I see that the debate about whether to employ a homestaging company in a bid to sell your house has reared its head again. For the uninformed homestaging or house doctoring is the practice by which a house is ‘improved’ by an interior designer, thus making it more appealing to would-be buyers. Time was all you needed to do was to spring clean, brew some coffee and add a vase of flowers here and there to make your home more appealing. Now we are exhorted to declutter, neutralise and define each space. All great advice but when you visit as many properties as I do, you develop an uncanny ability to spot a ’staged property’ before you’ve stepped into the immaculately coiffured hallway. I swear I could even win competitions identifying which items of furniture actually belong to the vendor and which are hired in for the duration.

As you see, I’m not entirely a fan. It works for some vendors, providing a much needed boost when they are in very low spirits. Some fall in love with their houses again and decide to stay put; but others can spend thousands only to find that their house continues to languish on the market.

What is important to remember is that preparation for sale is essential. In the current market especially it’s no good  expecting your home to be snapped up without some considerable effort. Getting a critical friend to cast their eye over your home before you head to the estate agent is a step in the right direction. They’ll spot areas which are off-putting, allowing you to rectify these immediately. You could have a look here to get you into the right frame of mind for selling your home.

And in terms of presentation, here are the key things I look for when visiting property on behalf of clients. Sort these out and you’ll stand out from the crowd, believe me.

• Firstly make sure your house is correctly priced taking into account the actual selling prices for comparative property in your location. You can take advice from your agent and find information online from the Land Registry.
• Maintenance needs to be taken care of. A property which has clearly been properly looked after holds no nasty surprises which will send buyers running for the hills. So fix the leaky tap, repaint the front door and replace any cracked panes of glass.
• Clean, clean, clean. Who wants to look at a somebody else’s dirt? Sparkling windows let in more light and a spotless bathroom suggests that you really care about your home…making it instantly more appealing.
• Tidy up and get rid of clutter. A house jam packed with excess belongings is a problem in two ways. To vendors it means that your house is too small and has too little storage space. If you haven’t found room for all your stuff by now, then neither will they. Secondly if you do actually secure an offer your removal bill will be considerably higher. Do yourself a favour and sell it, give it away to friends, to charity, post it on Freecycle or get up close and personal with your neighbourhood recycling centre.
• Make your house a home.  Agents will tell you that you are selling a lifestyle not just a home. This is the very essence of house doctoring. Your job is to make it easy for would-be buyers to want to live your lifestyle in your home. If they can do that, then they’ll be well on the way to buying it. But don’t think that the only way to do this is to get rid of all evidence of your children and dog and hire in a designer sofa or two.  You might have to do an amount of reorganising and some decoration but remember your job is  to accentuate the positives. Cosy evenings round the fire, a relaxing glass of wine under the pergola, picking fresh veg from the garden for dinner, a den for the children to make their own…whatever your house has to offer, make the most of it. If you live in a vibrant community, make sure you have some evidence of that lying around - local village magazine, posters for events. If the school is great or the pub a good place to go for a meal, make sure you mention this too.

          You know best what’s good and bad about your house so you are  in the best position to deal with it …with or without the help of a house doctor.

What does a relocation agent do when the housing market is in a slump? Well according to a girl friend of mine it ought to be persuading my partner to part with a few hundred thousand to buy a wreck for me to practise my homemaking skills - oh, and to be filmed doing it. (Kirstie’s Homemade Home Channel 4, Thursdays).

Now I’m not one to knock jolly Kirstie. The lady has talked a lot of sense in the past about not paying a developer’s premium, adding value and looking beyond the surface to the heart of what a property offers. But surely I’m not the only one who wishes that we could have a look at a renovation in real time on a realistic budget? Or are we a nation of property porn addicts content to drool over manufactured ‘perfection’?

Granted not many people would want to watch Fred and Maggie take five years to get around to painting their exterior woodwork but at least lets have a quality interior design programme showing us what can be done to improve the home we’re in and how much it will cost.

And if you’re thinking of doing a bit of renovation yourselves have a look here for some ideas of what might add most value in the long run. But be sure to bear in mind renovation in the current market has to be more about what works for you in the short term than making a quick buck and moving on.

