House buying is the worst

[Eenuh]

20 minutes ago, Serebii said:

Winton and Charminster

Good luck with the house search!
If you've found a place you like and you need a suggestion for a solicitor, feel free to drop me a PM. Ours was a lovely person.

 

I feel like we did loads in our house since we got it half a year ago. All the rooms have had some work done in them, some have been completely transformed (bathroom and garage). The kitchen has had the least work done (only painted the walls), but that's because we hope to extend in the future and just get a new kitchen then.

We're getting someone in one Monday to fix an issue with our laminate (thanks dad for not listening to me and not leaving enough of an expansion gap ). Then I think we'll tackle the staircase; ideally I would like to have wood cladding put on it but am struggling to find anyone that does it!

It's like a neverending task list, owning a house. But then I prefer this over renting where issues never get fixed because of shitty letting agencies that don't inform your landlord!

[nightwolf]

Whether anyone will answer this, I'm not sure, but I am quite curious.

My partner and I are currently saving for a house, we're a long way off yet. We're sat at about £4000 and we ideally are looking at getting between £10-15k instead for a deposit.

So my question is, how much did you lot save first for a home? Was there some reasoning behind it? 

[Serebii]

Got my first viewing next week now. One of the three houses that we've seen that we like the look of online. Not my ideal one granted but it looks really nice.

This has escalated so quickly haha

[Fierce_LiNk]

1 minute ago, nightwolf said:

Whether anyone will answer this, I'm not sure, but I am quite curious.

My partner and I are currently saving for a house, we're a long way off yet. We're sat at about £4000 and we ideally are looking at getting between £10-15k instead for a deposit.

So my question is, how much did you lot save first for a home? Was there some reasoning behind it? 

I believe that it's recommended to have 10% of the house price. From doing it all, you spend so much money on furniture, decorating, painting, fixing lots of issues and so on. You're looking in the north of England, so I assume the house prices will be cheaper? It really is worth taking a bit more time to save up for a bit longer as the money just disappears so quickly. 

[Eenuh]

5 minutes ago, nightwolf said:

Whether anyone will answer this, I'm not sure, but I am quite curious.

My partner and I are currently saving for a house, we're a long way off yet. We're sat at about £4000 and we ideally are looking at getting between £10-15k instead for a deposit.

So my question is, how much did you lot save first for a home? Was there some reasoning behind it? 

Like Jim said, I think in general your mortgage provider will ask you to pay 10% of the sale price of the house you're buying. We agreed to pay a bit more as we had saved up to bring the mortgage price down a bit. So if you're looking at a house of £200,000, you would need £20,000 just for your deposit.

But on top of that you should count in solicitor fees, fees for house survey and the searches they do, fee for your mortgage advisor if you are using one, stamp duty fees (which depend on the price of your house), and of course money for moving and sorting out your house. So yeah, quite costly!

[Fierce_LiNk]

8 minutes ago, Serebii said:

Got my first viewing next week now. One of the three houses that we've seen that we like the look of online. Not my ideal one granted but it looks really nice.

This has escalated so quickly haha

The viewing part is the really fun bit. You get to go to all of these different places (and you will see a huge range!) and just imagine if you could see yourself living there. The first one we looked at was lovely downstairs, but the garden and upstairs killed it for us. The second place we looked at was just completely different in almost every way. A bit of a pain to park and the kitchen was practically none existent. It was so hilariously small and I knew from @Eenuh's reaction that it was no straight away.

[Serebii]

3 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

The viewing part is the really fun bit. You get to go to all of these different places (and you will see a huge range!) and just imagine if you could see yourself living there. The first one we looked at was lovely downstairs, but the garden and upstairs killed it for us. The second place we looked at was just completely different in almost every way. A bit of a pain to park and the kitchen was practically none existent. It was so hilariously small and I knew from @Eenuh's reaction that it was no straight away.

Well I still need to get an Accountant's Certificate to prove that I am self employed for the mortgage before anything can happen so these viewings could wind up pointless

This whole thing makes me nervous though. I'm comfortable here

[Aneres11]

5 minutes ago, Serebii said:

Well I still need to get an Accountant's Certificate to prove that I am self employed for the mortgage before anything can happen so these viewings could wind up pointless

This whole thing makes me nervous though. I'm comfortable here

I hear you re the comfortable thing. 

Our current house is in the same close as my parents (2 doors down, so just one neighbour between us both). 

