Articles

Do you have land in need of developing? Satchells could help you get planning.

How often have you driven past a derelict building and wondered if it will ever be used again or be demolished, and the land given a new purpose?

Calling Homeowners in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire We Need Your Home!

We’ll get straight to it - there’s a housing shortage right now and you could play your part in helping someone to find the home of their dreams. As you may know, the property market has been positively buoyant over recent months, what with the Government’s Stamp Duty Holiday and people having more time to think about where they want to live and the type of lifestyle they want.

Summer Gardens: How to Make the Most of Your Outdoor Space for Dining Al Fresco

As the warmer months approach (although these past few weeks that has seemed a long way off), many of us are eager to make the most of our beautiful outside spaces. Entertaining outdoors is a wonderful option for the warmer evenings that the summer welcomes. Good weather allows you to enjoy the company of your family and friends al fresco, while keeping your home immaculate.

Make Building Your Dream Home in Biggleswade a Reality!

Have you ever dreamed of building your own home? Being able to plan, design and achieve a home that truly suits your needs with no compromises? Well now is your chance. In Biggleswade, as part of the new development on the sought after Saxon Gate development, the developer has released four plots with planning permission to build your own detached home.

How to Keep Your House Chain Progressing Smoothly

Buying and selling a property can be a super stressful time, and our responsibility is of course to ensure things run as smoothly as possible. Perhaps you’re ready to move, but the people buying your house need their buyers to get up to speed. And those buyers also need their buyers to press the pedal on the transaction!

Has Covid Caused ‘Urban Flight’ to Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire?

There’s no doubt about it, the coronavirus pandemic has inevitably changed all our lives and with the summer months here, we are all hopeful for ordinary life to resume, but many of us are heading into a very different ‘normal’ to the one we knew previously.

Home Improvement Tips for Those Who Don’t Know a Hammer from a Screwdriver!

Are you a DIY King or Queen…or do you prefer to get the professionals in? For every one of us who loves DIY, there is another one who hates it! But sometimes DIY just can’t be avoided, particularly if you are thinking of putting your home on the market.

Could You Be Sitting on a Goldmine?

Did you know that space in the UK is hugely in demand, with people constantly looking for innovative housing solutions?

7 Tips for First Time Homeowners in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire

It’s great news that you have become a first-time homeowner and have got the keys to your new place, but it’s likely you may be unsure of a few things. After all, buying a home was never top of the school curriculum, was it?

5% Deposit Mortgage for Borrowers: Your Questions Answered by Satchells

Listening to our clients, we have discovered that there is a common misconception that this scheme is only available for first-time buyers. But this is not the case.

Bank of Mum & Dad: How to help your family members buy a home

We’ve all heard of the phrase ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, it’s certainly not a new phenomenon. However, the recent stamp duty holiday, which has now been extended until 30th June 2021, has seen a strong spike in the number of older homeowners looking to help family members with their mortgage deposits.

Welcome insects to your garden with a Bug Hotel

Let’s be honest insects are truly underappreciated in the garden and yet without them to break down waste it would get very messy indeed! We’re losing our insects at a rate of 2.5% a year and without them other wildlife such as birds, hedgehogs and toads lose their food source.

When Does the Stamp Duty Holiday in England and Northern Ireland End?

There has been much in the news about the stamp duty holiday, and after almost a year, the end of this scheme is in sight. Stamp duty is, of course, the tax payable under normal circumstances, when you buy a home in England or Wales.

Satchells top 10 tips for letting your home

With almost 100 years of property experience there’s nothing we don’t know about property sales and lettings.

Semi-Rural Life with a Big City Draw

One thing that being in lockdown has taught us, is that we value our own space! That’s not to say we’ve all become anti-social, far from it, but we value our living space and the immediate environment around where we live.

Ickwell: A Quintessential English Village

Looking for the quintessential English village? Perhaps with a cricket pitch, local pub and quaint traditions? You may even want to see thatched cottages and beautiful gardens with roses and honeysuckles climbing the walls. Well, in Ickwell, we really do have the place for you. It’s truly idyllic.

Get Ready for Summer with Granny Satchells Swizzle!

Recently we’ve been treated to just a hint of summer as the sun has made an appearance and our Vitamin D levels have started to replenish.

Barn Life can Harvest the Potential

Countryside living is a dream for many people - fields as far as the eye can see, a handful of neighbours, perhaps a farm shop on the doorstep. Rows of hawthorn hedges, dry stone walls, and old oak trees. A village pub, a cricket pitch maybe, and a local school for the children. The true country idyll.

