Let’s move to King’s Lynn, Norfolk: it’s beautiful – all cobbles, alleys and warehouses

If it wasn’t in the remoter end of the Fens, it would be overrun with tourists

What’s going for it? Amazing, the effect of geography. Were King’s Lynn anywhere else in the country but squelched into the remoter end of the Fens, it would be overrun with tourists. They’d be there getting selfies next to some 18th-century townhouses or cutie-pie half-timbered cottages they’d seen in the latest Sunday night costume drama. Bistros and artisan coffee houses would be flush. Various branches of Edinburgh Woollen Mills would have opened. But it is not. It is squelched into the remoter end of the Fens. The wealth of the north Norfolk coast is tantalisingly near, but not quite near enough. That relative remoteness today (I mean, it’s only just over an hour to Cambridge, so it’s hardly Siberia, is it?) has bred an independent spirit: there’s some great local culture behind those pedimented porticoes, and a fair bit of money has been spent on sprucing up the place. Geography favoured King’s Lynn hundreds of years ago, before trade shifted to the Atlantic. That’s why it’s so beautiful today, all cobbles, alleys and warehouses. King’s Lynn was once the biggest port in the country, and its merchants flashed their cash on those 18th-century townhouses. Maybe fortune will smile on it again some day.

The case against The poor place has been scandalously knocked about in decades past, to make room for car parks and dual carriageways, meaning that today it’s a slightly surreal mishmash of 18th-century alleys and retail parks.

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2M79pDr
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Couple accused of misleading entrants in raffle for £3m house https://t.co/MKb74eOszt Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9

Couple accused of misleading entrants in raffle for £3m house https://t.co/MKb74eOszt Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1083761485090906113)

Couple accused of misleading entrants in raffle for £3m house

Winner received £110,000 after Mark and Sharon Beresford failed to sell enough tickets

Contestants who entered a raffle to win a £3m luxury home in Hampshire have been left disappointed after the prize was cut to £110,000 when the couple running it said they had failed to sell enough tickets.

Mark and Sharon Beresford decided to sell their home using a raffle last year aiming to selling 250,000 £25 tickets. Last week, however, they revealed they had only sold 30,000 tickets, raising £750,000.

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Once upon a time…

I think it was Tom Peters who said, “It’s really difficult to dislike someone once you know their story.” Not only does everyone have their own story, but every home has one too.

Of course, the Tudor black and white timbered home that was once visited by Bonnie Prince Charlie has a long and interesting history that can be used to entice a prospective buyer; but what if you live in a 1970s ‘box’?  What can you say about that to make its story interesting to a buyer?

Well, there are several elements which can be combined to make a home’s story; here are a few to get you started:

• History of the site

Perhaps your home was built on what used to be a country estate, or the site of a little-known but nevertheless important, battle; or else your town or village has an interesting history which you could draw upon.  Contact a local historian and see if you can find out what was on the land before your home was built, and perhaps where your street name originated from.

• Architectural provenence

Finding out who designed your home can be a source of interest.  I once investigated the architect of a very unusual 1960s home in Cheshire, and discovered the architect had led a colourful and media-rich life.  We printed a copy of the original plan, together with some biographical information about the architect, and the extra interest added to the house so fascinated the next viewers that they offered the asking price on the spot.

• Famous past owners

Ask your neighbours, local shopkeepers and anyone else who might know about who lived in the house before you did.  There may have been a celebrity owner, or someone who led an interesting life.  These kinds of connections can be attention-grabbing to a buyer.

• Your own history

If you’ve lived in your home for more than a decade or two, you have a story of your own to tell!  What about the winter when you were snowed in for a few days, and your neighbours had to help dig you out?  Or when you hosted a party for 100 guests in your garden?  Or that you have won prizes for your roses?  Telling your story can add another dimension to an otherwise unremarkable house.

Stories about your home, your life there, your neighbours and your locality, all make up a rich tapestry of the house you are selling.  Sharing extra information will not only grab a buyer’s attention, and capture their interest, it can also help to make sure that your home stands out above the competition.  Told in an interesting way, your local paper may also be interested in running a feature on you and your home, which means extra publicity for you.  Create an interesting story and the buyers will come.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

 

The post Once upon a time… appeared first on Home Truths.

from Home Truths http://bit.ly/2FpzYT6
via IFTTT

Once upon a time…

I think it was Tom Peters who said, “It’s really difficult to dislike someone once you know their story.” Not only does everyone have their own story, but every home has one too.