My BF was completely cool with it when we bought, and we are never bothered by my parents they never come round lol. 

But my middle sis still lives with my parents and my older sis lives literally round the corner on her own, and we have a family dog (labrador) who lives with my parents so I walk him some nights and he pops round every night on his walk for a digestive. :D. 

It's great and I love this house. 

But my BF isn't happy. Doesn't like the neighbours next to us, who granted are wankers, doesn't like how small the house is and doesn't want to spend money on areas that need it (like the bathroom) as it won't add value. I wouldn't want to move, but the additional space in our new house is great and we're still only 5 mins away.

It's compromise really. Part of being in a relationship and all that! 

[Serebii]

1 minute ago, Aneres11 said:

I hear you re the comfortable thing. 

Our current house is in the same close as my parents (2 doors down, so just one neighbour between us both). 

My BF was completely cool with it when we bought, and we are never bothered by my parents they never come round lol. 

But my middle sis still lives with my parents and my older sis lives literally round the corner on her own, and we have a family dog (labrador) who lives with my parents so I walk him some nights and he pops round every night on his walk for a digestive. :D. 

It's great and I love this house. 

But my BF isn't happy. Doesn't like the neighbours next to us, who granted are wankers, doesn't like how small the house is and doesn't want to spend money on areas that need it (like the bathroom) as it won't add value. I wouldn't want to move, but the additional space in our new house is great and we're still only 5 mins away.

It's compromise really. Part of being in a relationship and all that! 

Yeah true. All the places I'm looking at are relatively nearby just so I can rush home to assist mum if she needs it now she's getting older.

That plus 31 living with my parents is a bit odd. I'm turning into Robert from Everybody Loves Raymond   I just am so comfortable here but it's time to make my own routes, especially now I'm in a serious relationship

Edited September 2, 2017 by Serebii

[Aneres11]

Just now, Serebii said:

Yeah true. All the places I'm looking at are relatively nearby just so I can rush home to assist mum if she needs it now she's getting older.

That plus 31 living with my parents is a bit odd. I'm turning into Robert from Everybody Loves Raymond  

Seriously, once you move out and settle you will love it. Having your own place is the best! 

[Serebii]

1 minute ago, Aneres11 said:

Seriously, once you move out and settle you will love it. Having your own place is the best! 

I do have concerns over keeping myself alive when I shut myself away for game coverage. I seldom choose to eat during those times, food is just brought to me. That's why I haven't moved out on my own just yet.

 

Now I have Marti, that's less of an issue, but there's a lot of concern about site management with this.

 

[Fierce_LiNk]

19 minutes ago, Serebii said:

Well I still need to get an Accountant's Certificate to prove that I am self employed for the mortgage before anything can happen so these viewings could wind up pointless

This whole thing makes me nervous though. I'm comfortable here

 

9 minutes ago, Serebii said:

Yeah true. All the places I'm looking at are relatively nearby just so I can rush home to assist mum if she needs it now she's getting older.

That plus 31 living with my parents is a bit odd. I'm turning into Robert from Everybody Loves Raymond   I just am so comfortable here but it's time to make my own routes, especially now I'm in a serious relationship

I think it's becoming more increasingly common for people to live at home with parents for longer, especially as house prices are extortionate and it's just impossible for a large section of society to get on that ladder.

I can definitely say that I have had no regrets about initially moving away from home and from now buying our own place. It's really awesome to know that you can make alterations or big changes and there's a greater sense of ownership. It's good that you acknowledge that you want to make your own way, which shows that you're ready. Sometimes we appreciate things more when we know that there's a great deal of difficulty involved in it. Good luck! 

Will the new place be for both you and your partner?

 

[Serebii]

Just now, Fierce_LiNk said:

 

I think it's becoming more increasingly common for people to live at home with parents for longer, especially as house prices are extortionate and it's just impossible for a large section of society to get on that ladder.

I can definitely say that I have had no regrets about initially moving away from home and from now buying our own place. It's really awesome to know that you can make alterations or big changes and there's a greater sense of ownership. It's good that you acknowledge that you want to make your own way, which shows that you're ready. Sometimes we appreciate things more when we know that there's a great deal of difficulty involved in it. Good luck! 

Will the new place be for both you and your partner?

 

Yes and no. The mortgage and house will be mine alone for now, but we do intend to live together. Should the relationship continue positively then who knows

[Ashley]

I couldn't think of anything worse than being at home still personally.  I love my mother, but the freedom and independence is something I value a hell of a lot.

