Prosperous soul in the making

DancingInTheRain

Hi SH just had a read through your diary really love your writing style and how you have a handle on everything. Will subscribe and cheer you on

savingholmes

DancingInTheRain wrote: »

Hi SH just had a read through your diary really love your writing style and how you have a handle on everything. Will subscribe and cheer you on

Thanks - it's one of those - I know what to do - doing it is something else....

For example, my dream is to own a home in the country... I spend hours drooling over rightove - but the type of house i ideally want with land is about £100-200K above where we are now and they are all too far away to keep our current jobs.

However, a house has come back on the market that I was looking at a year ago. It is now at least £5K cheaper and I think there is room for negotiation. It also has an option to buy land opposite and if we bought that plus the land the house sits on we would end up with more than an acre. It would be about 5 miles further for me to go to work but doable - and possibly slightly closer for OH. DD really wouldn't like it but if we get her a scooter it may end up being less of an issue anyway as she will have her own transport.

Meanwhile some more expensive houses have been built close to where we live - raising our house price to almost or potentially equal the house I am looking at - other than the money to buy extra land (a field nearby). I reckon its doable. OH has agreed to go and look at it with me - so I am going to set up a viewing - and then I know either way whether or not it is a real possibility or whether it just needs too much work. Once we pay off our CC debt - I reckon we could knock out the cost of the field within a couple of years- and then we would have some money to make home improvements like adding bathrooms and the like, while of course over-paying our mortgage..

It would give us a taste of owning a larger piece of land and then we could test whether we really wanted a house with say 5 acres or more or whether really an acre is enough. In my ideal world, I also want to create some kind of second income eg holiday rental on 'our' future land, This may or may not give us that I don't know - but I feel like if we go to view the property at least we would know how we felt about it rather than leaving me always wondering.

A year ago I bought a mug as a kind of symbol of what I want - it is a double fronted white painted house with land all around it... As is this property... Farmland adjoins it.... Here's hoping!!!

If we did go for it - I would want to try and stall a bit on selling ours - while we either continue to pay off CC or save some £ - that's assuming our house sells. We would also have to do a lot of decluttering - my DD might like that bit at least:rotfl:

savingholmes

savingholmes wrote: »

The HL account has finally allowed me to request a withdrawal.:

So they wouldn''t let me withdraw until I went through a letter security process on my withdrawal account - and then have paid £99 (not £199) into the wrong account. So wrong amount, wrong account. :wall:

However, while writing this the post arrived - with some news about my mortgage PPI reclaim. They have offered me £1.5K f:money:or a roughly 18 month period. But when I spoke to the person on the phone - she gave me different dates for when I had had ppi - starting in 1998 with the first policy and 2003 for the second. They haven't commented on the second policy at all. The dates in this letter would suggest that it wasn't continuous. I don't know whether there is another letter due to come to me and whether that too will have a big cheque in it or what...

So I am thrilled about the £1.5K :j:j:j:j but was expecting more so may appear or at least ring them for more info. The rest of my ppi claim is due to be reviewed by the 28/7 so watch this space.

savingholmes

Have arranged a viewing on the property tomorrow. Apparently the sale has fallen through twice in the last year and the price has dropped £10K from when I last saw it online - not the £5K in my head. It has no damp-proofing or central heating which is why it is priced lower. There is scope to buy at least another acre immediately behind the property from a different seller - perhaps for £8-15K. Exciting!!

We would need to majorly declutter and finish off some painting in this house if we were to sell. Would also need to trim back the garden and do something about the grass. It's only a 3 bedroom not a 4 however there is PP in place to change that.

