Buying A House

[monkfromhavana]

I'd just like to post a quick "thanks" to all the people who have contributed thus far (and in the future). It's really helped settle me and my partner down and made it slightly less daunting getting some good advice and tips.

[MojoJojo]

the built in dishwasher that doesn't latch closed so you can open it and fling boiling water and soap everywhere),

I'm now intrigued - in the UK dishwashers never lock shut in my experience, they just have sensors so they stop spraying as soon as you start opening them.

I find minor differences in the way things are made interesting for some reason.

[touchingcloth]

He said "latch" rather than "lock" - maybe it's the same as a UK dishwasher, but the latch has gone meaning maybe it's easier to open and/or the sensor doesn't trigger to stop the water when it does open.

The real question in terms of regional dishwasher differences, though: how's it opening? Hinged at the bottom like a drawbridge, or sliding out and in like a drawer? An American friend at school's parents had shipped in a load of appliances for their kitchen, and the drawers in the dishwasher blew my mind.

[paruses]

Another vote for a broker. I was very happy with who I used (and also used to remortgage last year after not working for a year because of Covid). Am happy to recommend him if you want - I don't recall him charging any extras. He just gets the 0.n% off the provider. Just check what they are especially of they could be between 125 and 500 quid. Maybe they are providing something above and beyond the paperwork.

One thing I don't think has been mentioned when house hunting is remember to look beyond the decor and general state. It's really easy to be either put off or pulled in by how people have chosen to surround themselves. Even if they live in a tip - that can be cleaned (professionally if need be) and the cost even negotiated off the purchase price. For example I looked around a house that was being rented out that had piles of cans and dirty clothes everywhere and squat-like bedrooms. It even had a man sitting in his underpants on the sofa watching the racing. I assume he wasn't included.

[Dex Sawash]

I'm now intrigued - in the UK dishwashers never lock shut in my experience, they just have sensors so they stop spraying as soon as you start opening them.

I find minor differences in the way things are made interesting for some reason.

Of the 10 or so different ones I have lived with, only 1 had an electronic lock that would not release for a few moments so it would wind down. Had 1 that didn't even shut off at all if you were quickly in and out with a dirty spoon. Never had one where the bulk of the mechanism was a Pleistocene Epoch creature.

[Sebastian Cobb]

He said "latch" rather than "lock" - maybe it's the same as a UK dishwasher, but the latch has gone meaning maybe it's easier to open and/or the sensor doesn't trigger to stop the water when it does open.

The real question in terms of regional dishwasher differences, though: how's it opening? Hinged at the bottom like a drawbridge, or sliding out and in like a drawer? An American friend at school's parents had shipped in a load of appliances for their kitchen, and the drawers in the dishwasher blew my mind.

You can get twin drawer dishwashers in the UK but they're over a grand. Better to get two normal dishwashers (or two normal half-size  models) and alternate their purposes ("filling cupboard" and "emptying cupboard") if you want to never stack things in or out of them.

[Hat FM]

I'd just like to post a quick "thanks" to all the people who have contributed thus far (and in the future). It's really helped settle me and my partner down and made it slightly less daunting getting some good advice and tips.

i would advise not paying for a broker but maybe i just got lucky with mine. he is very good and just takes a cut from the bank. Not sure if anyone has mentioned the product fee. you might not have to pay one as a first time buyer (ask the broker about this) but normally if you take out a new deal you also have to pay a product fee of around £1000 which is absorbed into the deal (so around £40 a month on a 2 year deal).

Also, if you are buying a leasehold always enquire as to how much the service charge is. mine is around £200 a month which seems quite costly but a bill is provided outlining the costs which are checked by an independent company.

my solicitor cost around £700 for the whole transaction which was a first time buyer deal. he communicated by email but apparently many solicitors still only use the post which is a bit annoying.

[Ferris]

He said "latch" rather than "lock" - maybe it's the same as a UK dishwasher, but the latch has gone meaning maybe it's easier to open and/or the sensor doesn't trigger to stop the water when it does open.

Yeah, although it actually doesn't latch at all. You press start (only the quick cycle works so you have to do it twice), push the door as far closed as you can as quickly as you can, and accept that if it isn't 100% closed it will leak. If you like danger you can try and open it to throw more spoons in while it's going but I gave up on that after 2 attempts.

