Owning your own home

They bought it in Jan and then did the work.

I think @umop3pisdn is right and it's probably more profitable for the surveyors to home buyer's

rather regret spending £300 on a survey you don't need than £100000s on a house you regret buying.

Absolutely. The EA will definitely recommend a price cut. Consider the math

Agent is on 1.5% commission.

Property sells for 500k. Agent gets 7,500.

Property sells for 475k. Agent still gets 7,125. He is only down 375 quid. As the seller though you're down 25 grand...

Get as much detailed surveying stuff done.
We pulled out of a buy in the final throws when it was discovered that a tree close to the house (Eucalyptus = long horizontal roots) had been removed a few years earlier but docs showed the underpinning work under the house hadn't been done.
Stuff like that ...

That only really applies if the agent owns the agency. Most don’t, so their commission is way lower than that, so they are mainly interested in the sale, rather than haggling for a price that earns them an additional £50.

This.

Always have a graded commission schedule with your EA

Our offer has been tentatively accepted.

tentatively? what does that mean?

We offered well under the asking price, she needs to see if 'the numbers can work' as she is also buying our flat (a bit weird but happy to go with it)
So she has said yes but needs to talk to her solicitor to make sure she hasn't forgotten any fees/ expenses and can afford to take the hit on her asking price.
(She is desperate to sell, previous buyer flounced on day of exchange)

So desperate to sell hers she's accepting way under the price and buying yours?

I'm suspicious.

Have you asked why the previous buyer flounced?

Her mother can no longer live unaided, it's her house, the sale is to help fund her assisted living. Buying ours enables us to buy hers, also she intends to rent it out for an income.
Previously buyer flounced due to him ambition to extend above the garage, builder said it's not strong enough and would need to be bulldozed and rebuilt for the extra strength required.
Plus he intended to rent it to the council as a HMO. Needs rewires, new boiler, new windows, good old decorate, and he decided at the eleventh hour there wasn't any money it for a fair few years.
We still intend to do full fat survey and hope nothings too fucked.
We are optimistic.

Sounds legit.

Crack on.

Estate Agent managed let a bird into the house we are in the process of purchasing. Genuinely can't believe the amount of shit that came out of a single blackbird in 5 days considering it ate nothing.
Fortunately have a nosey mother who fancied a poke round the property and spotted it in the window.
Plus side, carpets etc. Are all getting cleaned now!

Also asked the vendor the have the heating put into service. The place is empty (tenants left) and there's a fair bit of condensation appearing with the temps going up and down as they are. They've accepted the request without Q.. don't think it was unreasonable?! A warm house is a happy house and all.

Managed to get a decent reduction on the place ahead of Thursdays likely rate rise. Suggested it'll sit there a while should they not accept the offer and with no chain either end we'd like a quick sale and be in for Xmas. First property for myself. It's an interesting process I'll say that!

there's a fair bit of condensation appearing with the temps going up and down as they are.

If the heating is off the house should be the same temperature as outside, so there shouldn’t be condensation inside.

To get significant condensation you also need a source for the water, which if the house is empty there shouldn’t really be.

Get a survey.

If the heating is off the house should be the same temperature as outside, so there shouldn’t be condensation inside.

Only if the insulation is awful or the windows are wide open. I'd expect the temp in an unoccupied and unheated house to vary over the course of the day and drop at night, but way away from the extremes of the high/low temps of the day/night.

If the temp swings are too great then the water in the warmer daytime air will be enough to form reasonable condensation. Of course this evaporates again as the house warms up again during the day. Without any circulation (or anything else to affect this) this cycle will just repeat.

A survey should tell you if there's a specific damp problem, but then again condensation may just not be a problem once you've moved in, keeping the air circulating and not letting it get too cold.

A bit, maybe.

But I'd say not 'a fair bit' and as you say it ought to clear quickly during the day.

Hopefully once the heating goes on the condensation will lessen rather than worsen.

Mortgage rates are creeping up... just had my offer expire and new one is £180 pm more then the old one. With bank of England start normalizing process interest rates first rise is very soon it's only gonna get more expensive... scary times with no real wage growth and inflation heading up.
Im not predicting a house price crash but i can see it happening in post brexit world.

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/853811484835908129/pdf/WPS7947.pdf

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I need lighting in my shed, but know almost nothing about electricity. I have an extension cord I reel out to the house for the occasional power tool and I'd like to run the lights off the same power source.

I was thinking of using LED strips with a mains power adapter (ebay special 'super bright' ones for a fiver). Has anyone used these? Are they bright enough to light a shed on their own?

Squints....fuck.... is that Calibri?

I have a full length fluorescent tube sized led fixture in my garage that runs off a normal plug. I can find the model out if you want but I think it’s just a normal fitting with a plug instead of wiring it into a switch etc. It’s a lot of light and two would be unnecessary.

How much light? For putting bikes away a simple solar will do. For brighter light, there are some decent battery LEDs out there, both options have pir versions for ease of use. For super bright mains, just put up a pendant with a big led bulb up plugged into the extension cord with an in-line switch.

This should arrive today, I will report back on it's effectiveness.

Motion Sensor Light, LOFTer 56LED 2250mAh Rechargeable Battery Upgraded Wireless PIR Motion Activated Stick on Wardrobe Cabinet Closet Under Counter Cupboard Kitchen Shed Garage Lighting 4 Light Modes https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0713S8TLW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_.tb-zbTBPPXEX

Not skimping on the survey; It's a 18th century cottage with 2ft thick walls... it was converted with extension in 2007 so should be OK.
I've opened all the doors (internal..) built in wardrobes etc. to allow best ventilation I could.
Temp swing (West Country) is pretty extreme right now. 2 degrees to 14 daily so it's no surprise.
Looking forward to having mains utilities having been off the grid on oil for all my life.

Science thread
Does air temp raise or fall quicker or equally?

Ok - thanks all. I do the occasional project in there, so I want decent light, just don't want the hassle of get the whole shed properly wired in

just a normal fitting with a plug instead of wiring it into a switch etc

just put up a pendant with a big led bulb up plugged into the extension cord with an in-line switch.

I think this answers my question - sounds like I can just wire a standard bulb pendant onto a three pin plug rather than into a light switch on the wall.

Voltage (current?) is a total mystery to me - I wasn't sure if it would work / burn the shed down.