few pounds for an architects plan chest each. We both plan to use them as coffee tables and the image above is exactly the look that will be achieved. This is not my image and not my room but the chest looks exactly like the one in the picture above and the plan is to use it in the living room which will be quite modern in style. Probably minimalist, largely down to the fact that is twice the size of our current living room and therefore we will have no furniture to fill it! This is a big piece of furniture as it comes in two sections (The above is just the top section.) but will be perfect for the space.

We also both grabbed a couple of these fab stools below (£3 each!). They will come in so handy as extra seating around a table.... or as desk stools for the children....or as bedside or lamp tables we both thought!

 

 

The whole experience filled me with so many ideas...I also put my name on a desk/console table whilst I was there....that when I got home and stopped smiling at my purchases, I suggested to hubby that we hire a van and pay another visit! So, that's Saturday sorted! I'll share my finds with you once we've found somewhere to store them!

 

Kirstie Allsopp eat your heart out! I will furnish my next house on a shoe string! Believe me, unlike our dear Kirstie, if this move goes to plan, I will have to!

How to choose an Estate Agent and my Alexis Carrington moment!

This weekend has been full of highs and lows.

Having agreed a sale on our house, we found a house in our preferred location a few weeks back. Not the style of house I would have chosen, but the near perfect location more than made up for the lack of character in the house. In the spirit of compromise we thought we had found 'the one'.

Our first offer was possibly a little cheeky but we had done our homework, spoken to a number of people living in the town and come to the conclusion that the asking price was optimistic to say the least.

Moving on three weeks and an offer was made by another interested party at near to the asking price. The vendors were considering it and we only found out by accident even though the estate agent had assured us that they would let us know if there was any real interest in the property to give us the opportunity to respond. They didn't!

To cut to the chase, we went back to the table and offered the full asking price having taken the decision to look at it as a long term move and therefore worth it. A good, solid family home for the next 10 to 15 years or so. We submitted the offer and explained our position. The vendor accepted our offer and we were told "all systems go". Celebration that night!

Our celebrations were short lived. The following morning we took our children the 45 minute journey to show them our potential new house from the outside and then popped in to the agents to introduce ourselves. As we entered the shop and said who we were I was rather taken aback by the agent's lack of enthusiasm. She then told us basically we'd been gazumped!

Now, gazumping is perfectly legal but I personally find it morally questionable. I don't hold the agent responsible for lacking morals (on this particular part of process at least!) but I do think vendors who try to engage bidding wars as of dubious morality or just plain greedy as my husband would put it.

The agent had, frankly, been useless thus far. They had not contacted us at any point to let us know that there was another interested party even though they had assured us that they would. To rub salt in to the wound, it was midday when we went in and by amazing coincidence (?!) the agent was "just about to call us to break the bad news"! Yes. I bet she was. Well. She could now do it in person! I expect she was pleased about that! HA!

She did appear genuinely sorry but then again, how else could she react with us there sat in front of her. She tried desperately to shift the blame on to her colleague, who was conveniently on her day off! As I say, I do not hold the agent solely responsible for the situation but what followed brought out the inner Alexis in me. She brought up Rightmove (we know every property on there off by heart!) and even tried to punt properties on with  rival agents! (I can't believe this is a favoured tactic advocated by the boss of the agency!)

The straw that broke the camel's back came when she produced details of the 'perfect' property for us at nearly 100k over our already stretched budget!! At that point I'm afraid to say I lost my cool, listed their incompetencies, took a puff on my cheroot (I didn't....but I'm sure Alexis would have done so!), stood up and stormed out!

I felt so much better! I was not rude or aggressive, just to the point and constructive in my criticism (some may say 'pulling to pieces') of their approach. I loved storming out though. I wish I'd been wearing a mink (faux of course) and smoking that cheroot!

Now not all Estate Agents deserve the universal bad press that the profession commonly attracts. Believe it or not, there are good agents out there but how do you find them?

Well, here are a few useful pointers on how to choose an agent, by an agent.

