Owning your own home

Already tried that, Hackney magic has failed me this time ;)

The @christianSpaceman plan of chopping up and slow disposal is probably best.

Alternatively I could make it into furniture @spotter style then leave it out for disposal by the council, because they'll take furniture but not a pallet!

When does a pallet become furniture...?

when you put a sheet over it.

Forum trailer?

The pallet should have an indelible/ branded mark on the blocks indicating the preservation chemical, if any.
Methyl Bromide used to be the 'standard' for export, but is 'being phased out'.

Put wheels on it and call it upcycled. Profit.

You know how to hurt a man

Has anyone any experience regarding abortive bills from conveyancing lawyers? Our house purchase has fallen through yet again, just before exchange and the lawyers are charging us an abortive bill of 95% of the cost of the completed conveyancing. It feels expensive, but should I just stump up and get on with it?

We are now buying another place and have asked them to quote, which has come in at more than the first place despite it being a cheaper flat. Getting a bit sensitive about legal bills, this is our third place to fall through in a year and we will have paid out nearly £4k in fees....first time buying has gone badly.

Le viewer has put an offer in, hideously low, it actually made us laugh.
Trying to convince us to knock 20k off so he can do the kitchen and bathroom.
Our EA helpfully sent him a link to B&Q showing it can easily be done for £5,000, and if he is interested he should start a lot closer to the asking price.
I have specced a cheap and cheerful upgrade path on Screwfix for £1700 so my counter offer is £2,000 off, if he does come back to us.

should I just stump up and get on with it?

Depends if it was in the T&Cs of the agreement you signed to get them on case.

If this is the first you've learned of their abortive fee, then you could probably challenge it and try to bargain to reduce it. They should be paid for their work, obvs, so an itemised invoice would help so you can figure out if they have done most of the work required to get this over the line.

If the 95% fee has been in plain sight all along, then yeah just pony up.

Lol.

@dammit will want to know if he was wearing an Omega or not.

have specced a cheap and cheerful upgrade path on Screwfix for £1700 so my counter offer is non

Thanks. It's my own fault, in the initial excitement, they offered a no completion, no fee at a cost of £50 or something silly, which I ignored/missed.

Feck

Bummer :/

Ah well, have a look through the T&Cs and see if the 95% is specifically mentioned, and if not try to haggle over what they put on the invoice.

And/or a discount if you use them again (and complete) a purchase...

Our sols offered insurance to cover this. Think it was about £80 or so from memory.
Might be worth it for next time?

Optimism won me over the last time, the cynic is now alive and kicking. Definitely taking the insurance this time.

For the Walthamstow heads (although I prefer and would recommend > Leyton > Jubilee Park > Orient Way > Velodrome > Olympic Stadium > over A12 > Victoria Park > London Fields instead)

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/q2-bloomsbury-walthamstow-map.pdf

But there are no hipster coffee shops in Bloomsbury.

Le Viewer is coming back tonight for another look, sans EA as they knock off at 6.
Should be fun.
Will see what watch he is wearing...

What sort of prices would people expect to pay for built-in alcove cupboard / shelving & TV / media unit shelving?

We're looking at painted MDF, and the quote we received has been waaaay more than we would have thought.

If you give a better idea of size/number of cupboards/style of doors/number of shelves/shelf support style/specific paint finish (spray/brush/roller/oil/waterbased etc)/any facing details or routed shelf edges/type of MDF/Which floor of the house/Lighting/Hinge Hardware & Door Hardware then I could give you an idea of cost.

Generally speaking it's going to be £1000+ for a decent painted alcove cupboard with movable shelves/handpainted/installed on the ground floor. That represents around £250 in materials mdf/paint/shelf hardware/door hardware.

You can do it cheaper if you just want 3 coats of cheap paint with a roller, no meaningful sanding of edges and cheap hardware.

irregular poster here... London Prime is on its arse, Foxtons Share prices looking like Hardknott pass (the freewheel direction), Market sentiment looking worse every day, Brexit, political instability, BTL market about to get severely taxed up the arse, 3% SD on second homes.
Auctions aren't selling, very little coming on the market, daily reductions on zoopla/rightmove. Current insane house prices built on nothing more than cheap borrowing which WILL come to an end.

Gotta be brave to buy atm. - Oh yeah gotta remember London house prices will always go up right?

London house prices have dropped significantly, i.e. by more than 10%, in the lifetime of this forum.

But the rest of your points stand.

10 years and 3 months this Sunday.