In the world of big fat life goals, timing is everything. From learning to drive to nailing that complicated Beyonce move, your biggest achievements need an appropriate length of time to really perfect. According to Zoopla, it takes approximately 25 weeks to sell a home
– from listing to the handing over of keys. But as all we know, there are myriad outside factors that can slow this process down (thanks to old pull-out-last-minute Barry from number 32) or even speed it up (thank you Mrs oh-so-caffeinated-surveyor on fine form).
There are also a lot of time frames within those 25 weeks that take their own sweet time to complete. Think offer acceptance timeline, exchanging timeframe, pre-soaking your Christmas pudding timeframe…. the list goes on. Check out our timeframe guide to make sense of all this clock watching and calendar flipping in the heady realm of house sales.

Are you ready to take on the Great British Mortgage-Off? From interest-only to standard variable, there’s more than just one type of mortgage to plump for. When it comes to deciding on your particular recipe, will you choose a fixed-rate, where your monthly payments stay just the same, or a tracker mortgage with potentially lower repayments but could be swayed by some rather unsavoury fluctuations in the market? Let’s explore the tastiest types of mortgages available and find out where to find the creme de la creme of deals. Because after all, the proof of the pudding is in the mortgage. Or something like that. On your marks, get set, broker!

Good afternoon and welcome to the Davies & Davies couple’s guide to renting or buying together. Yes, that is a genuine velvet couch on which you may lounge and unleash your innermost worries. Now, what seems to be troubling you? The stress of a move that’s making you both feel overwhelmed? The impending inevitability of loss looming above your heads like the Sword of Damocles? Your curtains don’t match his drapes? These are common concerns. The answers, as always, lie in communication. At the heart of this article is the advice to listen to each other, air out your worries before you set sail on a move and make your decisions together. With your property plan of action based on mutual agreement and trust, you’ll be signing your papers with a smile (not a hidden worried frown). So pop those tissues down and avoid all that heartache and financial headache with our handy couple’s guide on making the big move together… 

So you’ve found that perfect apartment in your dream postcode, within Sunday strolling distance of your favourite coffee shop and dog park. Congratulations! But what’s this? After enquiring about a viewing, you are told there are precisely 76 other potential renters all vying for the same abode. “Nooooo! Why have the rental gods forsaken me!?” you are heard wailing, all the way down in Clapham. Competing for your dream North London rental can often feel like a battle, a war, a murder on the dance floor! It’s no secret that the more desirable properties are snapped up in seconds, and can slip away if you’re not prepared to take the lead (wink). To help you secure that perfect rental, think of it like a dance to the death. Well, to the handing over of keys perhaps.

We’ll admit, that three bedroom garden flat on Stroud Green Road is a rare beauty and has been recently refurbished to boot. But do you really need that third room for your cat’s wardrobe and the basement for wrapping presents? If you’re well within your budget then make that offer post haste, but we’d steer clear of throwing the kitchen sink and all your savings at property before weighing up all the pros and cons first. We don’t just mean financially, either. From asking prices to making sure you’ll be living comfortably post-sale, here’s our decades-old sage advice when it comes to deciding what to offer, and how far to streeeetch, for that dream pad in N4.

Friends, North Londoners, renters, lend us your ears. For we have quite the conundrum to tackle together. Perched precariously atop your non official roof terrace, admiring the quintessential rooftops of inner North London (and, briefly, the state of your star-crossed lover), your mind wanders to the age-old quandary: to rent or to buy? That is the question underlying your Rightmove search history anyway. Though the course of real estate never did run smooth, we have some mis-en-scene to assist you in weighing up the benefits of renting over buying your dream abode. With mortgage rates rising and rental costs catching up, are we such stuff as mortgages are made on or is it the renter who shall bear the charmed life? Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…