Buying
What a chain actually is, and why it breaks
A chain is a set of simultaneous transactions that must all complete on one day. Any link can stop it.
The Property Decision — Every step of a move, costed honestly
Buying
The order property decisions actually arrive in
Most buying guides start with viewings. The decisions that constrain everything else are made weeks earlier.
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Surveys & Condition
Survey levels, and which one is worth paying for
A lender valuation is not a survey. Confusing the two is how buyers discover a roof after completion.
Surveys & Condition
Damp findings are three different problems in one word
A survey noting damp could mean condensation, penetration or rising damp, and they cost wildly different amounts to fix.
Legal & Paperwork
What conveyancing is actually doing while nothing appears to happen
The silent weeks in a transaction are searches, enquiries and title checks. Knowing the sequence makes the wait legible.
Legal & Paperwork
Leasehold: the questions to ask before you offer
A lease is a diminishing asset with running costs attached. Both are knowable before you commit.
Selling
Pricing a sale against the market rather than the mortgage
Sellers anchor to what they need. Buyers price against what else is available that week.
Buying
All buying →Buying
The order property decisions actually arrive in
Most buying guides start with viewings. The decisions that constrain everything else are made weeks earlier.
Buying
What a chain actually is, and why it breaks
A chain is a set of simultaneous transactions that must all complete on one day. Any link can stop it.
Buying
Buying versus renting is arithmetic, not a proverb
Dead money is a slogan. The comparison is a sum with transaction costs, forgone returns and a time horizon in it.
Selling
All selling →Selling
Pricing a sale against the market rather than the mortgage
Sellers anchor to what they need. Buyers price against what else is available that week.
Selling
Selling with an agent, and what the fee actually buys
Agency fees are negotiable and the service behind them varies more than the price does.
Selling
Selling first or buying first, and what each one costs
Both sequences have a price. One costs money and certainty; the other costs disruption and time.
Renting
All renting →
Renting
Deposits, notice and the paperwork tenants should keep
Most tenancy disputes are evidential. The tenant with dated photographs and written records usually prevails.
Renting
What renting actually costs a landlord
Rental yield calculations that ignore voids, maintenance and tax describe a business nobody operates.
Renting
Renting buys optionality, and optionality has a price
The renter side of the buy-or-rent sum is not a residual. It is a distinct product with its own costs and its own advantages.
Surveys & Condition
All surveys & condition →Surveys & Condition
Survey levels, and which one is worth paying for
A lender valuation is not a survey. Confusing the two is how buyers discover a roof after completion.
Surveys & Condition
Damp findings are three different problems in one word
A survey noting damp could mean condensation, penetration or rising damp, and they cost wildly different amounts to fix.
Surveys & Condition
The three different numbers all called a valuation
A lender valuation, a market appraisal and a formal surveyor valuation answer different questions and rarely agree.
Legal & Paperwork
All legal & paperwork →Legal & Paperwork
What conveyancing is actually doing while nothing appears to happen
The silent weeks in a transaction are searches, enquiries and title checks. Knowing the sequence makes the wait legible.
Legal & Paperwork
Leasehold: the questions to ask before you offer
A lease is a diminishing asset with running costs attached. Both are knowable before you commit.
Legal & Paperwork
Buying with someone you are not married to
Joint ownership defaults are not designed for your situation, and the paperwork to fix that is cheap.
Running a Home
All running a home →
Running a Home
The running costs that start the day you complete
Ownership costs are continuous and lumpy. Households that plan for the lumps experience them as scheduled rather than as crises.
Running a Home
Service charges, reserve funds and where the money goes
A service charge is a budget you contribute to and rarely control. Reading the accounts tells you which kind of building you are…
Running a Home
Rebuild cost is not market value
Buildings insurance is priced on the cost of reconstruction, and getting that number wrong quietly reduces every claim you make.