This Saturday Open house at the Birch Hill cottage, 10:00–13:00 — arrivals booked in 20-minute slots. Reserve a slot
Cedar Paper Residential Property
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A brick and timber family house with bay windows set behind a low hedge on a quiet residential street

Nora Alvey · Licensed agent

Three neighbourhoods, one agent, every viewing walked in person.

Cedar Paper is a single-agent practice. I take the valuation visit, write the listing, open the door at every appointment and stay on the file through to completion — whether you are selling or buying.

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  • Where I work

    Alder Quarter, Mill Bank and Birch Hill, plus the lanes between them. Nothing outside that ring, so the area knowledge stays honest.

  • Who runs the viewing

    I do. No unaccompanied access, no handing keys to a stranger, and written feedback to the seller within a day.

  • How prices are set

    Guide prices come from recent completions on comparable stock and the condition I see on the walk-through — not from the highest number in the room.

Currently available

Three homes on the books

Each listing carries a field note — the thing I would mention if we were standing in the hallway together.

A pale rendered semi-detached house with a pitched roof and a short gravel path to the front door

Alder Quarter

South-facing semi with a long garden

Guide price$615,000

  • 3 bed
  • 2 bath
  • 1,420 sq ft
  • Freehold

Field noteThe rear extension is newer than the rest of the house and the floor level steps down by about an inch at the join. Garden gets sun from late morning until early evening in summer.

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A bright open-plan living room with tall windows, pale walls and a timber floor

Mill Bank

Top-floor loft in a converted warehouse

Guide price$489,000

  • 2 bed
  • 1 bath
  • 980 sq ft
  • Leasehold

Field noteLift access to the door and a service charge that covers the roof and the courtyard. The second bedroom has a borrowed-light window, so plan it as a study or a guest room rather than a main bedroom.

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A white weatherboard cottage with a dark roof, a wide lawn and mature trees to one side

Birch Hill

Cottage with a detached garden studio

Guide price$742,000

  • 4 bed
  • 2 bath
  • 1,960 sq ft
  • Freehold

Field noteThe studio is insulated and wired but has no plumbing, so a shower room would mean a new run from the house. Lane parking is informal — two cars fit comfortably, a third does not.

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Two different jobs

How a sale and a search actually run

Selling and buying follow separate sequences. Knowing which one you are starting tells you what the first conversation needs to cover.

If you are selling

  1. Walk-through and guide priceAbout an hour in the house, room by room, then a written guide price with the comparable completions it rests on.
  2. Preparation listA short, costed list of what is worth doing before photography and what is not worth touching at all.
  3. Photographs, floor plan, listing copyBooked for the best light your aspect allows. You approve every image and every line before anything goes live.
  4. Accompanied viewingsGrouped into windows so you are not on standby all week. Written feedback reaches you the following day.
  5. Offers and progressionEach offer presented with the buyer's position and chain. Once agreed, I chase searches, survey and enquiries until keys change hands.

If you are buying

  1. Brief and non-negotiablesBudget, commute, school timing, space you cannot compromise on, and the things you are willing to trade.
  2. Shortlist with reasonsYou get the homes that fit, and a note on the ones I have ruled out, so the search narrows instead of sprawling.
  3. Viewings in sequenceTwo or three in a run, same morning where possible, so you are comparing while the rooms are still fresh.
  4. Offer strategyWhat the seller's timeline looks like, where the flexibility sits, and how to put a position in writing that holds.
  5. Survey to completionReading the survey with you, renegotiating where findings justify it, and keeping the solicitors moving.
A detached house with a steep roof and a trimmed front lawn on a tree-lined suburban street

Alder Quarter, looking west from the old orchard path.

Field notes

What the listings never tell you

Four honest paragraphs about the streets I sell on. If an area is wrong for you, it is cheaper to find out here than three viewings in.

Alder Quarter

Mostly inter-war semis on wide plots, which means generous gardens and original windows that often need attention. Residents' parking runs on one side of the main avenue only, so check which side a house sits on before you count on two spaces.

Mill Bank

Warehouse conversions and newer infill flats along the water. Service charges here cover more than people expect, including the courtyard and the roof, so compare the charge against what you would otherwise pay for maintenance rather than treating it as dead money.

