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AT HOME WITH
       Location, location,






          location










        A pair of ‘serial renovators’ found their ideal fixer-                                                                at the property portals I had been using, to see if I
        upper on the outskirts of Edinburgh, using ESPC.                                                                      could find anything else that we hadn’t seen,” Amy
                                                                                                                              tells us. “That’s when I came across the listing on the
                                                                                                                              ESPC website. I hadn’t known about ESPC previously,
                                                                                                                              but the property had only just come on the market
                                                                                                                              and was exclusively listed with ESPC, so it wasn’t on
              hen they were looking for their third home together                                                             any of the other property sites yet. That was great, as
              back in the autumn of 2021, Amy Guy and her                                                                     it gave us a bit of a head start, and we were able to
       W husband were fairly open-minded with their criteria,                                                                 get in as the first viewers.”
       but they knew that in the end, their ideal property would come
       down to its location.                                                                                                  The  flat  in  question  was  a  spacious  three-bed  on
                                                                                                                              the  ground  floor  of  a  1930s  block  in  Balerno,  and
       “We just wanted to be closer to Edinburgh after living out in                                                          offered the period features Amy and her husband
       the sticks for a few years,” says Amy. “We looked at properties                                                        were hoping to find. “We both love period properties
       in Livingston, Dalkeith, Gorebridge, Lasswade, Currie, Juniper                                                         and have always been drawn to older homes,” Amy
       Green,  and  finally,  Balerno.  We  knew  roughly  what  we  were                                                     explains. “As soon as we walked in, we were both
       looking for in a property, and as serial renovators, we were                                                           really taken by the high ceilings, the generous
       hoping for a project, but otherwise we were quite open. It was                                                         proportions  and  the  homely  feel  of  this  flat.  The
       always going to be about what the location could offer us.”                                                            building is set in its own gardens, and surrounded by
                                                                                                                              trees, making it feel like a very special location. It was
       The perfect location ended up being Balerno, on the outskirts                                                          definitely the most impressive place we had viewed,
       of Edinburgh, which offered the couple everything they were                                                            and we quite quickly decided that we wanted to go
       hoping to find and more: “It’s ideal, as we’re right on the edge                                                       for it.”
       of the Pentlands and have great access to walking, cycling and
       running routes, and the reservoirs. There are local shops, pubs                                                        With an offer accepted, the pair started the process
       and restaurants in walking distance, and there’s a bus to the city                                                     of selling their current home – their first time buying
       centre. It has a pretty perfect balance of everything, which works                                                     and selling at the same time, despite being seasoned
       well for us, and a lovely, quiet village feel – plus, it’s so green!”.                                                 homeowners.

       The  couple  were  searching  for  around  six  months,  viewing                                                       “It was more complicated than previous purchases;
       several properties and even making an offer, before their                                                              our first buyer had to pull out due to losing their own
       perfect flat came onto the market. “It felt like we had looked at                                                      buyer, which wasn’t ideal, but thankfully we had quite
       so many, so I decided to try a Google search rather than looking                                                       a lot of interest in our property and found a

   38  |  espc.com                                                                                                                                            espc.com  |  39
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