Owning your own home

When they made that pub an Alice in Wonderland themed place, the writing was on the wall

Oaks, I'm.told

now the house is done... need to fix the bleedin garden. where to even start... probably with finding the gardening thread...

Ah it's a nice area. Just owned mine a while.

And time to evacuate the UK.

whats the standard procedure of getting things included in a house purchase?

when we viewed it first time the agent said that the ceiling mounted (and wired) projector, the sonos mounted and “hidden” wired in bathroom and kitchen, and the smart thermostat would all be included.

we received the fixtures and fittings form today and amongst the expected standard fitted stuff and some furniture they have prices affixed too, these three items arent mentioned at all. Do i just ask via my solicitor? or should i email the agent?

I would do both. Agents will get the answer quicker than lawyer, but obviously their word doesn’t mean as much

Email agent cc’ing solicitor

Whichever way you go make sure that it does get agreed formally by the solicitors. Don't just believe the estate agent.

We've been idly looking for flats to buy over the last 6 months or so but without any sense or urgency. Mainly just looking at rightmove to see if anything stands out.

This week we went to see a place for the first time and...really liked it. Is it insane to put an offer in on the first place you actually go and visit?

I'm a little bit worried that we could miss out on this place and then spend the next 6 months going to see places, then realise the first place we saw was perfect!

Put an offer in yesterday lunchtime on a house - praying the sellers just want some nice simple first time buyers to take it off their hands. Waiting is tortuous.

No, it means you’ve won the game.

IME looking for a place that was as good as the first one you liked is exactly what happens.

But if the place has any obvious negatives make sure you have a good think about whether you’ll regret them.

The house I'm in now I bought 8 years ago after my first ever house viewing. If the house meets all your criteria, and you really like it, why not put an offer in?

The advice we got was to go and see loads of houses and then pick the best one, but that takes time and effort, and seems like the potential reward of possibly getting a "better" house isn't worth the cost of possibly missing out by not putting an offer in.

Depends how you are when you go to a restaurant - do you spend ages reading the whole menu, and then make your choice, or do you read the menu until you see something you like and then order that? I'm the latter :)

Is it insane to put an offer in on the first place you actually go and visit?

No, but don't tell them you haven't seen anywhere else :)

If you can distill down the elements you liked so much you can then evaluate whatever comes your way against it.

Viewing is a ball ache but it can open you up to things you hadn't previously considered.

Even if you get an offer accepted you can still exit if something much better comes your way. But that requires a steady hand.

The council owned terrace next to our house (owner occupied) is undergoing some renovations, do I worry that they are going to mess about with the party wall? Who might I ask about the plans?

Be proactive in this. I wasn't and regret it.

Online planning portal should have anything external, internal is harder to pin down. You can always ping an email to the council planning department saying that you see works underway but can't find any details on the planning portal, what's going on? and in my experience they seem happy to inform. Apart from one shifty bit of development near me which they went quiet on, but I'm pretty sure that involved a sizeable backhander for someone to look the other way.

If it's council owned I'd get in touch with the council (phone rather than email to start with, emails often seem to end up in some black hole) and, as above, look online at the council's planning portal.

Also, a bit revolutionary but you could try knocking on the door and asking.

Also, a bit revolutionary but you could try knocking on the door and asking.

True but the property is vacant and I imagine the builders are unlikely to be unbiased given it would only mean hassle for them.

Calling the council: 15 minute wait time then cut off... At least it's not sunny outside.

yep, emailed agent CCing solicitor, seller responded saying all and included and theyre updating their solicitor to write it up. easy peasy.

The only remaining thing that has a decent chance of going wrong for us now is if our buyers lenders start putting up the EWS1 barrier.

They're booked in to survey it on Sat so guess we sit tight till then.

Builders can be pretty chatty at times. Particularly if it's not them having to deal with the technicalities of approval and whatnot.

True but the property is vacant

I’d be more concerned about the people the council will install next tbh

My wife is less and less sure that we should be living in London. Where should we thinking about moving to which:

• Is in the south (not my choice)
  
• is near to a good city with things going on (Bristol, Oxford, London)
  
• has nice countryside around it
  
• is not too Tory
  
• has nice houses
  
• isn't too far from good road connections north.
  
  

Villages or small towns near Bristol seem to be leading contenders at the minute, but I don't really know any.

Not London
is not too Tory

Does such place exist?

In the south it's hard. Stroud and Bristol seem like little outposts.

villages/towns on the outskirts of bristol are a bit shit though.... depending on how much space you need/budget have you considered south bristol/bedminster? very very close to countryside and not tory at all