Author Archives: Sam

Your for sale board is probably the most important part of your marketing campaign when you are selling your house. It shows your neighbours that your house is for sale, and they will naturally tell anyone they think might be interested in buying in the area. Not only that, but if you’re thinking of moving to an area, the first thing most people do is to have a drive around, looking for sale boards. In fact, some research shows that for every viewing that is booked, there are at least ten prospective buyers that simple drive fast, and discount your house.

If the for sale board is so important, why on earth aren’t agents using them more effectively? My advice is to take matters into your own hands and take some positive action to help attract more viewers. Here are some innovative and creative ways you can use your for sale board to generate viewings:

Get a photo board – these are great for when your house can’t be seen, or properly appreciated, from the street. Try a photo of the kitchen on one side, and perhaps the view from the garden on the other. There are plenty of companies online that will print it for you, according to your specifications and design, and you can still include your agent’s logo and telephone number.
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Print your price on the board – a radical idea this, and one that sellers rarely go for, and that’s why it makes it so effective! Not only will you stand out from the competition, a buyer doesn’t have to risk embarrassing themselves by calling the agent and finding out it’s completely out of their price range. Nor do they have to sit frustrated in their car trying to locate the property online in order to find out the price so they can book a viewing. And if these benefits weren’t enough to persuade you, how about the fact that it will make you seem much more confident about your asking price?!
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Display your brochures – buy a brochure holder from somewhere like Staples or Amazon, making sure it has a lid for the rain, and attach it with cable ties to your board, or even your garden gate. Put half a dozen of your property brochures in it, and a little sign inviting people to ‘Please take one!’ You could even add to the note a nice message like “we’re often in and around for impromptu viewings at weekends, so please ring the doorbell if you’d like to take a look”. Well, you want to sell your house don’t you?!
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Clean your board – perhaps not so radical, but still very important. An untidy, dirty, unkempt board looks shoddy and will make it seem your house has been on the market for many months. Even if it has, you don’t want your viewers to know that! Clean it up, and if necessary, get your agent to replace it with a new one.
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Make it look pretty – imagine it’s a sign to promote a business, and make the ground it sits in look as attractive as possible. Plant some flowers, water and cut the grass, to give your buyer the impression that you care about your home and the way it looks, and also to give your board the attention it deserves!
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Make sure it can be seen – think carefully about the best place for your board; is it to the side of your driveway, or in the front garden? Is there a grass verge which it could be fixed into, or would it be more appropriate to put it on your garden gate? Wherever you put it needs to indicate with no possibility of ambiguity, which house is for sale.
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Add helpful suggestions – a little addition to your sign saying ‘please park in the drive’ or ‘front door to your left’ could be immensely helpful to your potential buyers, and start the viewing off on the right foot.
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Draw attention to your sign – if you have an apple tree, put any superfluous apples in a trug with a sign saying ‘please help yourself’ next to your for sale sign. Or perhaps you have a multitude of daffodils and wouldn’t miss a few bunches; whatever it is, it will create attention and interest at the front of your property, and if you’ve left brochures outside, they could enjoy an apple whilst flicking through your brochure!
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Light it up – if your house is in an unlit neighbourhood, perhaps you could angle one of your existing outside lights so your sale board is lit at night. Whilst local by-laws don’t allow for the sign to be lit in its own right, there’s nothing wrong with lighting it as part of your outside lighting scheme.
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Add an ‘open house’ sign – have one ready for when you are available, then simply attach it to your sale board (from underneath with hooks like a guest house ‘vacancies’ sign is easiest). After all, if your house is usually tidy and in presentable condition, and you’re in doing some gardening or watching tv, why not let people come and see your house? They might actually buy it!
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Get a ‘book board’ – this is something I’ve never actually seen but I’m convinced it would be a great idea! Have the sign manufacturer make you up a board with ‘pages’ – just one or two will be plenty – so that people can actually ‘leaf’ through your board as if it were your brochure. In fact, you could actually replicate your brochure in your sign! Whilst you’re limited to a sale board that doesn’t exceed 24” by 32”, nowhere does the law state you can only have a front and a back. And think of the interest this would create – I bet the local paper would come an interview you – free publicity!
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Add your telephone number – yes, another radical idea, but it would save the buyers going through the agent to try to book a viewing, particularly if it’s on a Sunday, or a weekend. Why not seize the moment, and when they call, urge them to come straight round. Many buyers actually try to call the agent from outside the house, and become very quickly frustrated by the agent not answering, not returning the call, or the owner being unavailable. Imagine if they were to call you direct, and you could say “I’ll be home in ten minutes, if you can hang on. When I get there, I’ll put the kettle on for you”. Nice, friendly, helpful, and perhaps a very clever sales strategy.
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Brand your board! Ok, not everyone will be able to do this, but for those who can, it could be oh so powerful. So what do I mean by ‘branding your board’? It’s simple! If your home is called ‘Rose Cottage’, decorate your board with roses; if it’s ‘Red Roofs’, paint your signpost red and maybe get an arty family member to make a little red roof for your board; ‘Lark View’? Glue a little model lark to your board. Have fun with it! At the very least, it will create a talking point, and that’s a very good start when you’re selling your home.

