Hear from Claire and Leo about what they love about living at West Craigs. Watch their video here.
Claire and Colin both work at Edinburgh Park. Their son Leo goes to nursery there too, so when it was time to take a step up the property ladder, the family didn’t want to go too far afield as Claire explains: “We’ve always been local to this part of Edinburgh, and before we bought our new home at West Craigs we lived at East Craigs and The Gyle.
“We watched as the new homes started to be built here and thought it would be a real dream to live at West Craigs. We knew that we wanted to take a step up the ladder from our three-bedroom terrace at The Gyle, and we knew that we wanted to stay local because life is settled here in terms of work, nursery and, of course, family and friends. But we thought if we were to move to West Craigs, then perhaps we might need to compromise our step up the property ladder with a move to a similar size house.
“In February last year, we took a walk up to the development. The show homes were open, and of course, we ended up popping inside, even though you can just look at them from the road. Colin even said before we walked into the sales office that he had a feeling what would happen! They do say that ‘everything happens for a reason,’ and to be honest, it’s been a dream ever since.
“We got chatting to Angela, the sales executive, who was lovely, and we even took a picture of Leo holding a brochure because I said to Colin, this could be the very first step in us moving, and I want to capture this!”
It’s been an adventure from day one of their property journey, as Colin adds: “Initially, we thought we wanted to go for another style of house at the development before deciding on the layout of the Fraser, and Angela encouraged us to visit the show home of that style at Taylor Wimpey’s development in Roslin. They made us feel so welcome, and we decided on that visit to go for it.
“Angela had even arranged for Taylor Wimpey’s IFA to call us while we were in Roslin, and we chatted to him while we were viewing the show home.
“We wanted to make sure that we could afford to move before falling completely in love with the house, and he gave us great advice. In the end, we chose to use him to arrange our mortgage.”
Buying a new home was important to the couple, as Claire explains: “Our last home was a new build, and to be honest, we wouldn’t consider anything else. Our first property was a renovation, and I really didn’t like it, but with a new build, I just love that everything is fresh and clean, no one has lived in it before you, and you can put your own stamp on every room. Plus, the housebuilders are the experts, and they simply help you along the way.
“For this move, we took advantage of Taylor Wimpey’s Easymover scheme, and that was brilliant for us – it was so smooth and, in fact, a lovely experience. I was initially worried that we would only have eight weeks to sell our property at the Gyle, but Angela reassured us throughout the whole process, and everything worked out brilliantly.”
Move-in day is always an exciting part of a customer’s journey; even the smallest touches can make all the difference. Colin adds: “We moved into our new home in September last year, and it was a lovely day. Angela really took care of us and explained the process clearly, so we knew when to expect the call to pick up our keys. We did our home demonstration just before we moved in, so it was quite surreal on our move-in day that the house was finally ours. We were all very excited; we loved the bow on the door, and even the Welcome Pack was just so helpful and lovely to receive.
“Since moving in, the aftercare here with Michael, Angela, and Iain has been standout. They’ve made us feel far more than just customers. In fact, the whole team here has been fantastic, and it’s great to see the development coming to life as more people move in.
“We’ve loved being in from the early stage of the development, and we enjoy seeing how everything just changes and grows. We’re also benefitting from the energy efficiency of our new house – our bills are generally lower than we’ve been paying, plus our solar panels are brilliant. We’ve even been able to sell small amounts of energy back to the national grid, which is just great and does make a difference.
Claire and Colin’s son could be a site manager of the future, as mum Claire adds: “Since moving in, my son Leo loves his bedroom, but he loves diggers more. His bedroom is decorated and filled with toy diggers, and he is thrilled because he even has a view of the houses being built from his bedroom window so he can see the diggers at work, which he loves. In fact, the team here is so lovely that Angela arranged with the site manager, Nathan, to bring the digger outside our house, and he had the chance to sit in the driving seat. It was such a lovely gesture by the team.”
Finally, the couple offers some advice to other house hunters: “To other people thinking about buying a new home from Taylor Wimpey, I’d say just trust the process and leave it to the experts. For us, using Easymover made the whole process easy and stress-free, and despite my initial worries, it all worked out perfectly.”