Owning your own home

Ahem.... It's a 'studio'

That's the sort of thing that gets it down valued by a surveyor, as they have included the shed in the square footage the cheeky twats.

And it was totally a shed, not a studio of any sort, they had set up some fake "this is where I paint" space in there but the 3 pristine shine non weathered bikes leant up against the outside of the "studio" was the biggest lol.

I'm tempted to offer 550k just as a fuck you and your valuation...

I like the photo of the cupboard handle.

Local curry place is ok. Tasty enough, bit forgetful even on collection orders but they’ll drive the missing bits over is my experience of it. In delivery radius for Babur tho if you want fancy.

If your within delivery distance, Panas Gurkha is the way to go.

Best Indian food I've ever eaten has been in Oz... Less Anglo, loads of Indians fresh off the boat cooking very authentic home cooked grub... Cheap and fucking delicious... All the taxi drivers here are Indian, half of them run their own restaurants in the evenings... Terrific... Was never a big restaurant/take-away curry person back home but it's a diff story here... #csb

Yeh but do they deliver to se6?

For free?

They probably have a relative who will...

Most Indian dishes in London taste exactly the same, the sauces are a different colour and that's it... IMVHO, obvs...

Just had an offer we put on a house accepted. Wahey! Only downside is the seller is saying on the condition that we delay completion until March. They are emmigrating then and are also expecting a baby in 4 weeks, so they want to avoid having to move twice. They are keen to exchange as quickly as possible though.

My question is, what risks are we exposing ourselves too if we exchange contracts 2 months before completion. From what I understand, after exchange we become responsible for the property and thus will need to get building insurance, but is there anything else I should be thinking about?

Find some local scumbag kids outside being a nuisance.
Organise a fixie beers meeting outside.

Same thing, no?

They are emmigrating then and are also expecting a baby in 4 weeks, so they want to avoid having to move twice. They are keen to exchange as quickly as possible though.

That cake. I can haz it. And eat it?

They can pay you the interest on the deposit?

I'm not sure how this might affect any mortgage offer - @Hefty might know. You might find your mortgage offer has expired by then, and things have moved on.

Personally I'd use this as a further bargaining thingy. 'OK that's fine but we are taking £15k off our offer to compensate for interest and uncertainty' or something.

Problem is they will just turn around and say fine, offer rejected, and then they wait until February not caring.

how much have you offered? is it at / above AP? if so, they're not going to let you go that easily

Problem is they will just turn around and say fine, offer rejected

Then they are dickheads? Why give dickheads your money?

Maybe so, but they are dickheads with a very nice house we want.

@greenhell nah, 4% under asking price. Their asking price was crazy though.

what if market changes in the mean time and they know they can get 20% more?

I suspect the market is pretty fucked short term. Until there's some kind of brexit epiphany it will be a buyers market. They won't let you go that easily.

They want to take? They have to give, too.

OK it's not my negotiation, but the worst they can say is no. They won't tell you to F off (although they might think it). If they do, they are bonkers.

They won't tell you to F off

I go in market as a buyer/seller with this presumption .. maybe I am a cynic

They are coming from the "well, we are saying yes to 30k under asking, so for us to say yes then we want to stay until March" angle. Which is kind of bullshit, and I do want to say jog on, pay us rent from completion until you move. But at the same time this is the house we want by a long way and are okay with bending over a little bit so we get it. Just want to make sure we don't bend too much...

You could just be enigmatic and say 'that won't work for us'. Or invent a reason, like oops we a now in a chain and have deadlines. Or that you incur some kind of fee if you don't move. See what they come back with. It's the slightly less nuclear option. That way you can at least try the 'OK but consequences' above if they remain stubborn on the dates.

If they get a bit shitty about it, then absolute worst you can mumble some kinda of half agreement, then drag your feet on exchange as long as possible and generally punish them for being dicks.

They can't ask for something without giving something, and they didn't give you this information when you made your offer, so it's fair to negotiate.

Had a peak at another wee house, this time in Poplar, which is close enough to civilisation to be worth living in or so I thought... Turned out the specific area/street was horrific, a dozen or so nice old terrace houses surrounded my a rats maze of council blocks in various states of decay, also worth noting was the gap in the terrace next to the house I was looking at where its neighbouring house had fallen down. Decided it was worth giving it a miss and as I walked round the corner came across a shrine to a young lad who, as the numerous tributes put it "had been murdered in broad daylight by heartless SCUM".

Walthamstow
Poplar

Next up, thoughts on overpaying on a mortgage, worth it? My mortgage is up, I'm looking at either the same again and repaying as and when I have spare cash or a shorter term and higher repayment. Apart from flexibility/affordability anything I need to know? Rate variations?

overpaying on a mortgage, worth it?

If you want to save £££ in the long term then I reckon so.

Unless you are a guru investor and can better use the extra cash for something else then personally I'm a fan of smashing the debt away quicker.

I had a 25 year mortgage. It will be paid off in 10 years and 000s of £ cheaper.
With interest rates low, this overpayment money wouldn't have made much in a bank account (and I don't really do stocks and shares shit).

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-overpayment-calculator

Poplar, which is close enough to civilisation to be worth living in or so I thought...

I lived there for a bit, just north of Canary Wharf.

It's a bit grim.