Well there you go. I don’t expect you to rush out and do all 13 at once, but even if you tried one or two, you never know where it might lead. And it would certainly make your agent sit up and take notice! Vendors being proactive in their own marketing? Whatever next?!

Happy selling 😮

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

I had a call today from a client of ours who is considering all his options, and wanted to ask my advice. He is currently building a home in Greece, and having invested heavily, needs to start recouping his investment from his current home. His original plan was to use the funds from the sale of his family home to finish his and his wife’s dream home in Greece. However, 18 months later, and his house is still for sale. So he wanted to know, “Should I rent it out instead?”

There are merits and demerits of renting your home out, and speaking as a landlord myself, (albeit accidental!) here are some points to consider before taking the plunge:

Becoming a landlord is not a short-term fix. You need to commit to it for at least 3 – 5 years in order to fully realise the benefits and avoid losing financially;

If yours is a unique home, perhaps period and/or rural, you may find your target market to be very limited: tenants are often looking for convenience and practicality, which your home may not offer. Therefore the rent you set needs to account for this;

As well as convenience, tenants nowadays want all the mod cons: not only will they be looking for a property with contemporary kitchens and bathrooms, you’ll be expected to provide good quality white goods too; dishwasher, washing machine and often a tumble drier are all considered necessities by today’s tenants;

Allow at least 10 – 15% for maintenance costs, and also repair and renewal costs for the end of the tenancy. I write this on the day that I’ve just had to write out a £2000 cheque for a new boiler in one of my properties – ouch! Most importantly, do not expect to receive your home back at the end of the tenancy in a fit state to try to sell it; you’ll need to invest several thousands of pounds in replacing the carpets, repainting the walls, renewing any worn out fixtures and fittings, and getting the garden looking its best again.

So – lots to bear in mind! Before you reach for the tenancy agreement, think carefully. If you don’t really want to become a professional landlord, and all that it entails, focus on getting your home sold instead. Ultimately, you’ll probably be very glad you did.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Who should show viewers around your house? Over the years, I’ve heard many arguments for and against the homeowner showing their home to potential buyers. There are agents who will always tell a vendor to conduct viewings themselves, saying “you’re the best person to show people round; after all, you know your home better than anyone,” and on the other hand, just as many agents who believe they should accompany every viewer, with the argument “buyers often feel uncomfortable with the seller, as they are unable to say what they really think of the house”. In my view, both are right, but only to a point. Here’s to the Who’s Who of Viewings:

The first viewing on your home should always be accompanied by your estate agent. They are the expert – not in your home, admittedly – but in selling! They are (or should be) trained to listen for buying signals, and respond professionally and skillfully to ensure the buyer feels comfortable and secure enough to share their thoughts and feedback with them. The best course of action, is for you to prepare your home yourself for the viewing: light lamps, ensure the central heating is at the right comfort level, but still leave the house aired, light the fire, and leave it looking absolutely gorgeous whilst still homely. Once you’ve done this, go out! Walk the dog, pop out for dinner, go next door for a coffee: whatever you need to do to make yourself scarce. Leave the agent your mobile number so he can call you once the viewing is over and it’s safe to return.

