Buying a house (and renting)

Don't ever use AnyVan if you're planning on moving home.

These banana splits only rang at 3pm when they said they'd arrive at 2, to say that there was a significant delay. We say the estate agent needs the keys by 5 so when are you coming. They say probably later than 5 so we ask if there's another team available earlier. They then call back later on to say sorry there's no team available and we've cancelled the other bloke now so we can't do until tomorrow.

We arrange another company immediately, because you know, someone else legally owns the strawberry floating property now and is already wondering why they don't yet have the keys. By a miracle, even though it's half 6 in the evening on a Friday we manage to arrange something else.

Another 20 minutes on hold to ask for a refund to be told I'm not entitled to one because they're prepared to do the job tomorrow. I ask to speak to a manager, however all he can do is arrange for a manager to call me back within 24 hours.

So now I'm sat in someone else's home with a gooseberry fool load of massive furniture, hoping this other company actually turns up!

Well that's just gooseberry fool isn't it? It amazes me just how gooseberry fool some places still are in providing a sensible approach to customer service when something goes wrong.

We're in the process of selling our place and have just started looking into movers so I'll keep that in mind!

Well, AnyVan is what it is, any van. Most of them shite.

Not being entitled to a refund because they're coming tomorrow though, what sort of whack gooseberry fool is that

They had a contract with you, they broke it, you're entitled to your money back, it's as simple as that - unless there was some kind of smallprint about "unforeseen delays", maybe, and even then they should have told you within say 30mins of not showing up, not afterward! If you can't do that, give an arrival window, it's still shitty but at least you're not overly committing to variables.

Well that was certainly an experience.

The other company turned up at 8pm. We had more stuff than they anticipated, so had to get another van and an extra two men along. They worked tirelessly until finally leaving our new home, having unloaded everything inside at around 1.15am.

The boss spoke to me about money and seemed thoroughly embarrassed to ask for an extra £50 because of bringing the second team along. I almost fell over and nearly told him to strawberry float off as I stuffed an extra £200 in his hands, which he eventually accepted. I feel bad as I should have given him even more but the cash point wouldn't let me withdraw over what I already had.

Okay so I'm 95% certain they were working illegally but they were absolute heroes.

A manager from AnyVan rang this morning and quickly agreed to a full refund as well, so that's nice. I will still tell everyone I know to avoid them.

So here we now are, sat in our new home.

The postie turned up and I was surprised to see he had something that was actually for me! Unfortunately, it was the completion statement and it included all of the bills we've racked up during the move .

Well done. Now the real fun begins

Verti-Forma (tape edit) wrote:in the process of buying a house, and trying to decide what length of initial fixed term we want on our mortgage. trying to talk it through with our broker, but the guy isn't too good at writing coherent emails, so i thought maybe i'll chuck it down here and see if anyone knows their gooseberry fool, economy-wise.

i think a 5-year fixed term might be right for us, because a) we plan to live there until we're six feet under, or at the very least we won't be moving within the fixed term; and b) if brexit strawberry floats up the economy next year, we're "insured" against rates increases for some time, hopefully until the dust settles on the newly mad max-ified wasteland of this shitty country.

the broker agrees with that general premise. however, i'm being told that we can get better rates on a shorter 2- or 3-year fixed term, but that we run the risk of exposure to a rates hike, which in another decade might not be such a concern, but you know, strawberry floating tories tanking the country to line their chums' pockets and all that.

anyway, there it is. please to be give me an advice

We did the same and took a 5 year fix for the same rationale and although it means the next deal will probably be not as good we've been overpaying. Fingers crossed as our LTV is now lower we should end up with something comparable as our rate runs out in about 2 years.

I went 5 year fix and refined for another at the end of that. I figured it cost more but it means I know what the payment is for that period which for me a good thing as I like to know exactly what's what.

Current fix ends in 2021 so I'm good for a while now.

Glad it worked out for you Oblo, that must have been horrible to be so close to crossing the line and have things start to unravel. We used a quite expensive removals company but they ran like clockwork, didn't regret it at all.

Had our house on the market for a couple of weeks now and have had a good number of viewings but nobody has put in an offer yet. A couple looked round over the weekend and then last night sent us through a whole load of questions via the purplebricks app so I think they are keen - now to see if they put in a sensible offer or a cheeky one...

The flat next door to mine is currently on the market and is on for far more than I ever expected to get for mine. A hell of a lot more in fact. And my flat is much bigger than the one next door…..

The pound signs are lighting up in my eyes.

Seriously though, I am keeping a very close eye on what happens with next door. If they get anywhere near close to their asking price, then I might actually be able to afford a move to a nice house with a garden. Fingers crossed!

Moggy wrote:The flat next door to mine is currently on the market and is on for far more than I ever expected to get for mine. A hell of a lot more in fact. And my flat is much bigger than the one next door…..

The pound signs are lighting up in my eyes.

Seriously though, I am keeping a very close eye on what happens with next door. If they get anywhere near close to their asking price, then I might actually be able to afford a move to a nice house with a garden. Fingers crossed!

Sell up and move across the old bridge to Chepstow before the tolls are removed and the prices rocket.

Moggy wrote:The flat next door to mine is currently on the market and is on for far more than I ever expected to get for mine. A hell of a lot more in fact. And my flat is much bigger than the one next door…..

