Climate change has been a rising issue since the early 19^th century. However, it was only first really more acknowledged by the media in the 1980s. In recent years, climate change and making our homes more environmentally-friendly has become somethings which we are all starting to sit up and take more notice of, and so although not all of us can be like Greta Thunberg, here are a few ways that you can make your property eco-friendlier.

Energy Saving Lightbulbs

One really simple way to be more eco-friendly is to use energy-saving lightbulbs. These lightbulbs can last up to 12 times longer than regular lightbulbs and they also help reduce your carbon footprint. Plus, energy-saving lightbulbs can help reduce your electricity bill so they are kind to the purse strings too!

Turn off the lights!

This one sounds simple, but many people forget to turn off the lights they aren’t using in their homes.

Switching off the light when you leave a room is a small thing which takes no energy and helps to tackle climate change (and it saves your energy bill too).

Install Solar Panels

Solar Panels can be a great alternative for powering your home. They reduce your electricity bill and also have a low maintenance cost too.

Additionally, they are a source of renewable energy meaning that it never runs out and if you have an abundance of energy, you can always sell back what you don’t use too!

Consider a Smart-Meter.

Smart meters help to give more precise reading of how much energy is being used. They mean that you can have a better idea of how much you’re using and the activities which use up a lot of energy. Once you’re aware of what they are then you can always work to reduce them if possible.

Double Glaze the Windows

Double Glazed windows are designed to be insulating. Having double glazing means that your house keeps the heat inside during winter and will also keep cool during summer. This helps to reduce the energy usage and plus your home stays the right temperature during the seasons – win win!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Yes, it’s cliché but it works! When doing your weekly shopping, think about how much food your family uses vs how much you actually need, and how much you throw away. Over consumption adds to the already rising levels of pollution and toxic gases that contribute to global warming. Bulk buying things you don’t need only goes to waste. Planning your meals, and using left overs to make another meal really can help you cut down on food waste and cut down on the cost of your shopping too.

Reuse the things in your home. Before you throw things away, think about whether they could be used for other purposes. Those old sheets could be used for cleaning rags or to protect furniture from decorating. Your morning paper could be used for a litter tray or even as art materials. Reusing items saves money and gives things a second life. Plus, a reusable coffee mug or water bottle cuts down on throwing away those paper coffee cups and plastic bottles each day. You can even save rainwater in a water-butt in the garden and reuse it to water the garden!

Most councils are now well set up for recycling as much of what we throw away as possible and many offer different collections for recycling, so you really can do your part to help recycling as much of what comes into our homes as possible.

In addition, there are also options available to recycle many other every day household items including medicines, mobile phones, clothing and textiles and much more. Just visit your local council website for more details.

Compost your Food Waste.

Composting your food waste reduces the use of harmful chemical fertilisers in your garden. It also enriches the soils PH and cuts down on waste. Compost from your food waste helps to improves the health of your flowers and plants and it so easy to do!

Home-Grown & Eco-Friendly

Why not try growing your own produce like tomatoes, carrots, blackcurrants, potatoes and more. Home-grown is the epitome of fresh, eco-friendly food and you can revel in the fact that you grew it yourself, whilst escaping manufacturing costs, travel costs, plastic packaging and more.

Consider your Home-Repair Carbon Footprint

Keeping your house repairs within businesses who live and work in your community can help to reduce your carbon footprint. Rather than hiring someone who lives miles away to travel to your and do the work, any times, you will be able to find someone in your local area who can come to you, do just as good a job and they won’t have to travel so far, reducing the carbon footprint of the planet.

So hopefully, these tips have given you some ideas on how you be more aware of the effect your home has on the environment and how you can be more eco-friendly.

Plus, when it comes to sell or rent your property, prospective buyers and renters often love to see eco-friendly features such as double glazing or smart meters already fitted in the home.

If we can be of assistance to help advise on how to make your home more environmentally appealing for prospective buyers, or if you want to find out how we can help you sell or rent your existing property, or buy or rent a new one, then please do get in touch!

Are you moving to a new home soon or considering the prospect?

Wondering how to help your kids transition easily from one home to another?

Whether you have younger children, tweens or teenagers, moving home can be a big adjustment for everyone, and it can be hard to say goodbye to a place which holds so many fond memories and move to a new unknown home.  

So, if you’re wanting to make the move easier on younger members of the family, here are some tips on how to help your child with moving.

Younger Children

If you have younger children between the ages of 1-9 then moving for them may be a very new concept and something that they have never experienced before. 

To help them you can:

Depending on their age, explain your reasons for moving (new job, new school, closer to family, bigger home, new garden, new country even) and keep everything positive. If you are positive about the move then they will be too. 