Good luck with the hunt!

[Fierce_LiNk]

Just now, Serebii said:

Yes and no. The mortgage and house will be mine alone for now, but we do intend to live together. Should the relationship continue positively then who knows

Sensible decision! 

Man, living with someone who is not family is a whole different learning curve. I'm lucky in that @Eenuh is the easiest person I've ever lived with. Living in halls and then with different people at uni was certainly an experience, mostly positive. Very fun, too.

 

Just now, Ashley said:

I couldn't think of anything worse than being at home still personally.  I love my mother, but the freedom and independence is something I value a hell of a lot.

Good luck with the hunt!

Yeah, I'd struggle moving back in now. The year after uni when I moved back in was so difficult and I knew that I couldn't maintain it for the long term.

[Ike]

3 hours ago, Ashley said:

I couldn't think of anything worse than being at home still personally.  I love my mother, but the freedom and independence is something I value a hell of a lot.

Good luck with the hunt!

I thought I was "comfortable" living with my parents but now I've moved out, I can't imagine moving back in.

I miss the amount of money I saved though.

[Goafer]

4 hours ago, nightwolf said:

Whether anyone will answer this, I'm not sure, but I am quite curious.

My partner and I are currently saving for a house, we're a long way off yet. We're sat at about £4000 and we ideally are looking at getting between £10-15k instead for a deposit.

So my question is, how much did you lot save first for a home? Was there some reasoning behind it? 

Me and Maddie ended up saving £30k, but that was mainly because it took so long to actually buy somewhere. We made the offer when we had about £15k - £20k.

 

We ended up paying a £13.5k deposit and spending about £5k - £10k on furniture, doing the place up and fees.

[Charlie]

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68569895.html

This castle character property looks interesting. Incredible price for what it is. Just a shame the area isn't particularly great. The property itself seems in stunning condition indoors from the photos but the home report suggests there could be issues in the future. I'd be very tempted otherwise but I don't want to risk being stuck with huge costs due to structural or damp issues.

[Eenuh]

28 minutes ago, Charlie said:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68569895.html

This castle character property looks interesting. Incredible price for what it is. Just a shame the area isn't particularly great. The property itself seems in stunning condition indoors from the photos but the home report suggests there could be issues in the future. I'd be very tempted otherwise but I don't want to risk being stuck with huge costs due to structural or damp issues.

That's less than we paid for our small terraced house... Whut?! There must be a catch to it somewhere!

[bob]

That's less than we paid for our small terraced house... Whut?! There must be a catch to it somewhere!

It's in Glasgow.

[Charlie]

18 minutes ago, bob said:

41 minutes ago, Eenuh said:

That's less than we paid for our small terraced house... Whut?! There must be a catch to it somewhere!

It's in Glasgow.

That basically is the reason. It's in a worse-off area in Glasgow too.

I thought that if I did buy it I could just dig a moat and a make a drawbridge to keep the chavs out.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Charlie

[Shorty]

Finally considering some decorating.

Fitting laminate floor and a new skirting board, is it something that a noob can do?

[Eenuh]

4 minutes ago, Shorty said:

Finally considering some decorating.

Fitting laminate floor and a new skirting board, is it something that a noob can do?

Probably, if you have the right tools to cut them to the right size... And quite a bit of patience.

One thing I can say, make sure you provide enough of an expansion gap on the outside, as apparently my dad and uncle didn't do that when we put ours down in the living room, and now we are having to get someone to come in and fix it (a story I might share in the Bad stuff thread later).

[Shorty]

Yeah I've watched some videos which have 10mm spacers around the room, hope that's enough? I can borrow a cheap circular saw from someone at work, not ideal but I might be able to make it work.

[EEVILMURRAY]

Well the portion of the wall which the neighbours said had a crack in it (which to be fair it did) we have now replaced with a nice wooden panel. However when were knocking out the block bits it actually made the wall wobble/rock a bit more, but not in their direction, because the end of the wall is next to (not part of) their garage which blocks it like a bookend. After finding some lats to help with the fence panel and the shed roof - which I need to re-felt/whatever the roof stuff is called - their driveway now has a half half stone, half wooden panel modern stylish look. It's really weird as we have the same set up on our driveway, except mine is sanded down and varnished and I have no obligation to do the same to theirs because I have a fuckton of tree blocking my view. We also used a bracket to hold the wall to their garage, which they may complain about, but it's all with the grand scheme of holding up the wall they were concerned about.