Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Kittenkirst

So, after a call from the estate agents we only had the one viewing happen today, and one rearranged for next weekend.
The agents called and said the house is stunning and in showhome condition ( ) however we don’t think that they are serious about buying our property. Fingers crossed for the next viewing!

Oscar is still glum about staying in the house so much, but he seems to quite like his rheumocam medicine we give him nightly. He was incredibly snuggly last night which was lovely and curled up in bed with me. His special cat food has arrived so going to start trialling him on that over the next week- I bought both wet and dry as that’s what he has currently and think the increased water content of wet meat probably helps a little (I could be making that up though!)

Not much else planned for today- thinking something strawberry for lunch as got two punnets on olio last night (dated today too- the food waste hero had 33 punnets- crazy!) and they smell wonderful! Then a relaxed Saturday for us both- girlfriend had her Covid vaccination last night and is a bit headachey and her backs aching, so think its a nice quiet Saturday on the sofas with blankets and cuppas for us at number 73! 

Kittenkirst

Morning all, We have lots of snow today so we are both sat in the kitchen with the heating on low, jumpers, slipper socks & slippers on, just blasting the Dyson heater every now and then when it drops down a bit too cold! Thankfully we are staying indoors today and don’t need to be anywhere so can enjoy the cosiness of home today!

Tried to recreat KFC at home last night using the paxo southern fried breadcrumbs (50p in Fridays Tesco delivery as we used checkoutsmart cash back) which turned out really lovely. We split each chicken breast into two smaller fillets so we’ve ended up with one each leftover to make Southern baked chicken wraps for lunch today- yum! We did also try the Bisto southern style gravy (also on cash back) however this was okay, but wouldn’t buy it again!

A friend has also kindly gifted us a free HelloFresh box- so we have it coming on Sunday and it has five days of dinners in it, which should mean we don’t need a Tesco shop this Friday, meaning we can keep the click and collects to fortnightly like we were aiming too! We have plenty of fresh fruit and veg in as well as well stocked larders, so hopefully we can eeeek it out until then!

Oscar is still Marcy with us, however he did sleep through last night on our bed, which almost never happens. We usually get woken a few times in the night- largely for him to show us his food bowl and then proceed to eat his food ( ) so it felt like a treat to sleep through the night.

I managed to get out for a 5km walk yesterday before the snow started falling, and met up with a good friend and his little baby who was born in the first lockdown- lovely to spend time with them and to get outdoors in the fresh air! Girlfriend has been struggling after her vaccination on Friday evening- she’s super tired (spent most of yesterday on sofa which is unheard of for her- she cannot usually sit still) and she has had a fair bit of back pain (unsure if related to the vaccine, or as a result of the inactivity!). Keeping an eye on her, and trying to encourage her to take stress dosage of her daily medication to help her body handle the vaccine and remain okay!

We also had the Zanussi repair man out yesterday to look at our frost free freezer which is freezing up. Apparently it isn’t Frost-free as promised by Barrett’s when we bought, hence it freezing as it needs regular defrosting. He did say that he will order new drawers for us as they are all cracked and falling apart- fingers crossed this is free as part of the repair as otherwise they are ridiculously expensive to replace the 3 drawers (we’re talking over £90!!) so I’m really hoping this isn’t something we need to pay for. Makes sense to get them replaced for any new buyers but £90 for freezer drawers seems ridiculous! 

I have 2 weeks left to go at my current job, however annoyingly I think my new boss has messed my pay up! :O I get paid on the 15th of the month which should pay me from 1st Feb-19th Feb (my last day) and I’m owed over 3 weeks of holiday, so I was expecting to get essentially 6 weeks pay on the 15th. However he hasn’t sorted the holiday pay bit out, so it looks like i will only get 3 weeks pay this month on the 15th and then the holiday pay on the 15th March, The new job will pay me at the end of March due to their payroll cut-offs so the next month and a bit is going to be tight- may have to dip into savings if needed to cover essential bills until I get the holiday pay through. Grrrrrr, super frustrating but about right for my current company! 

