Owning your own home

On the same page as looking for proximate osteopaths - I'm basically basing my out-of-london-dreamhouse searches around vibey village pubs with an active folkclub 🤣

...folkclub?

🤞

excellent reference

Those housing estates look like any of the 6 being built near me in Derby. Mind you, could be anywhere I suppose. The designs of those Miller, Bloor homes etc are so crap, largely unchanged in 40 years apart from a porch banged on the front.

Eventually this would be the country house so not and either or 😉 - and I’m pretty handy with the home espresso these days

🏌️‍♂️ ⛳️

Any suggestions on where I can get some kind of drain cover for this? One drainpipe extends down into the hole so would need to fit round that. Preferably something strong enough to be accidentally stood on without it breaking. I've tried googling but haven't managed to fight anything suitable.

Something like this?
Presumably you need holes to allow the grey pipe to run off?
And cut a hole for the black one
https://www.toolstation.com/160mm-x-160mm-square-gully-grid/p70749?store=GE&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=_dc&pcrid=558023894541&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI15SOn6bk9wIVDs13Ch2eTAAUEAQYBSABEgK-TvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'd go with this and Stanley knife it to your Heart's content.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-drain-guard-black-305mm/78832?tc=IA1&ds_kid=92700055281954505&ds_rl=1249404&gclid=CjwKCAjw7IeUBhBbEiwADhiEMcata5NHKmtRRC4lMW-YkXRiZA4wz_l_IKP5ocYPBYwW6qNYtS3KZxoCykAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I've got one of these and they're not up to being stood on. They'll handle being accidentally kicked but they're pretty flexy.

What steps do I need to take to deal with tradesmen taking the piss with claiming for work they haven't done.

Tell them to fuck off and die and that you won't be renumerating them for the claimed work ?

Ask for a comprehensive quotation that includes a scope of works. As part of the process it isn't unreasonable to ask for photo documentation of all work carried out, especially stuff that won't be visible after work is completed. I do this with almost all work I carry out for arse covering reasons and provide it to clients in a report once work has been completed, as seeing the layout of studs / hidden pipework / wires down the line can save them a lot of hassle.

If the work has already been completed ask for receipts etc for materials bought, accepting that there will be a markup. Again this is something I'm happy to do but many tradespeople may be reluctant to do so.

House prices/market chat ok in here?

That's what most of it is about dude. Fire away

Probably a mad dash fuelled by fear to get the last deals in before interest hikes, then a correction, but not until many have signed their lives away. Then a reduction in housing supply (artificial) , and economic principles suggest a slow reversion to further house price rises.

Ok so, I understand things work a bit different ‘oop here, norff of the border’ but… our market seems to be going a bit mental right now. I understand this because Mrs M_V and I recently found a house we’d have liked, we viewed it on Friday and it went to closing on Tuesday. We felt a bit under pressure so made an offer that wasn’t as high as we could have gone but we weren’t successful, by quite a margin.

It’s ended up going for almost 25% over the asking price.

So what I’m wondering is, when the market ‘calms down’ does that mean that property prices just go up to match what the market is paying?

Ie, this property was on the market at, say, £100k, sells for £125k so 25% over asking. 6 months time market has ‘calmed down’ and their neighbour decides to sell, are they going to list at £100k and sell for £105-110k or are they going to list at £120k and sell at £125k which looks like a fair price as its a smaller % over asking but actually it’s same price?

Still with that level of income that’s an wholly uncomfortable amount.

Sure, but not everything scales with income. If I got paid twice as much and moved house to somewhere with double the mortgage I'd have more money left at the end of the month than I do now. Mortgage costs double but, for example, my monthly supermarket bills doesn't automatically double.

Years ago I got a 10% pay rise that more than quadrupled by disposable income, but that's because I was living quite close to the wire up to that point.

It [a mortgage of a bigger house] is a problem I'm unlikely to ever have though.

I imagine it’s swings and roundabouts- if you’re looking in a reasonable area, in 6 months time the local agents will still be trying to maintain previous prices, that’s a given.

On the other hand, buyers may be willing to pay less because of the squeeze (and mortgages will be crap), but the squeeze happens to everyone and it may mean a lot fewer houses are put on the market - so the ones that are, will go for a high price. I don’t think there’s ever a good time, it just depends on your personal circumstance.

I don’t think there’s ever a good time,

Ain’t that the truth! I do think though that the last 18 months may have been a particularly bad time to sell a flat so near the city but I’m hoping that the west end wankers that moved out to the sticks during lockdown start to miss their morning macchiatos and properties like where we are right now become a bit more desirable again haha.

I dunno when you’re earning that amount through salary as a couple you’ll have around £16-18k take home p/m depending on how much you stick in pension etc. it’s also likely that a % of that will be variable comp, might be guaranteed, might not. A lot of your expenditure will scale - if you’re paying 10k for mortgage, you’ll have all the trappings that go with it and they quickly stack up. I’d much rather have a mortgage a third of that and save the rest.
Of course some people are really good at maintaining the same lifestyle as their salary scales but that doesn’t seem to be the context here

If you can buy something more than a drive way or a shed for £125k then now seems like a great time

Assuming that you mean Scotland.

In my experience it's normal for houses, especially desirable ones, to go above asking due to the nature of the blind bidding system. From what I understand though the market in and around Edinburgh has gone absolutely mental. My brother has been trying to buy a place for the last 6 months and every house he's bid on goes for a minimum of 25% above asking one went for almost 40% above asking.

As far as the effect that these high successful bids have on future asking prices it's hard to say. I'm not an estate agent but in my experience estate agents in Scotland are less aggressive than those in England as many of them are also solicitors firms and regulated by the law society of Scotland. Add to this the blind bidding system means that even if the price increases the asking price increases it won't be to the highest asking price of comparable properties in the street / area.

Figures were simplified for the post but the place went for almost 25% over asking.