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Homebuyers' insurance
I am looking to buy a property. Is it worth getting homebuyers' protection insurance? I have seen one that costs £80 and covers: – £750 towards conveyance fees – £500 towards survey/valuation fees – £250 towards mortgage/lenders fees I know the £250 towards mortgage lender's fees is unlikely to cover the full cost but the…
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donee
Hi all, I am planning on buying a house. The property is around 80000 pounds, 35000 morgage and 5000 my savings and 40000 a gift from my parents. Funds that my parents want to donate to me will be coming from abroad. I read in your posts that in this case my parents need to write a letter saying that it is a gift from them…
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Buying property on the Algarve
I am hoping to retire and would like to buy a property on the Algarve, probably around Vilamoura but would consider anywhere within 30 mins of Faro airport. I have no idea of where to start, having heard hundreds of horror stories and very few success stories. Can anyone point me towards any relevant reading matter or…
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"Offers in excess of..." Is this a turn-off?
Hi all, After a buyer pulling out, we recently dropped the price of our house from £157,500 to offers in excess of £150,000. This was on estate agent's advice as we've seen a house we want and want our place to sell quickly. However, I've just been told that the "offers in excess of..." phrase can be a real turn-off and…
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Help to buy scheme-is it a good idea?
I recently saw a bellway development in area I'm after and looking at website I like the apartments but I have no experience on new builds and their quality so would love some advice if to keep clear from new builds? Also would it be easy to resell this type of property? I've always been weary of shared ownership and…
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Ex landlord given me CCJ
Hi, I moved out of a house in 2011 with some rent owing. Landlord got this money back through the deposit protection scheme, but before it was repaid, they managed to land me with a CCJ. I stupidly didnt defend it as I thought with my money being held with the tenancy deposit scheme, this would pay it off and the judgement…
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House purchase with parents - inheritance/estate questions
We are a married couple looking to purchase 1 large house (already found) with parents from one side, it has an annex where they will live. Us = Own house, now agreed a sale (mortgage) Parents = Own house, sale agreed (no mortgage) New house requires the parents to put £100k in (from the sale of their house, with no…
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Possession order?
To cut a long story short I rented out my house to a family a few years ago. To begin with rent etc was paid on time but the last 12 months have been in constant arrears. Ive given them the legal 2 months notice which terminates at the beginning of May, however I can forsee theres no intention on them moving out by then as…
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Rent the house I'm buying before completion?
Hi, I'm buying a house the other side of the country as we're moving because of work. Everything seems to be going ok, but we haven't got a completion date yet, but I do have a start date on my new job. Rather than staying in a hotel, travelling on weekends and still keeping my rented place down south, I was wondering if…
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Flooded flat
My daughter has just returned to London after Easter to discover that her rented flat is flooded. She & her flatmates noticed a leaking pipe last week, called landlord who sent someone to fix it - obviously not properly. The flat is now completely uninhabitable and lots of the tenants' property has been damaged. What are…
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Building Control
Hi all, Last year we bought a flat that is on the second floor of a converted house in London. It has a roof terrace that is accessed through a conservatory, and we would like to replace the conservatory roof with a felt roof. As the conservatory is not on the ground floor, we will need building regulations approval to…
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Oil tank filling in rental property
Much grumbling has gone on this weekend by a tenant who is moving out after 8 years with regards to filling of the oil centeral heating tank .At the time when they moved in we topped out the tank and have it in the contract that it is left the same on leaving. The obvious problem being that then to fill the tank would have…
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Centrium Woking - any former/current owners/tenants
Hi all, Long shot but does anyone own/rent in Centrium Woking? Keeps popping up on zoopla and flats that were sold for £300k+ in 2005 are on for £220k now. Is this just market forces and the house price crash we FTB keep hoping for or is something else going on in the area they aren't saying? I know Barrats are building on…
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Split up, in arrears & for sale
I'm not sure if there's going to be anything constructive for my sister-in-law to do but it's worth asking as it won't be a unique situation. She bought a property with an ex-partner who ended up being sacked from a bank for dishonesty. He is living in the property and it's currently for sale. The problems are that it's…
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Rent or Buy, ex-Expat's Dilemma
Looking for opinions! Have been renting since returning to UK after a couple of decades away. Due to OH's current job we are unsure how long we will be in the UK. Could be another 2, 3 or more years. We don't have much say in the matter unless he resigns. When we arrived in 2011 we thought we'd be here max 2 years in…
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Buyers skipping building survey to save costs
Saw this on the BBC news site today: 'More families are shunning full building surveys so they can raise enough cash to buy a home. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) warns that they risk huge repair costs after finding nasty surprises later. One in five of those who did not bother with a survey later…
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Issues with Survey - How to proceed
I'm a first time buyer slightly bewildered by the whole process! I've had my survey back and it's identified a few 3's, these are that the warm air heating system is at the end of it's serviceable life and that the fuse box does not have a safety device fitted and a new consumer unit should be fitted. I had expected the…