Kittenkirst

In possible house buying news, I had a call with a mortgage broker late last week who has advised that with the equity in our current home, that we could get the mortgage for the bigger house we love, even if the flat doesn’t sell.

So, if we do manage to find a buyer for number 73 our numbers would change as per the below

Current mortgage= £135,000, equity of around 90k if get full asking price of £225k, (I think we’ll get £215k so £80k equity)

New house= House price £393,950 (!) minus our £80k equity means new mortgage of £313,950!!!

So the plan will be to get the house purchased, floors laid and main parts sorted (including conversion of the garage), then overpay at quick speed to really reduce the value of the mortgage as well as the term!

Kittenkirst

Afternoon all, Not much occurring in the groundhog-ness of lockdown, other than I have bad neck and back pain (think i must have slept funny last night).

I did hear from the house builders yesterday afternoon- Redrow- and they have two plots of the house we want and both are now available, so its just a game of hoping they don’t get reserved before we find a buyer, They are due to be finished building Aug/Sept/October time so fingers crossed we have time to sort out number 73.

We have two viewings now booked for Saturday however I’m not getting too excitable this time after last weeks 5 viewings ended up just being the one. However, I’m being reminded that it only takes the one viewer who loves the house to sell it, so keeping positive. It is a lovely home so fingers crossed we start getting some offers sooner rather than later.

I have 8 more days left at my current job- Wahooooo! Apart from missing some of the friends Ive made (its been almost 15 years) I’m not going to miss the work or my senior managers. They have finally decided who will take on my work so starting a handover from Friday. I feel a little bad as Ive been away off unwell for so long and with COVID pausing activities also the area is a bit messy, however I’m reminding myself it is not my problem or my fault. It is what it is!

In money news we have had a splurge- our internet has been awful for the past 6 months and chatting with some friends they recommended getting a Wifi mesh system for the house to boost the signal. So, were researched it all, looked at a lot of reviews and have ordered a system with 3 ‘ports’ to pop around the house and see if it works. £190 spent, so fingers crossed this improves things somewhat- if it doesn’t work within the next 2-3 weeks we will send them back though. They are so pricey!

Kittenkirst

Morning MFW-ers!
We have some fantastic news! In the end only one set of people viewed the house on Saturday, but they loved it and put an offer in whilst on the viewing We negotiated and settled on £221k. We are really pleased with this as estate agent said put it on for £215 with a hope to get £210 at the lowest, but we thought it was worth more based on others that have sold in the last 2 months. So we put it on for £225, hoping to get £220k or £215k at the lowest!!!

The buyers are super keen to get moving, so we have already instructed our solicitors for the conveyancing and filled out a lot of forms late last night to get the ball rolling. Estimated completion is 12th May so very soon!

This also means we will be homeless, as the house we hope to buy isn’t built until Sept/Oct - plan is to put our larger pieces of furniture into storage and then move into girlfriends parents for a few months whilst we wait on the build!

Super exciting, scary and nerve wracking all at the same time. Ive been speaking with 2 mortgage brokers who are now trying to beat each other on rates (which is pretty cool!) so that part is all okay- we already had a mortgage in principle with Halifax at 2% over 2 years, but we want to understand if we can get a 5 year fix maybe, and then choose what’s best for us

Oscar has been for to the vets yesterday for ultrasound and X-rays, which didn’t show anything definitive so now awaiting results from blood and urine tests to see what is causing him such mischief. He was apparently very well behaved at the vets and they didn’t have to sedate him to X-ray (which thankfully saved us £160!). For the tests and treatments he’s had this year so far its over £500 already- thank heavens we have been paying into the kitty savings fund! *phew*

Last few days at work this week, and i have received my new work laptop and mobile phone, as well as a set-up guide to try and get me all started. I have a call with the new boss this evening and have had lots of welcome emails from my new team. It’s all a bit go and a lot of change right now. So amazing the difference a few months can make isn’t it!