Nichelette

Ooh how exciting! My absolute dream is to live rurally, well, probably more on the edge of a village so not too far from civilization. We're in a village at the moment but we're the end of terrace and beyond that is a field so we get lots of wildlife which I love. It's a shame the house isn't bigger because I love the plot it's on and being able to look out to the cows in their field really makes my day. I hope the house is what you are expecting .

savingholmes

Nichelette wrote: »

Ooh how exciting! My absolute dream is to live rurally, well, probably more on the edge of a village so not too far from civilization. We're in a village at the moment but we're the end of terrace and beyond that is a field so we get lots of wildlife which I love. It's a shame the house isn't bigger because I love the plot it's on and being able to look out to the cows in their field really makes my day. I hope the house is what you are expecting .

Will find out tomorrow whether it should make the shortlist. Love the idea of field views... Financially and for DD would be better to wait but it depends whether we think it is 'the house' or not. The estate agent I spoke to said if we would consider a 2 bedroom property - sometimes they come up relatively cheaply with land - and plenty of scope to extend...

This afternoon I've been around some of the local show houses for 4 bed houses so I have something to compare ours to- their rooms are tiny compared with ours - they are just better staged.

We did the kids bedrooms already. Ensuite and bathrooms pretty much done - just might be tempted to add mirrors or other staging.

If we were selling - things to do
1) Declutter, declutter,, declutter. In the past when we've sold houses - we sold to the first person that looked - but we got rid of or put in storage a third of our possessions before we even put it on the market and at least partially redecorated
2) Would need to mend kitchen ceiling - repeated leaks from the kids bathroom has left staining and a little cracking. Don't think it should cost too much to put right. Would be tempted to add an extra light fitting while we are at it as they are in vogue
3) Need to give the kitchen another coat of paint - have the paint - just didn't quite finish. Not sure if I did the gloss work at all
4) Debating whether i would need to do something about the kitchen units themselves. One of the doors is missing - we've tried to make it look deliberate and put our crystal glasses in there LOL. Some of the other laminated doors are also peeling.
5) Oven needs a good clean.
6) Would paint utility room too and stage it to make it look prettier and more deliberate. There are llimits though as the boiler is currently on show - so unless the guy I got in to do the ceiling could also make a cupboard for it - stuck with it like that.
7) Hide the shoe bookcase in the hall cupboard, remove half the coats - probably put a big mirror where the current bookcase is
8) Make OH's study look more special - possibly give him by desk from upstairs or temporarily consider making it into a dining room again. Repaint - stage the patio door window dressing
9) Lounge needs repainting and pictures changing and some furniture removing - pet items removing / hiding
10) Painting the hall, stairs and landing was already on my list but would get a professional in for that - we know someone who charges about £100 a day so doesn't have to cost the earth
11) Finish painting all the gloss work in the house - as grubby (kids bedroom, bathroom and our ensuite done - rest to do)
12) Would be tempted to remove an armchair from the lounge and bring a matching footstool back down from upstairs instead. Would potentially make it look bigger - also considered putting it in OH's study - as nice to look out at the garden from in there
13) Change some of the pictures in the house to be less personal and more staged...
14) Painted most of the walls in our bedroom already - and already got nice pictures but most of the gloss work still to do. In that room it would be about editing the space more than anything else
15) Finish decluttering my study/bedroom 4. Repaint - add some nice pictures. Perhaps buy a cheap bed and put in there for staging purposes.
16) If struggled to sell - could recarpet - hall, stairs and landing, my study and our bedroom. (Did the kids rooms a couple of years ago - and put in rustic oak floors downstairs already. Also did bathroom and ensuite floor already.)
17) Garage just needs a declutter

I already bought the paint (9 -12 months ago just need to use it:cool:

And all that's before we get to outside. :eek:The lawns need greening. the bushes need cutting back. The pots would need to be planted for more kerb appeal. Would want to put a hanging basket back up. Recently bought garden furniture so already have that. Good tidy up needed and possibly touch up of fence paint - at least in part. I have some already - just haven't used it :rotfl:

savingholmes

So I've done nothing on that list yet despite ample opportunity. OH and I did take the dog out for a game of fetch. She is very successful at getting us to fetch the ball - and will respond to recall 80% of the time - but not if there are exciting dogs in the distance. Then she races off instead.

