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What is dopamine décor?

Dopamine décor looks set to be one of the biggest interior trends of 2022. Dopamine is a chemical produced in the brain strongly associated with feelings of pleasure. It’s also linked with attention, memory, motivation and enthusiasm. Dopamine décor, is, in short, the use of colour in the home to trigger feelings of happiness. It’s […]

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How to create a hallway that will help sell your home…

When people step into your home, what first impression do you think they get? Is it a warm, welcoming home, cared for and precious to its owners, or somewhere a tad scruffy, uncared for and just a bit in need of some TLC? When potential buyers step through your front door, you want them to […]

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Dine out…

How to make your garden sell your home We’re heading fast into the months when dining outside suddenly becomes important. As we don’t live on the Spanish costa, or have daily access to a small cobbled piazza in Umbria, we simply have to make the best of warm nights by setting the scene in our […]

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What is kerb appeal?

We hear the term a lot, particularly when putting a home on the market, but what does kerb appeal mean? In short, it’s the immediate attractiveness (or lack of attractiveness) of a property when seen on a drive past by a potential buyer. There’s a saying in business: you have seven seconds to make a […]

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Time to selling your home…

Have you been dreaming of making your next move? Perhaps you’re looking for a home with more space and a garden, or dreaming of a cottage by the sea? Getting an accurate valuation of your current home will help you to confirm how much you can afford when you’re planning your next move. The best […]

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Easter addresses…

Although 80 million Easter Eggs are sold annually, only a very few addresses included either ‘Chocolate’ or ‘Egg’. Source: Dataloft, Land Registry, Finder.com, Global Data

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Spring into action

Over the past five years (excluding 2020), the number of buyer enquiries per property for sale has been highest during March, April and May (Rightmove). Currently around 75% of properties are successfully finding a buyer, compared to a historical average of around 50%. Properties are selling, subject to contract, 20 days quicker than the five-year […]

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No let up in sales activity

The property market is busy, with the start of 2022 seeing no slowdown in sales activity. Nearly 107,000 sales were recorded in January. Except for 2021, this is the strongest start to a year since 2007 and up 10% on the January average (2012–2021). Demand continues to outpace supply, sustaining pressure on prices. Rightmove report […]

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How do you choose your estate agent?

Capability and market knowledge continue to top the list of how prospective home movers choose their agents. Confidence in ability was rated by more home movers than any other quality. Only 17% included ‘lowest fee’ in their top 5. Source: Dataloft, Property Academy Home Moving Trends Survey 2021.

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Who is buying now?

The number of first-time buyers grew by 35% in 2021, compared to the pandemic year of 2020, despite the ongoing uncertainty. The stamp duty holiday and a drop in expenditure during lockdowns may have boosted deposits for the 60% of first-time buyers who are in the top 40% of incomes (English Housing Survey). Source: Dataloft, […]