The door

What we look at before a price

These pictures are examples. They are not homes listed for sale through us this week, and they are not places we let.

White clapboard house with a burgundy door, white fence, and yellow autumn leaves — White clapboard, a burgundy door under a small porch, and a picket fence. Leaves cover the grass.

The door comes first

A door that sits square, a porch that keeps the rain off, and a path you can walk. Paint colour does not decide a purchase. A cracked step or a roof that sags does. Say so before we travel.

A cream sofa with dark blue and patterned cushions, between two windows with blue blinds — A cream sofa, dark blue and patterned cushions, and two windows with blue blinds.

A room with daylight

We look for a living room that can take a sofa and still leave a way to the door. Two windows and a plain wall are enough. A styled cushion does not change the size of the room.

A pale living room with a beige sofa, two round rattan mirrors, and a low wooden table — A pale sofa, two round rattan mirrors, and a low table on a woven rug.

How the room is finished

Floor, walls, and whether the light reaches the far corner. We are not scoring the furniture. We are checking that the room is a room someone can live in after the furniture is gone.

A white bedroom with a grey headboard, a picture of a sheep, and a window to the right — A white bed, a grey headboard, and a picture of a sheep above it.

A bedroom that counts

A bed, a path around it, and a door that shuts. A box room with no floor space does not count as a bedroom when we describe the house.

Meet at the property

Debdale Road is for letters. If a house is worth seeing, we agree a time by email and meet at that house. Send the road and the town.