Buying a house - first steps

Just buy a drone

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Yeah, we’re in a block of flats (new build 5/6 years ago), and it sounds like such a pain for anyone trying to sell, that we’re just going to wait it out. Most banks/money lenders just won’t go ahead with it without documentation/EWS1 form, but there are so few experts who can test and do the forms that it will take forever. We finally had some sacffolding put up for a short while so that they could take samples of the walls/insides, but that was a fair few months ago now, and it just seems to be added to the backlog for someone to one day assess.

A couple of people in our development have managed to sell somehow, either because of buyers with big cash deposits, or because of the lender of the buyer’s mortgage who seem to be more relaxed about needing the documentation. I think one new buyer in our block was with Virgin Money, so maybe you could try them/another lender to see if they will approve a mortgage without the EWS1 forms? The normal big name banks seem to be a stickler for their self enforced rules, even for buildings that it shouldn’t apply to.

Probably going to lose the house we’re trying to buy. Hold ups from my housing association, my buyer fucking around and just general delays in getting basic stuff sorted by my estate agent right at the beginning.

Feel drained to be honest, started this whole process in… May? Just taking forever and now it might be a complete waste of the last 6 months. Gone beyond anger now, just depressed, tired and close to breaking.

Can honestly see why people just rent forever now.

Emailed our solicitor this morning cos we’ve spent the weekend endlessly discussing what to do / what not to do / how long we’ll realistically need to find a place to rent - basically just for some guidance of how long we can push it before the sale becomes unmanageable on our timescale - only to get an out of office saying they’re on leave for a week.

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Anyway.

So the thing here is we’ve been told it doesn’t need an EWS1, as the building is under the height (18m?) and the freeholder knows what type of cladding is.

The lender is asking for proof of this - basically a signed letter from someone in the field saying “I certify this building doesn’t have any dodgy cladding”. The seller’s agent is being a bit weird about this, keeps saying they don’t know why lenders ask for this when it isn’t needed, but… they’re sorta missing the point, and it isn’t by itself an unreasonable request.

What I can’t work out is if they’ve actually asked the freeholder for something like this and know they don’t hold it, or if they’re just being a bit weird about the idea of asking in the first place.

We were previously going with a lender that hasn’t asked for this, but they, for whatever reason, decided at the last minute they wouldn’t lend us the amount. They were only under by a few grand, which we probably could cover if pushed. But also - what happens if this comes up again when we eventually want to move on? Or what other issues will we have with the freeholder if genuinely can’t be bothered to do something this straightforward? Just so many :triangular_flag_on_post:s for us I think right now.

I was in that situation and our broker paired us up with a lender who was happy to take on someone on the basis of a job contract (so I hadn’t even started). So it’s not impossible to get a mortgage if you’re in a new role.

Views look lovely. Took the liberty of looking at it on RM, the garden situation is a bit strange - would that be an issue with the dogs?

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Not necessarily- I did a mortgage application when I was in my notice period and the bank was fine with it as long as they had the new contract and salary details.

Don’t forget to factor in all the costs of moving, estate agent fees, lawyer fees and stamp duty, it can really add up

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I think at the time my wife was on maternity leave but I can’t remember, to be honest, it was a bit of a complicated situation with her income potentially not counting and my wage basically covering our affordability. Having a broker really helped. I’d go in with the idea that it shouldn’t be impossible if you have a permanent public sector contract and have a couple of months of payslips to show, but a broker will know the requirements of different lenders and avoid you going with someone who might not lend.

sounds good about the yard/garden situation, just something that stood out to me. No idea about how these wall situations work, if it’s anything like shared fences then you’ll need to know what you’re responsible for, and then discuss with your neighbours and come to an agreement, e.g. if your neighbour is reasonable for a wall that you want to be rebuilt for security. Appreciate that when buying a house you really don’t find out about the neighbours until it’s too late!

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IMO best bet would be to have a house valuation. then look at similar ‘finished’ properties and compare valuations.

if the price of a, b, c, d adds value (up to or above the cost of the work) then do them, otherwise take the hit on the sale price. chance are if you put a basic suite in for example, then someone will want to come in and put their own in anyway.

most areas/types of houses have a ceiling limit on value, so I know that even if I put ÂŁ30,000 worth of decorating into my flat, they never sell for over x amount anyway. :man_shrugging:

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Something functioning in a basic manner is much better than something that’s not working. Even if you get it to just work, and you buy the cheapest bits available to fix it, it’ll help more than saying to a prospective buyer that it’s an easy thing for them to sort out if / when they move in

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remember that you’re not going to get back 100% of the money you put into sell. So if you spend £5k into a new bathroom then you may only see that move the sale price up a little bit. All of this is on average, it very much comes down to the buyer and what they’re after (e.g. a finished place ready to move in, or a ‘doer upper’ that they will put their stamp on).

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also don’t want to pry but what’s the issue with your bathroom?

I might consider the cheap carpet option, but it depends on how crap the boards look at the moment.

the way i read it was that the source of damp had been sorted but the moisture was still there in the walls/water damage showing. if the damp treatment came with a guarantee then a buyer might be happy with that. I’d tidy it, explain that it’s recently been treated for damp and that you have the paperwork, and let them decide.

i really wouldn’t be put off by this, I wouldn’t even bother with a cheap carpet just let the buyer decide as it’s a very personal taste whether you go with wood floors or carpet, in this case you show off that the boards are in great nick just need sanding and varnishing/painting.

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Are the walls now dry then? If so, just paint.

That sounds like it belongs in the too much effort pile.

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Don’t laugh at me too hard, but you could always ask an estate agent what they think is worth doing (and then ignore them).

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It’s a guess, but I think you’d be alright. Main consideration might be Data Protection and processing but I think that’s the same in Scotland as England.

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Shouldn’t have any contractual issue as it’s still the UK so you’d be fine in terms of payroll and things. In terms of any expectation for going into the office that comes down to a discussion with your line manager. I’m remote and when I agreed my contract I agreed in writing with the hiring manager that they’d be ok to cover my expenses to head down to London once a month to meet with the team and things. That wasn’t really based on where I was travelling in from. I don’t really need to travel in. Not done so since feb 2020

TLDR don’t think it’ll matter. If you’re remote you’re remote.

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So we’ve got a second viewing on our house on Saturday :partying_face: of course this is no guarantee but it’s the first sign we’ve had of someone being close to making a sensible offer.

Only downside is that there is so little on the market at the moment that we like. So we’ll need to work out how flexible / patient the buyers are willing to be, and then work out our options if we can’t find somewhere immediately (maybe rent for a few months? But I’d rather not tbh).

Anyone else been in a similar situation? (I.e. getting a buyer for your house but not being able to find one you want to buy?)

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