And if you develop a taste for raiding skips as a result of Kirstie’s programme the bookshelf pictured is my latest ‘find’ now tastefully repainted in Farrow and Ball just to give you hope and inspiration. If I can do it, anyone can. Unlike the redoubtable Kirstie I will tell you the real story. It came from not from a skip but my next door neighbour and during the months between acquiring it and finding the time to actually paint it, it was stored in various rooms in the house where we all fell over it regularly. I used the remains of a pot of paint that I’d bought to revamp a cupboard so had to find a space for it in the sitting room (to avoid glaring colour clashes). And as it rained constantly during the painting period and we have no outbulding, garage or workshop, the kitchen held the faint whiff of paint for a few days.

Isn’t this what most people do?

If the lighter evenings and better weather have spurred you into action in the garden this weekend, you might be very pleased to know that your outdoor endeavours can boost the value and saleabililty of your property for the long term. Most prospective buyers when faced with the choice between similar properties will be swayed by ‘a really nice garden’. Surveys  indicate that 80% of buyers feel that it could add as much as 15% to the value of your home.

The current economic climate means that not as many homes are being sold of course. Spending some time and a little money on the garden is a long-term investment, improving your living space for you and proving beneficial when and if you decide to sell.

The preference up to now has been for ‘minimal maintenance’ as many people want a pleasant outdoor space for relaxation and entertaining but don’t have the time or knowledge to maintain it. However the upsurge in ‘growing your own’ combined with a pitiful shortage of allotments means that a potager or small veg patch is likely to prove popular in future.

Happy gardening!

Feeling credit crunched?  You can’t turn on the radio or open a paper without reading or hearing the latest gloomy report or an exhortation not to cancel Christmas because you’re down to your last £10. Being an optimistic soul and the child of a thrifty mother who could conjure up something for nothing I can  find ways to give a home a quick green pre-Christmas fix without busting the budget ………..and you’ll still have time to commune with your domestic goddess and start on the homemade Christmas gifts. Here’s how to do it.

1. Start making your own compost. It’s easy, cheap and a great way to boost the fertility of your soil. Like modern day alchemy once you’ve started you are hooked. Compost bins can be knocked together from old pallets or bits of chicken wire, picked up on Freecycle or subsidised by the council. The truly style-conscious might want to invest in a made to measure wooden bin in a host of beautiful shapes. Cooked food waste can be composted with the aid of a Bokashi composter (try googling Bokashi!) and wormeries can turn kitchen waste into the most amazing compost and liquid feed. These too range from homespun (as seen on Gardener’s World fashioned from an old barrow, a load of leafmould covered with a black sack and some worms from the fishing tackle shop or state of the art.
2. Save water by fitting a water butt to your gutter’s downpipes. This will provide you with enough to water the garden and wash the car (if you do wash the car, unlike me!)
3. Fit energy saving light bulbs. There is simply no excuse as they’re distributed free by all sorts of worthy organisations at fairs and festivals. We have a stock to power our home for the next 300 years- so if you need some, email.
4. Peg out the washing whenever possible and reduce the dependance on your tumble drier. I find it quite therapeutic.
5. Hang good quality curtains that fit snugly to the windows and draw them at dusk. Believe it or not this can reduce your heat loss by up to a third. And whilst you’re at it, make sure your letter box has one of those charming little brushes fitted too.
6. Start growing your own veg. It couldn’t be simpler. Sprout some seeds on your kitchen window sill, move onto a window box of cut and come again salad leaves and soon you’ll be digging up the lawn. No garden? Virtually anything can be grown in a container on a patio. Still on the allotment list after three years? Have a look at Hugh Fernley Whittingstall’s Landshare initiative (at www.rivercottage.net) or beg a patch from a friend or neighbour. There are even companies which will supply you with plug plants to make it really easy. One of my favourites is Rocket Gardens, who incidentally supplied my children’s school gardening club with a free winter veg garden.
7. Start buying eco friendly products available in Bradford at Christine Giles ethical supermarket ‘Who Cares’ , over the internet or delivered with some veg box schemes.
8. Hire or buy a wireless power meter for a few days. This will show you all too graphically how much power all your appliances devour and will be a real motivator for change.