On a second viewing, it’s good to be there. A couple of exceptions to this rule: if only one of a couple has viewed the first time, then the second viewing is actually a first viewing for one of them, so needs to be treated accordingly. The other rule is much harder to gauge, especially if you’re the seller! If you or your lifestyle is fundamentally different from that of your potential buyer, then it’s best if you keep yourself scarce. For example, if you’re in you’re in your nineties and married, and your viewer is in his twenties, and a bachelor, then there’s no way he will connect with you or the house in any way, other than as a ‘project’, and you can only sabotage that vision.

Otherwise, prepare your home as before, and allow the agent to let the viewers in and to have a look round, unaccompanied if possible. Then, time your return for around twenty minutes or so into the viewing. If they are really serious about buying your house, they will be there at least that long. When you arrive, introduce yourself and shake their hands warmly, then offer to make them a cup of tea or coffee, adding that you’re making one yourself. It’s a good idea to have a prior agreement with your agent that if this part of the viewing is going well, they should actually make themselves scarce, perhaps leaving to go to another viewing. Then you can settle down to focus on building rapport with your potential buyers, and answering any questions they may have with interest and enthusiasm. As they leave, again shake their hands warmly, and let them know they can contact you at any time with any further questions.

All being well, your viewers may at this point put an offer in. If they have met you, they are much less likely to make a very low offer! Human nature and our traditional English reserve will usually mean that it is just too embarrassing to risk the possibility of causing offence to a seller you have met, by submitting a potentially insulting offer. Meeting your buyers will also help to ensure that negotiations start on the right footing, will consideration and respect on either side, and a genuine motivation to find a middle ground acceptable to both parties.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

It is quite a surprising fact, but many people are choosing against putting up a for sale sign outside of their house. Peoples reasoning stems from the awkwardness of having a home up for sale for a long time, to the risk of having random strangers from the street come to your door asking to snoop. All valid reasons, but what if the lack of sign means you’re losing potential marketing exposure? In reality, you are. Unless you are in a very lackadaisical frame of mind to sell your home and in no particular rush, there are far too many benefits you will lose if you don’t put up a sign. Read our reasons why below:

Confirmation – For many interested buyers, a for sale sign is a confirmation of what they have seen on the internet, or in the estate agents window. If they go out for a drive to see your house in the daylight, they could struggle to find it, especially if there wasn’t a number attached to the property in the ad, and if houses in the area look pretty similar. Putting a sign up approves what they have seen, and helps them decide whether they want to make a viewing to look past the front door.

Neighbours – Even if you live on the quietest road in your entire town, this doesn’t mean a for sale sign isn’t a priority. A sign is free marketing for your neighbours to look at in interest, and not because they are happy about you moving (hopefully not!), but because of the advantages it may offer to them.Your neighbours may have friends or relatives who are interested in moving into the neighbourhood and have been actively seeking a property nearby. If you don’t put a sign up, how will they know? Your local community can really help you sell your home.

Potential interest – If your house is on a road that receives a lot of traffic, a for sale sign opens up your home to thousands of eyes every day. If someone likes your neighbourhood and uses their drive to work to sniff out any potential properties to look at, your sign can instantly provide a prospective viewing for you. Interested buyers can then check out your property online when they get to their desks, and make an appointment to see it.

