Yesterday we received confirmation that a deceased estate that we had been dealing with for some considerable time is finally discharged, with everything satisfactorily complete. Dealing with the affairs of a much loved friend or family member is never easy and when this has to be done at a distance this is doubly so. Of course there are solicitors to help, who are experts at dealing with all legal matters connected with probate, but there are numerous tasks which you may not want to hand over entirely to a third party or which require delicate handling and the simple fact of the matter is that you may not feel ready to complete some tasks. Having to deal with an empty property has the potential to be one of the most difficult and time-consuming of these.

As a qualified surveyor one of my roles is valuing property for probate purposes. When meeting clients many admit to dreading the task of clearing the home of a relative who has died. There are some common themes - living some distance away, having to consider the feelings and wishes of other family members, not feeling emotionally strong enough to cope with the task…….a combination of practical and emotional difficulties.

If you are in the position of having to tackle this most difficult of tasks then the following guide may be useful if you are responsible for the security, clearance and eventual disposal of a deceased property.

Ensure that the buildings and contents policy is still valid.

This will mean contacting the insurers as soon as possible to inform them that the policy holder has died. Bear in mind that most policies require an empty property to be visited and checked on a very regular basis for the policy to be valid. Seek clear guidance from the insurers and arrange for someone to visit. Trustworthy friends or neighbours could do this for you. In this area it is one of the services I offer as part of my probate package and I’m sure there are similar folk in other parts of the country.

Immediate tasks

Remove all valuable items and documents to a more secure location. Compile an inventory of what you’ve removed and don’t forget to collect the post on a regular basis or have it redirected. Shred all papers that are not needed by you or the solicitor.

Inform all the utility companies and the council. You could arrange for the phone to be switched off but you’ll still need other services.

Valuing the property

As part of the process of calculating the value of the estate you will need to have the property valued by a qualified professional -  estate agent or surveyor.

Clearing the property

• how to do it

You can choose to do this yourself or call in a house clearance firm. Whatever you decide, I would advise you not to do this alone. Take a friend or relative with you as it can be an emotional process. Allow at least half a day per room and have a system. The traffic light system is a good one where you equip yourself with red, orange and green stickers. Red for keep; orange for sell or donate and green for recycling centre.

If you engage a house clearance firm choose only those who will take everything. Obtain quotes and check that firms are reputable, licensed and insured. The cost they charge is dependant on what the contents are worth to them.

• when to do it

Items should not be disposed of until you have received the Grant of Representation from the Probate Agency but you also need to feel ready to face the task. I have known of people who have been very efficient and tackled the job too soon. Six months down the line they have regrets that they didn’t take more time. Both Cruse and Help the Aged provide helpful advice. Check out their websites at www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk and www.helptheaged.co.uk

• dealing with relatives

This can be a minefield. Aim to keep everyone informed. A will may indicate which items are to go to  specific people. Thereafter invitefamily and friends to choose what they’d like from “special items” of sentimental value.

• disposal of goods

Anything of value should be disposed of via auction rooms. Choose one close to the property. Look at www.nava.org.uk  to find a reputable one. Less valuable items could be advertised via ebay or local classified ads. Car boot sales are more appropraite for less valuable items.

For the rest try charity shops or recycling centres first. Charity shops don’t take electrical goods and try not to send anything which is of poor quality. Some charities take items of furniture to help with homeless projects.

The National Recyling Network is a good source of infomation. Find them at www.reuze.co.uk  The more you can recycle the fewer trips to the dump or skips you will need to hire.

Marketing the property

When you’re ready to sell the property obtain quotes from three local agents and engage the one you feel has the knowledge and experience to sell the property. Usually it is best to sell the property as it is, rather than to spend money trying to improve it, particularly in the current market. However it is worth arranging for someone to tidy the garden and carrying out minor maintenance. Nervous buyers are prepared to redecorate and refit kitchens and bathrooms but if the roof leaks this is a deal breaker. If a property is empty over the winter months specific problems may occur which, if left unchecked, may develop into major expenses.

Be realistic about accepting offers but always get your agent to check out the postition of the prospective buyers. Aim for as straightforward a transaction as possible.

You can download a guide to probate from www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm or by calling 0845 3020900.

For those with properties in Wiltshire/Somerset, Country Gate offers a probate support package, coordinating what needs to be done to ensure that your property is secure, well maintained and has been correctly valued and effectively marketed …….and that goods are disposed of safely and as profitably as possible.

Until next week.

Cally

Those of us who live in flourishing market towns are well aware of the benefits of living and working in the same community. There are the obvious financial savings of not having to pay hefty commuting fees. Or  the health and eco benefits of being able to get to work  and home again quickly and easily.  Such a community is vibrant and  sustainable. Imagine a world where you can walk to work in twenty minutes, pop out during your lunch hour to grab a few goodies for supper and be home by 6. You could spend a whole evening with your family. Maybe invite friends over for a mid-week supper. Even pursue a hobby without having to walk the dog at midnight and fall into bed exhausted. Bliss!

