Houses

[Wolfox]

1 hour ago, Sly said:

Well ….. what a few weeks we’ve had. 
 

We’re sold, looking to move out around the end of July. 
 

The house we’re buying got pushed back   into Feb 2022. He asked if we wanted to wait, or we could have our 2% deposit back. So we had a mad rush around to try and sort storage and moving into parents / Air BnB for the duration.

On Friday, the goalposts were moved again, so we’ve basically pulled the plug and asked for our deposit back. He’s now gone quiet and we’ve heard nothing since. Which is pretty much how he’s been throughout. 
 

Yesterday we spent all day looking at houses to find something else …..

 

Great fun! 

That’s properly crap…. Sounds like you need a plan B now…

[Sly]

4 hours ago, Wolfox said:

That’s properly crap…. Sounds like you need a plan B now…

Plan B activated this morning. We’ve opted for a house that has fallen through this week. Not everything is to our taste inside, however I can change those things. 
 

I just need our original builder to pay me back our original deposit so I don’t have to mortgage so much. I’ll never and try and purchase from a small bespoke builder again. 
 

 

[Wolfox]

8 hours ago, Sly said:

Plan B activated this morning. We’ve opted for a house that has fallen through this week. Not everything is to our taste inside, however I can change those things. 
 

I just need our original builder to pay me back our original deposit so I don’t have to mortgage so much. I’ll never and try and purchase from a small bespoke builder again. 
 

 

If you can be bothered ensure a wide audience know how shoddy he is….  He may think twice?

 

I’m in the midst of a house rebuild…. It’s not so bad and it feels good breathing a new life into a nice house…. Roll on September though!!!

 

 

Edited 18 July 2021 by Wolfox

[grth2004]

Just finally got my homebuyers survey through 

A few little issues but one thing that worries me is the report says the kitchen has rising damp , I don’t think anyone has lived there for a while so may be the reason 

I know nothing of rising damp or how much it costs to fix , anyone out there with knowledge on this ?

[rachhere]

1 hour ago, grth2004 said:

Just finally got my homebuyers survey through 

A few little issues but one thing that worries me is the report says the kitchen has rising damp , I don’t think anyone has lived there for a while so may be the reason 

I know nothing of rising damp or how much it costs to fix , anyone out there with knowledge on this ?

Normally the mortgage company will ask you to get a quote for the work as a condition of mortgage. My estate agent recommended someone as it’s quite a common issue. 

[grth2004]

1 hour ago, rachhere said:

Normally the mortgage company will ask you to get a quote for the work as a condition of mortgage. My estate agent recommended someone as it’s quite a common issue. 

Ohh ok thanks , my mortgage advisor said she’ll speak to me at 10am about it so I guess that’s what she’ll say. 

[Joey2by4]

7 hours ago, grth2004 said:

Ohh ok thanks , my mortgage advisor said she’ll speak to me at 10am about it so I guess that’s what she’ll say. 

Get a survey done by a damp specialist. We had damp come up on our homebuyers report, and got a quote of £10k for a damp proofing course. Then we had a damp specialist survey and he said we had the normal level of damp for a terraced house of that age, and it was nothing to worry about. When we sold the house it didn't even come up on their homebuyers report. 

 

I've heard the problem is that some surveyors use surface readings for damp which can give incorrect readings. 

[Chocolate Teapot]

My wife and I are going to speculatively start looking in the market Harborough area. If anyone has any estate agent advice in the area it'd be really appreciated - given I've only had bad experiences with estate agent I'm due a good one.

[grth2004]

3 hours ago, Joey2by4 said:

Get a survey done by a damp specialist. We had damp come up on our homebuyers report, and got a quote of £10k for a damp proofing course. Then we had a damp specialist survey and he said we had the normal level of damp for a terraced house of that age, and it was nothing to worry about. When we sold the house it didn't even come up on their homebuyers report. 

 

I've heard the problem is that some surveyors use surface readings for damp which can give incorrect readings. 

