The Local Reach June 2024

thelocalreach@nationwidemedia.co.uk www.nationwidemedialtd.co.uk

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Home improvement tips every homeowner should know

When it comes to home improvements, everyone wants to know the best tricks and tips. Should you go DIY? Which rooms should you focus on first? How do you find the best contractors? Well... we like to recommend trusted and local contractors.

Know what adds value

While homes are first and foremost a place to live, they’re also an investment. It can be easy to see the costs involved with big improvement projects (like adding an extension) and feel a little nervous about the numbers. However, a lot of projects can pay off in the long run and you can often work with an architect to find out which improvements might give you the best return for investment.

Big projects don’t always need planning permission If you’ve never attempted a big project before, you might feel some trepidation when it comes to gaining planning permission. With a good architect by your side, getting any project through planning can be a relatively painless process. However, if you want to create something without worrying about having to jump through subjective hoops, there are ways around this stage. Always do your research.

Think about the future

Unless you’re a renovation junkie, it’s unlikely that you’ll want to be tackling big projects every year. Therefore, it’s important you plan for the future with your project. What could your home life look like next year? Five years down the line? 10 or twenty years in the future?

Put yourself first

We discovered families were designing their home around what they thought a future buyer might like. In some cases, homeowners were prioritising a future owner of their house even when they had no intention of selling!

Pay the right way

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need an enormous fortune to transform your home. Often, the smartest way to finance a home improvement project is to utilise the equity your property has already acquired and to also consider its future value too.

Choosing the best contractor

Unsurprisingly, your contractor is the most important professional for your project. After all, it’ll be this expert who’ll be bringing your vision to life. Therefore, when it comes to picking this vital tradesperson, you’ll want to make sure you do your research.

Always vet at least 3 different contractors. Speaking to previous clients, ideally without the contractor present.

Go see their past work for yourself and look at recently completed projects and something from at least 18 months ago. Check they have the right insurance policies in place. Make sure everything is covered in their quote - never trust a vague price tag!

Know what to DIY and what not to

If you’ve got yourself that handy touch, DIY is an excellent way to shave money off the cost of your project. However, not every project is made to be completed by mere mortals. Unless you have professional experience, we always recommend against tackling these jobs yourself…

Installing plumbing

Installing or modifying electricals

Fixing your own roof

Painting the exterior of your home

Removing a chimney

Demolishing a part of your home

Removing a wall

Farming & Agriculture

Motoring Guide

Alternative

Alternative therapy is a term for any medical treatment that is not part of standard medical practice.

Alternative therapy can be used instead of or together with conventional treatments, such as drugs and surgery.

Alternative therapy may include strategies like mindfulness, meditation, yoga, exercising and eating a well-balanced, healthy

Some reviews from our recommended clients

pets

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Why Use a Travel Agent?

In this day and age, nearly everything is done online.

With smartphones giving us everything literally at our fingertips, we find ourselves interacting less and less with actual humans. For a lot of people, one are the days when you’d pop down the High Street to visit your travel agents, come back with a heavy armful of rochures, and then excitedly pick out your next holiday.

Nowadays we have access to such a huge range of search engines and price comparison websites, we now find ourselves instead staring at screens into the early hours, trying to find the cheapest deal we can.

So why use a travel agent, when we have all of this technology now readily available to us?