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Common Problems when Moving Home in London

December 22, 2021January 18, 2022 JayneLeave a comment

There is no doubt that for many people in London is the greatest city in the world living anywhere else is absolutely out of the question. While the house prices are some of the highest in the country, if not the world, many people are drawn to London because of its desirable living areas, good schools And access to a whole range of amenities. That doesn’t mean, however, that the actual act of moving house between two London properties simple, so we’ve put together a list of some of the things that you should bear in mind on moving day if you live in London, or indeed any big city.

Parking

If you’re a London native or have lived there for awhile you know that one of the biggest nightmares in writing is the parking situation. As well as needing to make sure you’ve got somewhere to park your car if you have one you’re moving van he’s going to need space to start to load and unload and if you don’t choose wisely this could leave you with a hefty parking fine. Do a recce of your new area to work out where the best place is going to be to stop and it might stand you in good stead to even speak to your new neighbours and warn them that you’re going to be taking up space on the street on that particular day.

Traffic

Depending on where in London you’re moving to, parking could be the least of your worries if you can’t even get there in the first place, thanks to the heavy London traffic. Moving outside of rush-hour times is a good place to start with tackling the traffic, as well as keeping an eye on one of the many map apps that are available which will show you what the traffic levels are like in a specific place at a specific time. Choosing a moving firm who are specialists in moving in and around London, like M25 Group, means that you will have an expert helping you with your move. Many people who moved to London from somewhere else make the mistake of hiring a moving company from their original hometown instead of one from London’

Cost

Just like everything else in London, moving is an expensive business. Whether you’re renting or buying a property you’ve probably spent a small fortune already on just acquiring your new home. Once you factor in The costs associated with actually taking your belongings from point a to point B there’s a good chance that your wallet will contain nothing but moss! Make sure you shop around before employing the services of a moving company as there are plenty of businesses out there who charge top dollar without actually providing the services to justify their prices.

Measurements

Unless you’re moving to one of the lovely leafy suburbs on the outskirts of London you’re probably going to find that space is an issue in many different ways. One of the things that a lot of people forget to do before they move house is measure their furniture and appliances to make sure that not only will they work in the rooms in the new property but they’ll fit through doors up stairways through gate and generally be able to be put in the new property at all. Make sure you take a tape measure with you and get measurements for everything including door which and even the angle of any new stairwells.

Property

Five Tips for Selling Your House Fast

September 23, 2021 JayneLeave a comment

Selling your house can be a lengthy process. From deciding you want to sell, to putting it on the market and waiting for all of those potential buyers to show up, it can somestimes take a matter of years before your sale is final. With this in mind, I thought I’d share some tips with you today which can speed your house selling process up exponentially:

Sell to a Company

Probably the fastest way to sell your house is to sell it to a company which buys property. There are a few of them out there and some can help you to sell your home in as little as 7 days. The beauty of this is that it’s usually a cash sale and there’s no chain on their side so they won’t have to wait for mortgage approvals or payments from other buyers.

Put it on Facebook

Believe it or not, Facebook Marketplace has become a really popular way to sell houses. You’ll get far more eyes on your property than you would by selling through a bricks-and-mortar Estate Agent, and you can often save yourself a whole lot of fees by managing the viewings and sale by yourself. You’ll need someone to write up the proper contracts and surveys, etc. but it’s still a good option for getting things moving.

Go to Auction

Auction sales are especially good if your house isn’t in the greatest condition, and auction sales are usually contracted to finalise just 28 days after the hammer falls, so you could be out of your property in just four weeks if you choose to go this route. There’s obviously a risk that you won’t make your full asking price, but that’s often the chance you take in getting a quick sale.

Part Exchange

Believe it or not, some new house builders will accept your old property as a part exchange on a new house, just like car dealerships do! Obviously, this is only helpful if you plan to buy a new house, but it’s still a really good way to make the whole process of buying and selling property faster and simpler. You’ll only have to deal with one set of agents, there’s no ongoing chain and you’ll have a shiny new property at the end of it!

Reduce Your Asking Price

Everyone who puts a property on the market usually puts it up for the maximum price they could feasibly get. However, if there are a lot of other properties on the market like yours, it’s unlikely you’ll sell for the top price. Take a really pragmatic look at your property and what you’re asking and think about whether you could stand to drop the price, JUST A BIT, to make it a more competitive option and usually the buyers come flooding in.

Five Ways to Help You to Sell Your House

September 15, 2021November 24, 2022 JayneLeave a comment

Five Way to Help You to Sell Your House — Photo by Matt Jones on Unsplash

Despite the UK being in a bit of flux, financially speaking, due to the coronavirus pandemic, house prices are currently at an all time high, making it a sellers market right now. However, that doesn’t mean that your property will immediately fly off of the shelf, and leaving a property sitting on the market for too long can be costly in the long run, especially if you’re still paying the mortgage and it’s too late to stop foreclosure. With this in mind, today we’re looking at five things that you can do which will increase your chances of selling your property quickly:

Deep Cleaning

When you live in a house, it’s really easy to become a bit blind to some of the every day bits of grubbiness, like dirty skirting boards or door handles. Hiring a professional cleaning company, such as Clean 360, means that you’ll get a team of professionals tackling a deep clean and they’ll be better placed to spot those tricky areas that you miss when it’s your own home. You may also find that when the house is properly spotless, there are areas which don’t need as much maintenance or redecoration as you’d once thought.

