The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

silvercar

michaels wrote: »

Hmm, possibly not the most diplomatic way of responding to MAS's exciting news.....

The way I see it we all need a house,most of us will not buy at the ideal moment, but all of us will be better off in 30 years having paid off a mortgage than having rented.

But Mas implied it wasn't new, so I knew it couldn't be HTB. So it was a safe comment.

michaels

silvercar wrote: »

But Mas implied it wasn't new, so I knew it couldn't be HTB. So it was a safe comment.

I know it just I remember buying my first was a really exciting time and possibly not the moment to mention possible negatives even if they don't apply to Mas - perhaps I am being too sensitive.

Stood in the freezing rain this AM and saw DD2s footie team lose 2-1 to the team they beat 4-1 last week despite being 1-0 up with 15 mins to go.

WE had lost our goal keeper and one of our best defenders (better things to do this week) and their goalkeeper was no longer carrying an injury and their top striker had ben unavailable last week so it wasn't entirely unexpected but that didn't stop me from getting hoarse shouting 'just clear it' as our 5 at the back mucked about, passed across the goal to each other and generally waited for someone else to deal with it whilst their one good attacker snuck in and robbed someone and scored....

Masomnia

LydiaJ wrote: »

Sounds sensible. Because what feels like "not making a decision" is a de facto decision to keep renting indefinitely, and that's probably not the best strategy for most people who are able to buy.

Exactly that, it would be a decision in itself to stay and pay more and as much as I do really like where I am if I'm honest I don't like it enough to be spending a few hundred quid a month extra on it.

It is what people say, that if you're ale to buy then you should. I'm just a bit conscious that it's not worth being somewhere I'll be unhappy just for the sake of owning a property. A pal of mine bought a big 4 bed place on the outskirts of a town in East Anglia and it's a good family home, but he's not happy in his job and there is no suitable other employer in the area; so he's a bit stuck!

If you can move to a cheaper area that's still as "nice" by whatever criteria you find important, then that's a great thing to do. I've become a big believer in trying (where possible, of course) to keep the "big ticket" items down, so that you can have some slack in your budget and don't have to keep watching every penny, and also you aren't thrown into crisis by every unexpected expense. Remember, however, that as an OO you will have maintenance costs that you haven't been having to pay as a tenant.

Yeah I think it's all going to add up. I was thinking earlier that just basics like irons (plus ironing board!) will all add up before you start on the expensive stuff. I really want to have at least 3 months salary available at all times as an emergency fund and hopefully that should be achievable, and just gradually build things up. The place could do with a new bathroom, but I'm going to hold off on that until I'm settled in and got some money saved.

You sound to have your head screwed on the right way round as far as I can see, but I'm no expert on that kind of thing. My own journey to home-ownership was so atypical that I'm a bit clueless about how these things go for people in more usual circumstances.

Thanks At the end of the day it's close to a station with good links to London so if I move there and hate it I'll still have options with it

Hope the shoulder pain gets sorted soon.

GDB2222

Maybe it would help to view some of these houses in the flesh? The photos on RM are not that helpful often.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

As I've said before, you see some funny things...

One I've dismissed in the past has allocated parking, but when I look at it on streetview there's a set of double gates into the garden. There's a footpath and then a stretch of green grass.... then a dropped kerb.

So what went on there then? It's proper dropped kerb ... but no mention of being able to use it to get to those gates... the two were obviously connected at some point... bizarre.

You think maybe it was done 30 years ago, then somebody said "Oi, no"... but the gates can't be more than 10-15 years old, so "too new" I'd have thought for a random chance taker to fork out for a proper dropped kerb.

When it comes to houses.... there are more unknowns to ask about than you'd like. That's on the C List.

I'm surprised you are putting anything with allocated parking onto a list at all, albeit a C-list! :eek:

I'll tell you something, your experiences have made me resolved to steer well clear of open plan, allocated anything, shared anything, were I ever to want/need to move! :eek:

And maybe even a 'retirement estate' sans children might not be too bad, although I'm from a generation that's into loud rock music and flower-power midnight parties! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
At least children do eventually go to bed! :rotfl: :rotfl:

Maybe not a retirement estate, then!
Mind you, one of those is probably going to be open plan, shared this/that and the other, and probably only leasehold with swingeing service charges.

Maybe I'll stay in the mixed world! :rotfl:




Lydia, I was disappointed to see that the new series of Retirement Home for Four-Year-Olds is set in Nottingham this time. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Aged P, as well as more of that lovely place he's in now!

