Moving home with your family is a momentous time, especially when it involves changing schools. And although it can be challenging for everyone, it can also be an exciting new chapter. Nonetheless, whether it’s switching from primary to secondary, not liking a current school, or changing location for work or more space, there’s plenty to think about, including: Managing all of that is no mean feat! Selling and buying a property usually takes between 4 and 6 months, which makes spring the time to get your home on the market for a move in the summer holidays before the new school year. So let’s explore how you can coordinate selling…

Spring has been the most popular season to buy and sell a home for as long as we can remember, and with good reason. Plans are often hatched around the beginning of the year, and as the weather warms up and nature bursts into bloom, those plans swing into action. Perhaps you want to move your family in time for the new school year to minimise disruption to your children. Or maybe you just love the idea of being in your next home by summer.  Whether it’s more space, a bigger garden, somewhere with room for an office or even downsizing, spring inspires many a move, with sellers and buyers…

Of all the reasons for moving home, downsizing can be the most overwhelming. It doesn’t matter if your home has become unmanageable or even if you know that moving to a smaller space will improve your life: just thinking about it can be incredibly daunting. A lot comes down to the fear of leaving memories behind and giving away treasured possessions that have been part of your life for a long time. If you’ve lived somewhere for decades, raised a family there or have wonderful neighbours, saying goodbye might feel like a wrench. At the same time, downsizing can open up new friendships and interests, produce substantial savings in running…

Not every home sells for its full potential value, and that’s often because the finest features are either hidden or under-presented. But you can add many thousands to your sale price simply by showing off what’s already there. Even though furniture and styling play their part, buyers are ultimately paying for the fabric of your home, and that’s how estate agents, mortgage lenders and surveyors will appraise the value of your property. So it makes sound financial sense to make the most of what you’ve got by highlighting all the existing character and space. When you get it right, it’s a surefire way to wow your buyers, from stunning photography…

How do you feel about the property market right now? It’s peak prediction season in the press, with daily claims from experts that house prices are about to fall off a cliff, stagnate or even slowly rise. We know that most of these predictions will be wrong, but which ones? The first thing to remember is that asking prices and sale prices are not the same thing. If a home is 10% overpriced and then reduced by 10%, that isn’t a fall in sale prices. And if asking prices increase, like Rightmove says they have this month, it doesn’t mean sale prices have risen as well. So what is actually…

What are your big plans this year? Fitness, wealth, travel, something else? Change is always in the air when January arrives. We’re entering 2023 on the back of quite a ride. Lockdowns, Brexit, empty shelves, four prime ministers, working from home, strikes, inflation, and geopolitical turmoil – it’s all been very real.   With so much external upheaval, it’s no wonder that interior design is seeking to satisfy a desire to feel more in control, something we can all achieve at home with a strong sense of personal style. As well as giving your rooms a fresh new look, new decor trends can help you add thousands to your home…

Survived the work Christmas party – tick. Aced the Christmas shopping – tick. Overindulged at Christmas dinner – tick. Now you’ve successfully completed every yuletide tradition, what are your plans for the rest of the year? If the scrum of the sales and drizzly days aren’t tempting you outside, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the time between Christmas and New Year indoors. Whether you want to make more space, restyle your rooms, catch up on culture or simply shut off, our blog this week is packed with ideas for fabulous festive fun without ever leaving the house. CLEAR THE CLUTTER After all the excitement of Christmas Day, now…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, so isn’t it a bit soon to be talking about moving home next summer? Usually, this time of year is all about office parties, family gatherings and frantic last-minute shopping, but Christmas 2022 is more than just the season to be jolly. It’s also an important date if you’re planning to move home in the summer 2023. That’s mainly because a conveyancing logjam is delaying many sales by months, causing countless nail-biting moments.  Rightmove recorded an average time of 150 days this year between accepting an offer and moving out. Let’s say you put your home on the market today and found…

If 2022 is anything to go by, 2023 could be the year that selling homes off-market hits the mainstream. About 10% of property sales in the UK in 2022 have been off-market homes. That’s more than ever before, and for a number of reasons. Off-market sales began to increase because of the shortage of property for sale over the last year. Estate agents have had to get more creative by putting chains together from the top down, finding homes that weren’t on the market for ever-growing lists of increasingly desperate buyers. More recently, the ill-fated mini-budget and mixed messages around the property market have led some sellers to test the…

After the clocks go back and the nights start earlier, viewings at your home happen in a whole new light. Most buyers will come for their first look in the evening on their way home from work, so instead of letting the sunshine in to make your rooms feel bright, autumn and winter are all about turning up the cosy. It might surprise you, but longer evenings are one of the advantages of selling at this time of year. Buyers get to feel just how snug your home is after dark – something they rarely experience if they’re looking in spring or summer. With that in mind, this week’s blog…