The real question in terms of regional dishwasher differences, though: how's it opening? Hinged at the bottom like a drawbridge, or sliding out and in like a drawer? An American friend at school's parents had shipped in a load of appliances for their kitchen, and the drawers in the dishwasher blew my mind.

Hinged like a drawbridge, I've never heard of this draw type setup before. Don't think I could handle that.

[TrenterPercenter]

i would advise not paying for a broker but maybe i just got lucky with mine. he is very good and just takes a cut from the bank. Not sure if anyone has mentioned the product fee. you might not have to pay one as a first time buyer (ask the broker about this) but normally if you take out a new deal you also have to pay a product fee of around £1000 which is absorbed into the deal (so around £40 a month on a 2 year deal).

yep this what I was what I was alluding too when I said the bank will charge you for renewing;

So you either pay a higher rate to secure a longer fixed term or save money on a shorter fixed rate but pay for it when you renew or roll the dice and gamble your family on the economy not crashing - remember your loan will remain the same, your payments will increase if the base rate rockets up, regardless of whether your house decreases in value.  The banks are not stupid they will fleece you whatever you do; you are maturing and inflating an asset for them that you might be able to buy them out of at some point in the future - when you have paid them a load of interest.  Try to pay all off too early, you pay extra, pay it off too slowly you pay extra, are unable to pay they remove you from the asset and sell it to someone else usually at a profit, pay your way over the term without playing their game of remortgaging and you will end up paying twice as much as you borrowed.

It's a complete scam casino and they know it; there is however nothing you can do about it (unless you can buy your house outright or don't get a mortgage).

You can win, of a sort, and that is paying it off and incurring the least amount of interest - the banks still always win though, it's just to what degree.

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

yep this what I was what I was alluding too when I said the bank will charge you for renewing;

So you either pay a higher rate to secure a longer fixed term or save money on a shorter fixed rate but pay for it when you renew or roll the dice and gamble your family on the economy not crashing - remember your loan will remain the same, your payments will increase if the base rate rockets up, regardless of whether your house decreases in value.  The banks are not stupid they will fleece you whatever you do; you are maturing and inflating an asset for them that you might be able to buy them out of at some point in the future - when you have paid them a load of interest.  Try to pay all off too early, you pay extra, pay it off too slowly you pay extra, are unable to pay they remove you from the asset and sell it to someone else usually at a profit, pay your way over the term without playing their game of remortgaging and you will end up paying twice as much as you borrowed.

It's a complete scam casino and they know it; there is however nothing you can do about it (unless you can buy your house outright or don't get a mortgage).

You can win, of a sort, and that is paying it off and incurring the least amount of interest - the banks still always win though, it's just to what degree.

I guess the same rings true for building socicties as well, although you would think they might differ if they have thier members needs at heart, but you don't tend to see much difference in rates vs banks.

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

I'd just like to post a quick "thanks" to all the people who have contributed thus far (and in the future). It's really helped settle me and my partner down and made it slightly less daunting getting some good advice and tips.

It might get quite quite stressful at times, but the end result is nearly always worth it.  Good luck!

[paruses]

It might get quite quite stressful at times, but the end result is nearly always worth it.  Good luck!

Yes - it will definitely get stressful but that's usually frustration rather than unsolvable problems.

If there really are big problems be prepared to just walk away (I assume you are not buying in Scotland where that is more difficult). It might cost a bit but you don't want to have 10s of thousands of debt for a property you don't want or that will cost you 10s of thousands more to fix.

[TrenterPercenter]

It might get quite quite stressful at times, but the end result is nearly always worth it.  Good luck!

Yeah - my statement about the banks is the just being a realist but that shouldn't put you off; it's just a shame that these parasitic aresholes have been given the responsibility of managing mortgages; just don't even think about it because it is completely mad what they are doing - just concentrate on getting the best deal you can and a nice gaff.  All will be well.

[Consignia]

I'd just like to post a quick "thanks" to all the people who have contributed thus far (and in the future). It's really helped settle me and my partner down and made it slightly less daunting getting some good advice and tips.

Best advice I can give: Shop around for solicitors, and don't take the one the estate agent offers. Ask friends who done it recently; although my experience nearly everyone has had a terrible experience a couple have had a relatively smooth ride.