Thanks for advice 

Just organised a damp survey to be done which is free so all good 👍 

Nobody else has spotted this damp so I’m guessing it’s an over cautious surveyor, also nobody has lived in the house for a while so it could be just that. 
Either way they said they will be in tomorrow to have a look. 

[Milo]

41 minutes ago, grth2004 said:

Thanks for advice 

Just organised a damp survey to be done which is free so all good 👍 

Nobody else has spotted this damp so I’m guessing it’s an over cautious surveyor, also nobody has lived in the house for a while so it could be just that. 
Either way they said they will be in tomorrow to have a look. 

Same thing happened when we were selling our house - damp issue and evidence of woodworm in the loft came up from the other sides survey of our house which spooked them a bit. We've been living in the house for 18 years and there was no damp.

The mortgage company's recommended damp specialist quoted us £4k to get it fixed - I got another couple of quotes and they ranged from £600 to £1000 for the damp and they just laughed at the woodworm issue...both independent specialists said that the woodworm was present in the tree before the wood was sawn (in 1930)! and that there was no issue at all. 

 

So, like most things when you're moving, get a number of quotes before you commit!!

 

    

[Manini]

Just had a letter through the door saying we’ve been selected to take part in the English Housing Survey. Anybody taken part in this before? 
 

Also enclosed a £5 post office voucher. 

[BeardyFox]

Recently had our mortgage broker come back with some figures. Theyre what we were expecting but the prices have shot up so much that where we could afford say a terraced house that needed a bit of work, it now appears to be flats, shared to buy or moving well out of our local area which would make commuting a real pain.

We have viewed a couple of flats, one was fairly decent however the monthly charges plus the mortgage repayments would be nearly as much as what we are paying in rent currently.

I've little knowledge of shared to buy or equity loan but all i see are quite negative experiences and lots of hidden costs.

 

The flat has been on for a while now and has been rediced once already, I still feel the price is too high, would offering £10k under be reasonable?

Otherwise its staying put and seeing if house prices come back down slightly to put them in reach.

 

[Joey2by4]

37 minutes ago, BeardyFox said:

Recently had our mortgage broker come back with some figures. Theyre what we were expecting but the prices have shot up so much that where we could afford say a terraced house that needed a bit of work, it now appears to be flats, shared to buy or moving well out of our local area which would make commuting a real pain.

We have viewed a couple of flats, one was fairly decent however the monthly charges plus the mortgage repayments would be nearly as much as what we are paying in rent currently.

I've little knowledge of shared to buy or equity loan but all i see are quite negative experiences and lots of hidden costs.

 

The flat has been on for a while now and has been rediced once already, I still feel the price is too high, would offering £10k under be reasonable?

Otherwise its staying put and seeing if house prices come back down slightly to put them in reach.

 

I don't think anything is unreasonable when it comes to house offers, just offer what you would pay for the house and if it's not enough you move on. The estate agent will have heard much lower offers in the past! 

[grth2004]

2 hours ago, Milo said:

Same thing happened when we were selling our house - damp issue and evidence of woodworm in the loft came up from the other sides survey of our house which spooked them a bit. We've been living in the house for 18 years and there was no damp.

The mortgage company's recommended damp specialist quoted us £4k to get it fixed - I got another couple of quotes and they ranged from £600 to £1000 for the damp and they just laughed at the woodworm issue...both independent specialists said that the woodworm was present in the tree before the wood was sawn (in 1930)! and that there was no issue at all. 

 

So, like most things when you're moving, get a number of quotes before you commit!!

 

    

I’ve gone for a company called Preserva which were recommended by the estate agent and they can go in tomorrow. 
They said it’s a free survey if it is damp and they give quote for work but if it’s just condensation then they will charge £120 for survey , don’t mind either way as it’s peace of mind and the only thing we’re waiting for now to get a date to move. 

[Leicester_Loyal]

41 minutes ago, BeardyFox said:

Recently had our mortgage broker come back with some figures. Theyre what we were expecting but the prices have shot up so much that where we could afford say a terraced house that needed a bit of work, it now appears to be flats, shared to buy or moving well out of our local area which would make commuting a real pain.