Not telling the kids about the PPI refund or they will get their begging bowls out - particularly DS at uni. Unless I get a massive PPI refund for the policy I took out in 2003 - 2019 - I think regardless of how I feel / we feel tomorrow - we should sit on the decision for at least a month - so we don't do anything rash - and allow time for our new budget dedication to take effect. I think even though it would be a bit awkward, we would want to get a proper estimate done of the work needed too - so we knew what we were potentially signing up for.

Slightly overspent on groceries today - but the online shop that was delivered was slightly less than expected cancelling most of that out. For me I have been very good, I have window shopped online but bought nothing. :cool:

In considering any move, will need to consider DD too. This house is low maintenance but as you can see by my list of 17 jobs to do - if we are not keeping on top of this - how would we cope if we move to a house with work that needs doing and massive gardens / land...

Still it is my dream... I am scared that I will wake up one day and will have missed my life as I was too risk averse - but at the same time I am scared of signing myself up to a house that could turn into a money pit. Hence why even if we really like the house, I want to take it slow. It might help drive the price down too... Waiting a year has already saved me at least £10K!

The house is on an A road too so although it has a massive front garden - I need to understand what the impact of that would be.

savingholmes

Well better late than never. I went and played with my new label maker - printing DR quotes to motivate me. DD found me in my study/bedroom 4 and together we filled a couple of charity bags and a bin bag - so a bit of decluttering done. As part of that found some info that may support another part of my ppi claim as well as a load of paintings, drawings and photos from when DS (now 21) was at nursery!!

Cat and dog decided they needed to try and chase each other round a relatively small room so in the end I told the dog to get out. She then looked at me mournfully while the cat sashayed just out of reach around the study. The cat even crawled in the bin bag at one point LOl

Honeysucklelou2

The dream house sounds exciting...do you have plans as to what you would do with an acre?

savingholmes

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

do you have plans as to what you would do with an acre?

Thanks Honeysuckle for your question - its helping me sort through my thoughts.:A

When we were at uni we were surrounded by green hills and loved it We kind of want that experience again of seeing green everywhere we look. We are fed up of looking at our own or other people's fences and being overlooked so privacy is pretty high on the list. We would need to securely fence the property - but i would love our dog to have more space to run freely - perhaps set it up a little agility course :rotfl: We want our own woodburning stove - it would be nice to use our own wood to feed it.

My husband is obsessed with trees - absolutely loves them - it would be lovely to plant some and not have to worry about how tall they would grow or how wide. Lots of flowering bulbs underneath too. I used to be a keen gardener but after one too many moves of home, gave up a little. I'm not the manicured kind of gardener - I like trees and bushes and perennials - and allowing room for hedgehogs etc. by leaving it a little on the wild side. Husband had just said would love to do archery on our own land too!!! He already has the kit. Freedom to run around and exercise. Sense of space.

I have bought a book on how to be productive in an acre. I think anything we did would need to be in stages as we both work full time. A mini orchard and a fruit cage area would be nice as we eat a lot of fruit. I would like to grow potatoes, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes that kind of thing. Perhaps a chicken run of some sort to start off with - but we would need to protect it from our own pets as well as other predators! Ideally we would want raised (no dig) beds so that we weren't having to bend too much as we get older. We would want our own composting areas. It would be nice to have a cut flower area. Over time a propagation unit, pond etc. I would consider other livestock - but it would depend how much red tape there is and whether we could find an abatoir we were comfortable with...

We have friends that bought a smallholding a year or two ago. Another friend is a farmer, I think if we decided to go ahead - we would go and see them and ask their advice.

Our kids are a bit old for an adventure play area - but I would still love one at some point - perhaps it could be adult sized... a tree house for adults -properly escapist. I want a quiet area where I can write books and articles and dream again.

You've kind of reaffirmed for me why I want this kind of house and land - that could be dangerous! :eek: