Owning your own home

I don't think it is that shit that a bank requires ID to transfer more than £5k!

I had to do a £30K transfer few years ago, they did the same dance with me and insisted if I wanted to transfer more than £5k in branch, there was to be a £5 charge. I refused to pay them anything and I said I want to withdraw £30K in cash, £20 notes and they did it for free, because there is no limit on cash withdraw... I then put it back to the other person's account there and then. The bank manager wasn't impressed with me 'wasting their time'... oh well.

Barclays wants to see ID for more than £1k, they also want to know what you want to do with the money if you are transferring more than a certain very low limit, online. A personal banker I knew quite well told me I should have told them I needed the money to open a brothel and ask them if they want to know when the opening is...

Sent them an email saying I hope the wood in the front garden isn't for the fence and it's not what we asked for or what we showed them.

Remortgage update. MA proving his worth again. Bank are undervaluing the flat and trying to push for a higher LTV. MA has got them to agree to a free drive by valuation. If that comes back anywhere near what it should be, we'll get the better rate, save over £300 a month compared to the last 2 years and fix it for 5 years

Andy, do a CHAPS payment. So much less fuckin hassle.

Why are banks so fucking shit

It's anti-money landing regulations - they don't do it, they're fined (as a company) or even imprisoned (as an individual).

It's anti-money landing regulations

That ain't gonna fly...

Missed out on two houses in the last fortnight, investors paying cash have swooped in and left us grasping in their cashed-up dust...

Put an offer on a place on Tuesday, contract is being perused by our solicitor before we start negotiations (estate agent's idea, don't ask me why) then this morning I get a text about one of the houses we thought we'd missed out on: "Buyers have changed their mind, don't want to live in the area anymore"... I go and see him straight after work...

It turns out his buyer has gone a bit quiet for a couple of days, they haven't pulled out at all but he was just giving me the opportunity to see the property again and register my interest...

Bunch of timewasting cunts...

It turns out his buyer has gone a bit quiet for a couple of days, they haven't pulled out at all but he was just giving me the opportunity to see the property again and register my interest...

50p says you get a call tomorrow saying the buyers do still want it but they've really lost trust in them and would much rather sell it to you as you seem lovely.

When the truth is that the buyer has already backed out, but they won't tell you that so they can keep the upper hand in the negotiations.

I get there are regulations banks have to comply with. I bank with Halifax and can transfer £20k as a faster payment, but then no more to that recipient that day.
My gf banks with Coop, she can transfer £10k at a time, as many times as she likes to the same recipient.

Maybe I should have worded my complaint differently - why are all the staff I interact with in my local Halifax branch so shit? Always unhelpful, no mention of "oh but you could do it this way" or "if you come back with x then we could y".

I know I could make a CHAPS payment, but I'm not really inclined to give them any more money for such consistently poor customer service.

Anyway, we've exchanged and will have all of the money transferred today for completion tomorrow so the stress is over.

investors paying cash
don't want to live in the area anymore

So not "investors" in the sense of 'buy to let', they are just like you but with more folding.

That's moneyist.

I now have more kitchen cupboards. Winning.

Who knows? These cunts lie at every fucking turn... One place went to a Chinese investor and these guys were apparently from Victoria, I had no idea they were actually thinking of living here...

This happened when my old man bought a flat years ago. We were at an auction, dood rocks up late in a Jag, jumps out and just goes bang bang bang sold! to the man in the tracksuit.
Way over expected price and out of our budget so we moved on. Fucking auctions.

I had this 18 months ago. Buying in a crowded / competitive bit of the market (2 bed houses) in a 'up and coming' area I almost lost count of the number of times we narrowly lost out to cash buyers happy to pay well over the asking price. I recall one place going for around 45k over in the end. I guess their moneybags weren't earning much interest here so it seemed worth it.

When we eventually managed to get the highest offer in on one place, they still went with a cash buyer who was 'buying the house for her son'.

Mind you that fell through so the agent came crawling back a fortnight later. Serves them right

Eventually my other half convinced me to put in bigger offers by pointing out that we'd have spent thousands in rent anyway by the time we got something otherwise.

It's a stressful business

Yeah and I won't have the luxury of being a first time, chain-free, buyer next time. Assuming I sell my current place to fund a move somewhere, that'll be a double ballache with the bullshit real estate laws in this country.

Finally exchanged today after a couple of years of false starts. So excited to finally have a gaff.

Thanks for helping with all the questions. Definitely saved me and Mrs Bumperoo a wedge of cash!

Alright kids.

Anyone know much about free advice, partiuclarly around:

• challenging unfair service charges
  
• deciding on Right to Manage vs Full Enfranchisement
  
  

Looks like things are getting pretty real with our Residents Association

Is it higher stamp duty as a second-time buyer? It'll likely be higher anyway since I'd be buying a bigger, more expensive place.

Have to put it in someone else's name won't I? :)

http://www.lease-advice.org is your first stop.

Thanks dude - have already done this and we think there's a case based on what I've read, but I think we need some proper one to one advice. Would they offer that?

Only if you keep your first time buy.

Yes, they'll give you a telephone appointment. It's limited in scope but a good start.

In some London boroughs the CAB can also give specialist advice for leaseholders, depends where you are. Ultolimately you'd be looking at the First Tier Tribunal to determine these kinds of issues but it may not get to that point

Cool. I think that was the one thing I thought they didn't do. Well worth a call, appreciated.

The problem with First Tier is that the guys here have tried to take them to tribunal before and were roundly fucked. They feel lik they got punished and they don't want to do it again. So I'm thinking we need to have all our ducks in a row before we go down that route. Probably RTM or Enfranchise ultimately.