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

themadvix

Thanks ladies!

 Looking forward to a less stressful weekend after the last week and a half! Would quite liked to have finished painting the fence but the weather isn’t cooperating. Will put in for a couple more surveyor quotes and maybe some removal quotes. 

Spoke to the EA yesterday afternoon and she said she’d ask the previous purchasers if we could buy their searches so that will speed things up. She also confirmed that the holiday let is fully booked rather than blocked out on the calendar until the end of October, so that’s reassuring. And the lady vendor wants to meet at some point to go through everything to do with the let 😊

With a short chain and the possibility of searches already being done we’re tempted to push for end of September completion if possible as that will save us some (more) stamp duty. It may not be possible, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

MS things: 
* have requested moving boxes from someone on Freegle 
* surveys done while watching Olympics last night
* first RM survey pack has arrived 
* another eBay sale and I’ve reduced my listings in price a bit - need to shift stuff!

Cheery_Daff

Well done, you're motoring along there!

Karmacat

You really are motoring!  That's very encouraging that the woman you're buying from wants to share her knowledge about the let - bodes very well.  Oh, if there are already bookings till October, how are you going to split that income?  Is there a standard course of action that your solicitor knows about?  Good luck with it though - after all, if you want it, it's not a deal breaker if that doesn't go your way.  Hope you get that less stressful weekend you're hoping for.

themadvix

We were motoring along.... and then we hit a big (and very infuriating) bump in the road.

Had a call from the lovely EA in Norfolk this morning, to say that despite Wm H Brown eventually taking the property off the market and the vendors accepting our offer, a viewing with WHB had gone ahead and the viewer had made an offer £20k over ours. 😡😡😡🤬🤬 The EA we're dealing with was very cross on our behalf (and obviously on her agency's behalf) and had given WHB a peace of her mind. The vendors (mainly the man - it's a divorce) wanted to know if we could go any higher. We'd already put our mortgage application in on Friday. We were NOT happy. Upshot (I originally typed 'Upsh*t, which feels appropriate) is, we're now paying an extra £10k. Which DH is going to have to sell some shares to get hold of. The lady vendor let it be known that she is ashamed about the situation - pretty sure it's her soon-to-be-ex that put us in this position.

And we will never, ever be giving WHB a penny and will be bad-mouthing them to anyone who asks (and probably those who don't too). All the other EAs we've dealt with have truly proved lovely and not lived up to their reputation. WHB clearly make up for that. 😡

In better news, all parties seem to want to complete by the end of September, but I'm waiting to speak to our solicitor to see if that's possible. Annoyingly her assistant is on holiday this week. 🙄 And we've not had any paperwork through from them yet - I'm hoping that our post is just late today... (Karma, re the let, I assume anything before completion is theirs, anything after will be ours; we're going to have to disappoint the people staying the week of the move though - I think that would be a bit weird, a change of people you're staying with mid-week! 😂)

MS things:
* Used Olio wraps to make enchiladas with leftover chilli last night - was delicious!
* A local Olioer has an evening collection tonight, so hoping for lots of veg and then I'll cancel veg box
* No supermarket delivery this week, although I do need a few bits
* clicks done
* Surveys done
* A new project for an old client is due to arrive (and I'm still finishing another project)
* DH has been pinged (and is on annual leave!) so we have no plans for the week (he feels fine at the moment and can't work out where the contact was). Fortunately, he'll be let out for Saturday when we have our long-awaited murder mystery day with BIL and fiancee.
* 4 ebay sales and 3 things listed on FB marketplace (no interest yet!)
* New cat-sitting starts today

Gratitudes:
* Here's a really well-found silver lining - the increase in price improves our LTV as we're not increasing the loan! (Not that it matters, it was less than 50% anyway
* Everyone is keen to complete asap
* Work!

Have a good day all!

Cheery_Daff

Grrr, how extraordinarily vexing!! So underhand and naughty. Do you remember my Spreadsheet of Blame? Sounds like you need one of those 😁

themadvix

Cheery_Daff said:

Grrr, how extraordinarily vexing!! So underhand and naughty. Do you remember my Spreadsheet of Blame? Sounds like you need one of those 😁

Ooh, no, I don't Cheery - do tell! From the name that does sound like an excellent idea! 

Cheery_Daff

It was brilliant 😁 Basically I made a very simple spreadsheet, dates down the side, what happened on that day (offer on our house, applied for mortgage etc) then each party had a column - us, buyer, their buyer, vendor, solicitor, broker, building society etc. I put a number 1 in the column of whoever was to blame that we weren't moving house that day  and kept a running total at the top 😂 so there was a period where it was our fault because we pulled out of one house and had to find another (took about 10 days), and a hefty chunk of blame went to mortgage broker and building society. Buyer's buyer took the brunt of the spreadsheet- the first one pulled out after everything else was ready so the next one had to catch up, but I don't really blame them - my wrath was entirely saved for the broker, who was a **** 😁😁 (insert favourite swear word)

Kept me sane 😂 kind of 😂

themadvix

Ah, thanks Cheery, that's brilliant! Today, it's the solicitor's assistant's turn... she didn't do anything with our instruction on Friday and then has gone on holiday.... so I've spoken to the solicitor herself and hopefully we'll get things moving now - she had no record of us at all! So glad I didn't wait any longer to call (thinking something was in the post).

DH is currently on a call with a removals company - he has several video-tour appointments lined up - something he can do while he's self-isolating!! 😂 It's early to be getting quotes, but actually with the SDLT deadline looming, companies are likely to get booked up for the end of September and it's not actually that far away (beginning to think it'll be a bl**dy miracle, but we'll see).

MS things:
* Picked up some bread, grapes and mixed berries on Olio last night
* Cancelled veg box for this week - loads of stuff in the garden and I'll try to nab some other bits on Olio tonight
* Clicks done, surveys done
* Signed up for Populous after Chiglepig's mention of them (DH used to do their surveys and they do pay well and are of more interest to me than him).
* Realised that we could nicely let one of the rooms on Airbnb just a few weekends a year for a bit of extra income if we need it. We have no idea what the income from the holiday let will be at the moment, although it is obviously a successful business, so we're open to options. Will also be looking at the hiring out to filming companies as the house definitely has the pretty factor!

Gratitudes:
* Dad was outraged on our behalf last night when I told him about the gazumping b**tards.
* The sun is shining at last - washing is out on the line (and DH is in charge as he's off work and needs things to entertain him!)
* Free grapes 😋

Have a good day all!

QueenJess

That's terrible, but at least you've managed to resolve and keep the house.  This is why I found my original house purchase so stressful (even thought I was only buying and not selling) and resolved to never do it again!

themadvix

Thanks Jess. Where we are was never intended to be forever, so we knew we’d have to sell and buy again one day!

I forgot to mention my early morning trip to the station for a dodgy-sounding FB sale! Turned out not to be dodgy in the end - guy was nice enough - and £10 cash in 😊 Someone coming in about an hour for our paper shredder for another £10 (DH takes it into work and we’ll have a fireplace to burn in too!). 

Currently I’m avoiding painting the fence - I should just get out and get on with it but it’s feeling more like time for a nap!