Technology Advances – Technology has improved so much over the past few years, and one recent new addition is a ‘QR’ code. This is a code that is created to link to a specific web page. So if one was created for your for sale sign, interested parties walking by could scan the code with their smartphones, and instantly have access to your property brochure and additional details on their phone, including the number to ring to make an appointment.

By not placing a for sale sign outside of your home, you are reducing your homes chances for exposure, and may miss out on a potential viewer.

The advantages far out way the disadvantages; if you’re concerned about people turning up on your doorstep out of the blue, ensure the sign stipulates viewing by appointments only. If you’re concerned about the length of time your for sale sign will be up, don’t be. If it is marketed correctly, it’ll be sold in no time.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

You’ve decided to move home; how exciting! Selling quickly and efficiently will save you time and in the long run, help you sell your house for more.

Getting your ducks in a row before you try to sell is an important part of the selling process. That’s why, having helped thousands of homeowners to sell and move on since 2004, I’ve compiled the top five things you need to do before you put your home on the market:

1. Get into the right frame of mind for selling – decide when you’d like to move by, and start making plans. If you have too much furniture for your new home, plan how you will reduce it. If you have lots of clutter, it’s time to tackle it. Sort out your garage and your attic, ready for your move. You’ll feel more mentally prepared for what’s ahead by taking small steps now.

2. Tempt your viewers across the doorstep – stand at the kerb and make sure your buyers will see your house in its best possible light. Is your gate straight and clean? Your paintwork and windows looking good? Your garden neat and tidy? We know that on average, ten potential buyers will drive past your home for every one who books a viewing, so stack the odds in your favour, and give your buyers a reason to view.

3. Get your home ready for photography and viewings – neutral colours and plain bedding photograph much better than colourful patterns, and will make your home seem more contemporary to a buyer. If you’re not sure what needs changing, take some photos of each room with your phone, and study them with a critical eye. What stands out, and what distracts the eye? Keeping spaces clear and uncluttered will help a buyer imagine themselves living there, and avoid being turned down just because your colour scheme isn’t to someone else’s liking.

4. Do your homework – now it’s time to determine the potential selling price of your home, before you ask an estate agent to give you their opinion. That way, you will know if they are just trying to win your business with an over-inflated valuation, or even undervalue your home and perhaps cost you money. Of course, your research may not be infallible, but it will give you a good basis in fact from which to discuss a pricing strategy with your chosen estate agent.
To research your homes’ value, look at three factors:

a. Houses for sale but not yet sold – if they have not sold after more than three months on the market, they may be overpriced, so keep an eye on any slow movers.

Where to look: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/

b. Houses sold in the last year – houses that have actually sold can give you a much clearer indication of what is possible for your own sale. Bear in mind though that mitigating factors aren’t listed along with the sold price online; houses could transact at more or less than their actual worth, for any number of personal or commercial reasons.

Where to look: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html

c. Your floor area – a spreadsheet of square footage and prices of comparable homes to yours can offer up valuable information about what your home is worth, per square foot (or square metre if you prefer).

Where to look: in the floorplans of houses for sale on Rightmove

5. Choose the right estate agent to help you move – an estate agent who is truly on your side is the final piece in the jigsaw. With the right agent by your side through your home-selling journey, it will feel easier, less stressful and smoother. Make sure you choose an agent you like, trust and feel comfortable with. Imagine making a difficult decision over your house sale: would you feel supported by them? Will you trust their guidance? Just picking an agent because you have seen their sale boards up, or because they sold a friend’s house isn’t going to help you if the road to your house move becomes a little rocky, so choose carefully.

Getting your frame of mind, your house, your presentation, your price and your estate agent all ready and prepared will help your house sale progress more smoothly and your move more enjoyable.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Winter is on its way out of the door, and the spring is gradually tiptoeing in. With buyers eager to see the best homes of the bunch, this is the best time to act and get rid of any lingering signs of winter from your home. Follow our tips to greet your buyers with a little spring sunshine…

Winter garden waste – The remnants of autumn and winter can still be clearly visible in your gardens. Remove things like dead leaves, and trim bushes and plants. If you have a pond, get rid of winter sludge and leave it looking tidy.