Birch Hill

Lane-access cottages and a handful of larger detached houses. Ground is clay, so settlement cracks are common and usually historic — a survey will say which. Catchment places are allocated in the spring round, which is worth timing a move around if you have a child starting school.

The lanes between

A thin band of former farm buildings and converted outbuildings. Lovely, quiet, and frequently off the mains drainage network, so budget for a treatment plant inspection as part of your offer conditions.

Scope

What each package covers

One fee per instruction, agreed in writing before anything is marketed. No add-ons appear later.

Stage
Selling instruction
Buying support
Valuation or briefing visit
Selling instructionIncluded, with a written guide price
Buying supportIncluded, as a search brief
Photography and floor plan
Selling instructionIncluded, re-shot free if you relist in the same year
Buying supportNot applicable
Listing copy and approval
Selling instructionWritten by me, signed off by you
Buying supportNot applicable
Accompanied viewings
Selling instructionUnlimited, grouped into windows
Buying supportUp to three homes per viewing run
Offer handling
Selling instructionEvery offer presented with the buyer's position
Buying supportStrategy, drafting and negotiation
Progression to completion
Selling instructionIncluded until keys change hands
Buying supportIncluded, alongside your solicitor

Withdraw at any point before contracts are exchanged and nothing is owed on a selling instruction. Fees, notice terms and the full scope sit in the written agreement I send before marketing begins.

An empty living room with large windows and bare floorboards, ready for a viewing appointment

This week

Accompanied viewing windows

Viewings run inside set windows so sellers keep their week and buyers can see two or three homes in one trip. Tell me which window suits and I will confirm a 20-minute slot inside it.

Tuesday evening

17:30–20:00 · Mill Bank and the waterside blocks. Best window if you want to judge evening light and noise.

Thursday morning

09:00–12:00 · Alder Quarter. Quiet on the avenue once the school run has cleared, so you can hear the house.

Saturday

10:00–16:00 · All three areas, including the Birch Hill open house. The window that books out first.

Ask for a slot Pick the homes first

Before you ask

Questions worth answering

How do you arrive at a guide price?
I start with completed sales of comparable stock in the same pocket of the same area, adjust for plot, aspect and floor area, then adjust again for the condition I have seen in person. You get the comparables in writing, so you can argue with the reasoning rather than the number.
What should I have ready before the valuation visit?
Nothing staged. Useful to hand are the title or lease details, any service charge statements, guarantees for work like damp proofing or a new roof, and the dates of any extension. If you cannot find them, we proceed anyway and chase them later.
Does someone else ever cover a viewing?
No. Every appointment is mine, which is the reason viewings sit inside windows rather than being offered at any hour. If a window genuinely will not work for you, say so in your message and I will try to open a slot outside it.
How long does a sale usually take around here?
From agreed offer to completion, a straightforward freehold with no chain tends to run around two to three months. Leasehold flats take longer because the management pack has to arrive, and a chain of three or more moves at the speed of its slowest link.
Can I view at short notice?
Often yes, if the seller is flexible and I am already in that area for the day. Send your message the day before where you can; same-day requests are worth asking about but depend entirely on the seller's consent.
What happens once an offer is accepted?
I confirm the agreed terms in writing to both sides and their solicitors, then work through searches, survey and enquiries week by week. You get an update whenever something moves, and a call rather than an email if something stalls.
Do you work with first-time buyers?
Yes, and the briefing visit is longer for a first purchase because there is more to explain: what a survey can and cannot find, what leasehold obligations mean in practice, and which costs land before completion rather than after.

Get in touch

Ask for a window

One short form, whether you are booking a viewing, asking for a valuation visit or starting a search. I reply to everything myself.

  • Office hours — Tuesday to Saturday, with viewings inside the published windows.
  • Reply time — usually the same working day, and always within two.
  • Licensing — registered agent; redress scheme and client money protection details are in the written agreement.
  • Your details — used to answer your enquiry and nothing else.

No marketing lists, no third parties. If your request is urgent, say so in the first line and it moves to the front of the queue.