Raining_again Posted September 5, 2017 Posted September 5, 2017 awk @shorty if i can do it a man of your calibre can. I ripped off all my doorframes and refitted new smaller ones. you just need a saw and one of those angle mitre boxes. (for doorframes and skirting boards). Half decent long nails with the small heads. A LOT of measuring and a lot of patience.
Serebii Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 Just had first viewing and resounding "meh". Seems decent enough but it just doesn't feel like it'd be where I can live.
Serebii Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 Second house is AMAZING I may have put an offer in
Ashley Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 Did you tell them you own the world's biggest Pokémon fansite? That'll swing it! But seriously, fingers crossed for you! 1
Serebii Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 13 minutes ago, Ashley said: Did you tell them you own the world's biggest Pokémon fansite? That'll swing it! But seriously, fingers crossed for you! Nope. The sellers had all Nintendo consoles in one of their rooms though. Maybe I should have haha However, they accepted anyway Let's hope everything goes well 2 3
Mr-Paul Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 Not hanging around haha! I can't imagine being decisive enough to put an offer on my first day of viewings! Hope it goes well Mr Serebii!
Serebii Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 2 minutes ago, Mr-Paul said: Not hanging around haha! I can't imagine being decisive enough to put an offer on my first day of viewings! Hope it goes well Mr Serebii! We had been looking online for a while and were so lucky to find a few that fit our requirements. The first sucked. The second though matched our hopes. It's more that there was another couple interested so I had to snake them. 1
Eenuh Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 1 hour ago, Mr-Paul said: Not hanging around haha! I can't imagine being decisive enough to put an offer on my first day of viewings! Hope it goes well Mr Serebii! To be honest we bought the 3rd house we viewed. But like Serebii, I had spent ages looking online for houses, probably more than a year heh. You kind of know when it feels right. 1
Mr-Paul Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Serebii said: We had been looking online for a while and were so lucky to find a few that fit our requirements. The first sucked. The second though matched our hopes. It's more that there was another couple interested so I had to snake them. 1 minute ago, Eenuh said: To be honest we bought the 3rd house we viewed. But like Serebii, I had spent ages looking online for houses, probably more than a year heh. You kind of know when it feels right. I'm awfully indecisive so hopefully when the day comes suddenly I find some decision making skills! May be a while off yet though as there's no way I can afford to buy in London where I live right now! Edited September 9, 2017 by Mr-Paul
Serebii Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Mr-Paul said: I'm awfully indecisive so hopefully when the day comes suddenly I find some decision making skills! May be a while off yet though as there's no way I can afford to buy in London where I live right now! I did clearly fall for the oldest trick in an estate agent's book though 11 minutes ago, Eenuh said: To be honest we bought the 3rd house we viewed. But like Serebii, I had spent ages looking online for houses, probably more than a year heh. You kind of know when it feels right. Yeah. Really, needing to actually go to multiple viewings isn't that necessary thanks to RightMove and sites like that. You get to see the general look of a house, inside and out, and viewings are just to confirm if that is truly the case or not. If it doesn't fit, then chances are the house isn't for you @Mr-Paul. You'll find one you love Edited September 9, 2017 by Serebii
Fierce_LiNk Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 You could technically be looking for ages because surely there will always be a "better house" out there. We knew we wanted our previous flat (renting) and that was our first viewing. We saw three or four more after that and they were all shit in comparison in almost every way. We could have kept looking for months, but if you've already found the one that you like, then sometimes it is just better to go with your gut. I remember walking in to that flat and knew pretty much straight away that it was perfect for our situation at that point. I had a very similar feeling when we went house hunting. It's like that typical thing people do when they go on holiday and decide to go out for food. Yes, this restaurant is good, but there miiiiiiight be a better one in that direction. 1
bob Posted September 9, 2017 Posted September 9, 2017 We only looked at one house. Put an offer in at the second viewing of it. Knew it was the one we wanted!