Household jobs – Remember that job you put off all winter? It’s time to do it now. Things left undone will stand out so much more in the light of spring; don’t disappoint your buyers with a half-finished chore.

Christmas Décor – It seems an odd one, but it’s surprising how many people still have random seasonal furnishings lying around the home, from festive lights to Santa ornaments. Put them in a box, and store in the attic for next year.

Update your photos – Was your house put on the market over the winter? It can be quite easy to leave seasonal shots on your online advert. If your property ad shows your garden in the depths of the winter snow, update immediately. No one is going to think spring when it’s still winter online.

Getting rid of the winter blues is definitely worth it for spring. Read additional tips for your spring property here!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

In their fascinating book Freakono mics, (subtitled “The hidden side of everything”) Levitt and Dubner explore the issue of estate agents’ commissions. They propose that one way of discovering whether an estate agent is doing their best for their client, is to measure the difference in the results achieved for their clients, and those of their own personal home sales.

The results were not particularly surprising, at least, not to me. (Incidentally, the best property brochure I’ve ever seen was produced by an estate agent to sell his own house.) It turns out that an estate agent keeps their own home on the market an average of ten days longer, and sells it for an extra 3%. (On a £500,000 home, that’s £15,000.) The book goes on to explain, “when he sells his own house, an agent holds out for the best offer; when he sells yours, he pushes you to take the first decent offer to come along”.

The authors believe that the difference in the agent’s commission between an asking price offer, and one say, 10% below the asking price, is so little that they will recommend the offer is accepted.

Let’s look at some figures: assuming a sales commission of 1.5% on a house worth £500,000, the seller will pay the agency £7,500, about 5% of which will go to the sales negotiator, or £375. If an offer is received of £450,000, the negotiator’s commission will plummet to £337.50. So he stands to lose £37.50 against the seller’s loss of £50,000. Now imagine that this particular house has been on the market for a few months, it’s two more weeks until payday, and his girlfriend’s birthday is looming. What is he going to do?

When the seller asks him for his advice on whether or not to take the offer, what is he going to say? The negotiator would much prefer a certain £337.50 than a possible £375, and who can blame him?

Either we need better-trained, highly-motivated, somewhat altruistic negotiators with the integrity of a nun, or else we need a better system. And for me, and all those sellers out there, it can’t come soon enough.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Ahh the Delorean…a timeless classic car that graced our screens in the 80s. But we aren’t here to talk about movies. The car however, is important to the point I want to relay; with its time travelling abilities, it would be perfect for jumping back a few months to show buyers what your house looks like in winter or autumn…but that isn’t what buyers want, and it certainly isn’t what works. Unfortunately though, that is what a lot of prospective buyers are being presented with online: a house stuck in seasons past.

Why should your photography not show signs of the seasons? Read on…

Dated – As soon as your photography is taken for your home and placed online, it enters into a time portal. While those spring flowers look so picturesque against the backdrop of your home, within a few weeks those flowers will be out of season, and your home is instantly dated. The snow too – while lovely, no one wants to see the white stuff on your property portfolio. It masks your property exterior, and in the swing of summer will be an instant put off.

Length of time on the market – In the same topic, your dated photography is an immediate indication of how long your home has sat on the market. If you’re in the depths of a hot summer and outside your home sits Mr Frosty, this suggests your home has been on the market for a fair few months. Do you want buyers to know this, or keep it under wraps?

Look at your photography, are there any seasonal signs in sight? A trawl through Rightmove will find you dozens of homes buried under snow. Talk to your agent about redoing the photography to make it more current, and point them in our direction if they question why!