Working from home is well established now with some employers as an alternative to requiring their staff to commute every day and in recent surveys about work/life balance millions of people state that they would like to work for themselves from home or do less commuting. There is a growing number of female entrepreneurs doing just that - running successful cottage industries and combining this with bringing up children and pursuing a better quality of life.

However for many people this is not viable. In a bid to address this and to redress the balance where light industrial estates have been redeveloped into residential apartments, yesterday a report was launched focusing on the benefits of work/live developments. Backed by government policy advisor Kate Barker, it suggests that town planners need to consider the importance of enabling people to live and work in the same area when creating new homes and when considering planning applications for redeveloping brownfield sites.

This is already happening in some parts of the country. In Leeds for instance a large area of deserted warehouses and factories close to the centre has been redeveloped into live/work developments combining residential accommodation and small businesses. In my own market town in Wiltshire we are  at the start of redeveloping an old cloth mill into a mixed development with an additional communtiy Arts or Museum space. (The previous mill redevelopments  were totally residential.)

It’s a far cry from Richmond where parents are about to be penalised for driving their children to school in 4×4s. Successful live/work communities enable parents to walk their children to school and still get to work on time. And for all you who have caught the downshifting bug this week it’s a perfect start to slowing down and greening up.

Until next week. Don’t forget you still have a few days to post a comment and be in with a chance of winning a copy of David Ireland’s book.

Cally

This week is National Downshifting Week and I for one want to highlight the benefits of the downshifter’s lifestyle. When we moved to Wiltshire from London in 1994, to all intents and to the great amusement of our friends we were downshifting. “Isn’t that something you do in you fifties, not your twenties?” a colleague remarked. In fact although we relocated to a country village and got involved in our community, essentially we were not doing anything different than we had in the city. The real downshifting decision happened much later when our children were born and we moved to a more affordable house on the edge of a market town, one of us changing jobs and the other setting up a business on a small scale.

Downshifting is nothing new but it is certainly gathering momentum as an alternative to the ‘have it all’ society, particularly now when green issues are front page news.Being financially very secure does not equate to being happier according to a myriad studies. Our grandparents were poorer but happier. That’s official! Trading money for time can lead to a more personally fulfilling life where bringing up your children, being involved with your community, doing more exercise and being  creative more than fills the gap left by having more money.

Totally embracing the make do and mend culture is not right for everyone. It requires a real shift in  how you live your life and doing without some things which you have got used to having. However we can all do something to ’slow down and green up’ and that is what International Downshifting Week is seeking to highlight. Log on to www.downshiftingweek.com for more information and check out their top ten tips reprinted below. Why not try to adopt three of them this week?

• analyse where you spend your time and money

• cut up a credit card

• donate a bag of items to charity or recycle them (try Freecycle)

• eliminate three non essntials form your weekly shopping list

• start growing your own veg and build a compost heap

• cook a meal using seasonal, locally sourced (and preferably organic) ingrediants

• keep some chickens

• handmake rather than buy your next birthday cards

• turn off the TV for one evening and play games or read instaed

• book a half day off work to spend with the one you love and do something which doesn’t involve spending money.

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

As I have by chance come by two brand new copies of David Ireland’s excellent book “How to Rescue a House”, what better way to spread the word about restoring and breathing life into unloved property (whilst creating a great home and adding value) than to invite some comments on this blog?

 Don’t be shy! All you have to do is post a comment on one of the entries or alternatively ask me a property related question, which I will endeavour to cover in forthcoming blog entries to stand a chance of winning.

You have until April 30th and a draw will take place on May 1st. The prizewinners will be notified by email on that day and books will be in the post soon afterwards. I’ll publish the successful names in my blog on that day.

It’s high time we had a bit more blogging activity around here!

I’ll look forward to reading your comments (nice ones only please.)

Cally

Several of the houses I’ve viewed on behalf of clients over the past two weeks have been buy -to- let properties which landlords have decided to offload. Often there is a deal to be done with these kinds of properties - they almost always require a facelift or a bit of TLC and the estate agents details invariably include phrases such as “tired”, “in need of modernisation” or “opportunity for those who love interior design .” Properties like this were being snapped up last year but at the moment unless it is an out- and-out bargain in a great area properties will hang around a bit longer. The reason for this is that there are more properties on the market and fewer buyers.

Interestingly today’s Financial Times reports that a flood of former buy-to-let properties is expected to hit the market next week as the scaling back of Capital Gains Tax to 18% from April 6th means that speculative property investors will seek to offload properties which are no longer appreciating in value.

And so. if you are looking for a property, particularly if you are in a strong position as a first time buyer with finance in place or have sold subject to contract, there is likely to be a deal out there for you.

Happy househunting.

C

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