KIRSTIE AND PHIL’S TOP 10 TIPS FOR BUYING YOUR DREAM HOME

1 LEARN TO LOVE AGENTS

Until you can learn to embrace – or at the very least like – estate agents, all the rest of our advice will be only 50 per cent effective. So take half a day off work midweek, dress up in your Sunday best and visit all the agents in the area you want to move to. Prepare business cards with your contacts and an outline of your requirements. Make a list of the most helpful agents, then call them twice a week. Keeping up the relationship is vital.

2 LOOK TO THE FRINGES

If you can’t afford a place in your ideal area, get a map out and examine the what is on the outskirts of that location. Every good area creates a ripple effect: its boundaries spread.

3 SPOT THE NEXT HIT

If you’re looking to discover if an area really is ‘up-and-coming’, take a walk around. Are there skips, scaffolding and houses being refurbished or renovated? These are signs that others are investing in the area too. However, delicatessens and chic boutiques opening up in a neighbourhood may mean it’s moved ‘up’ and you’ve missed the opportunity.

4 GET REAL

Think about the style of the house you’d like to live in, but make sure you’re not looking for a banana in a hardware store. If you want a particular type of house or flat, ensure before you start looking that it exists in your key locations.

5 WIN AT AUCTION

Despite what we are led to believe, the countryside is not awash with disused chapels, schools and pubs ripe for conversion. But if you’re determined, you are most likely to find what you are looking for at auction. Be aware, though, you need a survey and a solicitor in place, and you have to pay the deposit on the day – up to 20 per cent – with the rest of the money ready to follow within 28 days.

6 TRY A LEAFLET DROP

We constantly warn of the dangers of being too restrictive in your criteria, but there are times when only you may have decided that only one house or one street will do. If this is the case, carry out a leaflet drop. Keep it short and sweet: ‘If you are thinking of moving in the foreseeable future, please give me a ring.’

7 SPOT A ROGUE

If you’re viewing a flat and the building is scruffy, it may indicate a rogue landlord, or freeholders who take no interest in the upkeep. Insist the agent gives you the details of the managing agents and talk to other residents. Do as much research as you can before spending a penny on surveyors’ or lawyers’ fees.

8 LOOK AHEAD

Buy a property with potential to extend and, when your aged parents come to live with you, you won’t need to upsize. If you suspect children might be on the cards, it is worth asking yourself questions such as, ‘Are there good schools nearby?’ or ‘Is a loft apartment on the fourth floor with no lift and a spiral staircase going to work if I find myself pregnant?’

9 LOCATION, LOCATION...

If some of you are thinking ‘I bet Kirstie doesn’t stick to her own advice,’ you would be wrong. She lives in a brute of a building in West London, built post-Second World War. Why? Location. The house leads straight on to a communal garden in one of the nicest streets in London. If it was built in 1870, as were some of the neighbouring properties, it would have been out of Kirstie’s budget.

10 BEFRIEND A BUILDER

If you’re considering making alterations, pay a builder to have a look around, even before the survey. He will be able to give you rough costings for anything you’re thinking of doing. Kirstie takes her partner Ben, a property developer, who can tell her pretty much instantly whether a house is in good nick or not and how much it would cost to do any repairs needed.

How To Buy A House, by Kirstie Allsopp & Phil Spencer, is published by Hodder & Stoughton and available as an ebook at £7.99.