So, there you have it. All in a weekend’s work and nothing prohibitively expensive.

Good luck.

I am in the blog equivalent of the dog house as it’s ages since I updated. Don’t worry I haven’t disappeared but have spent the last few weeks networking and improving my own property and my eco credentials into the bargain…so get ready for a few months of me waxing lyrical about lime plaster, thermafleece, home maintenance, eco paints, permaculture and all things green as well as lots of publicity about my next big project The Bradford on Avon Green Fair…October 3rd and 4th (Details in my next blog!)

People have been contacting me thinking that the sorry state of the housing market has sent me into a state of blind panic or an early grave. (As if?) On the relocation front, rather than scouring my particular patch of countryside for great homes for my clients I have instead spent hours with my ear glued to a mobile phone sweet talking estate agents and solicitors into helping my clients through that minefield of the difficult market - the gazunderer and the broken chain. Whilst certain sections of the market plummet in price, nervous buyers find the time between  an offer being accepted and contracts exchanged increasingly difficult. Fearful of ending up with a property which is worth considerably less than they have agreed to pay for it when they finally move in, they suddenly review their offer, sometimes within minutes of exchanging contracts, sending several dependant purchases into turmoil. It’s understandable, morally questionable but perfectly legal. I could get on my soapbox about how the system needs to change and how HIPS with compulsory surveys might have helped the situation but I prefer to focus on the positives……that employing a relocation agent makes it more likely this kind of problem wiill be resolved and  that I have always found homes for clients in great communities rather than properties with investment potential alone and therefore the properties I am negotiating on are good value for my clients long term.

The economic climate has also lead to an increase in clients wanting to stay put and improve their properties,  saving themselves money in the short and long term. For some this means introducing energy saving features like solar panels and better insulation. For others who have less money to spend it’s more about maintaining what they have so that it works more efficiently. This week I have projects in hand ranging from repair and repainting of exterior woodwork using eco-paints to flushing out an ancient central heating system and fitting thermostatic valves on the radiators so that it works more efficiently in the Winter.

Now is the time to tackle the jobs which will make your home cosy, secure and cheaper to run in the long term. And if you want some great advice about how to ‘green up’ without going bankrupt you know where to come……

Today I’m negotiating on the purchase of a ‘project house’ - you know, the kind that needs “modernisation” in the language of the estate agents. Actually this one is not all that bad but it will require my clients to share their living space with a team of builders for a few months if they are to create the living space they desire. It’s a great idea to add value to a property by increasing the square footage and it’s also good to be able to put your stamp onto a property but the reality of living with builders for months on end, especially if you have a young family hits hard. It’s almost three years since we completed our own building project. At the time our three children were all under five. Our builders were great and we knew exactly what to expect. Even so, four months without access to the garden, severely restricted downstairs living space and dust took its toll.

So what can you do to survive a building project?

• Effective communication is the key to a successful project. Talk to your neighbours about what is happening on a regular basis and talk to your builders.  This ensures that everyone is aware of what’s going on and any problems can be sorted out early and easily. Clients who employ me to manage a project often bemoan previous projects where the builders didn’t turn up at eight every morning or left early. It’s a fact of life that builders do not work conventional hours. They have several jobs on the go at once and  will be looking to book up their next job. Their work is physical and some tasks cannot be completed in all weathers or until some trades have finished. Aim to know what the general shape of the project will be and what will be happening week by week. Then you can monitor whether it’s on schedule. If you’ve built up a good rapport with your team they’ll make an effort for you. Equally if you’ve communicated with your neighbours they won’t add to your stress by complaining about absolutely everything.
• Move into temporary accommodation. This is the most expensive option unless you have a friend who wants you to house sit for a few months. It is less stressful and your project could progress more quickly provided that you are still around to manage the project or employ a project manager to do it for you. Even if you can’t afford it, take the opportunity to get away from the building for weekends by staying with friends and relatives. It helps you keep everything in perspective and allows you to relax in comfortable surroundings. We had an arrangement with friends to stay at their houses if they were away for the weekend. Never underestimate the value of a good soak in a bath you haven’t had to scrub before you get in!
• If you stay put throughout the project try to separate the building work from the rest of the house as much as possible. Use plastic sheeting to tape up doorways or windows.
• Be clear about your expectations that the builders keep the site as tidy as possible. It’s important for safety as well as your state of mind.
• Park well away from the building work. Ask the builders not to block access to your property and ensure that you know when they need unrestricted access.
• If you will be without a kitchen at any point get the builders to set up a temporary kitchen space if possible using your old sink, units and work surfaces.
• If you are blessed with more than one, allocate one WC for the builders and one for you.
• Knock through from an extension or loft conversion to the main house at the last possible moment. This will help to limit mess and draughts. Friends of ours recently took on a loft conversion project. Their builders arrived and left via the roof and scaffolding until the final stages. Totally stress free.
• Be prepared to lower your standards for a while. There will be mess and dust. Things will be a little more chaotic than usual. Decide on your bottom line and when it all gets too much have a plan of action for destressing.
• Be hospitable but remember you’re not running a cafe. My builders had access to the kettle, tea and coffee every day and home made cake twice a week.

