Owning your own home

I also live opposite a park in an area that seems to attract loud drunks at night. That is a pain but waking up and seeing massive trees swaying and looking out over grass makes up for it - and if we had double glazing it would probably be fine.

I would definitely go for the fixer (even though we're halfway through our own).

Shiny stuff that's not to your taste but is too new to bin is my idea of a nightmare - and I really enjoy putting my own stamp on a place (even if you'd have had a hard time reminding me of that at times over the last year).

Also that door is excellent.

There's a 3am trumpet practicer around our way.

Go for the fixer. Esp if it's mostly cosmetic. Having a liveable kitchen is a great start and with no extensions needed you can do room by room as you can afford / have time to do it. May take a bit longer but it will be 'yours'.

Shiny stuff that's not to your taste but is too new to bin is my idea of a nightmare.

We bought option 1 under the guise that 'we won't need to do anything until we're ready' and then ended up almost immediately doing everything anyway, and paid a premium accordingly. Maybe not as shiny as your sounds - but particularly if your motivation is a home, option 2 is the dream if you have the capacity (and it sounds like you do!)

3am trumpet practicer

You are a paedophile, you are a nonce, you're a perv, you're a slot badger, you're a two pin DIN plug, you're a bush dodger, you're a small bean regarder, you're a unabummer, you're a nut administrator, you're a bent ref, you're The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, you're a fence vole, you're a free willy, you're a chimney bottler, you're a bunty man, you're a shrub rocketeer...

I went for the fixer, got the keys a few weeks ago. Similar to you - it's all entirely liveable but it's had a family there for 25 years and they haven't changed much in the last... 15 years maybe...
it needs plenty doing but there are enough rooms that once the structural stuff is sorted then it can be done piecemeal.
I'm a bit daunted but quite looking forward to it. Ask me again in a year though.

Exactly what I did with my current mortgage it was easier to have a second mortgage with the same provider to get around the fees.

About to move to another provider as the rate was too favourable to turn down so it'll mean both mortgages are redeemed.

my question is how did you line up the timing to move to another provider? as mine will be 10-11 months out of sync with each other

I had the same, so I currently have about 2.5yrs left on one mortgage, and 5 years on the other. Both with First Direct.
If the timescales end up sorting themselves out then I'll combine them.

I think you can remortgage a bit early often too (if staying with the same provider) - if memory serves then there was a few months leeway - so it may be I can gradually bring them in line and end up with a single mortgage in one place.

But the early redemption cost was a few thousand so it was worth staying.

How much of a premium are you paying for the shiny? Often agents think that they're worth a hefty bonus amount compared to an average property but in reality once all the furniture is out and everything off the walls it will probably need some bits and pieces to be done, there will be some things you don't like, some stuff that needs replacing, etc.

The idea of putting your own stamp on is nice but it can be knackering. Spending years doing DIY, particularly if working full time, can become quite the drag. Also how hefty is your renovation budget, having to skimp on the stuff you want doing and it end up not like you want is annoying.

Ultimately either is probably the right choice. Whichever you go for you'll have some "what if" moments.

Or hang on for number 3, somewhere in between the two ...

It was still on the market when we moved out and we'd been happily warning the prospective new tenants that the place was on the market (which seemed to have been missed from the rental ad)

Or hang on for number 3, somewhere in between the two ...

If the fixer can’t be had fairly, this.

The fixer we looked at £ per sq foot would have made it the spendiest house on the street at asking. Offered 93% and was rejected after they took four days to ‘consider’ it. Sacked it off for now because the sums don’t work out compared to the modernised stuff thats on.

Suspect it will be on all winter.

Does anyone have one of those Dyson heating cooling fans? Are they any good?

I think you can remortgage a bit early often too (if staying with the same provider) - if memory serves then there was a few months leeway - so it may be I can gradually bring them in line and end up with a single mortgage in one place.

Depends on the mortgage proivider, but remember that they do this in order to keep you as a customer as to go anywhere else would incur an ERC. Somewhere else might have a better deal but you'd need to stay in the current deal for an extra 3 months or pay a significant chunk (more than you'd save probably) to get out of it.

Mind you, I went from 5.09% to 2.89% to 1.94% for my 5-year fixeds, all with the same mortgage provider (Santander), so going 3 months early did save a reasonable chunk of cash each time. That coupled with not having to go through conveyancing or any finance/affordability questions each time has been a definite bonus. Each time I did it in one 20 minute call.

Forgot how much I hated this 'waiting to see if things actually happen' stage of buying.

Will our buyer get a mortgage approved?
Will our seller follow through?
Who knows!

If you really want to consolidate them then try ringing FD and asking. I'm sure they'd allow you to lump the two together combining them on the longer term of the two. Whether you'd want to lose the flexibility is another matter.

We do. It was pretty useless during the hot weather.

Sat there taunting me with it's £500 price tag.

It's not a huge faff tbh, I think one rate is 1.89 and the other 1.84 and they both come out of the same account on the same day. I'll ignore it for 2.5 years and then see where things are.
But it was fairly painless getting the two in place (barring Covid meaning a number of phonecalls getting my initial offer and porting gaps extended as the sale dragged on for 9 months)

Consider these velux and this sash window to be totally fucked and needing completely replaced. The sash window with just a standard double glazed unit (back of house, no other sash windows so not worried about preserving anything). What would be a likely ball park figure?

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^if that is the “fixer” I’d be jumping on that, immediately.

I want something that heats and cools rather than having two separate things - does it do a good enough job?

Yeah looks OK, better than the one I was looking at.

@stevo_com what's wrong with the velux? leaking? The frames on the ones at my parents place have been affected by internal moisture but could be bought back to life with some elbow grease I reckon.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/55997499?search_identifier=dd2cff98b64b235a01180d710d0e9f0e

You rang... 📞

Brilliant, just as I'm thinking of selling my flat a Section 20 notice for £16K drops through the letterbox. Is there any precedent for splitting the costs with a purchaser since I won't see any of the benefits or do I just have to suck it up and hope I get a high price for the flat?

At what stage do you mention a section 20 to potential buyers?

They might be fine, they just looked really shabby on the first viewing. It's on my list to look more closely on the second. Just trying to gauge what we could/need to dump money on straight away.