I love living in my new house, it was my first major purchase with my boyfriend of two years. we had previously rented together because we needed to be sure that we could put up with each other when living together forever.

Anyway after moving in to my new house, we settled in well. The house was in desperate need of cleaning and doing up so that it was up to proper living standards, therefore we called my dad in because he is a builder and he knows what he is talking about.

However when my dad came round he jumped up and down in the hallway and said well the floor boards here need replacing because the whole floor was bouncing up and down. So we bought new floor joists and new floor boards but when my dad pulled the floor up he saw that there was a vast amount of water under the floorboards. If we would have had a more expensive survey carried out, we would have realised that the house was built on a pond – if we knew before i would have never bought the house.

I have lived in my current house for just over one year and I have loved it, however I didnt like it when my neighbour started to get rowdy and she used to have loud late night lovemaking sessions with many different men. She is what you would call a trollop.

Anyway, when I am due to buy my next house there are many things I am going to seriously consider before jumping in wiuth both feet first (like I did when I bought my first house). Here is a list of the factors I am going to contemplate:

• what are the neighbours like?
• How thick are the walls?
• Is it close to the local pub so we can go and have a drink in the evenings or on weekends?
• What is the heating bill like?
• How far away is it from the city centre?
• Has it got water under the floor boards – have a proper survey carried out.
• It must have three or more bedrooms
• It must have an en suite in my master bedroom

What will your next house have to have?

When you are buying a house there are many factors to consider before you take the plunge and make the biggest purchase of your life. When I bought my house I had specific criteria that the house had to meet before I was willing to hand over my money and take out a massive mortgage on it.

My criteria was;

• It had to be less than £100,000. That way we could easily afford the repayments and have enough cash to enjoy our lives and have fun rather than being tied down to a ball and chain mortgage which cripples us every month.
• It had to be within half an hours driving distance from my family (my sister has just had a baby so I want to stay close so that I can pop round on a regular basis to play with my nephew).
• It had to have a front and back garden
• It had to have at least two bedrooms
• It had to feel right!

I found my house and we are living here now in the process of doing it up and it wasn’t until a later date that my next door neighbour informed me that the previous owner died in the back bedroom 2 years ago – wooo spooky!

The best question to ask once you have bought your new house is; what are the best rooms to do up in your house in order to get the best return on investment from your house purchase?

In my humble opinion i believe the main rooms to decorate and carry out DIY in your house are the kitchen and the bathroom.

The kitchen is the main meeting point in any house. When ever we have a party the main room that people stand and gather in is the kitchen. As the song says “that’s why you’ll always find him in the kitchen at parties!”

Ok, you’ve decided that your house needs some renovation. some of it structural, some just decoration. CHoosing the colour schemes and wallpaper and lighting and soft furnishes is the easy bit but how do you know when it comes to the structural changes who to ask for help? You see the TV programmes with all the cowboy builders who tend to make homes worse and leave work uncomplete!

So, I’d suggest that the best workmen you can get are those which come from recommendations. At least if you have a friend or family member who have already had work done – you can go and see it for yourself and see the quality and ask about their attitude to gtetting the job done. Afterall you don’t want workmen who spend all day having brews – hard grafters are what you want as they’re the ones that get the job done!

ONe of my friends has recently bought a house with the plan to do it up, sell up and move on.

SO the work has started and the important structural jobs have been done, the windows replaced, even a new kitchen is in theprocess of being installed.

The carpets were disgusting so they’ve been ripped up and the old floorbaords sanded properly and varnished – all things to make the place look good to a buyer,

However, one thing I think they are making is decorating it their own personl taste. Wasting money on expensive wallpaper and lying carpet is, in my opinion, silly, because at he end of teh day whoever ends up buying it form them will only rip the wallpaper off and the newlt laid carpet up if not to their taste.

Keep it simple but fresh – plain white or the good old fashioned magnolia on the walls and let the new occupants spend the money on the last finishing touches!

In Britain the majority of folk have mortgaged themselves up to the eyeballs but the rest of Europe all rent. So why do we have a different way of life in England? I was brought up to believe that you need to save for a deposit for a house and then take out a mortgage as renting ‘was a waste of money’!

At least with a mortgage you end up with something you own – even if it takes 20 years to pay off. But with renting you can pack and move around when the mood suits as you don’t have any ties.

So guess it’s each to your own and if your happy to settle and have the commitment of a mortgage or if you’re more of a traveler and like to move around.

The housing market at the moment is very up and down. Most people are deciding to stay put rather than move so for those that have a house up for sale are finding it very difficult to sell.

For those that are staying put but still need a bigger house are getting planning permission to build an extension. This is what I’ve recently done. My house is only a 2 bedroom terrace and it did only have a lounge with no-where to put a dining table. But with planning permission granted and a few months of living in dust and the freezing cold I now have a very stunning new lounge and dining room and an extra fifteen grand put on the house – crackin!

First impressions are what counts when people arrive at your house for the first time.

What’s going on in the inside, most people can see through and have their own ideas on how they want a home to be. For them to see that you want them to gain a special something from the moment they pull up outside.

It dosen’t have to cost alot of money but just having a tidy up outside can make the world of difference. From washing the cobwebs away from the front door, polishing the doorbell and knockers. making sure the outside light is working, brush up the garden path and driveway, hide the kids toys etc and just make it look really inviting and…yes….homely!

Buying and selling property is huge business. So if you have ever shown any interest in buying a new house, then you will no doubt have been bombarded with leaflets, phone calls and business cards from estate agents who are desperate to help.

But before you start taking their advice, you need to work a few things out yourself. No one else can decide what your dream home is; you have to sit down and really think about it before anyone else gets involved.

There are some really basic questions to answer such as whether you want to live in a flat or a house. So you want a garden or would you simply be happy with a balcony? What’s your budget and how many rooms do you want for your money?

But most importantly, you need to decide upon location. This is what can make or break a property and it is a very personal choice. No estate agent can decide this for you.

So take time to think about the type of environment you want to live in and what amenities you need. And once you have made all of these decisions, then you can dig out those business cards and give those estate agents a call.