The pound signs are lighting up in my eyes.

Seriously though, I am keeping a very close eye on what happens with next door. If they get anywhere near close to their asking price, then I might actually be able to afford a move to a nice house with a garden. Fingers crossed!

If you had your own front garden you could be living the Stool Bloke life.

Ad7 wrote:

Moggy wrote:The flat next door to mine is currently on the market and is on for far more than I ever expected to get for mine. A hell of a lot more in fact. And my flat is much bigger than the one next door…..

The pound signs are lighting up in my eyes.

Seriously though, I am keeping a very close eye on what happens with next door. If they get anywhere near close to their asking price, then I might actually be able to afford a move to a nice house with a garden. Fingers crossed!

Sell up and move across the old bridge to Chepstow before the tolls are removed and the prices rocket.

That’s my thinking at the moment. South Wales is relatively cheap, but probably will not be for much longer!

Chepstow is out though, there is no direct rail link to Bristol. I am looking more at the Caldicott/Rogiet area or maybe out to the outskirts of Newport. Newport itself is really cheap, but I imagine there is a reason for that.

The other plan is the Weston-Super-Mare area. Prices seem reasonable there and it has a direct rail link to Temple Meads.

Going back to commuting to work after years of walking to work sounds horrible though.

Winckle wrote:If you had your own front garden you could be living the Stool Bloke life.

Living the dream.

Verti-Forma (tape edit) wrote:in the process of buying a house, and trying to decide what length of initial fixed term we want on our mortgage. trying to talk it through with our broker, but the guy isn't too good at writing coherent emails, so i thought maybe i'll chuck it down here and see if anyone knows their gooseberry fool, economy-wise.

i think a 5-year fixed term might be right for us, because a) we plan to live there until we're six feet under, or at the very least we won't be moving within the fixed term; and b) if brexit strawberry floats up the economy next year, we're "insured" against rates increases for some time, hopefully until the dust settles on the newly mad max-ified wasteland of this shitty country.

the broker agrees with that general premise. however, i'm being told that we can get better rates on a shorter 2- or 3-year fixed term, but that we run the risk of exposure to a rates hike, which in another decade might not be such a concern, but you know, strawberry floating tories tanking the country to line their chums' pockets and all that.

anyway, there it is. please to be give me an advice

I got a 10 year fixed at 2.79% with an 85% LTV. The interest rate was slightly higher than a 5 YEAR, (2.49%,) but I consider the long term insurance against inevitable rates rises in the relatively near future worth it. We've lived through a very long period of historically low interest rates, and all signs seem to point to that coming to an end. With Brexit on the horizon, rates will only go up. If by some miracle there is no massive rate rise in the next 10 years, I know the current rate I'm paying is affordable, even if it's not the absolute best, and it's worth the peace of mind.

I probably would have taken the 5 if we weren't sure we'd want to stay in the new property long term, but we've found a proper family home that we want to stay in long term, as well, so that helps.

Moggy wrote:
That’s my thinking at the moment. South Wales is relatively cheap, but probably will not be for much longer!

Chepstow is out though, there is no direct rail link to Bristol. I am looking more at the Caldicott/Rogiet area or maybe out to the outskirts of Newport. Newport itself is really cheap, but I imagine there is a reason for that.

The other plan is the Weston-Super-Mare area. Prices seem reasonable there and it has a direct rail link to Temple Meads.

Going back to commuting to work after years of walking to work sounds horrible though.

Chepstow will be full of people from Bristol in the coming years as people will be able to get more for their money and still commute.

Newport itself is a shithole unfortunately (well mostly) but the outskirts areas are very nice. Where we live is just outside the Newport boundary and we can be on the motorway in 10.mins or at Newport station within 15. There's a local train station to us but it ends up going to Newport or Cardiff first anyway.

Ad7 wrote:

Moggy wrote:
That’s my thinking at the moment. South Wales is relatively cheap, but probably will not be for much longer!

Chepstow is out though, there is no direct rail link to Bristol. I am looking more at the Caldicott/Rogiet area or maybe out to the outskirts of Newport. Newport itself is really cheap, but I imagine there is a reason for that.

The other plan is the Weston-Super-Mare area. Prices seem reasonable there and it has a direct rail link to Temple Meads.

Going back to commuting to work after years of walking to work sounds horrible though.

Chepstow will be full of people from Bristol in the coming years as people will be able to get more for their money and still commute.

Newport itself is a shithole unfortunately (well mostly) but the outskirts areas are very nice. Where we live is just outside the Newport boundary and we can be on the motorway in 10.mins or at Newport station within 15. There's a local train station to us but it ends up going to Newport or Cardiff first anyway.

Yeah I’m hoping all the Bristolians flee to Chepstow, leaving the area between Newport and Caldicott open for me to pick up a bargain.

Knoyleo wrote:I got a 10 year fixed at 2.79% with an 85% LTV.

i didn't know 10 year fixed was even an option!

Verti-Forma (tape edit) wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:I got a 10 year fixed at 2.79% with an 85% LTV.

i didn't know 10 year fixed was even an option!

Not everywhere does them. We got ours from the Coventry Building Society.

I got a 5 year fix at 2.09%. It would have been 1.99% if I'd applied one week earlier .

Can't wait to see how screwed I am in five years .