What is your big WHY?
Are you thinking about moving to a new house?
Are you downsizing?
Do you need more room?
Are you trying to get into a school catchment area?
There are so many reasons to move house.
Let’s discuss this a little further.
Feeling Cramped
Do you wake up in the morning and see ‘things’ everywhere. Are there clothes to be ironed or put in the cupboard? Perhaps you have young children and there are toys scattered in every room. There may even be a full dishwasher due to be emptied and dog toys discarded all over the living room floor. You possibly feel overwhelmed with just how much ‘stuff’ you have. We know what’s going through your mind. You need a new house right? A bigger one. One that has enough cupboard space that can be easily organised.
The fact is, whatever size house you have, you will fill it. Guaranteed you may move to that dream four bedroom detached house, and because you move 3 bedrooms worth of belongings into it, it feels spacious. But how long does that truly last? Not long. You will find yourself in the same situation.
We are in a consumer driven environment where it is easy to keep purchasing items, without them breaking, or actually needing to be replaced. Therefore we end up with duplicates. Our first challenge to you is tackle those problematic areas. Clear out your wardrobe and try to make space for your clothes. Organise and clear out your kitchen and living room cupboards for the dog toys etc, and then assess if you really do need more room.
Ikea have some fantastic storage solutions, be clever about your space. If the cupboards are organised in a way which is easily manageable it will make your house easier to keep tidy. Get in touch if you need any help decluttering, we will share some key tips for you. Email US.
School Catchment Areas
What a minefield schools are. There is websites, reviews, facebook groups and reports all providing information, and some can be conflicting. Some people highly rate Ofsted reports, while others say they are out of date. How do you truly know what school is right for your child. We recently published a newsletter to our database about this very topic and provided information about how to research your chosen school. Take a look HERE. Ultimately the school has to feel right for you and your child, each child’s learning journey is different and they respond to different teaching methods.
Speak to the school, even if your child is a couple of years away from attending it and take a look around the school to make up your own mind. It is also worth bearing in mind that schools change within a short space of time, especially if a head teacher, or prominent staff member changes. Make sure you ask questions about the team involved within the school. We are based in North Leeds but know a lot of Estate Agents across the city too with very local knowledge about schools and catchment areas. If you would like to seek some guidance, or need a bit of local knowledge then get in touch, either we can help or find someone who can. Contact US.
Downsizing
Have your children moved out?
Perhaps the house now feels quiet and empty. Is downsizing right for you?
Think about the age of your children, are they likely to have children themselves soon?
We have known people downsize , and then build an extension on their home when the grandchildren come along.
It can feel daunting having a big house that feels empty. But ask yourself, will it always be that way? If the answer is yes, then downsizing makes perfect sense, if the answer is no, then consider the impact of bills on the big house versus the cost of moving to a smaller home. If you are unsure whether to downsize or stay where you are, get in touch with US. We would be happy to have a discussion with you and share our thoughts about the property market and costs of moving to a new house.
Life Changing Circumstances
This can come in any shape and is often unexpected. The best way to tackle this is to speak to all important parties and establish the big WHY, and truly what the best outcome is for all concerned. All parties affected by the new circumstances need to be cooperative and working towards a mutual goal. If this is not the case then that makes the house sale process a lot more challenging. If you find yourself in a difficult situation feel free to give us a call and we can share with you our experience and what has worked for us previously.
Truth
We are not advising not to sell your home. We want you to be clear that a change of house is needed. Moving house should not be taken lightly. It is an expensive process which shouldn’t be entered into on a whim.
Be truthful with your Estate Agent when selling your home.
What are your motives?
Do you need a quick sale?
Do you want the right price and will wait for that one special buyer willing to pay that price?
Be clear with the agent what your motivation is because they will be able to covey this in their marketing and communication. If you are not truthful then you could end up dissatisfied with your Estate Agent. The honest truth is 67% of vendors don’t sell their home with the first Estate Agent (according to Rightmove). Truth behind motive could be one of these factors.
Please do not hesitate to CONTACT US for a completely confidential discussion about moving house.
Statistics
We keep our ear to the ground and keep a keen eye on property news. After all a booming property market is not only good for the vendor it is also good for business.
Taking into account the outcome of Brexit is so uncertain and we do not have a crystal ball we cannot therefore predict what Brexit will mean to the housing market. However, we can see what the trend has been like across the last 10 years to give you an informed opinion. There are links to some property news below. All the articles tell the same story. The the North West and Yorkshire are set for the biggest price increase in the country in 2020. According to the property forecasts published by Savills.
2020 Property Predictions
Savills have revealed that the north-west of England can expect to see property prices rise by 24% in five years. Yorkshire and the Humber followed with prices expected to increase by 21.6% in the same amount of time.
Savills also revealed that Harrogate is the most expensive place to buy a home with an average house price of £326,090. The second highest rise in property values over the last 10 years with a gain of 34.4 per cent.
Sheffield, which was third in the house price inflation table, showed a gain of 32.6 per cent since 2009, bringing the average price to £202,510.
Leeds was fourth with a rise of 30.5 per cent, which leaves the average home value at £219,818. York takes the top spot with a rise of 46.1% over the last decade, meaning the average price is £276,733.
Links
We believe that property values in the North will continue to rise while the south plateau’s, and big businesses such as Channel 4 residing in Leeds, can only make the city more attractive.
Contact us
If you would like to contact us to speak about any of the topics discussed in this blog, please do not hesitate to email or call us anytime. We are based in North Leeds but have a lot of local knowledge spanning the whole city.
At Fowler and Powell we are committed to providing a personal service when moving to a new house, hence our strapline ‘Moving Made Personal’ We are based in North Leeds. If you would like to discuss your home which is currently up for sale, put your house up for sale or would just like some guidance on the whole process, then please do not hesitate to contact us. Email: hello@fowlerandpowell.co.uk
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The next blog in the series will be published in December. We will look at the motivation behind people moving to a new house, and assessing whether moving house is the right choice for everyone. Sign up here to receive blogs by email.
To view other blogs in our series click HERE.
We hope you have found this information useful, thank you for reading.
