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EPC Question
Hi there, just wanted to see if anyone knows this. The house I am currently in the process of buying through an EA doesn't have an EPC certificate registered for it. Can a solicitor still organise exchange of contracts without it? And would my mortgage lender not allow the mortgage without it? I personally see the…
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Cannot sell house due to Hoarder next door
Hi, I am a newbie to MSE forums which seems vast so I hope that I have landed at the right spot! (please let me know if not). The situation i have is currently making me ill as unsure how to resolve it. In July 2013 I bought as a cash sale but through an estate agent a semi detatched house in need of major renovation - it…
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Cost of a solicitor
Hello, can anyone tell me how much conveyancing should cost me, its 20 years since we last moved house! My son who lives in London used a solicitor up in Northumberland who was recommended and I asked for a quote. The actual legal fees with vat (excluding all the bits and pieces that you always have to pay ) are £600 for…
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Which survey ?
In the process of buying a 4 bed semi that has a double storey side and back extention. House is built approx 1930s. We were planning to just have mortgage evaluation rather than full survey as the extentions are only a couple of years old. Would anyone go for a more detailed survey or do you think this is enough ?
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A few questions from a first-time renter
Okay folks, I rented my first place with a flatmate (and his girlfriend...ho hum) in December '13. This is a whole new experience for me and I'm wondering if I have made some basic mistakes. I pretty much trusted my flatmate to sort it all as he's rented plenty of times before, although I am a natural cynic. If anyone…
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Landlord selling house what notice does she have to give
So we have been renting for 15 months, all going ok till August last year after I told her about a few things that needed doing. The boiler kept packing up (at one point after three weeks of no heat we had no choice to move out due to the cold and the smell of oil as the so called engineer made more of a problem then…
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Letting agent trouble (HELP)
I current rent a flat out and have a great tenant in, but the letting agent is horrendous, they don't answer calls or emails, rent is never received on the same day every month unless I email or text to say the rent is due soon even though the tenants pay buy direct debt. I'm current owed this months rent March and a…
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Anglian Water leak 30 days to comply
Hello, I wonder if someone could help me please We have a friend who moved into his new house on Thursday night. This morning I went round to help him unpack and AW turned up on the doorstep and said that they had checked the leakage that had been reported and that it was on his side of the meter so he would be liable for…
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Buy-to-let with a view to moving in when tenants leave - good/bad idea?
There's a HMO for sale in the area I want to by in myself. It's about the right size, looks in decent condition, in budget, etc... It's currently tenanted, though. I've been thinking about buying the HMO, renting it out until the tenants choose to leave, then redecorating (if needed - condition looks fine from the pics)…
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Options for Inheirited Property in London
Hi all, I'm hoping I can get some advice on what our options are with a property my family inherited last year. Just to give a background to this, my gran passed away over a year ago and left everything to my dad which included her property in London. My dad didn't want to sell it and so offered it to me rent-free which…
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What's the difference?
A few houses near us have recently been listed as "under offer" or "sold stc". Originally I thought that the timing was the difference i.e. under offer first and then sstc, but one is sstc after just a day or 2 and never had "under offer". These are with the same agent so it's not an agency thing. Does anyone know what the…
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Help with a new property purchase - exchange and completion dates
Hi All Long story, so request your patience on this one... * Bought my present place, an apartment in London on leasehold three years ago. Have now decided to buy a house in the suburbs, offer accepted, mortgage approved and ready for exchange. * I don't have a chain, as am retaining my current property, planning to let…
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HSBC managed panel of conveyancers
Hi all, I'm looking at remortgaging with HSBC and as such have the option to use someone on their managed panel of conveyancers. I had the misfortune of getting an HSBC mortgage when Countrywide was the only convenyancer, and that was probably the most stressful time of my life. Does anyone know if the managed panel are…
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Check out inventory clerk refusing to provide report
Hi, I'm hoping for some guidance/help/advice. My last tenants moved out around 6weeks ago now. I had a check in inventory completed by an independent clerk recommended by the letting agency, and he duly undertook the checkout inventory. He sent a draft PDF via email asking for feedback by email. I sent comments as there…
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Loft conversion - no building regs
Hi, We are in the process of buying a property and have just found out that the loft conversion has no building regs. We have been advised that a possible reason for this is that there is no steel support in the floors and I was wondering how much it would cost to put support in and how difficult a job it would be. Has…
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Potential fracking
I am aware fracking is now a 'possibility' .. how likely is this to appear on a search - and if it does should I worry - or are all properties at risk of fracking?
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Listed building D1 use
Hi I want to use a listed building for D1 use. It already has a D1 licence. I don't want to change the external. I just want to make the internal into a creche. What exactly would I be allowed to do? How strict are the rules? I plan to basically add a few partitions inside a huge hall to make a few temporary rooms. Nothing…
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Items missing after contractor visit, had no idea visit was happening - advice?
Hello everyone, Myself and my partner currently live in a flat with an AST, which expires on the 6th April. We are moving to a different area and have spent the past few weeks moving our items from the old house to the new. Today we went back up to the flat after three days away to find the house as we left it, except for…
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Mortgages and investing in a buy-to-let property
So, say you had £40k in the bank and wanted to buy a separate property to rent out as an investment, where would you begin? We're debating letting out our own 3 bed detached house (needs some work to finish, but that's my mission over 8 weeks during the summer) and buying another place to live in using the savings as a…
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Best thing to do in my position...
Hi all, I'm currently a sponsored PhD student in London with about 3.5 years to go and am living at home at the moment. This means my living expenses are pretty low and have spare cash to put to work, this has made think its time for me to invest in a property. I currently have enough savings to put down a modest deposit…
