Owning your own home

I'm not, but should I be.....?

(Runs off to Google charter schools)

Find somewhere you really want, then offer as much as you can afford to/bear, then hope it's enough. If it doesn't make you feel a bit sick, it's probably not enough.

Just reflecting on this now that I’m starting to get really pissed off at all the crap in the place we had to accept just so we could get something

Chatting about this today, we barely looked at the house we're throwing all our pennies at. No idea about its current state or what's in there (apart form survey stuff, obvs).

Is it in the right place? Yes. Could we eventually maybe get it how we want it after liberal application of further purely theoretical cash? Yes. Not enough ok houses coming up, prices all too high, had to move quick and just gamble that it'll be better than anything else that comes up in the next six months at the (likely upwardly-shifting) price point. Couldn't tell you whether the hob in the kitchen was gas or electric, what the water pressure is like or even the finer points of the conservation area it's in.

YAAAAAS, exchanged today. Hopefully we will complete in a week.

One day I we regale you with the whole story, but in summary. Everyone is an idiot and I have no idea how they keep their jobs.

Well that’s good. Lawyers and EA, I’ve got to hazard a guess as who your talking about, cunts

Have you asked about roped access for the roof work? We chose that on our tenement roof. Part of why I liked it was less chance of randoms trying to climb up the scaffolding and breaking into flats. Also it was comparable in price to the scaffolding option (slightly more cost but not much) and took less time to complete.

Congrats again. Try and get yourself into a cash buyer position for next time then you can DIY...
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/nov/24/movinghouse.property

Summarizes our experience over the past couple of weeks. Don't know if I'm built for this shit house market ...

I want to replace our front door, frame and crappy single glazed porch window with something much less shit, more secure and more pleasing to the eye with a bit of stained glass in it. I would also like to take a bit of the wall out so as to add more glass.

How do a I find an outfit who can manage all of this?

We are using these folks - https://www.asashrepair.co.uk/

Re-assuringly expensive but their comms are great and the quote was very comprehensive.

We went round this morning to talk to them and eventually spoke to a youngish woman who didn’t seem to know her arse from her elbow but apparently the roofer now ‘thinks it has to be done from the front’, which means no scaffold in our garden. We told her to keep us updated but it was obvious she thought it was no big deal either way. Starting to understand @Howard ‘s level of grump!

Had some roofers over to our terrace on Friday - it’s three stories and they reckon no scaffolding for repairs and a new roof felt on the back.

Their place can absolutely be done from the front.

said it before but I've spent longer assessing trainer purchases than I did on our last house purchase. it's all so fast moving, you don't really get the luxury of cogitating and deliberating...

Two days before we're due to exchange and our glass hob has just spontaneously cracked. What are our obligations? Theoretically, it could have been like this the whole time and the buyer would be none the wiser as he didn't really check. However, we've signed a piece of paper saying we're including a working hob. I also don't want to be a dick. Do I just suck it up and get it fixed/replaced?

If so, what's the deal? Can I fill the crack somehow, or does the whole top need to be replaced. Electrolux do a flat fee call out service for £140, which seems like it could be good value if it does need replacing?

Is it particularly big or fancy? If no, go to B&Q and buy the cheapest thing they’ve got. New owners will probably rip out the kitchen eventually anyway.

I imagine the £140 is labour. Parts, ie the new hob you’ll need, will be on top.

Google the model to see what size hole it uses and what power. Buy the cheapest replacement that matches.

Or if you're in contact with the buyers maybe tell them and see if you can get away with just knocking a hundred quid off or something (they may be planning on taking it out anyway). Obviously partly depends what feel you have for them.

Any recommendations for a builder in SE? Got a small kitchen replacement (3m2), floor installation and a few data points to be installed, plus associated plumbing/electrics.

Just had a quote for silly money from my first option so looking to widen the field.

said it before but I've spent longer assessing trainer purchases than I did on our last house purchase.

When I bought my house the time between starting viewing properties and having an offer accepted was about 4 hours. Mind you, I did have some rather specific requirements.

Wait until you exchange then get it fixed. 👍

That doesn’t seem bad by London standards. New hob can be bought for £50/60 for a basic one and then fitting fuck knows in London if yiu were in Glasgow I take £65.

What did you actually tick on the particulars form? There is usually a few options for a free standing cooker, hob, or oven. A £20 plug in worktop hob might cover you if it’s just cracked induction glass and it falls into the interpretation of one of the above.

The buyers have probably forgotten about the cooker/planning to install their own anyway, unless there’s actually picture of the cooker itself on the listing I wouldn’t worry.

Got given a copy of this for my birthday, I imagine it will be very handy

Want!!

Apart from the commode thing... that can FRO

Can anyone recommend a nice custom house sign creator / painter? Currently got some horrible faded mismatching signs back/front and I'd like to replace with something a little more contemporary and neat.