Fierce_LiNk Posted September 10, 2017 Posted September 10, 2017 15 hours ago, bob said: We only looked at one house. Put an offer in at the second viewing of it. Knew it was the one we wanted! Yeah, we went to look at ours twice, too. Seems a sensible thing to do and plus you get a good feel for what sort of improvements you need to do to it and can total that up in your head. We knew that the carpets needed to go and that it definitely needed modernising in lots of areas. Essentially, you're buying a frame or layout. Virtually nothing in this house is the same now! The walls were papered and painted, the carpets ripped up and replaced by laminate flooring, the furniture is all ours and new, the plugs were all converted from singles to doubles, the light switches were replaced and quite a fair bit more than that, too. It's already a far superior house than the one we bought. 1
Serebii Posted September 10, 2017 Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) Found out the house got underpinned in 1993. They're going to get back to me with the reason but it being 25 years ago and no issues since means it's probably not that much of an issue. Full structural survey it is. Should be fine and it's a nice house so I likely won't back out unless the survey says it's going to tip over. Just means insurance may be a bit of a pain. Hopefully this won't mean my mortgage lender will back out. Edited September 10, 2017 by Serebii
EEVILMURRAY Posted September 11, 2017 Posted September 11, 2017 Just got an email form our energy providers. They said that our direct debits is going up to £97 a month after October. Missus is not best pleased, and neither am I - I just phoned them up to see if it's correct and they said it's the figure they got from doing a latest review on our energy usage, which I can only blame on the missus at the moment because she has a habit of turning every light on in every room she passes and deigns not to turn them off when passing back. Not even giving her night vision a chance to shine for the sake of savings. Other than that there has to be something seriously using a lot of energy to keep going. Will probably end up having to switch to another provider.
Eenuh Posted September 11, 2017 Posted September 11, 2017 14 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said: Just got an email form our energy providers. They said that our direct debits is going up to £97 a month after October. Missus is not best pleased, and neither am I - I just phoned them up to see if it's correct and they said it's the figure they got from doing a latest review on our energy usage, which I can only blame on the missus at the moment because she has a habit of turning every light on in every room she passes and deigns not to turn them off when passing back. Not even giving her night vision a chance to shine for the sake of savings. Other than that there has to be something seriously using a lot of energy to keep going. Will probably end up having to switch to another provider. Do you send in meter readings to them as well, or is all this based on an estimate they do? I have been sending in occasional meter readings (both gas and electricity) and our Direct Debit is now being dropped from £59 to £52 or something. The £59 was an introductory deal because I switched to them when we moved, so not sure if that will change at some point or not. But it's definitely worth looking into switching if you are paying too much, just make sure you are free to leave and don't need to pay a leaving fee. I am very energy conscious though, never have lights on in rooms we are not in. And the heating will only be turned on when it really is needed (usually not until around October).
EEVILMURRAY Posted September 11, 2017 Posted September 11, 2017 15 minutes ago, Eenuh said: Do you send in meter readings to them as well, or is all this based on an estimate they do?. Mainly the latter, when they send an email asking for readings I try to get back to them but ultimately forget
Eenuh Posted September 11, 2017 Posted September 11, 2017 1 minute ago, EEVILMURRAY said: Mainly the latter, when they send an email asking for readings I try to get back to them but ultimately forget Definitely do the readings! Because otherwise they are just making up numbers, and you could be paying a lot more than is necessary. I try to do mine once a month or every 2 months at least, which is how I got my DD lowered.
