Moving forward and upwards

MovingForwards

Friday update.

Must keep my posting / update routine going, will try not to be too 'moany' and 'woe is me', but occasionally grumbles will be made, like today!

Been back in 'work' for a couple of days, still running next to nothing of my job due to very limited IT access. Just have to keep trying the different suggestions made by IT, although they have written me off, nice position to be in huh! I have yet another thing to try but thought I would do that tomorrow when I'm not stressing about accessing my desktop.

I'm also tempted to try and set up my phone for it, but apparently working off that would frustrate me even more than my very limited access. It would be interesting to do it, then that way I could see if it's anything with the make of phone / tablet I use. Although I doubt it is anything from my side as my tablet connected via the company's WiFi.

I refuse to spend my money buying a laptop when I don't need, or want one, for personal use!

My probation 'meeting' is next week, that's going to be a bitter-sweet moment as I can't physically complete my purchase due to the Land Registry and their archaic paperbased ways. Hopefully, their testing of the new system will get sales /purchases going. My solicitor suggested holding on for a few weeks whilst all the small bits resolve themselves; LR IT issues, waiting to pass probation etc on paper I will be ready to exchange / complete next week.

Before anyone says anything:
- no I'm not worried about property prices, they are still going up where I'm buying, even if they stayed the same it's not a concern; I've scoured through the old prices and I wouldn't hit negative equity due to my deposit
-- I'm not looking to sell anytime soon, if at all (the amount of stairs to my flat are the same as in a house),
-- it's a lovely flat, it's got its own garden, it's got a walk-in shower and is in a great location; the private garden, location, shower, layout and small block of flats were what drew me to it and what keeps me looking at the photos of it
-- I've planned the additions eg built-in wardrobes, bathroom, kitchen, carpets and my timelines work for me without alteration
-- I've not thought about reducing my offer, it was worth more to me than we (seller / me) agreed, I still feel the same way
-- I've kept looking at the different properties and nothing has come close to what I'm buying.

I made over £16 interest on my savings.

I still need to put £177 into my AFs, but as yet until I can get my insurance payment transferred to my dedicated car account, I'm not in a position to put that final payment into savings. Worst case is it goes in payday and I've money in my car fund for any repairs and the tax later in the year.

Payday at the end of this month, aside from the small AF transfer needed, will mean I start building my savings up properly!

Chrystal

I'm really keeping my fingers crossed MF that everything goes ahead for you with no problems.  X

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks for the update MF. So near and yet so far ! Fingers crossed here too that it will all go through soon🤞 

MovingForwards

Sunday update, is anyone finding the days are merging more than normal.

Started plotting my escape from this flat, need to cling on to a bit of normality!

Some more chat about the flat I'm buying:
-- concrete floors, with suspended floors / ceiling, therefore no noise from above, thank goodness!!
-- it's got dark grey carpets, seem to be good quality and with decent underlay. I haven't a clue what colour I will go for when I do eventually get round to replacing them, there's no timescale for that and when I have my furniture in it will make a difference and will go with the furniture I've planned.
-- my current bedroom curtains will be put up in my flat, due to the size of them I only need to use one in each bedroom; they are blackout curtains. I need to buy curtain rails when I know I'm moving.
-- the lounge is magnolia, sigh, but I will be painting it white to begin with, haven't a clue about after I'm settled in.
-- the shower room is partly to my taste, but I don't like the colour choice of the wall tiles or lino. I'm looking at pastel and white, possibly pastel blue, pastel turquoise, I've yet to spot the right tile for the one wall. I'm happy with the three other non-tiled walls.
-- Still souring the online shops. I've picked out my sink, it's a reproduction basin on Chrome legs. Will contact a reclaimers and see if they want my original sink. The toilet is white as is the shower tray so no cost or expense required for them bits.
-- the kitchen units are 'modern', sadly I don't like the colour 🙈, but it's all in good condition, hence no rush to change it. It just doesn't suit the age of the flat.
-- I do love Victorian - 1930's, art deco, with a bit of 1970's vibrancy. So my overall plan is neutral colours in the living room and bedrooms, Bauhaus or Bauhaus style furniture (don't earn enough to do it all with originals) and some abstract art on the walls for the vibrancy; I'm planning to do the paintings myself as I've big canvases to use, but will get some small ones to practice on first.

The building needs a little TLC, this is perhaps one negative of not having service charges / management agency but I probably wouldn't have even looked at it if there was!

