Light before layout

Buyers say they want open plan. What they respond to on a viewing is where the sun lands at four in the afternoon.

Light first

Orientation is the one thing a renovation cannot fix. A north-facing living room stays a north-facing living room no matter how much you spend on it, so it is worth deciding early whether you can live with that.

When we schedule second viewings we deliberately book them at a different hour to the first. If a home only works at ten in the morning, better to learn that before the offer than after.