We have viewed a couple of flats, one was fairly decent however the monthly charges plus the mortgage repayments would be nearly as much as what we are paying in rent currently.

I've little knowledge of shared to buy or equity loan but all i see are quite negative experiences and lots of hidden costs.

 

The flat has been on for a while now and has been rediced once already, I still feel the price is too high, would offering £10k under be reasonable?

Otherwise its staying put and seeing if house prices come back down slightly to put them in reach.

 

We can't predict what will happen with the housing prices, but I can't see them ever dropping massively (like 10% or so), but you never know.

 

Main thing for me was getting onto the market, that way I was keeping up with the market (roughly), rather than falling behind when the prices rose by like 5% a year. I wouldn't personally like to live in a leasehold flat, I'd much prefer a terrace house, but then you might have to compromise, smaller house, slightly worse area, smaller garden etc. But I'd rather compromise than live in a flat, but that's just my preference.

[TiffToff88]

My new neighbours are selling their house just 7 months after I moved in next door. I wonder if it was something I said?!

 

Some of you might remember i moved out of my last house in syston to relocate to Barnsley. part of the reason for the move was that i got a new job in south yorkshire, but another reason was that we had the neighbour from hell back in Syston. the couple that i moved in next to in Barnsley are a lovely quiet couple (as are my wife and I). We've never really been very sociable loud party people. I now have to live in fear over the next few months that we might end up back in a similar situation if the new neighbours are arseholes...

[Leicester_Loyal]

Wow, that was a long 14 months, but I finally completed today. I never want to move house again, God knows how stressful it is being someone in a chain rather than a first time buyer. The couple I bought the house from left me loads of stuff, including washing products, an oven, two fridges, blinds, saws, garden tools, fish in the pond (They had informed me of this beforehand), saucepans and other stuff. They cleaned the house from top to bottom and it's spotless, the oven and fridge genuinely look brand new. I had planned to replace the carpets and do some minor jobs, but they look fine so I don't even think it's needed at the minute. They replaced the fence recently, so I don't have to do that, and also left alot of paints in the garage that they'd used previously incase I wanted to touch anything up. All of the keys they left they attached tags to stating what they were for, and they even left me a card informing me of the neighbours names, as well as their phone number, incase I needed to know anything about the place. I am genuinely touched and astounded that there are people that nice on this planet, hope they enjoy their new place as much as I'll hopefully enjoy their old place.

 

Just ordering loads of appliances and stuff for the place over the next few days, will stay at home for another couple of weeks or so until everything is here and sorted, then I'll be off.

 

Cheers for everyone on here who has given me advice and words of encouragement throughout it all as well, it has been a massive help, I'm just glad it's all over!

[Milo]

18 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Wow, that was a long 14 months, but I finally completed today. I never want to move house again, God knows how stressful it is being someone in a chain rather than a first time buyer. The couple I bought the house from left me loads of stuff, including washing products, an oven, two fridges, blinds, saws, garden tools, fish in the pond (They had informed me of this beforehand), saucepans and other stuff. They cleaned the house from top to bottom and it's spotless, the oven and fridge genuinely look brand new. I had planned to replace the carpets and do some minor jobs, but they look fine so I don't even think it's needed at the minute. They replaced the fence recently, so I don't have to do that, and also left alot of paints in the garage that they'd used previously incase I wanted to touch anything up. All of the keys they left they attached tags to stating what they were for, and they even left me a card informing me of the neighbours names, as well as their phone number, incase I needed to know anything about the place. I am genuinely touched and astounded that there are people that nice on this planet, hope they enjoy their new place as much as I'll hopefully enjoy their old place.

 

Just ordering loads of appliances and stuff for the place over the next few days, will stay at home for another couple of weeks or so until everything is here and sorted, then I'll be off.

 

Cheers for everyone on here who has given me advice and words of encouragement throughout it all as well, it has been a massive help, I'm just glad it's all over!