Hope your building projects progress smoothly.

Until next week.

Cally

We are in the middle of school holidays in Wiltshire and therefore the only projects I am tackling this week are those involving family - days out, gardening, baking and having a sort out of all our ’stuff’……. which I love. I feel energised and free when the clutter which tends to build up over a few busy weeks is organised and put away or has made its way out of the house to a new home.

One of the most rewarding jobs I took on last year was assisting an elderly client who was preparing to move house after many years in the same village. The lady had a lifetime of possessions which simply wouldn’t fit into her new home and needed some radical decluttering.Major events like selling up and downsizing are common triggers of the need to declutter. Interior designers offer a decluttering service as part of their ‘home staging’ packages, prior to putting houses on the market. It has even made an appearance as one of the plethora of programmes available on moving or improving your house. (Remember ‘The Life Laundry’ where an entire house is removed by an army of declutterers to a couple of gazebos and  sorted through in a couple of days?) My experience is that decluttering is rarely a straightforward process and one that requires planning, drive, time and sensitive handling. I can honestly say that my years spent as a volunteer counsellor has helped my clients far more than my professional property expertise in decluttering projects.

I have never had too much trouble with weeding out excess baggage and finding new homes for items I no longer want or need - except perhaps that I have too many books. However I am the wife and daughter of hoarders of the first order. When my father died we had to sort through a shed full of rusty nails and washers which he had saved in case they came in useful. I now have three children and we all know children and clutter go hand in hand. Hence I have had to learn to deal sensitively with other people’s clutter and find coping strategies for living in an environment which on occasions is less than ideal.

Having too many possessions for the space you live in is stressful, particularly if you are coping with life-changing situations at the same time like moving house, getting married, having children, divorce, bereavement or having your parents move in with you. Successfully getting rid of the excess can be hugely beneficial but the process is often difficult and most people need support. Family and friends may step up to help - or you may need professional assistance. Whoever you choose, make sure that they understand your needs  and have time to spend. My eldest son loves to surround himself with “stuff” and only weeds it out reluctantly when prompted. It would be very easy to get a bag and throw it all in. It would even be fairly straightforward to gather a few boxes and sort rubbish, recycling, charity shop donations, gifts to friends, car boot and ebay items for him.  But I would never do this. I have to wait for him to be ready to sort and support him through the decisions he makes about what to keep and where everything else is to go. Gradually he is learning about the true worth of his possessions and he gets pleasure from passing things on to friends or selling unwanted items to earn enough money for something he really wants. The same is true for every client I have assisted.

One of the best books I have come across on this subject is “No More Clutter” by Sue Kay. I would recommend this as as starting point to anyone who is sinking under a pile of possessions. She has a real understanding of the reasons behind hoarding and excellent suggestions about how to tackle it. Once you understand what kind of hoarder you are and are ready to tackle things head on, you can plan your strategy.

As for me, I have worked hard on the book situation and now I always have a small stash of books in the boot of the car. Whoever I call on gets to choose a book from the box. Any cash donations I get go to the charity I’m supporting for the year. It works a treat!

Do keep posting comments or questions on the blog. Remember there’s a prize up for grabs for posting this month.