Of course, the Tudor black and white timbered home that was once visited by Bonnie Prince Charlie has a long and interesting history that can be used to entice a prospective buyer; but what if you live in a 1970s ‘box’?  What can you say about that to make its story interesting to a buyer?

Well, there are several elements which can be combined to make a home’s story; here are a few to get you started:

• History of the site

Perhaps your home was built on what used to be a country estate, or the site of a little-known but nevertheless important, battle; or else your town or village has an interesting history which you could draw upon.  Contact a local historian and see if you can find out what was on the land before your home was built, and perhaps where your street name originated from.

• Architectural provenence

Finding out who designed your home can be a source of interest.  I once investigated the architect of a very unusual 1960s home in Cheshire, and discovered the architect had led a colourful and media-rich life.  We printed a copy of the original plan, together with some biographical information about the architect, and the extra interest added to the house so fascinated the next viewers that they offered the asking price on the spot.

• Famous past owners

Ask your neighbours, local shopkeepers and anyone else who might know about who lived in the house before you did.  There may have been a celebrity owner, or someone who led an interesting life.  These kinds of connections can be attention-grabbing to a buyer.

• Your own history

If you’ve lived in your home for more than a decade or two, you have a story of your own to tell!  What about the winter when you were snowed in for a few days, and your neighbours had to help dig you out?  Or when you hosted a party for 100 guests in your garden?  Or that you have won prizes for your roses?  Telling your story can add another dimension to an otherwise unremarkable house.

Stories about your home, your life there, your neighbours and your locality, all make up a rich tapestry of the house you are selling.  Sharing extra information will not only grab a buyer’s attention, and capture their interest, it can also help to make sure that your home stands out above the competition.  Told in an interesting way, your local paper may also be interested in running a feature on you and your home, which means extra publicity for you.  Create an interesting story and the buyers will come.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

 

The post Once upon a time… appeared first on Home Truths.

from Home Truths http://bit.ly/2FpzYT6
via IFTTT

Once upon a time…

I think it was Tom Peters who said, “It’s really difficult to dislike someone once you know their story.” Not only does everyone have their own story, but every home has one too.

Of course, the Tudor black and white timbered home that was once visited by Bonnie Prince Charlie has a long and interesting history that can be used to entice a prospective buyer; but what if you live in a 1970s ‘box’?  What can you say about that to make its story interesting to a buyer?

Well, there are several elements which can be combined to make a home’s story; here are a few to get you started:

• History of the site

Perhaps your home was built on what used to be a country estate, or the site of a little-known but nevertheless important, battle; or else your town or village has an interesting history which you could draw upon.  Contact a local historian and see if you can find out what was on the land before your home was built, and perhaps where your street name originated from.

• Architectural provenence

Finding out who designed your home can be a source of interest.  I once investigated the architect of a very unusual 1960s home in Cheshire, and discovered the architect had led a colourful and media-rich life.  We printed a copy of the original plan, together with some biographical information about the architect, and the extra interest added to the house so fascinated the next viewers that they offered the asking price on the spot.

• Famous past owners

Ask your neighbours, local shopkeepers and anyone else who might know about who lived in the house before you did.  There may have been a celebrity owner, or someone who led an interesting life.  These kinds of connections can be attention-grabbing to a buyer.

• Your own history

If you’ve lived in your home for more than a decade or two, you have a story of your own to tell!  What about the winter when you were snowed in for a few days, and your neighbours had to help dig you out?  Or when you hosted a party for 100 guests in your garden?  Or that you have won prizes for your roses?  Telling your story can add another dimension to an otherwise unremarkable house.

Stories about your home, your life there, your neighbours and your locality, all make up a rich tapestry of the house you are selling.  Sharing extra information will not only grab a buyer’s attention, and capture their interest, it can also help to make sure that your home stands out above the competition.  Told in an interesting way, your local paper may also be interested in running a feature on you and your home, which means extra publicity for you.  Create an interesting story and the buyers will come.

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.

 

The post Once upon a time… appeared first on Home Truths.

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Why can’t I get a refund on my £500 deposit for a help-to-buy home? https://t.co/5fwaZLLyN8 Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1083621798770606080)