The Best Is Yet To Come

debtfreewannabe321

slm6002 said:

Well I have spoken to the agent and he has had some feedback.  We are now on her shortlist and will be told in a week or so once she has been to a few more.  She loved the house and the location and the only bad thing to say was the garden was a little smaller than she would have liked.  I cant do anything about the garden really so will just wait and see.  I have booked to see the 2 on our list that are possibilities.  DD1 and I will go and see them both on Thursday afternoon and maybe get a better idea of which is best for us.  While I like the idea of having no work to do on a house once moved I am favouring the one with a nice outside space but work required to get the extra bedroom

Just throwing an idea out there and if it's not for you feel free to dismiss. But if you don't want/ expect all three kids to stay with you forever could you find a three bed house (much easier) with a separate space downstairs like a second reception room or even a brick built garage attached to house that you could convert easily (perhaps not cheaply though 🤔) and think that it won't be forever that they'll all be with you anyway so make the space work hard that you do have. My sister converted her dining room into another bedroom, it wasn't huge but was a separate space and worked well. X

joedenise

debtfreewannabe321 said:

slm6002 said:

Well I have spoken to the agent and he has had some feedback.  We are now on her shortlist and will be told in a week or so once she has been to a few more.  She loved the house and the location and the only bad thing to say was the garden was a little smaller than she would have liked.  I cant do anything about the garden really so will just wait and see.  I have booked to see the 2 on our list that are possibilities.  DD1 and I will go and see them both on Thursday afternoon and maybe get a better idea of which is best for us.  While I like the idea of having no work to do on a house once moved I am favouring the one with a nice outside space but work required to get the extra bedroom

Just throwing an idea out there and if it's not for you feel free to dismiss. But if you don't want/ expect all three kids to stay with you forever could you find a three bed house (much easier) with a separate space downstairs like a second reception room or even a brick built garage attached to house that you could convert easily (perhaps not cheaply though 🤔) and think that it won't be forever that they'll all be with you anyway so make the space work hard that you do have. My sister converted her dining room into another bedroom, it wasn't huge but was a separate space and worked well. X

That's what my parents did when we moved.  It was 3 bed so my sister and I had a bedroom each and our brother slept in the 2nd reception room which was the 'formal' dining room for the previous owners.  We always ate at the kitchen table!

slm6002

This is our plan to be honest.  The house that sold was a 3 bed with a garage attached that we would have  converted.  The one we are looking at has some out buildings attached that can get converted hopefully.  It works out cheaper at the moment to do this than buy the 4 bed house.  These houses that can be converted don't come about too often though.

slm6002

XH has just sent DD1 a text to say that he has joined the gym in the next road over.  Why when he lives 20 miles away? He really does like to mess with my head.  There is no real reason to come to this town, other than to see his children, which they do not want to happen.

Anyway hopefully we will be out of here soon x 

Humdinger1

He really is a complete Juggins! I'm sure you'll soon be moving @slm6002.  Love Humdinger xx 

slm6002

Well we looked round a couple of houses today, and I think that I am more confused than ever, not that we have sold as yet lol....

Townhouse is the wrong side of the railway tracks so will cause delays each time we cross (because we have that kind of luck) but we are kind of used to it as live the wrong side as well now.  It was very nice inside, although no real room for a dining room table.  We could get one that pulls out on special occasions which is mainly when we use one.  It has 2 lots of stairs with my room being at the top - good for exercise, bad for when I'm exhausted.  The garden is small and there are only 2 parking spaces, but a possibility to park out the front - need to check at a busy time to see.  Top of our budget.  Houses packed in as it is only 8 years old and on housing estate.  Family relocating to different country so no onward chain. Council tax band D

Old council house is right side of tracks, big garden and potential for at least 3 cars.  Inside however needs some work, most liveable but not for too long as very dated.  Stairs steep but only 1 set.  Would need to convert outbuildings into 4th bedroom.  On market £45k under budget but agent suggested they would accept offer so even more under budget and therefore stamp duty reduced as well giving us probably £50k to do it all up.  Council tax band B.  No onward chain as they have moved to care home.

I like them both but worried about the amount of work needed at older one, but parking and outside space at new one.  So confusing.  DD1 who came with me prefers the new one but probably because it is shiny and new.

debtfreewannabe321

Keep looking 😄 we looked at tonnes this last time we moved. We ended up back with the very first one we viewed but when we first viewed it I wasn't sure on some things ...when compared to others we viewed though this one ended up winning on location and size. We made the mistake of wrong location last time and regretted it very quickly. 
Does the older house need every room doing? Could some of them be done up with just a paint job and maybe new carpet? And so only leaving the kitchen/ bathroom which you should have enough for if you're saving on purchase? 
My kids preferred shiny new ones every time we've moved house... oddly I always prefer the old ones 🤣 even though the DIY does my head in. 
Have you heard from any potential buyers yet 🤞🏻

joedenise

From what you've said it sounds like the older house would be better particularly as it is the right side of the railway!  I always think newer houses have much smaller rooms and much smaller gardens and sounds like parking could be a problem.  Definitely worth going back to see it at different times of day and evening/night.  We made that mistake with our last property.  There was a college nearby and hadn't realised that so many students drove to college and used our road for parking as we hadn't seen it early in the day only evenings and weekends as we both worked and couldn't get there during the day.  Fortunately we only had one car at the time and could usually get parked a fairly short distance away.

We certainly made sure with this property that the parking was good - own drive with room for 3-4 other cars; in fact there was room for our caravan (since changed to motorhome) so reduced costs on storage as well.

Like @debtfreewannabe321 says keep on looking it will help make things clearer and you may find somewhere you love at a good price with very little work to do or you may end up looking at these 2 again before making a decision.  I think you'll know when you walk in the house whether it's the right one for you.

slm6002

Thank you all.   I am hoping a mixture of both houses come on the market before we need to make a decision.

DS has gone off to work, DD1 was out last night and will return at some point I think. So today we are trying to complete the art homework due for Friday.  We have no time to do it after school so it is now or never really.  I've no idea when her other homework will be done in the next 2 weeks as it is non stop for DD2 until all the performances have finish.  I am sure they are breaking some kind of performance / hours worked rule.  Please let next years show be a boring one so it is easier for her to say no.

We are also needing to find a work experience placement.  She has no idea (being 15) on what she would like to do, but we need to email people to find somewhere for her to go in May.  If there was a crochet shop nearby maybe that would work lol.

One of our cats is acting a little out of character at the moment and was sick on my bedroom carpet last night (plenty of easily wipe spaces they could have chosen, but always the way).  I am hoping it is just a off day but will keep an eye on him.

Also working my way through the usual chores but the sun is still out so making things feel like they are achievable

slm6002

DD1 gone off to work this morning but only for a 10am start, not 5am start like last week so I slept better knowing she would get up on time.  The other 2 have only emerged from their rooms for food which is a pain as DD2 still has an awful lot to do currently. Second load of washing on and dishwasher reloaded.

Today I need to get everything organised, very easy quick meals planned and food purchased.  What with college visits, parents evenings, multiple rehearsals, normal clubs all still happening we will have no time in the evenings to waste.  I might print out this weeks diary and pop it somewhere obvious so everyone knows what is going on when.

So dark still after a lovely bright day yesterday, just drizzling outside makes me want to hibernate but know I cant as lots to do.  Will aim to have all done by dinner so I can relax this evening