Harbour-side timber house at dusk with warm light in the windows

Westmere harbour wards · independent agency

Cobalt Current houses on the tide line

A one-agent practice. I list a short book of harbour-ward homes at a time, walk every room myself, and tell buyers what the survey will find before they pay for it.

Request a viewing See the current book

Each listing below carries its real guide range, tenure, aspect and the one thing I would want to know as a buyer. When a home goes under offer it stays on the page, marked, until completion.

Current book · updated this week

Four homes, openly described

No sealed guide prices and no photographs taken on a lens that flatters a small room. If a kitchen needs replacing within two years, it says so here.

Pale clapboard family house with a deep front lawn and mature trees

Kestrel Hill £565,000 – £590,000Guide range

Fenner House, Gullwing Lane

A wide clapboard family house set back from the lane, with the kind of hallway that takes a pram and a bicycle at once. The loft is boarded but unconverted; the rear flat roof was replaced two winters ago.

Bedrooms: 4, one with a box room off it
Bathrooms: 1 family, 1 shower room
Aspect: Rear garden faces south-west
Tenure: Freehold
Worth knowing: Single-glazed in the two front rooms

Available · viewings Thursday to Sunday

Bright living room with tall windows, pale walls and a low sofa

Harbour Reach £438,000 – £455,000Guide range

The Pilot's Flat, Reach Quay

First-floor conversion in a former pilot station, with ceilings tall enough that the radiators have to work for it. Water is visible from the main room in winter, screened by lime trees in summer.

Bedrooms: 2, both doubles
Bathrooms: 1, with a separate utility cupboard
Aspect: East over the quay
Tenure: Leasehold, long remainder, share of freehold
Worth knowing: No lift and 22 stairs from the street

Available · one viewing block each Saturday

Compact apartment interior with a small dining table beside a window

Tallow Row £289,000Fixed guide

12 Tallow Row, upper maisonette

A sensible first purchase above a bookbinder's workshop that closes at six. Compact rooms, honest proportions, and a shared rear yard with bike storage that is actually used by the other two flats.

Bedrooms: 1 double, 1 study
Bathrooms: 1 shower room
Aspect: Dual, north and south
Tenure: Leasehold with a modest service charge
Worth knowing: Commercial neighbour below; quiet evenings, early deliveries

Under offer · still viewable by arrangement

Contemporary house exterior with large glazed panels and a paved approach

Kestrel Hill £720,000 – £760,000Guide range

Slipway Six, Kestrel Rise

Built in 2019 on an infill plot, so the insulation and the wiring are the newest in the book. The garden is small and paved; that is the trade for the glazing and the low running costs.

Bedrooms: 3, plus a ground-floor snug
Bathrooms: 2 plus cloakroom
Aspect: West, long evening light
Tenure: Freehold
Worth knowing: Parking is on-street with a resident permit

Available · first viewings from next Thursday

Looking for something that is not here? Tell me the ward, the ceiling price and the one thing you will not compromise on, and I will write when a match is close to listing.

Kitchen and dining space with wooden table, plants and morning light

Field notes

The three wards, as they actually are

Buyers from outside Westmere usually ask the same three questions about each ward. These are the answers I give in the car on the way to a viewing.

Harbour Reach

Converted warehouses and pilot buildings, mostly leasehold, mostly flats. Light is extraordinary and parking is not. Service charges vary wildly between blocks, so read two years of accounts before you fall for a view.

Flats · leasehold · tall rooms

Tallow Row

The working spine of the old town: workshops at street level, maisonettes above. The best value in Westmere if you can live with a six-o'clock shutter rattling below you. Stock turns over quickly here.

Entry level · mixed use · quick sales

Kestrel Hill

Family houses with gardens, a slower market, and sellers who have usually been there a decade. Expect older glazing and generous rooms. Chains are longer here, so build four extra weeks into your plan.

Houses · freehold · longer chains

For sellers

How a sale runs with me

Five stages, one person handling all of them. You deal with me at the valuation, at every viewing and on the day the keys move.

Walk-through and honest number

An hour in the house, room by room, including the loft and the boiler. You get a guide range with the comparable sales it came from, not a flattering figure designed to win the instruction.

Preparation list

A short list of what is worth doing and what is not. Usually it is light, clutter and one repair. I will tell you when painting a room back to white will not change the offer.

Photography and listing copy

Shot in the half of the day that suits the aspect, with no wide-angle trickery. The written description names the compromises, which filters out the viewings that were never going to work.

Accompanied viewings and feedback

I run every viewing and write to you the same evening with what was said, not a summary at the end of the month. Blocks are grouped so you are not tidying the house five times a week.

Offer handling to completion

Every offer comes with the buyer's position written down: funding, chain, flexibility on dates. After acceptance I chase the chain weekly and keep the survey conversation calm.

Costs, before you ask

What representation costs

One fee basis, published. Nothing here is charged until the sale completes, and nothing is added afterwards.

Sole agency feeCharged on the agreed sale price, payable on completion only.: 1.2%
Photography and floor planFull shoot, measured plan and written description.: Included
Accompanied viewingsEvery viewing, including evenings and weekend blocks.: Included
Chain and survey liaisonWeekly progress chasing from acceptance through to completion.: Included
Withdrawal before an offerIf you change your mind or let the market pass, the instruction simply ends.: No charge
Buyer-side registrationJoining the search list and being told about homes before they list.: Free

Legal work, searches and surveys are paid directly to the firms that do them. I will say plainly which ones I think are worth the money on a given property.

Plain answers

Questions buyers and sellers ask

Can I view if my own home is not on the market yet?

Yes, for a first viewing. Before a second viewing I will ask where you are with your own sale, because sellers deserve to know whether an offer could actually proceed. If you are a few weeks away, say so and we will plan around it.

Are the guide ranges negotiable?

A range tells you where the seller expects to land, so offers inside it are taken seriously and offers below it are still passed on with your reasoning attached. Where a listing shows a fixed guide, the seller has told me they will not go under it.

Do you handle lettings or rentals?

No. This is a sales-only practice, which is why the book stays short. If you need a letting agent I will point you to two local firms I would use myself, with no referral arrangement behind the recommendation.

How quickly can a viewing be arranged?

Usually within the same week. Viewings run Thursday to Sunday in grouped blocks so occupied homes are not disrupted daily. Send your preferred days in the enquiry form and I will reply with the slots that are genuinely free.

What should I bring to a second viewing?

A tape measure, your worst-case commute plan and anyone who has veto power over the decision. Second viewings are deliberately longer and I will open cupboards, run taps and talk through what a surveyor is likely to flag.

How long does a typical sale take to complete?

Between ten and sixteen weeks from accepted offer, depending on the chain and the tenure. Leasehold purchases in Harbour Reach often run at the longer end because management packs take time to arrive.

I am buying from outside Westmere. Does that disadvantage me?

Not with me. You will get the same ward notes in writing, a walk-through video of anything you cannot reach in person, and an honest answer about traffic, flood history and which streets are quiet at seven in the morning.

What happens if a seller withdraws after I have paid for a survey?

It is rare on a short book, because I check commitment before listing. If it does happen you keep the survey report, I will tell you immediately rather than letting it drift, and I will prioritise you on anything comparable coming to market.

One short form

Request a viewing or a valuation

Tell me what you are trying to do and which ward you have in mind. Replies come from me, usually the same day, and never as an automated drip of listings you did not ask for.

Your name

What do you need?

Ward of interest

Anything useful to know

Used only to answer your enquiry. No mailing list, no sharing with third parties.