Lolu's Mortgage Free odyssey

misslolu

South_coast said:

Gives you time to decide what you really need though - and you'll appreciate it so much more when you get it! When I moved into my last rented flat, it was my first time unfurnished and I literally had nothing. The joy of a mattress on the floor after months of an air bed on the floor was EPIC 🤣🤣🤣!!!

Yup! I'm definitely going for a minimalist vibe, partly out of cost but also because I don't see the point in having so much stuff!

misslolu

So today I need to get my house checks sorted, so they're finished before the searches come back. I'm planning on organising:

• Home Buyer's Report (I'm just waiting on the quote) 
• the EICR for electricity
•  the plumbers report

before the end of the week. I know a lot of people don't usually get the EICR or plumbers report but they're not super expensive (£300 or so for both) so I think it would be better to just do them for my peace of mind.

I'm also doing this silly thing where I'm trying to have all of my costs associated with the house paid for by doing surveys only and no money that I've earned from my 9-to-5 job. I managed to do this with the searches, but it's highly likely that I might have to lend myself the money and pay myself back ha ha. Especially for the homebuyers since that's probably going to be around £500, I guess I'll have to wait and see.

misslolu

On second thoughts, I might just wait for the homebuyer's report to come in and decide whether to do the electrical and plumbers surveys. I know they don't cost a huge amount but I also don't want to overly bother the vendor with lots of surveys. The quote for the homebuyers was £500 so within my budget, now I just need to get a response from the estate agent so I know when they can go and get it done.

Hopefully I can get the homebuyers done this week and that's all the money I need to spend on the house until exchange!

powerspowers

Have you had your survey back yet lolu? 

misslolu

powerspowers said:

Have you had your survey back yet lolu? 

I've not actually! I've been a bit naughty and haven't actually booked it yet, I'm still waiting for some enquiries to come back from the vendors solicitor. Plus I've been rushed off my feet with the 29 pieces of documentation my solicitor sent me to review last week. It's been a bit crazy ha ha!

I've been a bit of a mess recently and need to get myself organised again, I was doing so well but have sidetracked myself looking at how the house is going to look instead of the actual nitty-gritty. So i'll book the homebuyers first thing tomorrow and send off the other documentation too!

misslolu

Something else that frazzled me a bit was getting an email from the estate agent saying that the vendor's purchase want to complete by early May. Apart from the fact that I was never told about this and had assumed we were aiming for mid June to beat the stamp duty holiday, it's probably not Likely to happen given that the searches only just came back this week and my own solicitors haven't given me some documents I know I need to sign yet.

This is the second time I've been kind of blindsided and I'm not too happy about it, So I'm just going to move at my own pace not being especially slow but not rushing either. At the end of the day they need me more than I need them at the moment.

misslolu

I sent a quick email to the solicitor last week, I didn't really understand some of the documents he sent so wanted to get some clarification. He responded by sending an extra 24 documents for me to review In the electronic portal🤦‍♀️ .

Turns out he hadn't seen my email because he called yesterday to set up a proper meeting for tomorrow so we can discuss. Hopefully, I can get everything sorted on my end and we can move forward. 

Something I did do though was set up to homebuyer survey, that should be done later on this week or early next week. I really hope there is nothing else I need to pay for between now and exchange especially if we have to exchange before I get my May salary.

powerspowers

Oh how stressful! Is there much of a chain? That might be why they are anxious to move. Our buyer has been ready since Xmas so we’ve had to push to get the house we are moving to. 

misslolu

There's no chain which i'm really grateful for @powerspowers , the purchase has gone quickly so far and I can just imagine how extra people and properties might have complicated it.

I had the meeting with the solicitor and he answered all my questions so i'm fine. I just need to get my butt in gear and send a lot of documentation i've been putting off. 

I'm slightly perplexed though, it really seems as if we're nearing the end of the process, but my solicitor still thinks it's possible we don't complete till early June. I don't think i'd mind either way but I'd definitely prefer at least an end of May completion though (to make sure I get my full LISA bonus).

misslolu

So after lots of messing about with completion dates the vendor has finally said that they want to complete on the 11th of June.

Unfortunately I had already booked and a weekend trip from the 11th so I asked them to move it back one day which they agreed to, yay. I started the process of moving money out of my lifetime ISA so just waiting to hear back from the solicitor on that too.

There are still one or two enquiries from the vendor that need to be satisfied but it's definitely looking good at the moment, especially since I got my homebuyers report back and the surveyor said that it's fine to buy. Now it's just a waiting game, less than 28 days until I purchase my first property, it's really exciting but also really scary. 😧 😨 😰