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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

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