PasturesNew

Today is typical of this house.... I can see, if I look, that it's sunny out there, but it's cold in here, so I figure it must be cold out there.

Just been out - and the roads are teeming with people, cars, crowds, queues... it's warm in the sun! Had no idea.

59 degrees in here, 70 degrees out there in the sun (with a little nippier breeze).... if I had a south facing patio door right now I'd be sitting in the sun indoors and all warm, ditto for a conservatory.

As it is, I'm here, cold, indoors, overshadowed....

PasturesNew

GDB2222 wrote: »

Maybe it would help to view some of these houses in the flesh? The photos on RM are not that helpful often.

I will, but at the moment just over-researching areas and looking at each house from every angle .... and researching problem areas ... and general stuff.

Narrowing things down a LOT about what I want and where and why ...

All good "sofa research" stuff to do before I hit the roads.

Next step is to plot them on a map, then check the weather for a good/dry day and go out walking streets.

Some that I was "half watching" have sold... so I could've wasted days viewing things that'd be sold before I saw them.

Strangely, the (1-of-2) one I've seen so far that liked "except" ... is still niggling at me a little bit as, compared to others, it's got some stuff going for it. The only thing I have against it really is my own ideas about what "could" happen in that vicinity....

... and mine's not even sold yet.

Chap who viewed it yesterday must have been run over on his 5 mile walk in the rain to the agent that he was making with his offer so he didn't miss out

PasturesNew

Just going through my A list and the one I liked, with the steep drive, wet room, but a nice location, is already under offer. There was a rush for it

It went on RM on 3rd Oct.

That's two off the A list.

Also - re me viewing.... right now there are 18 on the list. That's 12 different agents. It's not like it's 6-8 across 1-2 agents.

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

...

As I've never seen these behaviours before, I'm probably over-sensitive to it.... but I'm sure things will get worse, not better.

It's not just been "here" and 1 set, but every set that've moved "here" - and then "there" when they built next door. It's been an eye-opener!

Even though Willy's moved from the adjacent area, there are still others there that use the car park for their toddlers.... and those toddlers will be kids within 2 years, with a history of playing there....

And here, I've managed to get the message out "stay away from the miserable old c0w in the corner" .... which isn't pleasant for me ... as I'm painted as the bad guy when all I'm doing is adhering to the land rules/laws!! And I couldn't face "training" another lot to "stay away from the miserable old c0w", it's draining.

The trouble is, there's a lot of things one could avoid to minimise nuisance - and when you look at them through my eyes it's most housing . Toss in budget, location and orientation and you're soon down from 1000 properties to "1, that one at a push".

LydiaJ

GDB2222 wrote: »

Maybe it would help to view some of these houses in the flesh? The photos on RM are not that helpful often.

That's what people kept saying to me. They kept saying that I shouldn't write off properties until I'd seen them in the flesh. I couldn't see how it was at all possible that I would "fall in love with" a house that didn't have the rooms etc that I wanted, but I obediently went and wasted the EA's time and unnecessarily raised unfounded hopes in several sellers.

I agree that it's unwise to set your heart on a house before you've visited it - there were some houses that I liked online, but didn't like once I saw them for real. However, I never ever had even a flicker of "well maybe after all" feeling for a house I didn't like online. I knew what I wanted, and most of what I wanted could be found out by looking at a floor plan. I went on wanting what I wanted, too. I've since come to realise that many people are not like that - all those people on LLL who say they want xyz and then don't actually like houses with xyz and end up picking something with abc instead. I am... more self-aware? more rational? more consistent? more bl00dy-minded? Not sure how to describe it.

Anyway, I now regret going and viewing houses I knew perfectly well I wasn't interested in buying. I saw this house online, and it went right to the top of my list. It was one of the few houses I've ever seen to combine all my "must have" features. I've been living in it for more than 7 years now, and I still haven't seen a house that's made me feel "I wish I'd bought that one instead".

I did find, however, that spending ages watching houses on RM in my target area did give me a gradually developing feel for the market, and for what I wanted, that I wouldn't have had without that long period of looking while not being proceedable.

Pyxis wrote: »

Lydia, I was disappointed to see that the new series of Retirement Home for Four-Year-Olds is set in Nottingham this time. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Aged P, as well as more of that lovely place he's in now!

I hadn't even realised there was a new series. Thanks for the heads up.