Well done, mate. 

The struggle to buy will soon be a distant memory. 
 

Really pleased for you - enjoy your new place (and we look forward to the housewarming party)!!

[Heathrow fox]

22 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Wow, that was a long 14 months, but I finally completed today. I never want to move house again, God knows how stressful it is being someone in a chain rather than a first time buyer. The couple I bought the house from left me loads of stuff, including washing products, an oven, two fridges, blinds, saws, garden tools, fish in the pond (They had informed me of this beforehand), saucepans and other stuff. They cleaned the house from top to bottom and it's spotless, the oven and fridge genuinely look brand new. I had planned to replace the carpets and do some minor jobs, but they look fine so I don't even think it's needed at the minute. They replaced the fence recently, so I don't have to do that, and also left alot of paints in the garage that they'd used previously incase I wanted to touch anything up. All of the keys they left they attached tags to stating what they were for, and they even left me a card informing me of the neighbours names, as well as their phone number, incase I needed to know anything about the place. I am genuinely touched and astounded that there are people that nice on this planet, hope they enjoy their new place as much as I'll hopefully enjoy their old place.

 

Just ordering loads of appliances and stuff for the place over the next few days, will stay at home for another couple of weeks or so until everything is here and sorted, then I'll be off.

 

Cheers for everyone on here who has given me advice and words of encouragement throughout it all as well, it has been a massive help, I'm just glad it's all over!

It feels like an end of an era  What a lovely touch by the seller’s.They must have taken a liking to you.Great stuff and what a relief.Upwards and onwards 

[Steve_Walsh5]

2 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Wow, that was a long 14 months, but I finally completed today. I never want to move house again, God knows how stressful it is being someone in a chain rather than a first time buyer. The couple I bought the house from left me loads of stuff, including washing products, an oven, two fridges, blinds, saws, garden tools, fish in the pond (They had informed me of this beforehand), saucepans and other stuff. They cleaned the house from top to bottom and it's spotless, the oven and fridge genuinely look brand new. I had planned to replace the carpets and do some minor jobs, but they look fine so I don't even think it's needed at the minute. They replaced the fence recently, so I don't have to do that, and also left alot of paints in the garage that they'd used previously incase I wanted to touch anything up. All of the keys they left they attached tags to stating what they were for, and they even left me a card informing me of the neighbours names, as well as their phone number, incase I needed to know anything about the place. I am genuinely touched and astounded that there are people that nice on this planet, hope they enjoy their new place as much as I'll hopefully enjoy their old place.

 

Just ordering loads of appliances and stuff for the place over the next few days, will stay at home for another couple of weeks or so until everything is here and sorted, then I'll be off.

 

Cheers for everyone on here who has given me advice and words of encouragement throughout it all as well, it has been a massive help, I'm just glad it's all over!

That’s great to hear. Where did you end up buying? I know you wanted to stay around the Thurmaston area but remember you asking about other areas.

[Leicester_Loyal]

35 minutes ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

That’s great to hear. Where did you end up buying? I know you wanted to stay around the Thurmaston area but remember you asking about other areas.

Ended up in Braunstone Town, I know that area pretty well anyway. Close to Fosse Park so good for shopping and then close to the motorway so good for awaydays or getting places.

 

Ideally wanted Syston but the prices just went too high in the end, same house I've gotten would be about 30/40k more in Syston.

 

Cheers everyone!

[FoyleFox]

3 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Wow, that was a long 14 months, but I finally completed today. I never want to move house again, God knows how stressful it is being someone in a chain rather than a first time buyer. The couple I bought the house from left me loads of stuff, including washing products, an oven, two fridges, blinds, saws, garden tools, fish in the pond (They had informed me of this beforehand), saucepans and other stuff. They cleaned the house from top to bottom and it's spotless, the oven and fridge genuinely look brand new. I had planned to replace the carpets and do some minor jobs, but they look fine so I don't even think it's needed at the minute. They replaced the fence recently, so I don't have to do that, and also left alot of paints in the garage that they'd used previously incase I wanted to touch anything up. All of the keys they left they attached tags to stating what they were for, and they even left me a card informing me of the neighbours names, as well as their phone number, incase I needed to know anything about the place. I am genuinely touched and astounded that there are people that nice on this planet, hope they enjoy their new place as much as I'll hopefully enjoy their old place.

