A good brief saves months. These are the questions we ask every buyer in the first conversation, and why the answers matter more than the budget.
A first conversation with us runs to about an hour, and almost none of it is about houses. It is about how you actually live, which is the only reliable predictor of whether a house will suit you in a year.
The questions
Who is in the house on an ordinary Tuesday, and who is in it at Christmas? How long are you prepared to drive from an airport? Is this a house you will improve, or one you want finished? What did you dislike about the last place you lived in, specifically?
That last one is worth more than the rest combined. Buyers describe what they want in general terms and what they hated in precise ones.
Why the budget comes last
We ask about money, but late and briefly. A brief built around a number produces a list. A brief built around a life produces three or four houses, one of which is usually right.
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