Author: Diane

Downsizing

What is downsizing?
It’s generally considered to be moving from a larger property to a smaller
one.

Why would I downsize?

• Because you need less space.
• Because it can reduce your bills such as council tax and heating costs.
• Because your family have left home
• Because you need to econmise
• because you want to have cash from the sale of your current home.
• because you want to reduce your mortgage

So how can I downsize?

You can look for a smaller property in your current area. You could look for
a similar property in a cheaper area.

What do I need to consider?

You need to think about how much furniture you have that you want to keep.
If you want a smaller house but want to keep all your current furniture then
clearly this won’t work!
Consider moving costs.
Consider bills at new house – check council tax banding to make sure it’s less
than you’re currently paying.
Would you be happy away from your friends – important to consider if you are
looking at moving area.

I wrote recently about the problems Jeremy Clarkeson was having on the Isle of Man after blocking footpaths for ramblers to have access.
The 8ft gates at £3.5m Barcroft Hall, near South Petherton, Somerset, will be removed following a legal ruling back in 2009. I know the story isn’t as fresh but I thought it interesting to see one of the possible outcomes after legal action.

The story is very complex and can be found in detail here

For most people buying land with a footpath over isn’t an issue – most normal size houses don’t come with public rights of way through. But many terraces can have a shared access through the back gardens – this can cause disputes between neighbours. Everyone seems to like their privacy these days – so this sort of thing must be considered.

If you’re interested in buying a house but the owners don’t want to complete for several months then what options do you have?
You need to ensure that this suits you – will you still have a mortgage offer available in 6 or 9 months time? If you didn’t then you’d be in a right pickle!
You could ask them to move into rented accomodation so you can buy within the timescales you want.
If they don’t want to do this – then the risk is on you.
What if they’re buying a new build and it doesn’t get built in time – it might mean you have to move yourself in the meantime, be paying rent for extra time, or not having a mortgage.

Even a normal selling process can take several months – but when someone has a specific far off date in mind then you have to weigh up whether it’s good for you.
If they refuse to move into rented then they’re just acknowledging that they don’t want the hassle. You have to decide if the hassle and potential problems are worth the risk.

I think I’ve touched on this aspect of rightmove before.
Type in a placename and view the map and it outlines the area for you. I have reduced the number of properties shown by increasing bedroom number to 5.

Compare Chorltonville and Chorlton-cum-hardy. They’re the same place really – but Chorlton-cum-hardy overlaps and covers more ground.

It’s interesting for seeing areas and what differences there are when places have very similar names.

To see these maps for yourself:
Chorlton Cum Hardy map on rightmove

Chorltonville on Rightmove

This is a pretty amazing house for sale in Devon! Merehaven Manor was built for Nigel Mansall originally in 1995.
The house has lots of wow factor and is set in a delightful 47 acres of land with beautiful gardens and grounds, the house itself is on the edge of a large lake which is fully stocked with carp!

Kirsty Alssopp was upset by Nigel’s plans to upgrade the kart racing track at nearby Dunkeswell which he’d bought in 2005.
Perhaps her campaign against it was a reason for him leaving the area?

If you’re planning on selling your home but your kitchen is old and grotty should you replace it?

The answer is going to depend on a number of things. How much money you have to spend? Whether it will actually increase the value of your house? Will it make your house easier to sell?

The chances are that in a falling market you won’t get money back for improvements you do. If you try and skimp on costs then you end up putting an obviously cheap and nasty kitchen in which might be as off-putting as an old one.

So what to do?

Clean it really well. Get the oven professionally cleaned if you can – it costs about £50 to have it cleaned so it looks like new! Scrub the rest of the work tops and doors.

Declutter. Get rid of all the bits of junk you have out on your work surfaces. Re-grout the tiles if they’re grotty and won’t come clean – or try a grouting whitener pen.
Use nice accessories to make the most of the kitchen. A nice bowl of fruit or a flower arrangement can really make your kitchen look nice.

Some people believe that setting out a cafetiere on a tray with some nice cups can add a real finishing touch – others think it’s very pretentious and won’t help sell the property. See how it looks though – sometimes adding a touch of lifestyle to your property is what inspires people to think they want to live there!

Look up at walls too – a fresh coat of emulsion can brighten a kitchen up for a few pounds and will only take a little time to do. Dust round light fittings too – and clear junk from the tops of cupboards too.

If you have a breakfast bar then put some chairs at it, if there’s room! This can make your kitchen look very usable as an eating space. Dressing the table area for a meal can also complete the look.

Think about brightening a kitchen up by changing the blind and adding a colour matched rug to the floor. Don’t forget that any nice accessories you buy can go with you to your new house too – so buy things you like!

Cheap ways of changing the way a kitchen looks are to replace the cupboard doors. You should be able to do this simply by swapping them over. Take measurements to a few shops and get it priced up properly. New door fronts will completely change the kitchen look for very little effort but a small cost. Certainly it’ll be cheaper than ripping out a kitchen.

Sink cleaning products are available to make your sink really shine again. It’s worth putting some time into this as a shiny sink looks excellent. Don’t have a draining board covered with anything. Make sure you get rid of all washing up as soon as possible so that it doesn’t build up before a viewing.

Make sure your kitchen smells nice. You don’t have to brew coffee or bake bread, but ensure it’s clean and that the bin is empty and also cleaned out. Put your recycling out in the main bins too – don’t leave it cluttering up the kitchen.

If you have a small kitchen then use bright colours to make it look bigger – use gadgets with reflective surfaces to help enhance the space too.

Decluttering is vital – you have to clear out gadgets you don’t use and ensure there’s space on your worktops. If they don’t all fit in your cupboards then get rid of the stuff you don’t use.

There are 23 bungalows for sale within a 1 mile radius of where I live! Prices are £235k for a 2 bedroom one and the cheapest is £110,000.
This to me seems massively expensive.
Why are they so expensive? It might be because there aren’t huge numbers of them, they are in demand for a certain age group and perhaps demand outstrips supply. Data to back that up though isn’t there – one has been for sale since 19 November 2009 – a long time! So perhaps there’s demand but people are reluctant to actually pay these astromonical prices for them.


The first bungalows were built on the North coast of Kent at Westgate On Sea and Birchington – the name bungalow comes from a Hindi word bangala which means from Bengal as the properties first built had similar roof lines to the buildings in Bengal.

Many bungalows were built on decent size plots making them valuable if you can get permission to squeeze another house on the site, or demolish the existing home and throw some flats up.
The all on one floor living space can be a bit wierd – but it’s great if you have trouble with stairs. A suprising number of bungalows get extended into the roof space and get turned into dormer bungalows. A bungoalow extended with velus (in line roof windows) is usually known as a chalet style bungalow.

Rightmove allows you to view only bungalows in their search results!

This lib dem MP can’t afford to buy a house because he can’t raise the deposit.

His £66,000 salary from representing the St Austell and Newquay constituency in Cornwall since last year’s General Election isn’t enough for him to save a deposit.

It’s not just the deposit holding him back though – high house prices are also to blame! And in pretty areas like Cornwall there are a huge number of second home owners.

Lot 34 from their catalogue for May 2011 lists a house with a free hillman imp!

You can view their catalogues here

It’s not as rare as it might sound. During the boom years one building society gave away cars with mortgages! Some developers are currently throwing in a car if you buy the property. Shame they haven’t worked out that it’d be better to drop the price!