House buying, renting & selling

Discussion List

• Bidding war advice please

  So, I've been looking to buy for about 4 months now. In July I found a lovely property that unfortunately fell through (vendors decided not to move after all) and have been back on the hunt for about a month. I've not seen anything that grabbed me until yesterday when I looked round a 1 bed flat and fell in love with it.…

• Gifting money already in my house.

  I have sold my house and some of the money was originally put in by my parents when I purchased it. They are now gifting this money to me and no longer have an interest in it. This money will be put down for my next property sale. Are there any forms they need to fill out or will it just be an adjustment to their estate in…

• Should my solicitor hold my buyer's deposit?

  When should a solicitor pass on the deposit received on exchange? My solicitor has told me that they hold on to it until completion and then pass on the full balance at that point, but a friend who is seemingly very knowledgable about these things says that they should pass on the deposit straight away. This would make…

• NRAM are stopping us from selling our house.

  My partner has just got off the phone to NRAM who are refusing to settle our mortgage account and allow us to sell our home. Basically we are one of the unlucky few who where lead to believe that the together mortgage was the best way forward. For the last 8 years we have been struggling to keep up with the repayments…

• Will I pass my tenancy referencing?

  Hi guys, I'm a student that has paid for referencing so that I can rent this house I found. I'm a good few hundred overdrawn, but once I receive my student loan I'll be in the clear again. The overdraft is interest free and I'll likely have to keep dipping into it whilst renting this property, but there will be little risk…

• Viewing house before exchange

  Hi I've seen it mentioned that people go to have another look before exchange to make sure all is OK. Is a week or few days before exchange just as adequate, I take it you just have to have a reasonable amount of faith that all will be well. Our survey came back and we might be going to check things on Sat, more to…

• Have I made a mistake?

  I have a flat in SouthWest London, which I own 25% of. Happily paying that off, and bills. 2012 I met a guy. He had a great work ethic, having been with the same employer for 8 years. Due to circumstances he moved back in with his mum, paying her £500 a month rent. He lived at this time in Middlesbrough. 2013 he came to…

• Landlord Insurance - recommendations and advice please

  First time looking for this and have got myself completely bamboozled and would really appreciate your recommendations if you have landlord insurance. We are renting out a property unfurnished. We were going to go with Saga http://www.saga.co.uk/insurance/home-insurance-products/landlord-insurance.aspx I know they said…

• Being a Guarantor

  I was just asked by my cousin to be his guarantor for a rental property. Reason being his credit history was not good enough due to the past, but now has a job, and as his and his GF are both paying £400 each rent on their current properties, they are moving in together and the rent is £550. Spur of the moment I said yes!…

• Second time buyer question

  Hello all, any advice with this would be appreciated. We (my wife and I) currently live in a three bed semi in Aberdeen, worth around £165,000. We have approximately £70,000 in equity. We don't have any savings right now as we are paying down some debt (should be cleared by the end of the year) and have been a bit…

• Fixed rate up, want to let. What are my options?

  Situation: I am moving abroad for work. Potentially for many years. However I will be on a 3 month trial period (legal for all new jobs in Germany). LTV: 53% Letting for: £750 Current mortgage payment: £430 @ 2.34% Consent to let: My fixed rate with Nationwide is up 1st December. I called Nationwide and asked about consent…

• What to check about area?

  I've finally seemed to find a house we love and have an offer accepted but I wanted some advice on what I should check out about the area? Any particular websites with accurate stats? I've driven round the area a few times and I plan to go at night as well but is there any other ways I should do my research on the area?

• Shared Ownership - Want to purchase remaining 75% but need mortgage advice

  This is the situation, ]We bought 25% of a place not long ago, costing £43,750 as the property was valued at 175k. There is 29k left of that to pay. We want to purchase the remaining 75%, we have had the place valued and its gone up 40k, meaning we need to pay 161k for the remaining 75% which is fine. However, the mortgage…

• Delicate issue ?

  Hi All Hopefully someone can help, I have an apartment that I am trying to sell and so far I have been screwed over 4 times. Basically over the last few months I have had 4 different investors all put in an offer of around £83k for my apartment only to decide at the last minute to drop the offer to sub £80k. This happened…

• Is this doable? Is it even legal?

  We recently sold our house, but it fell through after the survey came back as it needed about £7k worth of work doing. We offered a £5k reduction on the house price, but the buyers rejected this, saying that as they had a 90% mortgage, it wouldn't actually be cash in their hands to do the work. Now, as we're on the brink…

• Asking for shorter lease?

  Does anyone know how landlords feel about shorter (6 month) leases? I'm moving out of home for the first time and I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I'm also concerned about how these welfare reforms will impact my benefits, once they're introduced to NI. I'm considering asking my potential landlord if he'll accept a 6…

• Mortgage or Travel In 20's

  Hi Everyone, I was hoping to get some advice as i've had mixed views on this and can't settle on the right answer just yet. Myself and my partner are currently 21 are are looking at mapping out our future plans a bit more. We have worked out that if we put all of our efforts into saving for a mortgage we can do this in…

• new layout for 3 bed bungalow.

  Hi We are changing the layout of a 3 bed bungalow we complete on in October. The kitchen and dinning room will be made into a large kitchen diner which I am happy with. I am struggling with the bedrooms and en-suites though as they seem a bit small. Any ideas on the layout would be a great help: pdf plans Thanks

• What Extras can i ask for?

  Hi, Just about to buy a David Wilson new build 4 bed home, on help to buy. I am able to get deposit, and earn enough to get mortgage needed. I would like to know what extras when buying i should hope to get from the seller. (David Wilson Homes). Do they ever pay Stamp Duty or am i better off asking for other things? Thanks…

• FTBs concerned by HomeBuyers Report!

  Hi guys, We've just received our HomeBuyers Report back on the property we're looking to purchase. Let me give you a bit of lowdown - it's a 3-bed semi-detached, former council house and was built in the 1930s. We have a mortgage offer with no retentions or conditions of the offer. We've received 3 red warnings and about…