April Vegetable Planting with Satchells

April is a great time to get stuck into your garden. Yes, the weather can be changeable – sun one minute, April showers and even snow the next, but the soil is beginning to warm, creating the optimum environment for your vegetables to thrive.

Government Backing Lends a Hand to Homebuyers

Getting together a deposit for a mortgage may have seemed a distant dream for many for a while now with house prices on an upward trajectory. You know what it’s like - you see a property and you think it’s the one, it has a kitchen to die for and beautiful spaces in the established garden, but then you realise that the deposit puts it out of your reach.

SATCHELLS MEET THE TEAM: STOTFOLD SALES MANAGER KEVIN DUFF

Some say that Kevin Duff was born to sell property, probably with a box of For Sale and Sold signs lying next to his cot!

We Have the Recipe for Success #1 Easter Treats

Who doesn’t love a hot cross bun? And who doesn’t love bread and butter pud? Both are delicious, heart-warming recipes that look and taste amazing. So, now imagine a beautifully sweet combination of the two.

Rishi Rubber Stamps Homes Duty Holiday Extension

It’s happened - after lots of rumours, and arguments for and against the continuation of the Stamp Duty Holiday in England and Northern Ireland, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that it the Stamp Duty Holiday will be extended until the end of June…and there will be a further extension to September with different terms.

5 Ways to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Your Home

Due to huge amounts of news coverage over recent years, many homeowners are looking for ways to reduce the impact their home has on the environment. This is so that they can reduce their carbon footprint and also save money on their energy bills. With technology advancements being made every year, there are more ways now than ever that you can accomplish this.

7 Security Gadgets to Protect Your Home

Nobody can place a price upon the importance of keeping your family and property safe. However, with so much technology available on the market today, it can be challenging to know where to start with investing in security gadgets to protect your home.

Do You Own Land that Could Have Development Potential?

Do you have a vast garden? Is your property set on a large corner plot? Do you own a vacant outbuilding? Have you a plot of land which is currently unused? Do you have a redundant factory site that could be redeveloped? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you could be sitting on a potential goldmine!

Granny Satchell’s Old-Fashioned Spring Cleaning Tips!

Satchells have been selling property for almost 100 years, with four generations of the family all involved in the business in some way.

Will you Benefit from Village Life?

Transitioning from the city to rural living is something many of us dream of. Swapping the hustle and bustle of regular life to days of peace and tranquillity and enjoying a more relaxed environment.

How to Attract Wildlife to Your Garden

After a long winter spent inside our homes, spring is finally in the air and we are all experiencing a little bit of longed for vitamin D!

Spring into Spring with Satchells Gardening Tips

If you’re anything like the Satchells team, our gardening duties are often placed onto the back-burner during the winter months. The adverse weather conditions throughout winter make us all reluctant to don the gardening gloves, so spring brings the perfect opportunity to show your garden the love it deserves.

5 Reasons Why Your House May Not be Selling

The Stamp Duty holiday ends on 31st March 2021, so if you’re thinking of putting your Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire property on the market in the New Year, you’ll want to make it stand out from the crowd to generate as much interest as possible, as quickly as possible and to make sure you achieve the full asking price while taking advantage of the stamp duty holiday!

5 Ways to Create a Productive Home Office

With most of us currently working from home, the team at Satchells were reminiscing recently about the good times, not so long ago, when we were all working in the office together and how much we loved our respective little corners!

What Does an Estate Agent Do Anyway?

If selling property is so easy, why doesn’t every seller simply grab a piece of paper, scribble ‘for sale’ on it, add their phone number, stick it to their front door and sit back and wait for the hoards of interested buyers to arrive?

When is a London Office not a London Office?

This may appear to be a rather strange question, but it’s a pertinent one! Time and again we see estate agents advertising their ‘London’ offices as an additional benefit to clients.

Why do I Need a High Street Estate Agent to Sell my House?

There are many benefits to using an estate agent to sell your property, which is why established agents like us continue to be prevalent on the high street throughout the country. Even with the recent emergence of more online and hybrid agents, the benefits of a local agent outweigh the online – and rather faceless - alternative.

Are You Ready to Sell in 2021?

The Stamp Duty holiday ends on 31st March 2021, so if you’re thinking of putting your Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire property on the market in the New Year, you’ll want to make it stand out from the crowd to generate as much interest as possible, as quickly as possible and to make sure you achieve the full asking price while taking advantage of the stamp duty holiday!