Raining_again Posted September 11, 2017 Posted September 11, 2017 (edited) 97 feckin pound a month? when you say switching on light bulbs, are you sure its not electric heaters or ovens lol.... I didnt even pay that in the depth of irish winter, in an eco7 heating system on prepaid electric.....!! Estimates are estimates and they are ultimately fixed when you send in readings, so you'll pay more now and less later if you are found to be using less than they've estimated, they won't actually TAKE more money in the long run, its just a faff to sort out. I moved into my house and was paying £30 a month on electric, as a standard cost for a new customer. I submitted readings and i was using nowhere near that, so i've been paying £11 a month until my credit reduces. I use between £16 and £18 a month. Also re the view and bid, i think when you know you know.... You'll almost certainly know straight away. My house was the 3rd i viewed, 2nd i bidded on. 1st one I got into a bidding war, and it got over the amount I wanted to pay (i think their sale fell through in the end) 2nd was an orlit house, and unable to be mortgaged. 3rd was the one i live in. Edited September 11, 2017 by Raining_again
EEVILMURRAY Posted September 12, 2017 Posted September 12, 2017 18 hours ago, Raining_again said: 97 feckin pound a month? when you say switching on light bulbs, are you sure its not electric heaters or ovens lol.... I didnt even pay that in the depth of irish winter, in an eco7 heating system on prepaid electric.....!! I took a reading yesterday, rang them today and passed it onto them, and said if they don't come back to me with a better number I'm going to be switching. The dude I spoke to tried saying that due to the winter months the energy usage did go up but even he admitted going from £47 to £97 was a bit extreme. Will hear from them within 7 days, if the number displeases me - I may hit you up @Shorty
Aneres11 Posted September 14, 2017 Posted September 14, 2017 House buying really is the worst isn't it?! Last week we were told by Bellway that completion for our new build would be the week commencing 25th September. Really pleased with this, we were just waiting on the buyers solicitor to confirm to our solicitor that this date was acceptable. Fast forward to this week and not heard anything which seemed odd. After several calls to our solicitor who was strangely, never there to speak to or 'on the other line' we were getting a bit concerned. Add to that, Bellway called me on Monday to ask if we had filled out a fixtures and fitting form for our current house we've sold - which we did weeks ago. Turns out Bellway had been trying to contact our solicitor but couldn't reach him every time. So today I called the solicitor and demanded to speak to him. He said "yeah, your buyers don't have a mortgage offer yet". i was stunned. I just said how is that even possible? How can they put an offer in without at least one in principal? And who instructed the searches on our property that happened three weeks ago in that case as I thought the mortgage provider did this on behalf of the buyer?!! He just said, yeah leave it with me but in the mean time I'll send you a report that your mortgage provider did on your new property to look at. Great. Fuming, I called Bellway to give our sales advisor this news and she said it's not the info she received. She had called our estate agents on Monday after talking to me and they called the buyers solicitors for her and relayed that the buyers had their mortgage offer, they also had their help to buy grant in place and were just waiting for land / drainage searches or something. So I called the solicitor back again and told him he needed to try harder and to call the buyers solicitors again and that I wanted a call back today. Fair play, he did call me back at 4:30 saying "oh yes they do have their mortgage offer" and proceeded to ask me questions that the buyers solicitor had for us about the property. He answered them via email whilst I was on the phone and sent them back and then said he would arrange for completion on the 25th and doesn't now see it being an issue. What a joke. The solicitor has not impressed me to be honest and won't be using him again. Why is it that when you spend all this money on them, they can't seem to just provide an update or even do the basics for you - like call you back when they say they will?! Anyway - Sept 25th maybe?! Yay.
Serebii Posted September 15, 2017 Posted September 15, 2017 Got my mortgage appointment today to finalise things, sort our surveys etc. Estate Agent informed me that the sellers are willing to break the chain since they haven't found a place yet but are willing to move in with parents during the interim. Just two weeks ago I wasn't intending to move out soon, now I am well on my way. How fast things change 1
MoogleViper Posted September 15, 2017 Posted September 15, 2017 On 09/09/2017 at 7:54 PM, Fierce_LiNk said: You could technically be looking for ages because surely there will always be a "better house" out there. We knew we wanted our previous flat (renting) and that was our first viewing. We saw three or four more after that and they were all shit in comparison in almost every way. We could have kept looking for months, but if you've already found the one that you like, then sometimes it is just better to go with your gut. I remember walking in to that flat and knew pretty much straight away that it was perfect for our situation at that point. I had a very similar feeling when we went house hunting. It's like that typical thing people do when they go on holiday and decide to go out for food. Yes, this restaurant is good, but there miiiiiiight be a better one in that direction. On top of that there's also the, "If we increased our budget just a little bit we could get... if we increased our budget just a little bit more we could also get..."
Goafer Posted September 16, 2017 Posted September 16, 2017 On 15/09/2017 at 8:33 AM, Serebii said: Etate Agent informed me that the sellers are willing to break the chain since they haven't found a place yet but are willing to move in with parents during the interim. Fleetwood Mac are going to be furious. 2
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