Further financial faux pas and even more disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Seems I'm destined to spend money without even trying. Got collared for various leaving collections at school and then fleeced by the DDs for ice cream money whilst on todays trip. Arrived home to find a tanker topping up the gas tank. Fortunately only 350 litres but thats still something approaching £250. Am now torn between hoping for rain so as to avoid having to water the seedlings we planted out at the weekend and hoping for dry weather so the DDs don't get drenched since they're spending the day outside.

Have found a property of interest. E-mailed the council to see whether I'd have to pay council tax on it since its unfit for habitation and doesn't have residential planning permission. The vendor has written allsorts of nice 10 year profit clases into the sale so its something I'd want to sit on for a decade which would give me time to figure out what to do with it. The interesting bit is its affordable and comes with an acre of land which would be most excellent for all manner of vegetables and fruits and trees and animals and would be simply amazing. Sounds far too good to be true though.

Forms filled in for the transfer of the Santander direct debits. Need to do something constructive but am off to label yesterdays jam and rearrange my jam jar cupboard again in the hopes of cramming it all in there... then I'll do something boringly domesticated.

Wordsmith

Wouldn't an acre of agricultural land be cheaper to buy, if you just want it for animals and veg?

lucielle

Smaller the acreage usually more desirable=higher price.
L

Wordsmith

Five acres, then? Cheaper per acre, therefore a bargain?

Marg

"Sounds far too good to be true though"

In my experience it usually is!!!:rotfl:

Sorry to be negative.........

lucielle

5 acres probably comand a high price as it would suit the horsey brigade. Sorry Moo not being very helpful.
L

Wordsmith

Ten acres?

moo2moo

Five or even ten acres would be lovely but completely out of my price range since we're close enough to the village boundary that speculators snap up everything that borders it in the hopes of being able to slap a housing estate on the fields when the boundary is reviewed. Escaped without it being moved last time so have 20 years before the next one but it doesn't stop them paying three or in some times four times the agricultural value of the land and then renting it to the farmers in the meantime.

Have harassed the local council to see if council tax would be applicable to the hovel. Tis almost guaranteed they say yes, you can't live in it but you can pay residential council tax. That should decide things one way or the other. Its on the market for a little over triple the going rate per agricultural acre but it has fabulous views which would make it perfect for building our dream house at some point in the distant future after the 10 year clause has expired. It would give us a long term goal to aim for. In the meantime I could start developing the land around the house so as to have a mature fruit orchard and willow for fencing and basket making and wot not when we eventually get that far. Am trying not to get too excited because its sealed bids rather than open offers. I'd happily make an offer today if I knew it would be accepted or rejected on the spot but the whole idea of picking a figure out of mid air and finding we'd offered £5K more than anyone else or were the only offer would be really really irritating, not half as irritating as if we offered £500 less than it sells for though.

Sorted through and inventoried my jams. Have tons of some things and nothing of others. Will need to do something about that. But not this week. Need to bung some of the stuff I've gone in non-approved jars into the correct ones in order to shift those too but am eeking my way slowly to being in profit which is happening a lot faster than I expected. The DDs are happy to label up some of the jams they've made to give their teachers as end of year gifts which saves having to talk them out of some random tat instead. Just need to get them to make some labels and cards and dig out some gift bags. Have a mere nine school days left in which to do that.

The DDs arrived home with a huge amount of tat. Quite how they managed it with the money they had escapes me. Did quiz them to check they'd paid for everything and was assured they had. They seem to have targeted the charity stalls much to the disgust of the other childen in their group. Apparently second hand stuff is for paupers. Don't think either of them were at all bothered by that.

Tis heaving down with rain which means I don't need to remember to water DD2s seedlings but which does mean I've no excuse for avoiding the ironing. Bah. Have to get myself psyched up for high school visits tonight. I fear its likely to be rather expensive.

Eager_Elephant

Hi Moo

I have a plan for you regarding this lovely new place of yours - (see the positive talk)

If you can get Environmental Health to condemn it as unfit for human habitation then no Council Tax will be charged as by law you are not allowed to live in it :j:T

EE

moo2moo

Thanks EE! I have a copy of the last planning application from a decade ago which states "the existing structure is neither habitable nor capable of being improved to modern standards" so wouldn't envisage any problems getting it condemned, if it isn't already. Quite why the estate agents have felt the need to include pictures of the interior and its wall to wall carpets is a bit of a mystery, as is including the phrase "a unique property in an enviable position" in the blurb. Apparently its historically interesting too. I thought I could spout some crap, clearly I'm an amateur in comparison.

In superb news I have sold OHs landie engine, one of them at any rate, for almost three times what he wanted to bung it on E-bay for. He thinks its a ridiculous amount for someone to offer but did chortle when I pointed out that not everyone is married to the scroogemeister and wouldn't view it as an outrageous amount to spend. One part down, several more hundred to dispose of via any means I can think of in the hopes of offsetting some of his expenditure.

Off to hang out some laundry in the hopes that the rain holds off for a bit. Need to do some serious housework and bung dinner in the slow cooker before getting sidetracked and doing random stuff to avoid cleaning the loo which is beyond revolting and into the realms of bachelor pad living. Quite how they achieve this remains a mystery.