1. Look in your area at board presence and see who has got the most sold signs. 'For Sale' signs aren't a good indicator since they could mean that the agent likes to overprice to gain instructions, an old ploy that actually works well, but says a lot about their integrity.

2. Check out their website. If it's well designed and intuitive then it reflects well on the ethos of the agent. Good photography and property descriptions are extremely important. Artistic licence and a bit of flowery vernacular is actually quite good as long as its not over the top.

3. Look at property portals such as Rightmove and see if the agent has plenty of premium listings and other special features. These show that the agent takes marketing seriously and is trying to differentiate from its competitors.

4. Phone your chosen agent and see how they handle general enquiries. Are they friendly, helpful and well informed ? Did they email or post details immediately....If they didn't , then beware !

5. What's their office premises like ? Are they welcoming and attractively presented. Location is not so important these days, due to the advent of the Internet, but a central location with good footfall is obviously an advantage.

6. Is it an owner run business or a corporate. In my view an owner run agency provides a better service and is more pro-active. Corporates tend to have high staff turnover and inexperienced staff. However they any have the advantage of multi office coverage.

7. Book your valuation. A good agent will ask questions about the property and may want to know your own buying situation. This means that the valuer will be well informed when they arrive and will have an insight into your move.

8. At the valuation. The agent should be able to support their valuation with evidence rather than just pick a figure out of the air. If the valuation seems high then it probably is. Honesty is very important and could save you a lot of hassle and wasted time later on. The valuer should spend about 30-40 minutes with you and clearly explain their marketing and contract.

9. Fees. Never choose an agent because they are the cheapest. Similarly the most expensive may not be the best either. Fees should be fair and reasonable, so 1.00 -1.50 % is fine.

10. Contract. The selling contract should be no longer than 12 weeks with a two week termination period. Check for hidden charges and fee liabilities in the event of termination.

The above was supplied courtesy of Jonathan Fox Estate Agents. www.jfea.co.uk . I would point out that this post is not sponsored by any company or individual.

Should any one have any questions or queries regarding either buying or selling their property then I would be happy to 'ask the expert' and see if we can help out in any way.

Things are hotting up!

Things are sure hotting up in the house selling department!

We put our house on the market a month or so back, fully expecting that it would take a while to sell, with the market being a little on the flat side at the moment. Amazingly, and my agent, I am sure, will not take offence to this, rather unexpectedly, we found ourselves at the 'agreed sale' stage within the first two weeks with a buyer in rented accommodation! Perfect.

Yikes! We have not found anywhere to go yet! Rightmove has, as you can imagine, become my new bff!

We've decided upon a location but have yet to find the 'home'! Blimey, it's hard. I've watched many hours of Kirstie and Phil over the years. Boy, do I need Phil right now. I'm afraid I can do without Kirstie and her Paddington Bear coats with over sized buttons and her equally annoying, somewhat patronising in my view, comments at times! Sorry Kirstie. And your 'home-made' is just not made for me!

We've covered the miles, driving and walking around the town and pin pointing the locations  where we would love to be, those we would consider and those areas we would not be prepared to live and we have so far, come up with a grand total of two properties that tick enough of our boxes not to be a compromise too far. Both are over our budget and therefore we've had offers rejected on both! In my humble view, they are both over priced.

I'm trying to remain cool, calm and collected. We will not pay over the odds for a property no matter how tempting. This is my mantra and I must stick to it! I may need some encouraging words should anyone have any!

No pics today. I will keep anyone who is interested posted on progress and my next post is going to feature a 'guest' segment from a local Estate Agent who is going to offer some insight into the buying/selling game.

Should any of you have any questions you want to ask about buying or selling your property then please do get in touch and we shall endeavour to answer your queries.

In the meantime, our search continues. Wish us luck!

To move or not to move? That is the question!

I have been a little distracted of late. Some while back I had a burning desire to sell up and move house. In fact, I am pretty sure our families are probably fed up by now about hearing of our plans to move and where we would like to move to. I think so far this has included the north, south, east and west of the UK!

