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

themadvix

Morning all,

Hazelnutty - cat's digestive issues are always acceptable conversation here, fear not (unfortunately, I think some of our RL friends and family may disagree on the frequency with which this topic is discussed!). SL - I hope you slept better last night. It's amazing what our brains do when we're trying to rest!

So the second viewing last night was a bit of a disappointment. I love the village location, the views from nearby, the upstairs of the property and the garden, but because of the configuration of the garden/garage and living room windows there's no real view of the lovely garden from the house - the garage blocks a lot of it (and it's up a couple of steps too). Out the front, while the views are amazing from just along the road, there's trees opposite (and I mean going several back, not just a single line), so there's only the tiniest glimpse of the actual view from the front bedroom window. It felt a tiny bit claustrophobic, which is the opposite of the idea of moving to the country. I don't expect amazing views - but to be able to look out and see the garden (and the greenery of it) to give a sense of space is important to me (for comparison, although the surroundings here beyond the garden are less than picturesque, our garden can be seen and enjoyed from the house). I was quite upset last night as I really, really wanted to love it, but I just don't. There are a few things we could do that might help, but my worry is that it's a lot of money to spend if, after we'd made the changes, I still wasn't happy. I wouldn't say it's been completely ruled out, but if after a second viewing you're not sold, it's not like you can keep going back to the property endlessly!

The search continues. We've seen a property in DH's dream hamlet (it's just down the road, has a lovely pub and we've always fancied living there). It's quite expensive and potentially a massive doer-upper (bizarrely, it has solar PV, a new electric boiler and the kitchen and bathroom have been done - maybe not to my taste, but to a high spec). There's clear signs of damp but as the other work has been done, we're not sure whether this is old damp or new. Something to enquire about and obviously a full survey would be needed. It has a big garden (122'), with a pond, and views out over the countryside. It's just been reduced in price though and is still in the upper end of our price bracket - £475k, so we'll have to see what the situation is.

MS things:
* Not MS, but we had takeaway pizza last night (it's a local company and BOGOF), so leftovers for lunch today. Dinner will be home cooked.
* PA surveys (including my ongoing £2/day one)
* Clicks
* Forgot to order milk from milkman, so will have to buy top-up from supermarket - it will be cheaper!

Gratitudes:
* DH is wonderfully understanding of my reluctance over the property
* Today we have NO viewings - bliss!
* Lots of work

Have a good day all!

Cheery_Daff

No point forcing yourself to try to like something - especially not something as massive and life changing as a house! Totally get where you're coming from with the views. Our old one was a terrace in a small street - we couldn't see anything other than other houses unless we were in the attic. Definitely got better views here (although bizarrely you can't see the best view from the house at all). Makes a massive difference being able to see out! 

themadvix

Thanks Cheery. You're right and however much I liked all the other aspects of the property, it just wasn't quite right for me. I'm not expecting amazing views (that would be lovely though), but to be able to see the greenery of the garden/fields from somewhere in the building makes a difference. 

This new property we're looking at we're already planning an extension for!    However, I've rung up about it and we can't see it until we're in a 'proceedable position' - the man is supposed to be sending me a virtual tour (but that was a couple of hours ago and nothing yet). He was really quite dismissive of my interest, which was very rude - it's not as if our house isn't on the market. And as we can't view it, I wanted to ask some questions (about the damp) - to which his reply was you'd have to wait until you viewed it/put in an offer and got a survey done.   Honestly, apart from the guy with odd socks, this one was up there with my original opinion of estate agents....

Anyway, back to work.... DH has gone to his parents, so I'm enjoying some peace and quiet

the_cross_rabbit

I’d ask to speak to his manager with regards to his attitude, would put me off ring back even if I sold the house following that conversation. If your gut isn’t feeling it, it’s not feeling it regards to the other house.
CRx

Cheery_Daff

Grrr, can't be doing with useless estate agents! Ours was lovely (to us, at least!) but the ones we bought off drove me potty. I've never known anyone to use so many exclamation marks in emails and she never once spelled my name right 😂 

Good luck with selling yours!

Hazelnutty

If I were the seller, I'd be pretty unhappy to hear that my EA was being so rude and dismissive to potential buyers. That might be the line to take with the boss - it's bad for business as you're now reluctant to keep that property in mind (and if he's done it to you he's probably done it to others). It also sounds potentially massively sexist.

Suffolk_lass

themadvix said:

This new property we're looking at we're already planning an extension for!    However, I've rung up about it and we can't see it until we're in a 'proceedable position' - the man is supposed to be sending me a virtual tour (but that was a couple of hours ago and nothing yet). He was really quite dismissive of my interest, which was very rude - it's not as if our house isn't on the market. And as we can't view it, I wanted to ask some questions (about the damp) - to which his reply was you'd have to wait until you viewed it/put in an offer and got a survey done.   Honestly, apart from the guy with odd socks, this one was up there with my original opinion of estate agents....

Personally I would put a note through the door and tell the vendors. No wonder they have had to reduce the price if the agent treats potential interest like that. Shocking.

That said, damp is a potential terrible thing - the big worry is that it has impacted on parts of the building like floor joists or wet or dry rot and that is why they have stopped. You need to establish if it is rising or falling. I always think damp from above is much more straightforward to deal with.

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks everyone. I had to ring back later as I'd not received the virtual tour. The agents then proceeded to tell me that it had had a couple of offers which were being considered by the owners, so we've probably missed the boat on that one. He probably knew this when I first spoke to him, but he could've communicated this better rather than just being dismissive of my situation. I don't think any sexism was involved Hazelnutty as he'd established that I had a husband  SL - house is empty, so probably not much point putting a note through the door. On the damp front, having seen the virtual video tour thing, it's probably been sorted - there are new doors throughout, which we could see from the photos - you wouldn't go to that effort if you hadn't got the damp sorted first (agent did tell me that family had been doing up house for old lady and then she died, so the work has been done in good faith presumably). Obviously would still be something to check further, but probably resolved. The video tour actually made us like the property more - the kitchen was lighter than the photos suggested. But we'll see - if it goes under offer before we can get a viewing, then clearly it's a no-go.

Another viewing yesterday afternoon, so we'll see what they say. One booked for tomorrow afternoon and another for Wednesday (can't they group them together??!). 

ETA: Forgot to say, we've booked a short break for next month - *so* looking forward to a change of scene! We're using the cheapy NTbB night away I'd had to move from March and adding two nights in Norfolk at somewhere much fancier (we'd not normally spend so much per night, but it's the only hols we're going to get this year!). Have booked Go Ape for one of the days - Christmas gift from Sis   - it's good to be able to do it at last!

MS things:
* Lovely roasted veg dinner last night, using squashes, toms and peppers from the garden (among other things)
* Made an apple and orange flan using gifted cooking apples (FIL had been given a large bag) and an orange that had been sat in the fruit bowl for rather a long time). Lots of apples left, so will make a crumble later for the freezer (will try to find some blackberries to go in it too)
* PA ongoing survey - will hit £20 and cash out today

Gratitudes:
* Homegrown produce
* Free apples (really grateful for these - can never have too many apples for stewing )
* Seeing some friends for lunch today that we've not seen in 9 months (apart from on Skype)

Have a good day all!

Jessy103

Fingers crossed for the viewings vix and hope you have a lovely lunch with your friends x

Karmacat

Oh my, such a lot going on for you!  Definitely agree about the thing that if you don't love the "context" of the house, so to speak, and how you feel when you're in the house, its a non-starter.  Have a lovely time today!  And PS a great idea to go to Norfolk