 

Just ordering loads of appliances and stuff for the place over the next few days, will stay at home for another couple of weeks or so until everything is here and sorted, then I'll be off.

 

Cheers for everyone on here who has given me advice and words of encouragement throughout it all as well, it has been a massive help, I'm just glad it's all over!

Brilliant news.  Noticed the date this morning and wondered if you were actually completing. The buying pain will soon dissipate as you focus on making your new house your home. Very thoughtful of your sellers, they obviously want you to be as happy there as they were, and I'm sure you will. Well deserved too. 

[z-layrex]

3 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Wow, that was a long 14 months, but I finally completed today. I never want to move house again, God knows how stressful it is being someone in a chain rather than a first time buyer. The couple I bought the house from left me loads of stuff, including washing products, an oven, two fridges, blinds, saws, garden tools, fish in the pond (They had informed me of this beforehand), saucepans and other stuff. They cleaned the house from top to bottom and it's spotless, the oven and fridge genuinely look brand new. I had planned to replace the carpets and do some minor jobs, but they look fine so I don't even think it's needed at the minute. They replaced the fence recently, so I don't have to do that, and also left alot of paints in the garage that they'd used previously incase I wanted to touch anything up. All of the keys they left they attached tags to stating what they were for, and they even left me a card informing me of the neighbours names, as well as their phone number, incase I needed to know anything about the place. I am genuinely touched and astounded that there are people that nice on this planet, hope they enjoy their new place as much as I'll hopefully enjoy their old place.

 

Just ordering loads of appliances and stuff for the place over the next few days, will stay at home for another couple of weeks or so until everything is here and sorted, then I'll be off.

 

Cheers for everyone on here who has given me advice and words of encouragement throughout it all as well, it has been a massive help, I'm just glad it's all over!

Jesus christ what a saga for you. Glad its finally happening.

 

We had the same reaction, NEVER MOVING AGAIN.

[TiffToff88]

15 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Wow, that was a long 14 months, but I finally completed today. I never want to move house again, God knows how stressful it is being someone in a chain rather than a first time buyer. The couple I bought the house from left me loads of stuff, including washing products, an oven, two fridges, blinds, saws, garden tools, fish in the pond (They had informed me of this beforehand), saucepans and other stuff. They cleaned the house from top to bottom and it's spotless, the oven and fridge genuinely look brand new. I had planned to replace the carpets and do some minor jobs, but they look fine so I don't even think it's needed at the minute. They replaced the fence recently, so I don't have to do that, and also left alot of paints in the garage that they'd used previously incase I wanted to touch anything up. All of the keys they left they attached tags to stating what they were for, and they even left me a card informing me of the neighbours names, as well as their phone number, incase I needed to know anything about the place. I am genuinely touched and astounded that there are people that nice on this planet, hope they enjoy their new place as much as I'll hopefully enjoy their old place.

 

Just ordering loads of appliances and stuff for the place over the next few days, will stay at home for another couple of weeks or so until everything is here and sorted, then I'll be off.

 

Cheers for everyone on here who has given me advice and words of encouragement throughout it all as well, it has been a massive help, I'm just glad it's all over!

Congratulations! sounds like you landed on your feet too with everything the previous owners have left for you - although it could just be that they couldn't be arsed to take it all with them!

[Adster]

Had the survey done on our house we're buying and the fascias, soffitts and guttering are knackered. Vendors have offered a reduction of £1,500. However, I have been quoted £3,500 for the work! 

 

I asked for a reduction of £3,000, they've countered it at £2,000 reduction. 

 

We're buying a 3 bed detached. Has anyone had replacement fascias, soffitts and guttering recently and could confirm if a quote of £3,500 is off the mark?