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Today’s guest post gives advice for those looking into becoming a landlord. Although it can seem quite overwhelming to begin with, being a landlord can be a very satisfying job. Have a read of this post to gain a deeper knowledge on the subject.

Many people are turning to buy to let properties when it comes to investing their cash. It can be a great alternative to paying into a pension scheme, a passive income alongside the day job or even a full time career. In today’s post I’ll be outlining some of the key considerations to make if you’re venturing into the potentially lucrative landlord world and hopefully helping you avoid some common avoidable mistakes.

Do Your Research – You can never do too much research when it comes to being a landlord and before you begin you must ensure you’re up to speed with the latest rules and regulations. You’re not only responsible for the property but your tenants too. For example, did you know that the landlord is responsible for fitting and testing smoke alarms? And your tenants have their own duties too, so make sure you know how everything is divided.

Choosing a Property – Assuming you’re looking for a new property to buy to let rather than letting out something you own already, it’s important to make a checklist of criteria you’re looking for. Location is typically the biggest factor when it comes to rental prices, but there are other factors too such as parking. If you’re keen to let to students there might be specific areas that are more popular than others, whilst access to transport links might play a bigger factor for professionals. Decide on your tenant target market and search for properties based on that.

Finances – Buying a property nearly always comes with hidden expenses. As well as your initial deposit, stamp duty and legal fees you’ll also need to budget for any repairs or modifications required for the property. Whilst being a landlord can be very profitable, it’s important to remember to budget carefully and leave a buffer for things like a new boiler, just in case. A property survey should flag up anything major such as problems with the roof.

Maintenance – The maintenance of the property is the responsibility of the landlord. Maintenance includes duties such as keeping the property clean, providing drinking water, and paying for repairs.

Landlord Insurance – Although it’s not a legal requirement, taking out landlord insurance is generally a good idea. Landlord insurance can include things like rental protection if you’re unable to rent out the property due to damage and even unoccupied property cover to cover you in between tenants. Costs for this insurance varies depending on the size of your property and the types of cover you want to include, so it’s good idea to shop around and work out what’s right for your situation.

Renovations – Don’t invest in expensive renovations unless it’s likely to produce higher rent. Decorate with your target market in mind, there’s no point in investing in expensive flooring/storage if it isn’t desirable to your tenants. The longer it takes to renovate your property, means the longer you’re property will be without tenants. Create a schedule if you do decide to renovate and keep to it as rigidly as possible to minimise the financial hit.

Right of Entry – Even though you’re the landlord, you don’t have the right to just walk into your rental properties as and when you wish, instead there are strict policies. However, if there are needs for access, such as an emergency repair, you should be allowed to enter the property in order to complete work.

As you can see, there’s a lot to take into consideration when it comes to being a landlord, but I hope this article serves as a useful starting point on your journey. For the latest information on renting out properties in England and Wales, please visit the government website.

I hope you found this article helpful – it would be great to hear from you in the comments section if you come up with any more points of your own.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

Are you thinking about moving house? Is your current home too big, too small, or just not quite right for you and your family? Maybe it’s a job move you’re considering, or you want to be closer to someone special.

Moving home is usually a complex decision, one that most people take a while to make.

Whatever your reason for moving house, your discussions about whether to stay or go will centre on costs, feasibility, timescales and return on your investment. And then of course there’s the emotional factor; perhaps you feel attached to your home, and it’ll be a wrench to leave it.

Some people (like me) thrive on moving home. Loving the thrill of packing up and starting a new chapter in a new home, and sometimes new place, is exciting. Others feel it’s a bit of a hassle, and can be tempted to overstay their welcome in their current home to avoid it.

Having worked with thousands of homeowners, I’ve distilled their many reasons for moving into these top twelve:

1. Money

Taking a good look at your current expenses is a first step when you’re considering a move. Yes, you may be able to extend, convert or add to your current home to fit your future needs, but will you see a return on your investment when it’s time to sell? Now is the time to examine your finances – try breaking down your options on a spreadsheet – and work out which is the best way forward for you and your wallet.

