Owning your own home

Awesome. I'll keep an eye out for you up to the ice rink - think we'll be along the same route from Clapton Pond.

I'm just up near Baker's Arms. Unfortunately not commuting on bike that much at the moment.

Are you in one of the Warner flats? I almost bought a ground floor Warner off Lea Bridge Rd a few months age but we were gazumped..

No! I do like the Warner flats but I'm in a 1930s ex-council block just behind the shops on Lea Bridge Road, just before Markhouse Road.

If you do end up moving round here let m eknow, I'm getting quite a good understanding of 'good block, bad block'.

Pocket/hidden sliding doors... anyone have any experience with them? recommendations? Worries? Fears?

Errrr.... my kitchen... (which is small) in a dry wall. Want it to feel "doorless" but still have a door which can be closed every now and again when the machine machine is on...

You need some beaded door curtains m8

We thought yes to pocket door. No to one grand cost. So we got a sliding door. Probably 700 cheaper.

@Chalfie aye, sliding door isn't really an option as it would have nowhere to slide to. Need to maximise space.
@diable that looks mint but wouldn't work in my kitchen as it would have to fold out on to the boiler...

Lolllllzzzz.
Bifold has the same issue. I could sketch up a complicated door/boiler cupboard idea I have but I'm not sure I'd trust anyone to make it, on the cheap.

Yeah, thats the plan! Where else could/would it slide to?!

We had a chap view our flat on Saturday, we have left the estate agents deal with all the viewings and kept well out of it.
The viewer was a French bloke and expressed an interest in meeting the owners (us), we presumed to ask about the area and neighbours (general stuff the estate agent wouldn't specifically know) which is fine, but the plot thickens, apparently he wants us there to make an offer, seems to want to not draw it out through the estate agent (i.e. he calls makes an offer through EA, they call us, we refuse, EA calls him, repeat) and thinks he can haggle us face to face.
Is this a little odd?
Maybe this is how things are done in Frenchland?

I would say go for it. Getting EAs out of the way is a win.

Just be a baller.

He fancies his chances of bidding you down face to face more than through the agent.

Obvs.

Only you can decide whether you have more faith in your poker skillz or those of your agent.

I bet he's a knob. Probably a salesperson who thinks he's the shit. Let him in, punch him in the cock, steal his watch. It'll be a TAG or Omega.

From your experience so far, is the estate agent any good?

@mashton as @diable says, we are liable for the EA fees so i want them to do everything ideally

@hefty yeah, i reckon he thinks he can beat us down face to face, my wife is a haggling master (she doesn't waver from her number). Quite fancy a Speedmaster so if he is wearing one i may take it and offer an incredibly small reduction off the flat price.

@jakemcree ok i guess, not had much experience of them to compare to though.

Generally speaking we would be open to offers a few thousand lower than our asking price, but any less would hinder us buying somewhere else.

I try to deal with as few French people as possible.

Made harder by the fact the wife's half francais.

Negotiating isn't just about what you'll accept, it's equally about what Le buyer will pay.

Just cos you'll accept a bit less than your price doesn't mean he won't pay more than that.

But similarly you need him to be relatively happy with the deal as he gets a couple of months while solicitors dick about to decide he's been squeezed too hard and change his mind.

If you trust the agent leave it to them, they do it all the time.

We had a load of gravel delivered on a pallet. Local dodgy builder who told me he was mad for pallets doesn't seem interested now. Any ideas on how I can get rid of it without hiring a car to take it to the tip? Local council don't take DIY/building waste...

Don't you have a BBQ thing in the garden?

Pallets have got really horrible carcinogenic chemicals on them for preservation - burning them might be a bit antisocial.

Could you chop them up and sneak them into your bins over a couple of collections?

The first and only place I would look is Sugatsune.

Ohhhhh... any more info than that champ?

No actually. We need to fix that!