Recent content by sailsAndVale

Neighbourhood splits would help, but only alongside inventory. A rise in asking prices with fewer available flats has a different interpretation from the same rise during a wave of new listings. I’d record, for each area and revision date: active inventory, additions, removals, completed sales...

I’m not convinced a blanket 20% is the best answer. A large contingency can hide an incomplete scope without making the final cost more predictable. Spend some of the planning budget reducing uncertainty first: identify moisture sources, establish where plumbing can be accessed, and find out...

Be careful inferring seller motivation from price changes alone. A reduction could reflect new feedback, a changed plan or an initially unrealistic figure. It tells you the seller has altered the public position, not why.

Four bedrooms within 75 m² is the detail making me pause. Are all four legally presented and practically usable as bedrooms, or has living space been subdivided? The floor plan and room dimensions matter more here than a standard price-per-square-metre calculation. A cramped four-bed may appeal...

A simple test: subtract moving costs, any service charge falling due, the first mortgage payment, the insurance excess, and written estimates for urgent repairs. Treat what remains as the proposed emergency fund, not as furniture money. Then compare that number with several months of your actual...

The sensible decision rule seems to be: don’t wait purely because the typical listing has reached 91 days, and don’t chase stale stock purely because it looks negotiable. Shortlist units that meet your condition and location requirements, compare them with completed sales, then investigate...