Cally

This week I have been planning a foray into our local salvage yards in search of a new radiator. To paraphrase Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice I say yards because there are several…or at least two within striking distance of my home in Bradford on Avon. What bliss it is to lose yourself amidst acres of old floorboards, doors, roof tiles, butler sinks. In fact I am always hard pressed to leave with just one item.

I have been visiting reclamation yards all my adult life, usually in an attempt to find something more characterful at an affordable price, although the popularity of all things ‘vintage’ tends to come with a higher price tag these days.

Nevertheless it is still the best way to find suitable fixtures and fittings for your period restoration or an economical way to put a bit of character into a newer home whilst conserving raw materials and haulage miles. The staff at Frome Reclamation and Walcot Reclamation in Bath are friendly and knowledgeable and I’d certainly recommend a visit to either or to a yard in your neck of the woods. Most yards operate a delivery service too. You may even find something at a knock down price that you can breathe some new life into. You should see my stair spindle candlestick project! Have a look at www.fromerec.co.uk or www.walcot.com

If it’s February it must be Spring right? Coming from a long line of peasant farming Celts, as far as I am concerned the start of Spring is Febrary 1st and this year all the experts seem to agree with me. We are basking in glorious sunshine in Wiltshire. My daffs are up well before St David’s Day and this is just the kind of weather to prompt a flurry of home improvement activity.

I’ve just completed an article for a local magazine on giving your home a Spring MOT but for those of you who have bigger plans, here are 20 ways to improve your living space (with a general idea of how much this could add to the value of your home). Not all require planning permission but there are regulations that you do need to know about, particularly if your property is listed or has a covenant on it. It’s easy to check - look at the deeds of your house and have a chat with your local planning officer. It could save a lot of hassle later on. And don’t tackle any major project without professional advice unless you really know what you’re doing.

• Let there be light Improving the quality of light in your property can add up to 10% to the value of your house. Choose windows that are in keeping with your style of property if you have to replace any or you are intending to add more.
• Move the walls Creating or dividing spaces can make your living space more flexible and can add up to 10% to its value if you are shrewd about the work you do. Consult a professional about loadbearing walls.
• Build a garage Can add between 10 and 20% to the value of your house and this is not a project which always requires planning permission.
• Convert your loft Not something to tackle without professional advice but worth up to 15% of the value of your house per bedroom added.
• Put in dormer windows Increasing the headroom and light in loft rooms can add 5-15% to the value of your property.
• Build an extension Expensive but well worth doing as it can add up to 20% to the value of your property.
• Add a conservatory Cost effective extra space but beware the location. A freezing space in Winter and sauna in the Summer is not a useable space.
• Put working fireplaces back into your period property Could add 3% to the value of your home and they look wonderful. If you have a woodburner you can save on fuel bills as they throw out an enormous amount of heat. They also improve the ventilation in period properties - very important.
• Convert an outbuilding Granny annexe, office any useable space can add up to 10% to the overall value.
• Add a home office Turning that box room or small side extension into a well fitted office could add about 3% to your property’s value.
• Create an internal annexe Particularly good if you have a large loft room or basement and adds about 10%
• Create parking Can add up to £10,000 depending on the location of your property but do try to leave some front garden
• Create additional access Can add up to 5% as well as making life easier for you and your visitors.
• Add central heating or upgrade the wiring Has been known to increase the value of a property by up to 20%.
• Add a garden building A quality garden building is another cost effective way of increasing your living space. They make great home offices and playrooms - the higher the spec the greater the added value to your home.
• Give your home an external makeover Can add 5% to the value and certainly make a home more attractive, more useable and more saleable.

If you own a large or specialist property or live in a great location then these suggestions are for you.

• Buy next door Cheaper than moving and well worth it if your home is a period semi in a great location with a large garden, adding a whopping 70% to the combined value of both houses.
• Install a hot tub/wet room/sauna/gym Usually adds 2% and allows you to live in the lap of luxury.
• Add a swimming pool 5% on the value of your house but only advisable if it doesn’t swallow up the bulk of your garden.
• Build a tennis court Can be worth an extra £50,000 to the right buyer.