1) Try to get them involved from the beginning. If possible (and dependent on age), take them to view properties with you and once you find the property you are going to purchase, make sure your child has visited at least two or three times before the big day of the move. Let them know which room will be theirs, show them the new kitchen and living room, help them visualise family times there, and make sure they are familiar with the surroundings.

2) Read your child books or watch TV shows about moving house for the first time. This helps them to understand the process of moving house and how to go about it. 

3) Get them excited about moving to the new property. If there are things like the prospect of a bigger garden, a local park or somewhere to ride bikes, then let them know. The promise of something new is always exciting for a child. 

4) Just like you, most children from around 4+ need to go through the process of emotionally leaving a property and moving to a new home. Let your child help pack smaller things like their toys. When packing your child’s things explain to them that you’re not throwing them away and that they will see them again at the new house.

5) Packing can be stressful, but if you let your child pack their toys then it helps them to feel involved and to know that their personal belongings will be with them too. If your child has a favourite stuffed toy or blanket, then make a big thing of leaving that out so that they can take it in the car to their new house, helping them to feel more secure in the process. 

6) Take a drive around your new area with your kids to see what there is and so they know what it looks like.

7) On moving day, sometimes it may be easier and less stressful for younger children to stay with a friend or family member until everything is packed in the moving van and then meet them at the new house. Alternatively, you could let your children play outside your house and when everything is packed take them inside and let them say goodbye to all the rooms to help it feel more real for them. 

8) If your child is moving schools, then to help them with the transition, you could make a memory scrapbook (or digital version) and help them to keep in touch with their old friends after moving, whilst assuring them that they will make new friends. Talk about their feelings with them and reassure them that moving on is just a normal part of every day life. 

Tweens & Teenagers

If you’re moving with children aged 10-16 plus, then they will typically have a better understanding of what it means to move home. They may have experienced it as a child, or they will typically have friends or family who have moved home as a reference point. To help them have a better adjustment to moving home, some things which may help include:

A) As with younger children, getting them involved in the viewing process and getting their opinion on each home. You never now, your child may spot something that you don’t during viewings which could help stop you from making an expensive purchasing mistake!

B) Making sure that your child has seen the house at least 2-3 times before moving, and has an idea of the layout of the house and most crucially, which room will be theirs. 

C) Let them explore the surrounding area either with you, by themselves or maybe with a friend. 

D) Get them excited about the new opportunities which the house move offers. If the house has a cool feature like a bigger bedroom or garden or an attic room. Get them excited about that, it helps them have something to look forward to.

E) Start the process of going through their old things in your current property and get them involved in it too. Hold onto belongings from their childhood or things they deem sentimental and if possible, don’t throw out things your child still wants. It’s amazing how even the most secure teenager can need those small reminders of their childhood around them to help them feel safe. 

F) Talk to your tween/teen about how they are feeling about the move. Help them to feel heard and let them know that you’re always here to talk if they want to. 

G) Let your teenager have pack and unpack their own boxes it means they have a responsibility and ownership over their belongings and they feel included.

H) Get them involved in planning on redecorating their room if they want to. Perhaps let them pick out some new things for their room either before the move or in the early weeks of moving in. 

I) Try to keep your child at the same school especially if they are secondary age, but if you absolutely have to move them, then make sure they keep in contact with their old friends. You could invite their friends over once you get settled for a sleepover or to watch a movie. This helps your child to settle in to their new home with people they are already familiar with. 

J) Finally, on moving day, give them time to say their goodbyes to the house, their room etc. Like you, it gives them the closure they need. This helps your child to feel more ready to leave and have a chance to go around one last time remembering the happy memories in their home. 

Although moving is an exciting time, it can also be a difficult and emotional time for everyone too, and leaving somewhere you love can be hard. However, hopefully some of our tips above can help to make things easier, and eventually your children will settle into their new home, as will you.

If we can assist you with any aspect of the moving process then please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01727 221290. 

A lot of Selling a home is often about psychology. It’s about that feeling that someone gets when they walk into a property and they know it’s the one!  

You may have seen that moment on property programmes on the TV when the buyers walk into a property and become emotional because it’s just what they’ve been looking for. 

Of course, that moment is not always happily ever after, but you may have experienced that feeling yourself when you walk into the property and you just know that this is your next home or your forever home. 

So as a seller, how can you help to ensure that your property is the one that people want to purchase? 

Well, here are some great tips for you! 

1. Appeal to your potential buyers. 

When you are selling your property, it helps to try and appeal to potential buyers. You’re selling a lifestyle, whatever that may be. 

Perhaps it is selling a lifestyle of owning your first home to first-time buyers. Maybe it’s positioning your property as a great place to start a family, or somewhere for a family to have more space as children grow. 

It could be that your property is perfect for an older couple with a dream of downsizing now children have flown the nest. 

The key thing is to ensure that when people are viewing your house, they are able to imagine themselves living there, whatever the dream is. 

