The 'scenic route' to mortgage freedom...

PiggyBankShaker

Morning moneysavers!

Car had it's service yesterday, came in at £338. My Dad say he will give me £75 towards it. DH and DS has their chiropractor appointment, DS had drums, DD's orthodontic payment went out, did a smallish amount of grocery shopping.

CB went in yesterday and 2nd job payday is in 6 days.

The big news is we are viewing a house next Tuesday. It is not quite in 'dream house' territory but it ticks a lot of boxes.

Pros

• Period house, with some original features
• Good bedroom/bathroom ratio
• 13 acres land
• Extra 1-bed 'cottage' on site
• Stables & arena
• Beautiful area
• In our price range
• 23 mins from kids current school

Cons

• Not in same catchment area, so no free school bus
• House needs some TLC/updating
• Not detached
• Further away from my Dad
• Top end of our comfortable price range

I've been trying to think of a prioritised list of what we would need to do to our current house before we could put it on the market, and I'm feeling a bit daunted.

Anyway that's all for now. Stay safe mortgage slayers.

PiggyBankShaker

Morning moneysavers,

Feeling a bit better here this morning, was just overwhelmed last night. We made a list and DH started tackling a few bits and he's doing a bit more today whilst I take my Dad to the cancer centre for his check up. 

We've got an estate agent coming on Monday to give us a valuation. Be interested to hear what they say, and I'm planning on asking what jobs we should prioritise to maximise the value. Even if we don't end up putting the house on the market it's useful info.

When we sold our last house we'd been there for 11 years and we'd transformed every inch of the house. It was all in a uniform style (albeit quite eclectic) and we got loads of viewings because the listing photos really stood out. It ended up going for more than the asking price because we had so many offers. This time it would be different I think. We've only decorated half of the rooms and the outside is a huge mess. There is a part of me that would find it incredibly hard to sell in its 'unfinished' state, but if we got what we needed then I'd have to find a way I guess. DH doesn't have these qualms, he is much more of a pragmatist.

Right I must dash I'm picking my Dad up in 45 mins.

savingholmes

Sounds like you have a lot on PBS. Not surprising you feel meh. I am the same TBH. Love HP. Would love to go and see it too.

Good luck with the house decisions

PiggyBankShaker

Busy day today. Work my 2nd job this morning, drove home had lunch took DS horse riding, did some food shopping whilst he was having his lesson, came home, bought my Dad's travel insurance, spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening tidying and cleaning the house ahead of the estate agents coming around on Monday.

I finally tackled my office with the help of DD. We emptied everything out, cleaned the empty room and then sorted the stuff back in. It's looking lovely in there now, very curated and calming - BUT - there is a big pile of stuff still left on the landing. Some of this can be sorted for recycling, some can be sorted back in tomorrow and some can be boxed up for short term storage in the attic. DH tackled some other jobs today as well and in general the house is looking a lot more presentable. Even if we don't put it on the market it will be nicer for us going forward, so its a definite win.

DS cooked tea for us all whilst we busy and he also helped DH dismantle a piece of furniture and carry the pieces upstairs. DD volunteered all day at the riding centre - I'm so proud of what awesome humans they are.

One week until we go on holiday. My Dad has finally agreed to come, and I'm really looking forward to it. DS will have his birthday whilst we are away so we'll have to find a nice pizza restaurant for him at that's his favourite.

Off to try and relax now, there seems to be nothing good on Netflix at the moment so I might have to rewatch an old fave.

Stay safe moneysavers.

savingholmes

Sounds like you have had a fabulously productive day. There's nothing like a freshly decluttered space... I had 3 little kids here today and they've left their mess behind. Fancy sorting it for me?

PiggyBankShaker

savingholmes said:

Sounds like you have had a fabulously productive day. There's nothing like a freshly decluttered space... I had 3 little kids here today and they've left their mess behind. Fancy sorting it for me?

Decluttering other people's spaces is easy (for me!) It's my own mess I have problems dealing with!

savingholmes

HI PBS - yes I'm better at dealing with other's spaces than my own.

I may indulge in some retail therapy to hide from mine... I get paid Tuesday - so just spending a couple of days early.... 

PiggyBankShaker

We had two estate agents around yesterday. The first valued at £299,950 and said they would market at £325,000. The second valued at between £285,000 and £295,000 and would market at £285,000. I'm inclined to get a third as validation, but DH doesn't seem to think it is worth it.

Even at the lowest valuation, its still £35,000 more than we were hoping for so that really positive. Neither seemed to think that the stuff in the house that is 'unfinished' would put people off, which was my big concern. And if we did put it on the market we could do a quick and dirty 'doctoring' so that its presented at its best in the photos.

Another positive to come out of the experience is that the house is lovely and clean. Admittedly we shoved quite a lot of stuff into the attic, which will still need sorting but for the rest of this week, and when we get back from holiday, it will be tidy.

We're viewing the house early this evening and I'm trying not to get my hopes up. The real danger is that everyone falls in love with it but the seller is only testing the market and not really interested in selling. We could afford the asking price even if my Dad doesn't end up selling his house, so I'm not too concerned about the competition (please don't let that come back and bite me in the !!!!!!!)

In other news, I've been paid today and had the back pay from my first month added on. Spending wise, we're doing okay, but that will probably go out of the window when we go on holiday. DH got a birthday present for DS yesterday using Nectar points so so far we've spent less than £10 on his birthday, because I ordered a book of Amazon with a voucer too.

I've seen a job to apply for that would be an extra £700 a month if I were to get it. It blends both my old role and my current 2nd job perfectly, with the only downside being it would be back to a 37 hour working week which I haven't had for over 5 years.I think I'll apply and just see what happens.

Right that's all for now. Stay safe moneysavers!

PiggyBankShaker

We've hit the first hurdle. Nationwide has said they won't port our mortgage to the new property as the outbuildings are too large to be classed as domestic use.

I've made some enquiries with specialist mortgage brokers and I'm waiting to hear back from them. 

We might be sunk before we've even started.

peb

@Cheery_Daff had this.  I don't know how the property is split and the proportionate values but could you split the title and have only the main property mortgaged?  It's not unlikely it's already under separate titles - have a play on Mapsearch at the land registry