Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

Karmacat

That's all brilliant, madvix - and yes, I can understand that feels a really chaotic week with so many appointments!  But you can do it, of course you can I hope the whole process towards the new house goes smoothly

South_coast

Don't feel guilty about good fortune Vix, you never know what's around the corner so enjoy it while it's there I say! I know what you mean about plans these days, just the idea of doing more than one thing in a day seems crazy now after such a slow pace of life. 

Good luck with IKEA, I was going to go on Friday as it's close to my (old) office. Got there and it didn't look too bad, but as I walked up to the entrance I realised most of the queue was snaking round the underground car park out of sight - I reckon it would have taken about an hour to get in there 😮 and as I only wanted a couple of silly little things (total less than £10 and at least one thing I wanted was out of stock) I decided against it!

Hazelnutty

Hey vix! One thing to check out is the insurance on Teslas, apparently really high. XH was dead-set on a Tesla and ended up going for a Kia e-Niro, not his style at all, because the overall package when you took into account all the costs and features made much more sense.

Good luck with the viewings! 

Suffolk_lass

All sounds exciting. I was wondering if the possibility of extending the possible cottage might deal with it being tiny. Personally I don't mind small bedrooms as long as there is somewhere to sleep, a window and somewhere to store clothes (not even in the same room necessarily) but I do like living rooms big enough to accommodate visitors and for gatherings from time to time - so a kitchen/living extension and an upstairs bathroom are my things.

When we moved here we bought with a very large garden, not really appreciating how maintenance heavy it would be, and eight year in we sold half with planning consent for two houses. Financially a smart move and we still have a large garden that takes a lot of work.

newgirly

Oh wow it doesn’t get much more exciting than looking at a new home and a Tesla! 😊

themadvix

Afternoon all,

So many comments to reply to! I feel popular!

Karma, thanks for your belief in me. So far, so good - we got a *lot* of the jobs list done before the first agent came (only 1 today, 3 tomorrow). I think I'll sleep well tonight - can't believe it's only just gone two! SC, thanks for the warning about IKEA - that sounds about what we're expecting, ever hopeful it's not that bad. But it's a good place for a couple of cheap houseplants, light shades and .... there's something else but I can't remember what! And we'll be over that way anyway as that's where the Tesla showroom is. Hazelnutty, thanks for the tip - DH had a quick check earlier and it looks like it's about £100/year more than the Audi, which seems reasonable for a brand new one (they don't depreciate! ). And that's at this address - imagine it might be cheaper in the hamlet. Your saying that also reminded me to get an idea of house insurance, which looks comparable, and certainly no big surprises. NG, it is exciting, but my goodness, it's tiring! Texted Sis earlier to say I hope she made the most of being a FTB - you don't appreciate how much easier/more fun it is looking at other people's houses rather than getting yours sorted!!

Finally, SL, we almost certainly wouldn't be able to extend - it's already been extended twice (from minute status originally!) and is the last is a row of a 1800s cottage terrace. There might be a very slim possibility we could go up at the side from the small one-storey extension, but that wouldn't really help much anyway. We could go into the loft potentially if we needed to (a neighbour has). Bedrooms are OK, just one fewer than we're used to (and our current one is huge (15' long, dual aspect), which we're definitely spoilt by). The living room is more of an issue - with stairs in it and the front door coming straight in, a low beamy ceiling and relatively small windows. But the more we think about it, the more we could see it working. The kitchen/diner is relatively large, so there's space there for entertaining and I could see us having people around lots more in the summer when the detached garden room would come into its own. The garden is large (although definitely not sell-off-and-build-two-houses large), and at the moment has a lot of beautiful flower beds, a shingled area and a patio, as well as *large* chicken run, greenhouse and extensive composting space (we'd have room to add a sizeable shed there too). The current owner clearly loves her garden and has a lot of time to spend on it. We'd potentially remove a flower bed if we found it too much work, and we'd change some of it for veg beds/fruit planting anyway. It would be a big undertaking, but we can see ways to reduce the woman-hours required.