2. Declutter....

At the moment your property is probably filled with your things and if you are like most home owners, then it’s amazing how quickly you accumulate “stuff” to fill your home. One of the things that may help with selling the dream to buyers is decluttering your home. If you are able to declutter and depersonalise then it helps potential buyers to imagine the space as their own, with their own furniture in it. 

3. Decorate in neutral colours 

If you are struggling with selling your home then it may be because people are finding it hard to imagine themselves living in your property. Perhaps one way that may make your property more saleable is redecorating to a more neutral colour as this then gives new occupants a base to work from in their own time rather than feeling they would have to redecorate as soon as they move in. 

4. Consider external spaces 

The front of your home and what it looks like is important in making a great first impression to potential buyers.  Ensuring that the front of your home is clean, tidy and welcoming makes all the difference to your property as may a couple of well-placed pots. 

It’s all about “Bringing the outside in” between the house and garden, so where possible have windows and doors open and lots of fresh air coming into the property as this gives it a much larger and more open space feel. Show off the potential of the garden too.

5. Consider what’s important to your buyers. 

If you are going to be present during viewings then it may help to have info at the ready about walking distance to the station, what nearby schools are like, whether the community is active, what the local takeaways are like and all of the other info that potential buyers may ask. 

Additionally, consider if its better or you prefer not to be present during viewings and let your estate agent know this. 

Sometimes there is nothing worse than having people in the house when they’re trying to make decisions about such a life changing move so it can be helpful to go out during viewings especially if you are going to have an estate agent showing people round the property. 

The market really is alive and well in the local area and so if you are considering selling your property or would simply like a valuation to find out how much you to get to it get for it, then please do give us a call on (01727) 221290. 

Now that we are able to meet up with up to thirty people outside and six people (or two households) inside, there is a great opportunity to welcome friends and family over to your garden and outside areas to enjoy their company and socialise once again. 

So today, we have some tips for you on how you can ensure that you keep those outside garden areas lovely and enticing, whilst keeping your guests comfortable, enjoying themselves and socialising safely at the same time. 

It’s all about the Heat!

Firstly, it’s all about the keeping everyone as warm as possible during Spring and early summer. If people don’t feel warm, then they won’t want to stay outside. Encourage people to dress warmly for the cold weather with lots of layers. Have blankets at the ready and hot water bottles to keep people warm. 

After the sun goes down, (or even before), a patio heater may be your best friend during the colder parts of the spring and summer. Additionally, investing in a Fire Pit or Chimenea of some description can also help to keep your group warm on a colder evening. 

Shelter from the Weather – come rain or shine!

A covering such as a gazebo or marquee (with sides open of course), or an event shelter of some kind will help to protect your group from all kinds of weather – either by keeping you all warmer and protected from the elements if its windy or raining, or by acting as a sun shade in hot weather. Failing that, even a patio umbrella can help to keep you all sheltered.

What’s on the Menu?

Of course, it’s all about food and drink when you get together with friends, so really think about tailoring your menu for the weather and your audience. 

If it is going to be a colder evening, then some warm snacks or hot dishes will help to keep everyone nice and toasty. Dishes such as jacket potatoes, slow-cooked chilli, hearty soups etc may not be the immediate thing that you think of when entertaining, but these could be great for cooler evenings. Flasks of hot chocolate, Tea and coffee can also help to keep people warm.

With hotter weather comes the opportunity for BBQ food, party food and ice-cold drinks to keep the gathering in full swing!

Let me Entertain You

It’s a well-known fact that if your visitors are having fun, then they will stay for longer, so it helps to consider the entertainment! Why not have some music on in the background. A party is not a party without music, so choose your music to suit your audience.

You could also organise garden games to keep little ones (and grown-ups!) running around and busy, or perhaps toasting marshmallows and some card games for the adults. Keeping people distracted means that if the weather is cold, they hopefully won’t be feeling it as much! Plus, if they are having fun, they will stay longer!

Put up a small tent or shelter for the kids and give them blankets to build a den they can play in together. 

Lights Up!

As the Sun starts to go down, really think about lighting for your get-together to create a great ambience. Investing in some solar lighting means that you won’t need to worry about electricity or burning through endless batteries. You could also consider rows of fairy light, or perhaps even a portable lightbulb or two which seem to very on-trend this season!

Remember of course, even though you’re outside where the virus is less likely to spread, it’s still a good idea to employ social distancing, so choose your garden set up wisely to allow for distancing or being seated in “bubbles” and give everyone a chair of their own rather than sharing outside sofas and the like if possible. 

We hope that this gives you some ideas of how you can get back to entertaining now that we can gather in larger groups again.

If we can be of assistance for any advice on buying, selling or renting your home or property then we’re always happy to chat so why not give us a call!