Owning your own home

We're looking at buying somewhere soon.

I have a mortgage advisor who was recommended to us by a work colleague whose opinion I trust fully, and he seemed like a nice chap and suggested that what we were after was in the realms of possibility.

We viewed a place on Saturday which we quite liked, and are in the process of putting a tentative offer in. This seems quite rash to us - we've been looking at what's around for months, but we have then made an offer on the second place out of three we have seen.

Is that as daft as it sounds? The place is good value, the area is nice and one that I know, we would obviously get all the surveying and that done to make sure there are no nasty surprises, and the offer will probably get rejected anyway.

Am I doing it right?

If it meets the requirements of what you're after, and the price feels right to you then there's no harm whatsoever in putting in an offer. You've clearly been doing research, so it's not like you're going in blind.

Cheers Andy!

I've just found a slight stumbling block.

Basically the agents have two properties on the same road; the one we're putting an offer on, and another one for £15,000 more, which has a slightly larger kitchen through creative wall-removal and the promise of a renewed lease, but a problem with a leaky roof.

We said we'd like to see that one too (and we'll see it tomorrow night), mainly to get an idea of what would be possible with the one we want, but that we wanted to put an offer in on the other one in the meantime.

The agent suggested we could make needing to view the other property first a condition of the offer, so that our interest was registered but that it wasn't an offer-offer straight away. Sounds pretty complicated, and so I'm not sure how to word it.

The only condition for the sale would be that we are also viewing another property on the same road on the evening of Monday 21st July and although we are pretty sure we would prefer to go ahead with number xx, we would need to see the other property before confirming that we would like to formally submit our offer.

This is what we have, but it sounds wack.

Why bother? An offer's not legally binding - the only thing stopping you pulling out is not wanting to be a dick.

Fair point. Or perhaps it's even more sensible to see the other place tomorrow, and then if we still want to go ahead, make an offer for the first one without the confusing conditions.

If it sells tomorrow, or someone makes a higher offer, then it's fate I suppose.

re: UEA - was in a place on Onley St. for two years, life seemed so much easier then...certainly miss the low rent!

Unless you are absolutely bowled over by the first property, then wait and view the second. You can make offers and pull out, but as it's the same agent, you don't want to appear flaky.

I wouldn't be concerned about liking one of the first places you view. One thing you do gain from viewing many properties is that you get a lot better at doing it; spotting damp, subsidence, leaks, etc.

Who is the Forum's handyman of choice, to do medium - high complexity jobs? Need some painting, bathrooming, weatherproofing balcony stuff done.

house prices crashing, get out while you can

house prices crashing, get out while you can

Sell, sell, sell!

house prices crashing, get out while you can

Don't say that, I haven't put my flat on the market yet.

Who is the Forum's handyman of choice, to do medium - high complexity jobs? Need some painting, bathrooming, weatherproofing balcony stuff done.

where are you?

Central / West

Flat next door to where we rent currently, same footprint as ours (including patio) just sold for £375k (SE5).

One post code number up (and 4 miles away) we're getting double the space for half the cost.

house prices crashing, get out while you can

Not in Leytonstone. Thanks so, Phil and Kirsty.

house prices crashing, get out while you can

Sell, sell, sell!

rubs hands with glee

The search goes on, the place we saw and made an offer on wasn't really for us.

We found two really nice places today, both of which we would love to move into - one which I prefer, one which she prefers - but they are both with the same agent. What's the etiquette there?

One is more expensive BUT has a cellar (bike cave). It is also much better for transport links and not reliant on a station which is apparently opening at some point within the next year.

What we'd really like to do is get advice from a builder who could tell us roughly how much it would cost to:
1.) Knock down a stud wall and possibly move a boiler
2.) Put French windows in a room at the back, which once had a window and a door which have since been filled in - apparently because the room used to be a kitchen and has now become a bedroom.

Could anyone give a very rough idea of how much that is likely to be, or recommend someone who could come down to a viewing and give us an estimate?

Our budget means we could either get a badly refurbished medium place, or a big place which would take a bit of creativity, and I'd prefer the latter if it is possible.

If it's within your budget, space is king.

Works like you've mentioned above aren't going to be monstrously expensive and so long as you don't need to have them done right away you could spread the cost/save. Anecdotally, what you spend on those kind of improvements (so long as they are improvements and you aren't the victim of cowboys) you will get back and then some when you come to sell.

On that note, the place which already has transport links may rise in value less than the place which doesn't yet, but will soon.

This winter I am going to go bat shit crazy with DIY.
Stud and plaster walls everywhere = sledge hammer friendly.

Could anyone give a very rough idea of how much that is likely to be, or recommend someone who could come down to a viewing and give us an estimate?.

Are you a Disabled with a sad back story? If so it's all free via DIY SOS.

Can't say how much it'd cost, but get the bigger one with bike cave, for the reasons mentioned above.

The search goes on, the place we saw and made an offer on wasn't really for us.

We found two really nice places today, both of which we would love to move into - one which I prefer, one which she prefers - but they are both with the same agent. What's the etiquette there?

One is more expensive BUT has a cellar (bike cave). It is also much better for transport links and not reliant on a station which is apparently opening at some point within the next year.

What we'd really like to do is get advice from a builder who could tell us roughly how much it would cost to:
1.) Knock down a stud wall and possibly move a boiler
2.) Put French windows in a room at the back, which once had a window and a door which have since been filled in - apparently because the room used to be a kitchen and has now become a bedroom.

Could anyone give a very rough idea of how much that is likely to be, or recommend someone who could come down to a viewing and give us an estimate?

Our budget means we could either get a badly refurbished medium place, or a big place which would take a bit of creativity, and I'd prefer the latter if it is possible.

What we'd really like to do is get advice from a builder who could tell us roughly how much it would cost to:
1.) Knock down a stud wall and possibly move a boiler
2.) Put French windows in a room at the back, which once had a window and a door which have since been filled in - apparently because the room used to be a kitchen and has now become a bedroom.

Could anyone give a very rough idea of how much that is likely to be, or recommend someone who could come down to a viewing and give us an estimate?

I'm no QS or builder, but I'd be surprised if it took more than a couple of days to knock down the wall and make good around walls / ceiling / floor (most likely one day). Rough guess £300 normally*

I'd be surprised if it took more than a day to move a boiler, in fact it should probably take half that. Don't know what plumbers charge though, maybe you could find a plumber to do it on the side?

For the french doors:

Assume there is already a lintel in place of where it had been filled in, and that as there was a window and door the opening is wide enough for a proper set of French doors. If that's the case it shouldn't be hard to make a new opening / cill / make good around. Again two days work max, most likely one. If not, you're probably looking minimum £600 to forming new opening and £1500-2k for a new pair of timber French doors?

*As I say, these are only majorly rough guesstimates based on previous jobs I've done, but with builders who do higher end work. I'll caveat it again by saying these are based on prices for larger jobs, so a jobbing builder it's hard to judge although their rates may be similar rates small nature of works.

Anyone here good with tax vs property law that could help?

What are the implications of gifting a country pile with mahoosive and urgent repair requirements? Giver certainly likely to survive another decade, recipients current house value likely to just about meet the major repair bills once sold.

Looking for an off-the-cuff freebie bit of advice, but also willing to engage professionally if things look like they will happen.

Go on then, I'll take it off your hands.