Satchells Land and Development: Spotlight on Woodland Grange

If you own land in Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire that you feel may be ripe for development, Satchells will work with you to help your asset reach its full potential.

Satchells Meet the Team: Managing Director Alan Hilditch

Alan Hilditch heads up the highly experienced team at Satchells and in his own words says: “I was born to sell.” This doesn’t come from an arrogant place – and once you have met or even just spoken with Alan you’ll know that to be true!

The Conveyancing Process Explained: A Step-by-Step Guide for Home Sellers

Selling your property can be a very confusing and lengthy process and you may be wondering how you can get your house move back on track post-lockdown. Having a good solicitor or conveyancer will help your sale run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Rural Living: Best by a Country Mile?

Living in the countryside is, for many people, the absolute ideal. Do you dream of throwing open your curtains and drinking in the views of open farmland or forest-clad hillsides? Seeing acres of fields stretching before you or weekend walks along the river?

Satchells Mortgages and What Does ‘Whole of Market’ Mean?

Buying a home is likely to be one of the biggest financial commitments you will ever make. It is, therefore, vitally important that not only do you choose the right house, but you get the right financial advice for your personal circumstances.

Satchells: We LOVE Repeat Business

In almost 100 years of trading, and four generations of our family all playing a part in growing our estate agency, one of the best parts of it all is the fact that we continue to attract so much repeat custom – and we love it!

Get the Job Done with Satchells: Maintaining Your Home in Winter

Winter is not only coming, it’s most definitely here! The temperature has been gradually dropping and it’s time for woolly jumpers, bobble hats and cosy gloves.

Satchells: “There’s Nothing we Don’t Know”

The Satchells team, headed up by ‘fountain of all knowledge’ Alan, have built a strong reputation over the years for being superbly well informed about a huge range of subjects, from property and site development to surveying and conversions of listed buildings…and everything in between.

Top 10 Tips for Selling Your Home in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire

Selling your home is no easy task. It can often be laborious and time-consuming, with every seller wanting the same outcome; to sell their home in the quickest time and for the best possible price. Here are our top ten tips if you are selling your home.

Online Agents Vs Traditional Agents: Who Wins?

Tempting isn’t it, the promise of a fixed fee sale starting in just three figures to sell your property? Moving home comes with costs, and when you have a list of expenses to budget for, the opportunity to make a saving can appear a godsend. But is using an online or hybrid agent for an upfront fixed fee really the best way to make a saving and sell your property – or is it a false economy?

How to Conduct a Viewing on Your Own Home

Have you ever considered conducting a viewing on your property without an estate agent? If you are something of a shrinking violet, it can be a daunting task. After all, you’re not an estate agent, so shouldn’t you leave it to the professionals? Estate agents know what buyers are looking for. They know the areas to show off and all the right answers to any tricky questions.

Satchells: The Difference is our People

Choices, choices. When making the decision to put your property on the market or up for rent in the Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire area, we understand you may find it a challenging time. Particularly when it comes to choosing your estate agent.

The Help to Buy Scheme:
How it Works

The Help to Buy Scheme is designed to help buyers take their first step onto the property ladder. With many lenders now requiring a 15% cash deposit from a first-time buyer, for some, it has never felt more challenging to break into the housing market.

A First Look at Garden Square Apartments, Letchworth

Situated in Letchworth Garden City, just off the A1 and close to Hitchin, the newly constructed Garden Square Apartments are the first phase of the planned redevelopment of Garden Square Shopping Centre.

Working from Home: The New Normal?

Working from home is the reality many of us have had to adjust to this year. But it can be challenging to settle into the quiet rhythm that solo work brings. With so much scepticism around working from home, it is important to highlight what it’s really like and the benefits!

The Story of Satchells… so far

We all know the story of the Valley of the Kings and the discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb by Howard Carter. But what has this historical discovery got to do with the history of Satchells?

What you may not know is as Howard stood at the entrance of the ‘Boy King’s’ tomb, a little over 3,560 miles away in Letchworth Garden City, a gentleman named Mr J.G.D Satchell was standing before his own sealed doorway.

Follow Satchells & see it first on Facebook!

Not only do we regularly post useful information, tips and advice covering all your home moving queries from buying and selling, conveyancing and independent mortgage advice - we also add all new instructions to Facebook first!

Contemporary Living at Winton Wharf, Biggleswade

No matter your lifestyle, Winton Wharf has a property to match. Everything is made to feel modern and spacious, with two-bedroom properties having fitted wardrobes in the master bedroom and a large family bathroom.