[peanutbutter]

Not strictly connected to this thread but I've started looking for a new job and have been a bit surprised by how much the going rates seems to have gone up. Stock market went a bit mad last year too. Prices of tons of shit have gone up to the point all my dumb purchases oon ebay of the last few years feel like sound investments compared to leaving the money in my account...

it all feels kinda like hyperinflation or something similarly messy. I don't see where a correction comes from right now but surely there's gonna be one?

[TrenterPercenter]

Not strictly connected to this thread but I've started looking for a new job and have been a bit surprised by how much the going rates seems to have gone up. Stock market went a bit mad last year too. Prices of tons of shit have gone up to the point all my dumb purchases oon ebay of the last few years feel like sound investments compared to leaving the money in my account...

it all feels kinda like hyperinflation or something similarly messy. I don't see where a correction comes from right now but surely there's gonna be one?

I've not noticed this; house prices have risen (well on average) but I've not seen any increase in general costs;

[Huxleys Babkins]

Bought our bungalow last January which was incredibly fortunate as there's nothing this good in this price bracket now. Plus it's now worth at least £50k more than when we bought it 18 months ago. Thanks Rishi x.

Whatever you do, you'll always feel like you've been ripped off or fucked about a bit by someone in the process which is inevitable as there are so many people and organisations involved. You'll wish you'd have made a few decisions differently, but talking with mates who've bought houses, most seem to feel the same way no matter what they did.

There's also inevitably going to be some teething problems when you move in so make sure there's some spare cash for unexpected work. A full survey will tell you plenty and you'll have made mental notes of obvious things that'll need doing sooner rather than later, but it's unlikely either of you would pick up on something like a relatively new hot water pump that's clogged with limescale, which is what we had.

Also, be prepared that the people who've lived there before were probably cheap and lazy, so when you come to renovate you'll find that they've probably used cheap, sandy plaster that'll need redoing and instead of taking off old wall and floor coverings they'll have just layered. Our kitchen floor had a layer of laminate on top of three layers of lino. Our bathroom walls had two layers of tiles and three of wallpaper with boards to pack out the window sills because of how thick the tiles were. Our garden resembled an archaeological dig; take up a concrete path to find top soil on top of a patio on top of more soil on top of brick on top of a pond. Old asbestos garage roof just slung behind the garage. Tarmac driveway where instead of levelling out the base layer they just levelled out the tarmac instead which inevitably sunk. We took everything back to brick/floorboard/earth and started again. Took us about five or six large skips to get rid of everything.

[TrenterPercenter]

Our kitchen floor had a layer of laminate on top of three layers of lino.

We had this in some rooms, carpet, laminate put on top of more carpet.

However the best was the little room before the kitchen which had laminate which they had then use date boxes from as insulate.  That well known long-lasting non-biodegradable material known as cardboard.

We were in a situation were we had saved the Help to Buy ISA thing and then realised, like a lot of others that we couldn't use it for the deposit so we spent it all on doing the floors - a very smart move as they are all lovely posh wooden floors now (we've got a great carpenter who advised us on getting good quality engineered floorboards rather than hardwood and they are mint).

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

We had this in some rooms, carpet, laminate put on top of more carpet.

However the best was the little room before the kitchen which had laminate which they had then use date boxes from as insulate.  That well known long-lasting non-biodegradable material known as cardboard.

We were in a situation were we had saved the Help to Buy ISA thing and then realised, like a lot of others that we couldn't use it for the deposit so we spent it all on doing the floors - a very smart move as they are all lovely posh wooden floors now (we've got a great carpenter who advised us on getting good quality engineered floorboards rather than hardwood and they are mint).

how come you couldnt use your help to by thingy to buy?

[TrenterPercenter]

how come you couldnt use your help to by thingy to buy?

the bonus is only release after the sale - there was a bit of outrage I remember as this wasn't communicated very well at the time (and obviously doesn't really equate to "help to buy") but I think this only applies to the help to buy ISA back then and not the Lifetime ISA you can get now.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Yeah, we went with a LISA rather than the HTBISA for that precise reason. It always felt like the HTB was a bait and switch to try to force first time buyers into new builds and/or shared ownership.

[monkfromhavana]

Everything has been going smoothly, had an offer accepted in house, mortgage going through OK...... then we hit the conveyancer (O'Neill Patient). Got assigned a case handler who we have telephoned, e-mailed, messaged on the digital platform but never received a single response back - she has e-mailed us stuff, but never actually replied back. Tried calling the main number 3 times right at start of working day, gave up after 90 minutes not getting through to anyone. Finally managed to get a reply and get someone to call by sending them a private message on fucking Facebook.