The decision to move is not an easy one. If it is thrust upon you, perhaps because of a job relocation or something like that, then the decision is out of your hands to a degree. Our situation is slightly less clear cut. Work plays a big part but on top of that we have to juggle schooling for two young children, for both now and for a couple of years on when one moves up to senior school. There is family to consider. There are friends to consider. There is budget to consider. All of a sudden a house move becomes akin to spinning several plates in the air at the same time!

Oh! the sleepless nights! Do we or don't we?

Well. The house is on the market so hopefully we are a step closer to a decision. As yet, we are undecided on where we will go...still working on balancing all the above factors!

Having made the decision to sell we set about getting the house ready. Below is a checklist of things to consider when getting your home ready to market.

1. Disassociate yourself with your home.

Tell yourself that your house is a product that you want to sell.
Don't look back, try to look forward and remind yourself on a regular basis the reasons you want to move. Whilst it's good to show a buyer how much you have loved living in your house, avoid convincing them not to buy!

2. De-personalise.

Pack up those personal photographs and family heirlooms. It's fine to have one or two photographs around but keep it to a minimum. Buyers find it hard to see past personal artifacts if the house is overloaded with them.

3. De-clutter.

Pack away knickknacks and generally store away 'stuff' that may have collected over time. Buyers need to be able to see the space your house has and this is almost impossible for most if the house is full of belongings on display.
If you are a collector, this is the time to put your collectibles into storage boxes. Again, it is fine to display the odd item....after all...a buyer might be equally put off by a house that doesn't look lived in....but if you are an avid collector of elephants or cats or porcelain dolls then I'm afraid you will need to put your own emotions aside and remove them from display!
The key to making your house attractive to someone else is to make the space as clear as possible so that the buyer is able to picture themselves and their own possessions in the house.

If, like us, you have children, try to tidy (them!) away any toys, books, games etc as much as possible. It's easier for people to imagine putting their children's toys in a room rather than trying to imagine it the other way round, if that makes sense. We have a room which the children play in and there is no mistaking that it is a 'family room' but I have tried to minimise the amount of stuff that we have in there for now. It was originally a dining room so I want to show that it still could be. On the other hand, I haven't got rid of all evidence that the children exist! It is a family home (or it could be) after all.

4. Tidy/re-arrange cupboards.

Buyers love to have a little snoop and therefore it is important that they don't open a cupboard door to check out storage potential only for a pile of clothes (or shoes in my case!) to fall on them! Cupboards crammed full of stuff also gives the impression that you are short on space.

5. Make minor repairs.

Have a look around and fix any little jobs that may need

completing. Tidy up paintwork, patch any holes, replace any worn seals around baths, showers etc. Ideally walls should be painted neutral colours. Again, this goes back to reminding yourself that your house it a product that you want to sell. Look from the buyer point of view rather from your own. You may love bright orange walls, but you can't assume that everyone who views will. Most people will want to make changes when they move into a new home but if they feel that they would need to make immediate changes and many of them, it may put them off. Neutral walls can easily be lived with whilst a buyer considers what jobs are priority. Neutral colours also show off the size and potential of rooms far better.

6. Make the house sparkle.

Wash windows, clean out cobwebs, wash floors, wipe door handles. All fairly obvious jobs really. Can be a bit of a thankless task when you have small children!!

Put fresh towels out in bathrooms, make sure your beds are all perfectly made. I'm always slightly surprised when I see pictures on the internet of houses for sale and the beds look like they haven't been made! Invest in a bottle of room scent. Have a quick spray (Crabtree and Evelyn Nantucket Briar is my fave.) around (on soft furnishings, bedding etc) before viewings. On that note, avoid cooking anything spicy the night before a viewing, or even avoid completely whilst trying to sell. No one wants to be knocked out with curry fumes as they walk through the front door!

7. Check curb appeal

Step outside and take a good look at your house and imagine that you are a viewer pulling up for the first time.

Mow lawned areas. Tidy up the garden. Make sure window frames front door are tidy. Paint if necessary. Plant some tubs to go by the door or along the drive. Apparently yellow evokes a buying emotion so go for yellow!

