My First House

ci_newman said:
So you haven't actually got a sealed offer on your flat yet? Stop putting offers in on other properties, it means nothing and will just lead to more heart-break :p
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Absolutely spot on. Until you sell yours and have a complete chain behind you then you are not proceedable. The estate agent will call your agent to confirm the chain is complete and qualify your offer.

You could offer 3x the price of the house you re interested in but it counts or nothing.
 
Sold STC to us. Was on at £250K got for £245K

house1e.png


Solicitor assigned and paid, sending back forms this week.
Buyer for the flat sorted
Mortgage (and cover) lined up and ready
Home buyer's Survey ordered

Everything going nice and smooth :)

4-Bed (3 up and 1 down which will be an office)
Massive conservatory which will be a dining room for a 10 seat dining table.
Garage 2/3 converted into and office, will be knocked through to have a full garage again.
Needs updated and previous DIY redoing (pretty poor), but we don't mind as it gives us a chance straight away to make it "ours". It's going to be great *fingers crossed, touch wood and all that).

More pictures to come, at some point. Didn't take any myself when i was there.
 
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Looks nice for the price. My advice to you at this stage is not to get your hopes up too much as there is still so much that can go wrong.

My buyer has pulled out this week and it creates so much work and inconvenience, I hope the same doesn't happen to you but make sure you have a back up plan.
 
koolpc said:
Do you have to post more pics of it? Lol, just kidding. Hope all goes good for you.
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Hey! :p

It's all getting re-decorated when we move in, top to bottom and a new kitchen in the near future.

Adam said:
Looks nice for the price. My advice to you at this stage is not to get your hopes up too much as there is still so much that can go wrong.

My buyer has pulled out this week and it creates so much work and inconvenience, I hope the same doesn't happen to you but make sure you have a back up plan.
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That's always a worry and my biggest one at the moment. :(
 
Rossi~ said:
That's always a worry and my biggest one at the moment. :(
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I saw the signs a week before my buyer pulled out. I'm not saying this to scare you, but things can change very quickly and you may have to accept less for your place to make the sale go through.
 
Yep. However the buyer for our flat has reserved it with a deposit and we've got his solicitors details so he's forked out pretty much £1K, non-refundable so it would have to be something fairly drastic for him to pullout.
 
Rossi~ said:
Yep. However the buyer for our flat has reserved it with a deposit and we've got his solicitors details so he's forked out pretty much £1K, non-refundable so it would have to be something fairly drastic for him to pullout.
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£1k is not a lot to lose on a house purchase, especially if they can't secure a decent mortgage. We're all being pessimistic though, it will hopefully go through smoothly :) Good luck!
 
ci_newman said:
£1k is not a lot to lose on a house purchase, especially if they can't secure a decent mortgage. We're all being pessimistic though, it will hopefully go through smoothly :) Good luck!
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Not for a house no. But for a shared ownership flat it kinda is and generally if you're in that position then you're their because money is tight.

Update:
Hom******s survey happening on Monday, and the buyer's survey for our flat is this friday.

Our solicitors are being very helpful and glad we chose them.

HA (Affinity Sutton) are being *****, basically £120 down the drain on a management pack which we have all of anyway apart from the Gas Installation and Building Insurance cert, which they never gave us in the first place. I was getting very angry with them but the otherhalf told me to chill as it wasn't worth the stress, and paid up.

Other than that, it's smooth at the moment.
 
Does anybody know how long a Hom******'s Survey report takes?
It was carried out Monday 20th and we received a voicemail saying that "their's nothing worrying about the property at all". The next day the mortgage advisor came back saying all was good for them from the survey and that the mortgage is ready and waiting.
But we haven't had the actual report yet detailing all that was checked in the survey.

I have rang the Surveyors (Countrywide) and they has said that i should receive it very shortly and will chase the department dealing with dispatching it. All very vague.

How long should i expect to have to wait for a Hom******'s Survey report?

Edit: Damn competitor's name! lol :p (Home Buyer's)
 
Countrywide have a very bad reputation for tardiness (looking at a swathe of reports on the web they have "been unusually busy" for the last decade).
I was forced to use them by my lender, all i can suggest is to engage the same individual every day on long phone calls that they find hard to hang up until they do their job, i.e. make it worth their while to get you to not take up a large chunk of their day.
 
f00b4r said:
Countrywide have a very bad reputation for tardiness (looking at a swathe of reports on the web they have "been unusually busy" for the last decade).
I was forced to use them by my lender, all i can suggest is to engage the same individual every day on long phone calls that they find hard to hang up until they do their job, i.e. make it worth their while to get you to not take up a large chunk of their day.
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Balls. :(

Cheers for that, I'll be proactive on this and make myself a pest to them.
 
We had a countrywide 'storybook' when we bought our place. It wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. It was filled with flimsy reasons why they couldn't check something or other. They highlighted several obvious and hardly drastic/life threatening issues, but missed the things we paid them to find. If there are any areas which they note they couldn't (be bothered) to check, check them yourself.
 
mjd said:
We had a countrywide 'storybook' when we bought our place. It wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. It was filled with flimsy reasons why they couldn't check something or other. They highlighted several obvious and hardly drastic/life threatening issues, but missed the things we paid them to find. If there are any areas which they note they couldn't (be bothered) to check, check them yourself.
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Double balls :(
 
I had my report with me within a week of reserving the mortgage and paying for the report. I tend to agree with the storybook thing. I've still not read it all.
 
It turned up today :)
I must say, i am actually quite impresses by the report all things considered.

There are a few things, i will type them up here for some advice if possible. One of which being securing roof trusses (something that was fine in the 70's and 80's but regs have changed). I believe i can do this myself with L-Restraint Straps?

But the main ones are the fact it's been extended and modified a couple of times and there is no evidence of the Gas or Electricity being tested in the last decade. That, along with the boiler being quite old.

More to come soon.
 
can I ask a quick q regarding your flat? do you know if you have to pay the service charge should you lose your job and claim benefits?
 
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