Other What currently makes your life awesome?

Our solicitor is so defensive.

As an example, we asked if there were any other delays we should be prepared for and rather than discussing it she only said any delays weren't down to her.

Not what we asked. Very defensive.

 

I feel your pain.

The first house we bought (2000) we were renters entering the bottom of a chain. We planned things like a military campaign and still everything went wrong which possibly could because everybody got their part wrong:
- The sellers at the top of the chain wanted legal guarantees that their buyer wouldn't pull out, which delayed things a lot.
- The sellers at the top of the chain then delayed their completion date three times --which was quite inconvenient as we were renters having to give 3 months notice and were trying to avoid an overlap;
- The landlord started showing people around our rented flat without notice --once entering the flat while my wife was in bed asleep after a hospital night shift (the landlord was otherwise very good, but we did have a frank exchange of views about this).
- Despite thus having several weeks of notice, our sellers were still frantically loading up to move out on the evening of completion date --luckily we arranged to move in 2 days later, so the electrician could do some necessary work under the floorboards first (incidentally, we later heard that when the buyers of the house at the top arrived to move in, the sellers had not actually started to move out yet, and their movers had to help the other movers move things out before they could move their own things in);
- then the electrician re-arranged... for 2 days later, on our moving in date (this was after we had explicitly told him why the original date was so important). In the end we said "fine, you figure out how you work around our movers" (to his credit, he did).
- Then the range cooker we had bought months in advance was delivered at our old address. Despite us confirming a week before, AND AGAIN a day before, that the shop understood it had to go to the NEW address. Then the delivery guy could not find the new address (a mile up the road). Despite the shop being local. Because he had no A-Z of Birmingham. Despite deliveries in Birmingham being, like, his job.

The second house was even more fun, because the 2008 Credit Crunch happened just a week after we put our house on the market. Eventually we got an offer, but lower than initially anticipated.
- Then the seller of the house we had expressed an interest in complained about the delays, and put it back on the market. We said fine, no hard feelings. We offered on another house (and frankly, a nicer one) a few weeks later. Months later the solicitor of the first house came back belligerently asking how serious we were about buying the house because they had not heard from us again. We explained that as the seller had put the house back on the market, we assumed the deal was off. This came as a surprise to their solicitor.
- Then the seller of the new house --a builder who did work across the country and was living there with his builder mates-- disappeared without forwarding address and wasn't dealing with his paperwork. This caused months of delay. Our buyers were getting restless.
- Then the seller finally got his **** together, but our buyers hadn't(!). More delays.
- Then we finally moved, but the seller had not left us the correct keys so we (and the movers) couldn't get in. We went to get the copy of the estate agent. They refused to hand us the key because "it was the property of the seller". I explained that no, we BOUGHT the house, that key is OUR property now. They wouldn't budge. We then had to arrange for the seller's solicitor to call them (after lunch break, of course) and explain to them like the retards they were the transfer of property rights implicit in SELLING AND BUYING A HOUSE. No, we still don't know what the keys we originally got actually belong to. We never heard of the seller again.
- After moving in we spent some time getting rid of lots of empty cans and bottles-- and needles...

On the upside, the builder and his mates were chronic alcoholics and drug users, had been quite difficult neighbours to live with --fist fights at 3:00 in the morning, him having paranoid hallucinations and shouting at shadows etc. The relief and goodwill we had from the street as we moved in was palpable and for a while people couldn't do enough to help us settle in and feel welcome.

The house in France was relatively smooth sailing in comparison, although the sudden drop in value of GBP/EUR due to Liz Truss' Kwamikaze budget (announced literally the day when we made our offer) cost us a significant bit of money on the deal. Moving to the country was actually more impactful than moving country.

 

Nexxo, you could do us all a favour here and warn us when you're planning to move house next! Blimey, that is a string of bad luck.

Here's hoping France has been relatively headache free after all that!

 

Jeez @Nexxo that's a right old series of events to try and break you.

It's the fundamental problem with buying houses, having to deal with others and solicitors.

No matter how prepared you are there's always someone somewhere in the process determined to throw a spanner in your well laid plans.

 

Yeah, for the money they demand, solicitors and estate agents can be fairly useless.

BTW always get multiple valuations on your house when selling. On our second house we got three quotes that varied by as much as £45k between them. Some estate agents undervalue because they just want a quick sale.

 

I once had a long and interesting conversation on property sales with a Frenchman, it went like this:

"We don't have chains in France"

"How does that work?"

"Bridging loan"

"Ah!"

So I consider myself to be pretty much a property lawyer now, AMA.

 

We sold a good while a go but we have done both times we've sold.

Last one we went with the one that had a realistic valuation which was a bit above what we judged it may go for.

The others came back with vastly overvalued prices but looking at their sites they had numerous houses, overpriced and sat on their books for months before being reduced.

 

I ned to sell my place next year and I'm really not looking forward to it! At least I'm not buying straight away, so I save myself half the pain!

 

Landlord is fine about us staying longer because the house purchase is dragging on.

A really nice email this morning, it's nice to receive one like I would write.

I mean the house buying is a ballache but it's at least a relief not having another separate timetable to stress about.

 

Congrats on not being (temporarily) homeless!

 

Cheers bud. Just hoping we're not stuck here too long

 

Just done my first "Dip a Day" for the October Surfers Against Sewage fundraiser.
I'll be going into cold water every day this month to support the campaign to clean up our rivers and seas.
It was cold, bit I feel refreshed, it's a dip in the sea tomorrow!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93vylxrl49o

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2z659221eo

 

My watch is an SAS one. I thought they'd "gone under" as an organisation, hadn't heard a single thing from them for years.

Good to see they're still flying the flag.

 

I have finally found a use for AI.
Its mid-year review time and self-reflection is not something I enjoy or am good at.
Threw my targets at copilot and was given some corporate sounding nonsense that will get HR off my back for the next 6 months. Winner.

 

PSA: These things smell amazing.

 

Chainsaws or Landies?

 

Ha, yeah both. I've no idea why there are people electrifying Land Rovers, it's all about the noise and the smell

 

Thinking of noise, some years, sorry decades ago, I heard a series 2 that had been fitted with a big American V8 diesel, definitely an ear plugs job, they would need to be good ones...

 

About 30 years ago, I rode in a LWB series 2 that had a modern (at that time) Toyota diesel straight six, transmission and gear train (I think from a Landcruiser), it was awesome. Not only was it smooth, reliable and versatile, it pulled like a train.

 

After being scammed by my last landscaper got a new team in to finish who actually worked on pay at the end when you are happy basis, very unusual for any sort of labourer when there is machinery and materials involved, they turned around a more simplifed approach due to my reduced budget and turned it around in just over a week, sun has come out, everything is awesome Well apart from what it ultimately cost me due to the first teams screw ups, but still, I now have a useful patio, a simpler garden and gave up some of the garden for motorhome and extra car parking, I would have tarmacced the lot but missus was not keen, I don't get it

Of course I have no garden furniture and now needs to be filled with garden crap now we have a blank canvas to work with but I don't care, next years problem, suns out, lets enjoy what is there, which is no longer a building site. yay.