Even though many lenders lowered their mortgage rates last week, we all face a bumpy road ahead. The media is battling it out to write the scariest headlines of an imminent price crash and soaring interest rates, but there isn’t a newspaper, market analyst or financial expert who knows the future of the property market. Nonetheless, many homeowners will be affected by rising interest rates. If you’re planning to remortgage within the next year or so, you’re likely to pay a higher rate than you do now. And if you’re looking to sell, you might feel like you’ve missed the boat to move. Fortunately, it’s not all bad news. The…

It doesn’t always work out with your first choice of estate agent. Perhaps things went well at first, but viewings are now thin on the ground. Maybe you sense your agent’s initial enthusiasm has begun to cool. Or you could be wondering if your home was overvalued at the start, particularly if you’re being pressed for a hefty price reduction now. Being stuck on the market is no fun, and when your neighbours are selling their homes and being whisked away by removal vans, there comes a point when you start to think about a new approach. But how can you be sure that changing estate agents will turn your…

Well, that was quite a week for the property market! Although it’s always a hot topic in the press, the amount of coverage last week was completely off the scale. However, as the dust begins to settle after the mini-budget, you might be wondering what it all means if you’re planning to sell your home, either now or early next year. Autumn has always been an underrated season for selling. The golden leaves make streets and gardens look wonderful for photos and viewings, while the pressures of Christmas and school-holiday deadlines are gone. But is that enough in 2022? Actually, yes! Despite the initial shocks and scary headlines, the mini-budget…

Imagine if you could increase your sale price by up to 8% with just a shopping list and a weekend. Professional styling is proven to help homes sell faster and for more money by consciously elevating the look of every room. From setting the stage to creating a sense of space and those all-important final touches, a stylist’s expert eyes can spot the untapped potential we mere mortals might miss. If you’ve ever visited the show-home at a new development, you’ll have seen how builders spend thousands of pounds on interior designers. They understand the power of careful styling and how it can turbo-charge their profits. But you don’t need…

The property market is a funny old world. One minute estate agents are running out of homes; the next, you’re told the market is running out of steam. What are you supposed to believe? According to Rightmove, prices are up year-on-year by 8.2% but down month-on-month by 1.3% (prices usually fall in August, and this year’s drop mirrors the average of 1.3% over the last decade.) Meanwhile, research by TwentyEA shows that around 26,000 new sales were agreed in the UK every week last month, about the same as the year’s average weekly total. In short, the market is up, down and unchanged, all at the same time! So, has…

As our parks and gardens bake to a crisp, luscious green lawns are starting to feel like a distant memory. That can be a challenge when selling your home, given that gardens are deal-breakers for more homebuyers than ever. As well as stopping people in their tracks while scrolling through online listings, your garden can be the deciding factor in turning a viewing into a sale. But traditional gardens are beginning to struggle with a changing climate. To keep them green, healthy and resilient through hotter summers and soggy winters, professional gardeners are digging around for alternative planting ideas and sustainable new techniques. Regardless of hosepipe bans, conserving water is…

We might be in the middle of July with the hottest temperatures on record, but did you know it’s only 153 days until Christmas Day? If you think it’s too soon to mention it, bear with me! The average home sale is currently taking 171 days from offer to completion, with chains suffering from legal delays, overstretched conveyancers and expiring mortgage offers. Nonetheless, many sales can proceed much faster than they do, so you could still be decking the halls in your new home this year. Chains are a normal and integral part of the moving process as people scale the property ladder toward their forever home. They’re not to…

With the summer holiday season fast approaching, you’re probably looking forward to getting some sun, having a rest and exploring somewhere new. As well as a chance to escape, relax and recharge, holidays can be a brilliant and convenient time to have your home on the market. It’s the only time of year when a single round of tidying lasts so long, and your agent can bring a buyer at any moment without interrupting your daily life or schedule.  Homes and gardens look their absolute best in the summer, so why lose out on a couple of valuable weeks? With demand for property in Stourbridge and nearby still riding high,…

Long summer days aren’t only for sizzling barbecues, seaside escapes and watching Wimbledon; they’re also when homes look their best.  Everything is in your favour at this time of year: flowers in bloom, warmer weather and sunny blue skies put everyone in a good mood, and there’s still nowhere near enough property for sale in Stourbridge and nearby to satisfy demand. While finding a buyer quickly has become the new normal, you really can’t beat the summer for adding many more thousands to your home without a single major purchase or renovation. With some expert help in creative dressing, evocative photography and showcasing the best of your neighbourhood, you can…