2. You’ve outgrown your storage space

There’s only so much de-cluttering and sorting you can do to make your storage fit your needs. At some point, you start to realise that your current space just isn’t working for you any more. If your cupboards, under beds and cubbyholes are full to bursting, and in danger of exploding every time you open a door, it may be time to accept you just need more space.

3. Your family is expanding

Maybe when you moved into your current home you were child-free, or you had just one tiny baby. But now a few years on, has your brood expanded? Maybe pets too? Moving to a bigger home may be the next logical step. Aside from needing more space, (bikes, toys, games kit, all takes up so much space) aspects you may have overlooked before — like good school catchment areas and local parks— may be a priority for you now.

4. Empty nester?

If however, you’re now or soon to be an empty nester, why waste money on space you don’t need? If it’s just you and your other half now, or perhaps just you, why not downsize to a smaller home or apartment to save not only on your mortgage but also on utilities, repairs, cleaning time, and more?

5. You have a dream your current place won’t support

Thinking of a change of lifestyle that will require extra space? Maybe you’d like to indulge in a hobby, go freelance or simply start working from home more. If your current home doesn’t allow for the extra space, perhaps it’s time to find one that will accommodate a home office, studio space or whatever your new life chapter needs.

6. You’re ready for a new challenge

If you have spent a lot of time, effort and money on making your current home just right, it can be hard to walk away from it. But what if you’re just bored, and want to start again, putting your stamp on a new place? Maybe in hindsight you would have chosen a different kitchen, a bolder flooring, but it’s too expensive – and new – to replace? Moving to a new home and having a new blank slate to put your own creative mark on can be really exciting.

7. You’ve started cooking at home more

If you can’t get enough of MasterChef and Great British Bake-off, and your current kitchen is limiting your creative cooking, then perhaps moving to a home with a spacious, state-of-the-art kitchen would seem like a dream come true. All those big, shiny surfaces, built in appliances, space to move around…. culinary heaven.

8. Your children don’t invite their friends over

Are your children always going to their friends’ houses, but never invite them back home? Maybe Jack has more room, Rosie’s home has a den, and Ethan’s house has a massive garden with a tree house. Pester power can really make you think about your current home and whether it has everything the whole family needs.

9. You’re sick of sharing a bathroom

Do you crave a candlelit bath with a book, uninterrupted by someone needing the loo? Sick of there being no clean, dry towels left for your shower? You definitely need an ensuite. A space just for mum and dad (but mostly mum) to have some peace and quiet pamper time. Think of it – your own loo, clean hung towels, no empty toiletries’ containers. Bliss.

10. You’re not sure what interest rates are doing

With interest rates at rock-bottom, the only way is up. If you have an amazing mortgage deal, perhaps you’re reluctant to give it up, even if you really do need a bigger home. Whilst it’s true that interest rates are almost certainly set to rise, albeit moderately, the reality is that you can’t control all the factors. So if you’ve outgrown or just aren’t happy with your current home, there’s no reason not to at least explore your options. You might be surprised at what you can afford if you’ve built up enough equity in your current home.

11. You really want to cut the commute

Commuting to and from work can take hours out of your week. Just think, you could be doing much more important things, like spending time with your family, indulging in your hobby and just enjoying some quality after-work time.

Whether you’re starting a new job or keeping your current one, moving closer to work has a lot of benefits.

12. You’ve found love

Meeting that special someone doesn’t necessarily mean it’s suddenly time to pack up and move in. But if you’re seriously considering a permanent commitment, buying a new home you can enjoy together is the next logical step. And house hunting as a loved-up couple is just so romantic!

So, do any of these top twelve reasons for moving fit your move? Or do you have an entirely different motivation for wanting a new home? Drop me a line and let me know; I’d love to hear your moving story.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.