SandyShores

Aw, hope your kitty is okay.  We've got one that gets us up in the night to show him the bowl full of food.

All sounds very positive for moving and great you can move into your g/fs parent's house while yours gets built.  Good luck with the new job, hope the call went well.  Its a good sign you are having welcome emails and have even got your laptop before you've even started.

Kittenkirst

Sandyshores- its such a funny little habit isn’t it for them to show the full bowl of food Makes me smile, after Ive begrudgingly got out of our warm bed!

Yes, I’m definitely feeling very welcome and wanted at the new workplace- it sounds like I will be super busy with lots to get stuck into straight away so i expect it will be very tiring and busy for a while whilst trying to learn and juggle everything- I’m definitely ready for a new challenge though!

We have had lots of solicitor emails already and completed lots of forms the past few nights on the house and our identity- the planned dates are 24th April to exchange and then the 12th May to actually move!  Which seems really close but is in fact 11 weeks so a fair amount of time; its just all moved so quickly really, I don’t think its really sunk in fully yet!

We are off to Redrow tonight to discuss the dream house and hopefully put in a reservation to hold our plot and get everything underway. From a financial perspective we are looking at a mortgage with TSB for 5 years at 2.19%. We want this to be our forever home so are keen to lock in a rate for a good while so we can focus on making it a home and then overpaying as soon as we can. The numbers do make me a bit nervous as its a much bigger mortgage than we have now, but its in line with houses in this area and it ticks all of our boxes (fields behind the house for the cat, utility room, large kitchen/diner/family area, garage connected to the house, close to girlfriends parent house etc) so its the right decision and the right time for us to get moving on this.

We received our freebie HelloFresh box on Sunday and so far have had two meals from it- a chipotle chicken potato wedge dish and a chicken in mushroom vin sauce with garlic mash and carrots yesterday. Both have been fairly straight forward to cook and ones we will do again in future. I think we have sweet chilli halloumi and red pepper burgers for tonight which I’m looking forward to!

In Olio news, I went to pick up a free HelloFresh meal on Saturday (as we were out that way anyway doing some errands) and the person left it outside their block of flats for me concealed, however when I got there (less than five mins after they put it out) it had gone! A bit annoying but can’t be helped, just hope whoever got the goats cheese risotto enjoyed it
We did however get some bits from our local hero on Tuesday late night (around 10pm for collection when she’s back from Tescos)- we got some battered cod fillets which we had a few weeks back too which are lovely (in the freezer for a quick & easy dinner), some Jusrol bake yourself pain au chocolat which will be baked today and shared with the girlfriends parents (as we have had to work from their house as our broadband is shocking!!) and some green beans to add into dinners over the coming week. 

With all the home move stuff in mind, we have been chatting a lot about what we need to put into storage and what we will take to the parents house- I think I’m going to start working through our wardrobes (as I have a lot really) this weekend and start working out what is essentials for up to October time, and what can be put in storage. I’m thinking that fancy party/wedding guest style dresses may as well be put away now and a lot of the summer holiday/beach wear as its not likely I will need it before then! 

South_coast

Mmmm, goat's cheese risotto....😋 

(No, it wasn't me 🤣!)

SandyShores

All sounds so good.  We've taken on a much larger mortgage than we wanted to, but its a lovely place to live and its worth it not to have to move again.  I remember all the forms - I didn't even read them, just signed them all.  Luckily it all seems to have gone okay.  Our garden is very private, although kitty has to work his way through the close to get to the field.  The ones by the field aren't ready yet and I think it was best for us to move earlier (sorry kitty - but we've a nice garden and our neighbours are lovely).  Storage units are brilliant, but now we've got lots of shelves in the garage.

debtfreeoneday

great news on the house sale!