Keeping a property going, in reasonable if not quite ship shape condition, is one of life’s challenges for the older person.    For couples this is especially challenging as generally the husband took it upon himself to make sure he looked after the basics of the property.  Checking the plumbing of loos and basins for possible […]

Many families now find they need much more space than they used to.   In Victorian times families often had eight or more children and they would have to be accommodated in whatever the family had, no chance to expand or build on.  We are so much luckier now of course.  More families than ever are […]

In most cases the maintenance of a family property is nothing more than keeping an eye on the guttering, windows and doors and generally making sure nothing gets too worn out to repair.  If the brickwork on an older terrace starte to show damp patches, it may well be a problem around the pointing and […]

There can’t be a house in the land that won’t be improved by a property team pottering about keeping up to date with necessary repairs and managing the regular maintenance tasks.  When this happens, there isn’t the shock of finding the guttering has detached itself from the back of the house after a particularly rough […]

There is a most definite swing towards buying homes again now.  For a couple of years it seemed that young folk only wanted to rent.  That buying comittment seemed just that little bit too far and of course, at the beginning, there are a lot of set up costs.  When you buy, there are solicitors […]

There can be few things more annoying on a cold and wet Sunday morning than coming downstairs to find the whole of your back fence has collapsed all over the shrubbery.  This nightmare occured here and the fence panels were still attached to each other, and one end was still hanging off the post with […]

Whatever your kind of property, whether you own a tiny flat in a block, or a detached family house on an estate, one or two things remain the same – the need for maintenance and regular checking of it.  One leaking tap can cause problems further down the line if left unchecked.  The same, well […]

It’s a most interesting thing to listen to how various people have bought and sold properties over the years.  Last week I was out to dinner with some chums who have bought and sold houses in France – they’re always full of how much simpler the process is over there.  To give an example, they […]

We are lucky here in the UK.  We have a fair legal system and when you buy a property, you generally get helpful advice from the conveyancing solicitor before you put pen to paper.   The legalities of ownership are wide ranging and it is critical to know where your boundaries are; which are your fences […]

I was out in New York a few years ago.  A relative and I were travelling to and from Houston and found ourselves passing through New York.   We decided to take out one of the best known tourist attactions as we only had two days and wanted to see everything.  So we bought bus tickets […]