It's got 6 flats, 2 on each floor, with ground, first and second floors. In theory, easier to liaise with owners about repairs, but potentially expensive at times, hence wanting to save a £5k buildings budget quickly.
I did rule out one that had about 36 flats and loads more original features in it, due to the size of the building, lack of garden and historical subsidence; alI could think was how much a roof would cost 😂 worst case with the one I'm buying is it's maximum £20k between us as it's like the size of two houses.
-- The communal areas have not been painted in a very long time, but there's enough left to see what the colour scheme was; I imagine it looked gorgeous back in the day. There was no obvious damage to the walls / ceilings.
-- I just need to brush off the flaking paint, mark up the two colours, base coat on then top coat. I doubt my neighbours would be bothered as I wouldn't ask them to put towards that; I need to build up some more survey pounds to pay for the paint, pace myself and ask a friend to do the ceilings as my body wouldn't cope with that. Planning to have that finished before summer is over.
-- I've found a roofing company who use ropes to work, rather than scaffolding. So want to get a quote from them to clear out the gutters as and when required and just keep an eye on the roof; I have binoculars for after any bad weather. I should have a look to see if there is a mesh or anything that can be put over them to stop leaf etc clogging them.
-- the windows also appear to be original and will need replacing at some point within the next 10 years, with TLC. I've done a guesstimate on the cost as they are normal sized windows and for the entire stairwell it's £8k, could even be half of that as there's less than doing a whole house. 
-- the path to my garden has a load of moss, so that's on the to do list as I don't fancy slipping / falling on the way to / from it. Just needs to be scraped up and given a good brush; I'm quite intrigued to see what is under it as there's a lovely stone wall either side of the path. Again, this will be done by the end of summer.
-- my garden is a lawn, with a tree. I will be getting the tree taken out, the hedge on the otherside trimmed and the lawn removed. Then I can create a veg and herbs plot, with a few flowers. 

Neither the homebuyers report nor my mortgage valuation said anything needed doing now, just the standard will need to be done at some point due to age.

The repairs are split between us, as set out in the deeds, the split depends on what shared section is being done.
-- Some bits I'm happy to fund or do myself (painting, communal windows, keeping the garden path clear), will put a note through their doors and follow the spirit of shared repairs
-- some bits will be guided by the split eg full roof, building repairs (the expensive bits) and follow the shared repairs guide to the T, with getting various quotes etc.
-- by the time anything expensive needs doing, I should know my neighbours, as apparently they are a nice bunch and look out for each other.

Anyhow, I'm off to surf the internet.

savingwannabe

I do hope you are feeling better. I hope the mortgage will all go through as planned. Surely they will extend it due to the circumstances? It must feel scary but soon this madness will be over.  Thinking of you God bless you. 

MovingForwards

I'm feeling a tiny bit better, not getting enough sleep due to the idiots above, thankfully working at home means I can be very flexible with my start time.

I should be able to get an extension, it's just how long that extension will be and whether it's long enough to exchange / complete.

It's unsettling as I've been waiting since a few weeks into December to pass my probation so I could exchange,
I'm getting my probation passed next week but the land registry are not geared up for online transactions (they are still working on it) so I can't complete
Every hurdle I overcome, brings another 😂 but when everything is ready, my solicitor will have to get his finger out as I will be chasing him!

savingholmes

Really hope it all goes through for you now. You've put an awful lot of research into this.
Hope your work ICT problems resolve. They should buy you a laptop if needed.

MovingForwards

savingholmes said:

Really hope it all goes through for you now. You've put an awful lot of research into this.
Hope your work ICT problems resolve. They should buy you a laptop if needed.

I do enjoy doing research into things.

There maybe a laptop available for me, just have to see if IT can do whatever it is they do so it's useable for me. What that is, is anyone's guess, especially as they have written off helping me with my tablet. I'm not high priority to have a laptop purchased, I would have to buy my own, but could potentially face the same issue with being unable to log on.

I didn't try and sort my tablet out this weekend, but will spend a while trying tomorrow when I'm being paid to work! 

One thing I dislike about having access at home, even the limited access I do, is I keep checking my emails. I know when I get full access I'm going to end up working evenings and weekends; I've done that with every role I've had remote access 

MovingForwards

Monday update!

The EA called this morning, the flat is now empty and they are waiting on me to complete 🤗

I've had a look at the land registry website and it looks like sales / purchases can move forward again 🤫

Just need my probation letter, then hopefully it will be all systems go! Unless I need to get my mortgage offer extended 🙈

I'm being given a works laptop later this week, I've spent hours today trying to log in via my tablet, to no avail.

Chemist can't get hold of one of my meds and have asked my Dr to prescribe a different one, my Dr has called me, but for some reason didn't speak; have to wait for him to call back.

Interest rates on two of my savings accounts have dropped, I guess I've been very lucky for the last 3.5 years. Once I move, I will look to see what better accounts are around.

Time to chill out for a few hours!

Skint_yet_Again

That’s all sounding very positive MF how long do you anticipate it taking to complete & are people still actually physically moving ? Can you get removal companies to move your stuff ?