I came across this excellent service a few days when I spoke with Clare McManus of Open Architects. If you are trying to sell your property so you can buy your ideal cottage or maybe want to move to a bigger or more beautiful cottage and want to sell your existing property, you are probably having great difficulty in this property market – buyers are scarce and they expect a lot more for their money.

Sellers are often caught for money when trying to sell their property and are unable to carry out even minor renovations to make it more attractive. Open Architects have come up with a fantastic idea – “they will provide before and after 3D images of a property, highlighting possible structural and decorative changes. Owners also receive estimates for the work involved and an outline timeframe from planning to completion. This can then be displayed along with the property as an added inducement to would-be buyers”. (Irish Times Thu, Oct 28, 2010)

What is most surprising about this is the affordability of the service. It costs just €500 for the report, when the house sells you pay the balance of €2,000 – however if the house doesn’t sell, your outlay was only €500. It seems to me that this would be €500 well spent, it could possibly save you a lot of time and wasted effort when trying to sell your house.

What I also really like about this is that it really benefits both the seller and the buyer, the seller effectively has a far better possibility of closing the sale and the buyer has much more detailed information about the possibilities available to them with their purchase.

Hopefully this service will be of use to some of you!

For more information contact Clare McManus of Open Architects on 01 6689477, email info@openarchitects.ie. Their website is www.openarchitects.ie