Owning your own home

😂

Popped into the solicitors yesterday afternoon and looking to exchange next week. Completition date has been decided upon!

All seems a little real now, if only I could muster up the energy to start packing...

I used a moving company who did packing for my move, it made it so much easier.

They wrapped and packed literally everything. High point came when we were unwrapping something and discovered it was the baby's dried up umbilical cord that we must have left out!

Great news, reminds you what it's all for doesn't it. We now have mortgage offer, all legal searches complete, homebuyers done are are looking to exchange next week. Feels good.

we’re also very close, awaiting our freeholder to respond on the remaining enquiries raised by our buyer, we had hoped for a 28th completion but who knows now

We're still waiting for our freeholders' (new) solicitor to respond to the request for a sales pack/LPE1 form. Still resisting the urge to turn up at the doorstep of the one who lives in Sevenoaks with a pen and a nervous twitch.

yeah.. im not having much luck on prompting them to do anything in a timely manner either, or even reply to me

I'm moving lads
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-98504111.html

That's epic.

I wonder how long the photographer had to stay up there to snap it on a sunny day. Or is there a sunlight tool in photoshop?

I had a look through the home report... Its not pretty viewing. I imagine there's 200k of renovation in there

easily, and that's probably before you get to the outbuilding, garages, greenhouses, garden maintenance etc

some gaff for someone that has the dosh though

Question is what it would be worth once you'd put 200k into it.

£200k? Easily double that... it's 500 sqm.

We discovered, after buying our current place, that we will be spending over 75% of the purchase price on putting the building in order. We knew it needed a bit of TLC but it has escalated a bit. But if we can weather the financial stresses, I am not bothered greatly about resulting value until our kids have to sell it to pay care home fees.

Recommendations for a built in oven which is cheap but not totally shit? Or all they all much of a muchness at that price?

No £40k kitchen suggestions please

Idk what counts as cheap, but this is the modern equivalent of what was fitted in ours and I rate it.

https://markselectrical.co.uk/HB578A0S6B_Siemens-Single-Built-In-Electric-Oven.html

Thanks, should have been clearer on budget.

£300 max, £200-ish preferred

Just had a check on AO.com to see how much cookers are. Having never bought one I'm clearly way out. Sorry about that.

If NOS is available ours is HB63AA.50B

We've got a John Lewis one which came with the house which I rate.

I think it's an older version of this, and that it's an Electrolux. Not sure why it got a one-star review here.

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-jlbios641-single-electric-oven-a-energy-rating-black/p4816111#ratings-and-reviews

Ah sorry I thought it said £299.

Is the Siemens stuff actually good (i.e. on a par with Miele/Bosch)? It seems to be the standard brand you see in new builds which makes me a little suspicious that it isn’t.

Visited the botanic gardens (and house) 4 years ago. There's a really sad story behind it - his son cared for the gardens but went missing in Vietnam jungle hunting to rare plants

https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/13892622.jamie-taggart-missing-plant-hunter-father-speaks-of-his-heartache/

As someone here just told me Glasgow is about 2/3 the price of getting it done in Edinburgh, we're in a place about half as big but needs a similar amount of work -roof. It might not get you all the way but 200k would get you far!

You'd also probably need to factor in about 30k a year on gardening!

Honestly idk.

As I said ours is good and at least 5½ yrs old. It's self cleaning and has a timer I've never used.

The only criticism is that I've replaced the glass cover for the internal light twice due to cracking. It's a generic item and not expensive, but imo that's pretty shabby.

I guess compared to others it might not heat up super fast, but I don't have a great deal to compare it to. I'm also not sure what you need from an oven except self cleaning. Which on a side rant as I'm grumpy is weirdly seen as some sort of luxury here where in France it's come on any old supermarket cooker since the late 90s.

“While in Vietnam Jamie threw away clothes from his bags so he could get as many plants in as possible. The trips were all about the garden in Scotland – they were his lifeblood."

that is really sad. really hope whoever takes it on is someone who wants to maintain the garden. almost feels like something that could be taken over by a trust and run for the public to access (like e.g. little sparta) or run as an outpost of a uni's botany department

thanks for the link. think I'll buy the book if I can get hold of it