So the first agent has been and valued the house at pretty much what we'd hoped - £300-310k. He seemed very pleasant, not smarmy, pushy or rude and offers either the traditional no sale, no fee (1% + VAT) option (would negotiate, of course) or a fixed price, up-front £1500 (inc VAT) option, also full service (i.e. not PB-style), which you can come back to if you take it off the market but want to go back on later on. Three more coming tomorrow, so we'll see what happens.

This afternoon, I'd better get some work done, and then I'm having my hair cut by BIL's fiancee, which will be a lovely treat after all the recent manual work! Washing my hair beforehand will be fun as DH re-siliconed the bath earlier, so I'll have to be careful with the water (no shower then ). DH is waiting at home for our plasterer friend to come and take a look at the render on the front of the house - it's hanging off a bit over the porch....

MS things:
* Will do clicks shortly
* Work
* Have cancelled this week's veg box as we've still got plenty (ish) and I'm not cooking properly at the moment!

Gratitudes:
* Valuation was about what we expected
* Naughty cat didn't wee on the brand new doormat (or the EA's boots which he left right by it! )
* DH wasn't too busy with work, so he got quite a bit done this morning too

Have a good, afternoon all... I'm going to do some work now for a rest!

Suffolk_lass

Hahaha I love the cat gratitude. Laugh out loud!

themadvix

I thought I'd posted this, but clearly not! (enjoy my frazzled brain and I'll post an update below!)

Afternoon all,

Aaaaargh! My brain is frazzled by estate agents, options, decisions, work.... is it vodka o'clock yet? (Sadly the answer is no, as about to head to mum's to dismantle a double bed for our spare room....). Have now seen all four agents. Two are definite no-nos - one was truly awful, the more we think about it. He had odd socks on (in a job where you have to take your shoes off), was early, he was pushy, liked to blow his own trumpet and once I'd shown him round asked if my husband would be joining us for the chit-chat! The other (PB) wasn't too bad, but he did rearrange the appointment twice (eventually apologised for that, but other reasons for not going with PB). Those two also both valued it lowest. Of the remaining two, we're a bit split - we're not mad enough to think the sky-high price one suggested would be feasible, but his lower end met up with the first agent. Their fees are comparable, service is comparable, but the last one would do professional photos which would be 'wonderful', but there's a delay. But he reckoned he could sell it within 4 weeks and would do an open day. The first agent would take photos himself and therefore be quicker (speed is of the essence if we want the cottage)... I think I need to speak to him again - no mention of an open day (which potentially could be important and would be simpler with the cats - they'd have a brief holiday). I didn't realise an open day could be an option in COVID-land... 

Glad you liked the cat-amusement SL! It was a relief, but the thought was quite amusing (except he was the nicest, least estate agenty of the lot).

themadvix

Morning all,

So, after typing that last night, we went to collect a bed for my office (actually a double bedroom) from Mum's. There's just about room for it and my desk - but my desk won't be staying for viewings We've pretty much come to the conclusion that the last agent is the best option, so I need to ring him today (there's a 4-5 day delay on the photographer, so I really want to get things in motion). I'll try to negotiate on the fee as well... Not sure how good I'll be at that. We'll aim for an open day - I'm hoping they don't say they need a fortnight to get one organised... that's just too long.

Apart from that, I'm working this morning, might pop to nursery later for a couple of pots to cheer up the gravel in the front garden, and then later it's the dual joy of Tesla and Ikea. Sadly the thought of Ikea has been tempered by the remembrance that we'll have to wear masks... so it'll be a case of getting in and out asap. If I have time, I'll also return the shorts I bought the other week to M&S whilst we're in the shopping centre (for Tesla).

MS things:
* Bread is proving
* I've got a good spell this morning to get some work done (my mother texting me about work at 8 am has led to mention of boundaries - just cos she's up early, it doesn't mean I want to talk about work before breakfast!)
* YG survey this morning

Gratitudes:
* No one is invading my house today - we're all breathing a sigh of relief at that!
* Good family quiz last night
* I did get my vodka eventually!

Have a good day all - it feels like it's going to be a hot one!

South_coast

Wow, it's all moving fast and getting very real now! Definitely agree about the odd socks, fine to get away with in most jobs but not where you're meeting strangers in your socks!

Love that you've already had to have the boundaries conversation with your Mum 🤣 At least she's still keen 😀