My partner is Polish and her parents gave her some money which she is using as a deposit. They needed her parents passports and 6 months worth of statements, which we have provided. Our case handler responds with... need to get your partner and her parents to get their passports notarized, need another 6 months worth of statements from all their bank accounts, need them to fill out a questionnaire, need them to fill out a 10 page document (they don't speak English) listing her parents jobs, salary, proof of funds in their account (it's not in their account, it's in ours) and need to get the whole shebang translated by an authorized translator. Thing is, stuff in Poland isn't that easy to do. You can't just go to bank and get passport notarized, the only option is to book to go and see a solicitor that could take weeks. If you want to get a statement, the one you download doesn't give you all the stuff, you  need to go to the bank and spend the equivalent of £20 for every monthly statement you want. It's going to end up costing more than the fucking house.

My partner has been crying all the time  and has barely slept (add to this that she's currently working for the 11th straight day) and I just want to curl up and die.

[Icehaven]

If you want to get a statement, the one you download doesn't give you all the stuff, you  need to go to the bank and spend the equivalent of £20 for every monthly statement you want. It's going to end up costing more than the fucking house.

That's outrageous, paying for a bank statement. Do they still send them out monthly for free like they do here?

[JaDanketies]

Ours is taking forever too - partially my fault. You really do need to be on the cases of all these conveyancing solicitors. And then they don't even tell you what the problem is, they spend two days talking to their colleagues about it instead, even though you know the answer. The offer officially expired yesterday so we've just sent the broker a bunch more bank statements. He's my cousin and is ruing the day he decided not to charge us.

Now I'm coming up to two years' self-employment anyway so I'm tempted to think I could therefore access a wider range of offers, but I feel like I would destroy personal relationships if I said "can we go back to the drawing-board" at this point

[monkfromhavana]

That's outrageous, paying for a bank statement. Do they still send them out monthly for free like they do here?

When I first went over to live there it was a massive struggle to even get a bank account. Responses ranged from "We don't do that for non-Poles" to "Why do you need a bank account????"

Ours is taking forever too - partially my fault. You really do need to be on the cases of all these conveyancing solicitors. And then they don't even tell you what the problem is, they spend two days talking to their colleagues about it instead, even though you know the answer.

I would be on at them, if I could actually either speak to someone or have someone respond to any of my queries / messages / voicemails / phone calls.

[Dr Trouser]

I've never heard of solicitors wanting this level of info.

I would suggest binning them off asap, get a new solicitor - get one that's near you physically and is not a large practice. When they ask you where your deposit is from, just say 'savings' then that's the money laundering check done and dusted.

Then camp out at their office until they do their job.

This approach has worked for me many times when buying a house.

[GMTV]

I bought a house last year and had to drag the solicitor I went with kicking and screaming along for the ride. Seriously considered binning them but it was too far down the line. Had to check everything they did, constant badgering to get them to do anything. When it came to settling on both purchase and sale they'd fucked up their spreadsheet and planned to take over two grand more off me than they were supposed to. All the while being angry at me for expecting some kind of competent service that I was paying about two grand for. They somehow managed to make the estate agents look like the good guys, who were also attempting to do as little as possible

Arseholes the lot of them.

[Sherringford Hovis]

I've never heard of solicitors wanting this level of info.

Me selling/buying a house 2010: solicitor's info <> 4x A4 pages

Me selling/buying a house 2021: solicitor's info <> 36+ pages

Same with the mortgage and estate agents - massive increase in admin folderol over the last decade. And it's all paper.
*squints at laptop screen to fill out forms in biro which will then be hunt-and-pecked incorrectly onto an arcane legacy system somewhere by some untrained lackey*

[katzenjammer]

I would suggest binning them off asap, get a new solicitor - get one that's near you physically and is not a large practice. When they ask you where your deposit is from, just say 'savings' then that's the money laundering check done and dusted.

Agree with this. Don't volunteer any additional information, try to answer everything with as little as possible and think about whether what you've said is likely to trigger any further checks.

[Consignia]

I would be on at them, if I could actually either speak to someone or have someone respond to any of my queries / messages / voicemails / phone calls.

My experience too, as mentioned upthread. I get that must get loads of anxious people ringing up and asking stupid questions, but it is literally their job. The not insignificant amount of money should allow a bit time to answer to their clients.