Owning your own home

Then you can shit on her doorstep every single time you need to poop.

About fucking time! Congratulations :)

I can do that now, it's a 30 second walk away.

I feel much better now.

Hiya, did you still want to speak to someone? I work in an EA and my colleague is super good.
( She's independent. )

oh shit, were you at my office today!?

;)

^^ Always good to see Grrl power and Spandex is alive and well.

Hi - have you still got these and could I come and pick them up (maybe tomorrow?)

Still got them, but not quite finished with them yet - maybe in a couple of weeks...

If you can't wait that long, I bought them from wood-finishes-direct.com and they were well-packaged and delivered promptly

I need some nice hardwood for my kitchen worksurfaces, does anyone have a good source/recommendation?

If not I'll probably get something from Whitten Timber due to their support for Herne Hill.

Huhuhhuh, hardwood.

I have read good things about http://www.worktop-express.co.uk. But thinking about it, that might just be on their website.

Which kind of wood are you going for?

Does anyone know anything about replacing a kitchen worktop? It's a built-in kitchen with an over-worktop sink and induction hob. Would it be difficult to get sink and hob out without damaging them?

^ Shouldn't be. Normally they just screw/bolt together, plus some sealant round the edge.

There's a slim chance that I'll need to leave London this year. Does anyone have any experience of renting out their flat? Is it hard to do?

I've read that you lose your capital gains exemption when you do this. Does that mean if I did it for a couple of years, I'd then lose a fortune in the future when I sell it?

Not necessarily, if you move back in for a period before you sell it you can still claim exemption from CGT as a primary place of residence.

Thanks for the offer, but no. I think it's quite clear that we won't be getting a mortgage in the immediate future. Which is a bummer, because the money we have can only depreciate in comparison to property values.

Looking into just dropping it on a shared-ownership without a mortgage. Anyone know what the deals are with shares? Are they set or do you negotiate? Is 25% the smallest (I'd rather have a smaller percent to live in a part of town we're comfortable in, than a larger percent but be in Edmonton). I saw a 10.5% share once, but that was somewhere out of London.

that's a shame :(

re shared-ownership
if you want more % of the property then you buy the housing association out.
there's no negotiation on % as this is how the HA will make their money (as you're only paying the seller at this point) only possible negotiation is with the actual seller with your price offered, however bear in mind that these properties often appeal to many others in your situ as they are more affordable straight off so if you make out you're wanting to neg or offer less you're more likely to be ignored/snubbed by the agent as there are many others who are willing to buy straight away.
double check the service charges too as they tend to be high, you'll be paying this along with your rent for the remaining % to the HA.
not sure about smallest % avail.

You'll need to let your lender know; they might add 100bps to your interest rate for your trouble...

We got ours from Barncrest http://www.barncrest.co.uk/

Fully online. We sent them measurements and diagrams and they cut, oiled and sent the worktops. We put on another 3 coats of Osmo top oil then oil them when they look thirsty. We're really happy with the service.

One thing to watch out for is to get them all at the same time. These are all iroko but the bench was ordered about a year later and the colour is quite different. It actually looks ok - maybe even a bit better than if it matched - but if was part of a straight run it would have been a problem.

Don't think you pay any cap gains tax if you move back in or sell it within three years.

Renting your flat in London -

Generally easy if you have a low maintenance property. There are plenty of people seeking honest private landlords and plenty of places for you to advertise.

Main difficulties, assuming you are the owner -

• begging mortgage company to OK it, assuming you have a mortgage
  
• time / hassle involved with vetting tenants
  
• maintenance / repairs, especially if you are not in London
  
• letting go of any emotional attachment you have to the place
  
• paying the tax on the income and the CGT issue
  
  

Bad tenants will be the worst of your worries as they can cost you a great deal of time and money, I've heard. You need to put quite a bit of energy into sourcing and vetting good ones, and then keeping the good ones.

Drop me a PM if you want any detail / specifics etc

Bathroom finally got finished whilst I was away over Christmas... Got the decorating all finished over the weekend. So nice to have a fully functioning bathroom again!

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