Owning your own home

Fuck yeah

Where is both a 45 minute cycle from Mitcham, and a nice village?

Do you mean it needs to be within 45 minutes or at least 45minutes away?

Within/around that time to commute.

Possibly on the Cusp of acceptable distance- Woldingham/Warlingham area is pretty lovely.
You could even live on Beddlestead:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67457127.html

Or if I'm dreaming
https://hubbardtorlot.co.uk/property-for-sale/woldingham/cr3-7ln/1655523
(but there is possibly something wrong with it as the current owners have decided to move out <1 year after building the thing.)

That second one looks like a weird hotel.

Tattenham Corner, its historical connection with speed, the al fresco cafes on the crescent, and the view from Bolters Corner roundabout on the commute.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/52655037?search_identifier=3c8933e6945323a4f587bab9fb2a4876

@Dammit - I quite like Oxted, have a few mates that live there. Godstone South is also very nice further along the A22.

I need to find someone to do some work on our bathroom. Waters been running down under the shower screen and eroding the tile it’s screwed into. Thinking either it wasn’t sealed properly when fitted, (a long time ago) or the sealant has worn away over time.

Need them to (hopefully) replace tile, reveal bath and fit a new folding shower screen, plus retile bath panel.

If anyone knows of anyone south London based let me know..

Thanks

Home Insurance looking with M&S and it says are there any cracks on the outside of the property - there are some small ones, it's 100+years old. Selecting this means no policies - whats the deal here?

They are looking for signs of subsidence I suspect, I would take cracks as meaning structural cracks rather than cosmetic.

Who wouldn't want that?!
You are right.
But with better decor it ticks all the boxes.

there is possibly something wrong with it as the current owners have decided to move out <1 year after building the thing

They are really property traders but trying to hide that and claim principal private residence relief?

So I'll probably be ok with saying 'no'...

Surveyors report should have picked up any cracks & identified if they are not cosmetic

It has the ceiling height of a garage.

Surveyors reports are worth literally fuck all in my experience. Kings of copypasta

How common is it/likely am I to be told to fuck off if I just want a valuation before deciding whether or not to move? How much equity we have is going to be a big factor in what we do next. So don't want to start with photos, putting the place on the market immediately, etc.

Estate agents will generally be pretty keen. They view it as a foot in the door.

Although from my experience most estate agents don't have any knowledge that can't be replicated by an hour on the land registry website and zoopla's sold properties listings.

We've done so much work to the flat that I feel that an agent's assessment would be useful for a valuation, but I may just be kidding myself that we've put much value into the place.

EWS1 update:
My building owner has produced a fire regulation certificate that confirms the cladding is non combustible because it's made of zinc, the balconies are solid concrete so also non-combustible.

This would mean taking option A on the EWS1 form which basically means having an EWS1 form to confirm you do not need an EWS1 form.

What a flippin' joke.

Have just done exactly this. Two valuations within £10k of each other, which pretty much confirmed our rational expectations. One was quite salesey and spoke to us for about 45 minutes, the other was in and out in 15 minutes.

This but be warned; once they've got your contact details you open yourself up to a never ending stream of phone calls from them almost always coming at the worst possible time . Doesn't matter how many times you tell them to fuck off they will call back. If you block the number they will switch to another out going number on their VOIP system.

"Please sign this form to state that you don't need this form."

At least you can sell the place now and get back to dealing with flaky plasterers.