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First Time Buyers!
Hello! I have a simple question; if first time buyers do not buy houses until they can comfortably afford them, would that not drive house prices down until people could afford them?
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Fed up with flatsharing
Hi, for several years now I've been sharing a flat; it's quite a large flat and so there tends to be quite a high turnover of people. However, I'm beginning to really tire of the constant process of having to find new flatmates when rooms become available. The flat has many positives such as the location and price, but the…
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Auction properties
Hello, I am first time buyer with permanent annual salary of £67k(joint) and with decent deposit of 32k (was saving from years). Recently while searching through Google I have found one property which is going in the auction on 26th oct. I have approached one firm known as CHOICE and they said they are kind of agent who…
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Do I need a retrospective Build over agreement from Thames Water
To all, I am new to this so I would appreciate any help you can give me. My partner and I are currently buying our first house together and are nearing the end of what has been a very stressful experience. We are very close to exchange and on Friday were told that we needed to gain a retrospective Build over agreement from…
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Buy to run away?
Any and all advice would be most welcome. Sorry for the novel, but want to be as complete as possible. My husband & I each own a house in a market town in East Anglian/Midlands area. We're looking for a larger house, and have looked at 20+ properties in the same town. We both love one particular property, which is a brick…
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Looking to buy my ideal home!
Hi everyone, I need some advice. I used to live in a flat by the sea ( rented ), of which a friend of the family owns. I moved out because who I was sharing with at the time, I needed to get away from. ( Messy bloke, party animal! ) My ex land-lady is now selling the property, ( yet to be valued ) and I love it! I would…
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Paying Council service charges
I have recently had a flat I was living in transferred into my name. For the last 2 years I have been paying the council tax but not Council service charges (this was dealt through the company that owned the flat). Now that the flat has been registered in my name I want to start paying the service charges as well. My…
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Structural Surveyor - How qualified should he be?
Hi, I'm getting a full structural survey done soon. Just wondering what qualifications he should have to be able to do the job competently? Will MRICS suffice? Thanks
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Ground Rent as percentage value of property
We are looking at buying a leasehold property which has a current Ground Rent of £50 p/a, but in 2012, the method of calculation will completely change to 0.0305% of the value of the property (presently £175,000), but who is to say what the value of the property is .... has anyone else come across this method before? Does…
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Nightmare landlord - advice?
Hi All We have ben renting the same house for 16 months. We have been relatively happy there, it's a nice area, the neighbours are lovely and we had planned to stay for a fairly long time. However, we have been having a few problems with the landlord. Right at the start of the tenancy he asked if he could pop round (during…
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Renting out a room
Hi all, I’m thinking of renting a room out from my house which I live in. What’s involved in this? Do I need to declare this as an income? (How do I do this?) Do I need to give them a contract? The chances are they will require invoices/receipts, is there anything I should know regarding this? Any other tips you might want…
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Remember to change your address details when you move house!
Hi, This may seem obvious - but research has shown that many people don't do this! I have just posted an article on my blog why you must always change your address details or run the risk of identity fraud - reading the stats it's scary how many people leave their personal details for others to read!…
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Planning permission for a cemetery!
Hi there. Our house is currently on the market (been up for sale for just over a week) and although it's on a new development (5 years old now), it's on the South/East edge overlooking some common land and a horses paddock. However, the local council was granted planning permission to build a cemetery on the horses paddock…
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Estate agent
HI just put our house on market this week and was advertised in local paper. Had gone into estate agent office and requested it be advertised as no upward chain however it was not. Feel this would be an advantage to us as our property is priced for first time buyers and the no upward chain may appeal to them in a…
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Interesting purchase?
Ok, first to set the scene - I'm 23, a staff nurse who lives at home with my mother, 60, in a two bedroom semi detached house. I am single, as is she. I dont have any brothers or sisters. This has just had an offer made on it, the asking price of £110,000. I'm going to be living at home for the considerable future,…
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Buying a house abroad... and putting it in chilren's name.
My mother is Portuguese and lives over in England. She has just brought a flat in Portugal. However to reduce complications in the future she wants to put the flat in mine and my brother's name. The house won't be rented out so we won't be making money on it. Will it have repercussions tax wise for me and my brother in the…
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Getting a mortgage if your partner has bad credit...
My boyfriend and I have been saving to by a house and have a £10,000 deposit which should be enough for 10% deposit on a decent starter home in the area we live. My problem is that the other half made some bad money choices when he was younger (nearly 10 years ago) and got himself in quite a bit of debt. He is now older…
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Shared Ownership - Genesis - Atlas House, N17
Hi, I recently purchased shared ownership flat in London - Atlas House, N17 from Genesis Homes. Building is not finished and it looks like Genesis is strugling to do so. I exchanged the contract but yesterday Genesis contacted me asking informally to pull out. If anybody is in the same situation, please contact me via this…
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Offer accepted - Survey completed - Valued 15k less than offer
Hi All, My wife and I are FTB's and we have had an offer accepted on a house. We have just received the Home Buyers Survey we commissioned in the post - it goes in to great depth, more than we thought it would. The Surveyor has valued the house at £210,000 - we have offered £225,000 (the asking price - as did 2 others). He…
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Students Having Problems Renting With Opel Estate Agents, advise/help?
Hi I'll try and keep this short. Four of us rented a property from Opel estate agents (they own the property so we dont have a single landlord) for our second year at uni. Then on the 1st July two of us went to get our keys and sign an agreement that we were happy with the property ect, the property was dirty and several…