Owning your own home

Oh well in for house 'ont continet too... bloody pocket change over there!

I know! Good riding round there, I don't speak French but I expect talking English loudly would be ok.

I'm quite keen on Marseille, bowl and trails near by... I try not to fraternise with the locals...

Gah!

Good afternoon stevo_com

Apologies for taking a while to get back to you, I have chased the other side today for the draft contract documentation and they have let me know that they are currently awaiting the initial documents back from their client. They have said that they are currently chasing this and will send us the documents as soon as possible.

Kind regards

Seems it's the vendor's form filling malaise that is holding things up as confirmed by a quick chat with the vendor's son.

Get in touch with the vendor and ask if you can come for another quick viewing since you need to measure for curtains or something. When you are there you can have a friendly chat about moving things along. I find that remembering that the other party is a real human, not a solicitor or estate agent, helps to motivate.

Get in touch with the vendor and ask if you can come for another quick viewing since you need to measure for curtains or something. When you are there you can have a friendly chat about moving things along. I find that remembering that the other party is a real human, not a solicitor or estate agent, helps to motivate.

This.

I was doing exactly the same thing with mine. Face to face chats went much better.

Get in touch with the vendor and ask if you can come for another quick viewing since you need to measure for curtains or something. When you are there you can have a friendly chat about moving things along. I find that remembering that the other party is a real human, not a solicitor or estate agent, helps to motivate.

This.

I was doing exactly the same thing with mine. Face to face chats went much better.

Yeah, on reflection I am being harsh on the vendor. They are buying and selling at the same time. I have been there twice and they are nice people. If I don't get anymore news this week I will ask if I can pop round again and measure for washine machine and fridge etc (I do actually need to do that)

Norwich can cock off, I want this

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/property-40833325.html

I think the sad old man comes with the house.

10km from my place. Nice cycling roads

Yeah, on reflection I am being harsh on the vendor. They are buying and selling at the same time. I have been there twice and they are nice people. If I don't get anymore news this week I will ask if I can pop round again and measure for washine machine and fridge etc (I do actually need to do that)

How long ago was your offer accepted?

10km from my place. Nice cycling roads

Really? I rode around there on my first solo cycle tour aged seventeen. Gorgeous Normandy lanes and hedgerows, friendly people, I have great memories of that countryside, it's not unlike Norfolk come to think of it. Blimey, it's mAking me ponder, my terraced house is a bog standard walk-in, you know when you open the front door straight into the living room, downstairs bathroom, tiny garden. For the same price you get three acres, outbuildings that could be converted to gites, gorgeous lanes to cycle down. Mmmmmmm.

Forum buy? Timeshare?

How long ago was your offer accepted?

Confirmation letter/email 12th June

I wouldn't be too concerned. I once bought a house in three weeks from offer to completion, this last one took the best part of four months. How many issues did you raise to be dealt with prior to contract? I know it can be nerve wracking but there's not a lot you can do other than keep pushing and keep in your solicitor's face.

Really? I rode around there on my first solo cycle tour aged seventeen. Gorgeous Normandy lanes and hedgerows, friendly people, I have great memories of that countryside, it's not unlike Norfolk come to think of it. Blimey, it's mAking me ponder, my terraced house is a bog standard walk-in, you know when you open the front door straight into the living room, downstairs bathroom, tiny garden. For the same price you get three acres, outbuildings that could be converted to gites, gorgeous lanes to cycle down. Mmmmmmm.

yep, i'm in a hamlet near gavray. its likely a good time to buy there, but factor in relatively high renovation costs if needed.

A lot of the labouring I could do myself, and for some strange reason fixtures and fittings are much cheaper in France, I've heard of people doing a booze cruise to Calais and buying an entire bathroom suite at the same time cos prices are so much lower. When I cycled through Cotentin the locals would shout encouragement, " Bon route!" And such. I used to get shouted at as I rode through East London but it was hardly ever encouragement.

I wouldn't be too concerned. I once bought a house in three weeks from offer to completion, this last one took the best part of four months. How many issues did you raise to be dealt with prior to contract? I know it can be nerve wracking but there's not a lot you can do other than keep pushing and keep in your solicitor's face.

Cheers. There was only a small problem with the outside drain (if that's the kind of issue you mean) but that's been sorted. It's not so much nerve wracking at this stage as all of our ducks are in a row so if it falls through now, it will be shit but at least I know it won't have been down to something on our part. I feel slightly better knowing that little bit more now. I'm just naturally impatient what with it being our first purchase.

I used to get shouted at as I rode through East London but it was hardly ever encouragement.

Was it "do a skid"?

I actually have a house buying question. I didn't just come here to be witty and hilarious. (good job really)

I'm looking to cash out of London and buy a proper house in a nice bit of Surrey. I suspect that I can sell my place a lot faster than i can buy one, and there is also the non-London housing market to consider.

Does the collective wisdom of the forum think it is a good idea to sell my place, rent somewhere in Surrey for 6 months and then look to buy a house, or would it be throwing money away and I should just buy a place as I sell, like normal people?

^I would say the latter, unless there is nothing on the market that takes your fancy, but then you run the risk of waiting for something perfect to come up while your savings rapidly dwindle. I've looked into doing something similar and found that prices in the nice bits of Surrey are high - where are you looking?

Sell house, wait for the inevitable crash, buy cheap mansion in Surrey, hunt peasants in your spare time.

^ my secret hope :-)

I'm looking at the Weybridge, Walton on Thames, Chertsey sort of area.
I'm not really bothered as long as a)there is a garden and 3 bedrooms, b) a nice big garage or workshop to play with cars and bikes in, c) not going to be flooded, or burgled, d) far enough from the neighbours that I can buy myself a drum kit.

c) not going to be flooded

seconded.

Just a hunch, but I intuitively sense that prices within commuter distance are going to start going up possibly at a slightly higher rate than those in London, as more and more are forced out and put pressure on places further out. If you sold up now and sat on it for six months, that money might not go as far as it would if you sold and bought simultaneously. Saying that though, renting where you're looking would give you the best way of sussing out where's best. We tried that for a year up in Walthamstow, and we found a few streets we really liked that were well within our budget. Of course the market moved on so much in that year that by the time we were ready to buy, we were completely priced out :(

but then you run the risk of waiting for something perfect to come up while your savings rapidly dwindle.

But surely his lack of having to pay a mortgage would cover rental cost? Unless BlueQuinn rents somewhere like this until he finds somewhere to buy!

http://www.thebigdomain.com/large-houses/great-oak-park

I'd start looking for a country place now, then market your London property as soon as you get serious somewhere.

I'd start looking for a country place now, then market your London property as soon as you get serious somewhere.

This.

You'll never find somewhere completely perfect - if you do, you won't be able to afford it.