Owning your own home

Did you get in and then get the Sky stuff done?

Actually best advice is book BT when you exchange as they take about 3 weeks, my mate did this and had BT in two days after they moved in. I didn't book them until I moved in and it took about 4 weeks. You can always cancel BT at a later date.

I got the builders to install sky points in all the rooms as the building has a single communal dish.

I booked the sky guy to turn up as close to the moving date as i could (before i moved in). He turned up about 4 days after we moved in and it took him about 3 hours to connect everything.

If your points are already installed and wired correctly, it should only take 45 mins.

I exchanged 2 months ago

When I bought a new build I then spent the next 6 months getting stuff fixed, or stuff which was meant to have been installed, installed.

You make money off the deal almost immediately, but I would not do it again.

If you're paying BT line rental and don't want to switch providers, at the very least sign up for BT line rental saver (see money saving expert) and pay a year in advance

haha same for me.
took months and months for snagging. was quite funny. i told them about the toilet roll holder they simple screwed into the plasterboard which popped out that needed to be put back properly. their idea was to simply glue the toilet roll holder to the wall! wasn't worth the hassle arguing about it.
more importantly a small window wouldn't open as the windowsil was slightly too high. so they took the whole lot off, then sanded it down and put it back. and got paint all over the window frame. it was as if they sent one of the office workers round to sort the problem rather than a proper contractor.
just stay clear of wates

on the topic of tv packages etc...i've been without tv for a few months whilst getting the place sorted. realised non of the rooms had a tv aerial point, so got a guy round to sort that, but he said he couldn't as he didn't want to get up onto the roof in case it collapsed on him! so getting that sorted now instead.

Moar viewings this weekend but the missus is working so it seems a bit pointless going on my own, tbh.

Have accepted the fact that we can probably only get a nice 1 bed or a 2 bed crack-den somewhere distant.

Moar viewings this weekend but the missus is working so it seems a bit pointless going on my own, tbh.

Nah you can always organise second viewings and with that, you get taken seriously.

defo go on your own. or take a mate. saves the mrs getting dragged around if the places are naff anyway so you can tell her about the good ones. plus go on the bike then you can explore the area.

not sure whether it was you or mands looking for circa 300k place in walthamstow but saw this 2 bed, not great but cheap at 250

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48645934.html?utm_content=v2-ealertspropertyimage&utm_medium=email&utm_source=emailupdates&utm_campaign=emailupdatesinstant&utm_term=buying&sc_id=14459933&onetime_FromEmail=true

This is a lovely selling point

That's one of the places I'm viewing ;)

I'll be on the bike so it will be a good opportunity to explore a bit.

no offence but that looks pretty crap and needs a lot of money spending on it.

its also probably significantly less than 600 sq ft which imo is too small for a decent sized 2 bedroom flat.

Yeah, it looks v small. Loving the pics of the bush.
But it is v cheap.

haha yes this made me laugh also. there could be a whole thread devoted to strange estate agency pics like this

good man. yes, it's not massive and needs money spent on it and is on a busy road... but its very cheap for the area. believe me. even if you want to use it as a one bed there haven't been many for ages that are worth considering

Yeah, that's my thinking. Its getting expensive round there.

It is a bit rank looking but everything round there for £300k is a bit of a dive. Could make it nice tho.

I wasn't convinced by the landscape shot, helpfully they also provided it in portrait

Based on that I've bought the property over the phone on my credit card.

That's cheap. Photos 15 and 17 show signs of damp; in 15 its up the walls, and in 17 it's possibly coming from the roof of that shitty extension.

If you can keep under £250k then it's a real bonus to avoid the tax. Can't remember what you'd have to pay on £250k+ since the rules have changed.

^ haha good one made me laugh

Is getting a 'snagging inspection' report money well spent?

If you can keep under £250k then it's a real bonus to avoid the tax. Can't remember what you'd have to pay on £250k+ since the rules have changed.

5% of anything over £250k, so nothing like the jump it was, it's no longer a thing really.

£250k still = £2500
£260k now = £3000 instead of £7800

The damp looks pretty bad.

all im trying to say is dont rush and buy something that might look like its a good deal at first blush, but that actually needs 40 grand spending on it. finance is cheap at the moment and its likely we are in a bubble. everything is fully priced in - there is only so much a shonky 1.5 bed flat in walthamstow is worth when the cheap money stops- just make sure you dont pay over the odds if you do want to get into the market, and do what you can to make sure you arent left holding the baby if it all goes wrong again..

I just think its worth a reminder that 5 or 6 years ago things were very different and that flat would have been 160-175k...