Declutter

If you walk into a house which is up to the shoulders in clutter, not only will it be harder to see the true size of the rooms, it also makes it harder to envisage your own stuff inside the house as well. If you’re trying to sell your house, make it easy for them to see all the fantastic living space you’re offering them but don’t make it look like a generic hotel; leave some personality. Apart from anything else it gives unimaginative buyers suggestions as to what they might do

Think About Kerb Appeal

First impressions really do count and buyers are judging your home well before they step over the threshold. Your house may be stunning inside, but if the outside doesn’t look great you jeopardise your sale. Look at your property from the road? How does it compare to other houses in your street? As you walk from the pavement to your front door, does every element of your property look cared for and well maintained? If not, taking care of those things will make a huge difference.

Use Your Nose!

There are lots of people who advocate baking or brewing coffee before showing potential buyers around your home to make it smell more homely when you sell your house, and I’m sure Mrs. Hinch and her army of followers would have a few tricks using pints of Zoflora, too. Obviously, you want the place to smell good, BUT…not TOO good! If you use strong air fresheners or smells in every single area of your home, people may wonder if you’re masking something, like the smell of damp.

Check Out the Competition

There’s basically zero chance that yours is the only property that potential buyers will be viewing, and it’s good to know what you’re up against. While going on viewings of every similar property in your area would be time consuming, it’s well worth doing some browsing on the usual property websites to see what else is out there at a similar price point to yours. This will allow you to see if there’s anything else you could add to your home to make it a more competitve option.

Crafts · Family

Updating My Custom Doll House

June 4, 2021 JayneLeave a comment

You may remember that I posted some years ago now about the doll house that my Nan and Grandad built for me when I was a child, and how I planned to renovate it. Well, life well and truly got in the way and it has, unfortunately, lived in my mother-in-law’s loft since then. However, with the summer holidays getting close, I’ll have a lot more time on my hands and I’ve decided to make it a priority. Here are some of the things I plan to do:

Wallpaper

When I first started planning the renovation, I had thought about going to my local DIY superstore and getting sme wallpaper samples to use. However, it turns out that dolls house wallpaper is actually a thing! It can be bought by the sheet and is self-adhesive, with much smaller print which looks better on the little walls.

Floor Coverings

Most of the rooms are carpeted and in great condition, but on the surfaces which aren’t carpeted, I plan to use some really funky checkerboard floor tiles that I’ve seen. They’re perfect for a small floor and will give the whole house a nice updated look and I can’t wait to see what the finished effect will look like.

Roof Repairs

As I said in my old post, the roof tiles are individually cut out of a teracotta colours lino to look like the real thing. I don’t want to retile the while roof as that would be an enormous job, so I plan to find something which is as close to the original material as possible and patch the roof up where it needs it. I’m hoping to get it looking back to its original glory, but I’m nowhere near as skilled as my lovely Grandad, so I just hope I can do him justice.

Me with my doll house — Yes, that is tiny me!

Curtains

The curtains that my Nan made for the doll house are still pretty good, but the fabric is a little dated and could do with some modernisation. Thankfully, I’m fairly decent with a sewing machine and I can do a good job of updating all of the curtains and soft fabrics in the house. I’ll probably choose a fabric which co-oridinates with the new wallpaper so that it all goes well together.

Furniture

This is the one area where I may choose to outsource and buy replacements for the furniture, instead of attempting to make my own. Aside from having nowhere near the skill of my grandparents in this area, I don’t have the tools OR the space to do this type of work, so I’ll hit eBay, Facebook and maybe Freecycle to see if I can source a whole house worth of new furniture that way.

Home

Guide For Buying a Home For Your Family

September 26, 2020 JayneLeave a comment

If the time has come for you to purchase that next family home then you may be slightly overwhelmed at just how much there is to consider here. It is for this reason that we want to offer you some tips on exactly what you should be looking for with regards to that next property. We have recently spoken with the brilliant real estate guru Frank Carioti, check him out here http://frankcarioti.com.au/, to bring you some of the finest tips on how you can ensure that you get this property choice just right.

The Need For Right Now

When it comes to invest in property you have to think about the future of you and your family’s needs. With this being said however the most important aspect to consider is the right now, and this is where the majority of the focus should be. Thinking about what the life of your family looks like in the now will include the following questions with regards to where you should be looking for a property.

How far from your job?

Where is the high quality nearest school?

What are the transport options like?

Where is the nearest grocery store?

Can my children play nearby?

These are key questions which will impact your daily lives and the answers will certainly help you to whittle down which places are possible choices.

The Bigger Picture

One thing which many people fail to look at is the big picture of where you live and this is one of the most important considerations to make. What everyone wants to find is a property that is in a safe place and one which can become more than just a house or apartment to live in, but also a community. Make sure that you do your research around crime rates, community groups in the area and the demographics of the place that you are thinking about living.

Planning For The Future

Ultimately those kids of yours will grow up and get jobs, advance their education and look to enjoy a vibrant social life. You as parents will also move on with your careers and your personal life and it will be important that you are able to find a property which can fit with your potential future needs. This will be a big factor when considering what size property to buy and what extras you would like it to have. You may have twins sharing a room right now but in the future they’ll want their own space, consider factors like this to help you in your decision to buy a property which you can stay in long term.

Budget

The budget will be a huge factor here and more often than not it will be the deciding factor between location or property type. The reason why so many people live in suburbs is because they wanted more bang for their buck and they were happy to travel if it meant a sizable property. This is usually the decision of those who are looking for a family property too, that they want the space more than they want to live in a hot location. The key will be balancing these two and in order to do that you have to work hard on the budget. Even if you are borrowing, it is important that you don’t go too big that you will feel under pressure to pay the mortgage every month, but also not to be too conservative and end up with a property which isn’t fit for all of your needs. Be smart, decide on a healthy budget and stick to it.

Take your time, consider all options and use a process of elimination to get the property which you want.