 

8. Think of questions a buyer may ask prior to viewings.

Have as much information to hand as possible. Think about local schooling if your viewers have a family. Work out your answer to why you are moving. Obviously avoid giving reasons such as needing more space or garden not big enough! Don't alert your viewer to any negatives! If there are any obvious negative factors, try and think of solutions to offer if you are put on the spot....had we been staying we would have.....

If you have had alterations or work done on your house, make sure that you have any relevant paperwork and mention it if alterations are asked about.

If you can do all of these things...none of which require a huge amount of expense, then you will go a long way to giving your house its best chance of selling...obviously providing the price is right!

Anyway. Better go and hoover, dust, flush, tidy, store and spray as we have another viewing in less than an hour!

I do like a nice front door!

This weekend has been all about tidying jobs both in the house and outside.

One job that has been staring me in the face every day for the past few months has been our front door. Now, I like a nice front door! I have yet to scrub my step....but I would imagine that during that era when it seemed the done thing to be on your hands and knees proudly scrubbing your front step, I would have been right in there! I become very agitated when there are leaves etc on the step. Sad, I know...but I can't take it back now. I tend to think that a tidy front door/step probably reflects what's going on behind the front door.....or possibly more the fact that an untidy frontage reflects what is going on behind the front door...

With a possible move in the pipeline we are starting to tick off those jobs that need re-visiting on a regular basis. I considered a complete change of colour for the front door, but on reflection (and on closer inspection) decided that this would involve completely stripping the door back and starting again. Alternatively I (well....my soldier ant husband!) could sand the areas that had cracked, fill and re-paint in the existing colour. (I did the painting!)

If we decide we are not going to move, I will most probably opt for an alternative colour and be forced to strip, if you know what I mean! For those of you with even a remote interest, the current colour is Farrow and Ball's Lichen No.19.(as seen below on my door.) It is slightly stronger in the flesh than shown below and does go well with the black framework and the white render. Perhaps next time I might be a tad braver though.

My friend, Beth, a fashion stylist, has a vibrant pinky front door. (pictured below). Whilst it wouldn't work on my house it is perfect for hers and definitely reflects both her personality and the feel of the house on the inside. I've also shown another of my fashionista friends, Dawn's front door.  Again, a very smart, stylish first impression and absolutely a taster of what you find behind the door. Heck. I sound like the door-reading equivalent of a tea-leaf reader now!

Anyway. I've added some of my favourite door images, including my neighbour's pretty chocolate box thatched cottage and, of course, probably the most famous door of all, to we Brits at least!

My door

Beth's snazzy door

Dawn's chic door

Maria's quintessentially English front door!

My new cleaner and an organised shoe cupboard.

I'm not normally one for posting pictures of my children on my blog but this made me smile so I have gone against my principals on this one occasion!

Meet my new cleaner! Aged 3 1/2. Nothing like a bit of hoovering in your socks and pants! As a reward for his help with the housework I said he could choose a dinner of his choice. I know to many this may not sound like much of a reward for a small child. Chocolate? Chips? Sausages? Oh no. He asked for "smoked salmon and scrambled egg on a lightly toasted bagel"!!

He has acquired a taste for smoked salmon and duck and orange pate of late! I think he will need to hoover more often if he thinks that will be a regular thing!

I finally finished the shoe cupboard I'd posted about. The result, as you can see from before and after, is an altogether more organised affair even though I slightly underestimated how many pairs of shoes and boots I have actually amassed over the years! I may need to extend the shelving upwards! I had intended to undergo a shoe cull when putting the shoes from boxes into new storage...but I only managed to part with one pair! I even convinced myself that my beautiful Dune wedding shoes could easily be professionally dyed and worn! Back in they went. Hopeless!

The Ikea shoe storage boxes are brilliant, for anyone who may want decent shoe storage. They are rigid enough to be stackable and at £9 for 4 boxes, pretty good value.

My next project was going to be ditching curtains for Roman blinds in living rooms and bedrooms, however, rather frustratingly, but unsurprising given our house is so old, no ready made blinds on the market are the right size for our frames and I'm not sure I want to stretch to made to measure! I may have to dust down the sewing machine.......