Owning your own home

Downton Abbey is actually Highclere Castle, close to my family estate*.

*actually a 1920s semi.

You lived in a truck?

I hide my Romany heritage well.

East London's being invaded by appalling cunts:

My other half described this as "Preening city yuppy rides fixie to Hackney at weekend" which I'd say is about right, although of course he's riding a single speed (Create?) which is even more spot on.

The real question though is why Sophie was in Paris without him? She's either having an affair or (we suspect) came back from Paris after finally promising to ditch the city slicker.

Will she do it though?

Her laugh was maniacal. I think she's harbouring murderous fantasies. As she gazed out of Eurostar's window she had a vivid mental image of him bucking and gurgling in agony with her souvenir Eiffel Tower sticking out of his eye that was so compelling she was startled and had to go to the toilet and splash cold water on her face. As she walked back to her seat she noticed passengers staring at her wet face and she said, borderline hysterically "It's leaking! Ha ha". She sat back down and clamped her trembling hands together. "Everything will be alright" she thought to herself.

Needs more Youtube comments.

Definitely, starting with that one ^^.

Does anyone have experience of joint-owning a house in unequal shares?
My sister and I have slightly dissimilar incomes, so are looking to buy a flat with a mortgage and equity contribution in a c. 60-40 ratio. Is there a particular legal agreement into which we should consider entering?

Probably best to draw up a deed of trust. I did that when I shared with a friend who was a solicitor.

I'd have thought your conveyancer will just set you up as joint tenants with unequal shares rather than tenants in common. It's a very normal arrangement.

Thanks all.

Why would rightmove send me an alert that the property we're buying (apparently) has gone back on the market? Without being told by Haart streatham first?

Has it gone on with a different agent? Get too Haart first thing, they're all wankers...

An admin mistake apparently. It helps them sort out their year end figures. I say bullshit. Anyway. Seems ok atm.

Does anyone have experience of joint-owning a house in unequal shares?
My sister and I have slightly dissimilar incomes, so are looking to buy a flat with a mortgage and equity contribution in a c. 60-40 ratio. Is there a particular legal agreement into which we should consider entering?

There are pros and cons with however you do it. It might be worth speaking to a solicitor. As a % of the overall costs it would be worth preventing any future family fallouts. You should be able to get 20-30mins free which should give them enough to provide a quote.

I'm assuming you're both going to live there? Just in case you haven't already thought of it, make sure you work out an agreed exit plan to avoid any potential agro. The more detail you put down now the better understanding you will both have which will prevent any hard feelings if it goes south.

i.e

• plan to sell in 3yrs
  
• to be jointly agreed by x date
  
• extended for x time
  
• is there scope for one person to buy the other out? If so at what price? Market value less estate agents 'mish?
  
• etc.
  

^ that's helpful, cheers. I think that the realistic exit scenario is if one of us gets married or moves out of London due to work, so fairly hard to predict. There should certainly be some sort of provision for first refusal in the event of a sale, but I would like either party to be able to force a sale in the right circumstances.

If things go really well, the plan would be to re-mortgage in 5yrs time, take out enough equity for us each to buy a place of our own and rent out the current place. This is if my plan of becoming stupidly rich before my five-year fixed rate expires works out...

If I buy the place off her would I have to pay stamp duty?

Why would rightmove send me an alert that the property we're buying (apparently) has gone back on the market? Without being told by Haart streatham first?

Install the Property Bee toolbar. It's the first time I actually thought a browser addon was a good idea.

http://property-bee.com/

Bit OT, but does anyone need a tumble dryer?

I've managed to put up with no heating or hot water for nearly four years, mostly due to my phobia of having anyone in the house, but i've almost convinced myself that cold showers are ok.
Boiler is a total write-off, getting a new one fitted on Monday.
I will finally be warm again.
But.
having people in my house is like having teeth pulled, I can't fucking stand it. Will have to restrain myself from getting hammered to cope with the stress.

are you serious?

What have you got in the house...?

Bad science - nice one - get that boiler fitted and get warm for 2014!

I'd have thought your conveyancer will just set you up as joint tenants with unequal shares rather than tenants in common. It's a very normal arrangement.

If you own unequal shares in a property you must, by definition, be tenants in common (albeit that a tenancy in common is generally viewed as a species of joint ownership). Joint tenants both (or all) own the whole of the property in undivided shares. If a joint tenancy is severed, it becomes a tenancy in common where each of the co-owners owns an equal share of the beneficial ownership in the property.

So if you want to own unequal shares, you have to be tenants in common. You should ask a friendly solicitor to draw up a Declaration of Trust. Any competent solicitor should be able to do this quickly and cheaply.

are you serious?

Yes. I don't know if it's an actual phobia, but I never have people in here. This is my fourth winter with no boiler and it's finally made me snap. I honestly think I didn't have any visitors in 2013.

Get some warmth in there, man - for your own sake.