Buying a house (and renting)

The only solution is to move. I recommend moving to France, I hear they do great haircuts over there.

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:

speedboatchase wrote:Got scammed by plumbers vastly overcharging for a boiler repair, so I really feel like a homeowner now.

Get your money back! Paid using a credit card? Your credit card company can help.
Plumbers tried to scam me for a massive call out charge. I give them a peace of my mind over the phone and they left me alone after

I paid via bank transfer so I believe I have to wait 15 days until I can discuss it with my bank. But I'll try them now

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:

It just really took me my surprise and made me jump because it was very sudden and things in my room were vibrating. I am concerned it would also affect the neighbours in the flat below me as well as the vibrations could easily travel down the whole building block. I understand that vibrations can often be amplified as it travels. So what may seem small in your room, the vibrations get larger and louder as they travel down the building.

I missed this bit. It might not be a good idea dragging your neighbours into this without their permission. For all you know it isn't affecting them in the slightest and you risk your upstairs neighbour thinking the whole building is talking about her when, with what evidence is provided, it's only bothering you. It's not really on to build a complaint on what if and mights from neighbours who haven't complained

Rocsteady wrote:Are we being trolled?

N1FFF is this generation's RogueLeader.

Expecting a post about how his fingers have ears which explains the vibration sounds.

The amount of people that don't realise N1FFF is yet another Dual alt-account is astounding to me

N1FFF, I work as a Minor Offences in Residence Ordinance and Noise officer for my local council, and have performed this job for over a decade for several councils around the country. If you want this sort of anti-social behaviour dealt with then I suggest you start taking the time to do the following:

• Place pieces of tape (or "Blu Tac" - you can get this at most stationary stores) around the foot of your furniture on the flooring and against any adjacent walls. This will allow you to measure the distance these objects move after the disturbance
• Hang a plumbob from the ceiling in the room of the disturbance. This will allow you to exactly pinpoint that it is the wardrobe making the vibration.
• Pin pieces of paper (again these can be purchased from most stationary stores) against the wall NEAREST to the disturbance in a vertical line from ceiling to floor (or floor to ceiling depending on what is easiest). This will again provide further evidence that the vibration is coming from the wardrobe.
• Purchase an OMNI-DIRECTIONAL microphone (these can be purchased from most Music stores) and place it in the exact centre of the room. It is vitally important that this is placed correctly, so please use a measuring tape (this can be purchased from most DIY stores). Hook this up to your laptop (you may require an interface - these can be purchased from most computer stores) and set it to constantly record. This will again give you exact direction for the disturbance

To verify that the disturbance is in fact coming from where you say it is, the officer will need to verify VISUALLY and AURALLY that the disturbance has taken place. For this reason I recommend setting up a webcam and recording the room, or failing that make sure the officer comes round when the lady upstairs is getting dressed. The recording (which should be VISUAL - the video, and AURAL - the microphone) should show the officer the plumbob and paper moving, along with the microphone providing directional audio for the accurate location of the disturbance and it's dB (decibel) level. You can also point to the movement of the furniture (the tape, "Blu Tac") as evidence of the disturbance but only in conjunction with the other evidence.

This process of investigation can take time, so if you are able to present recordings it can help. Also note that this process is not usually done free-of-charge (although some councils will provide this) so expect to pay in the realm of around £200 for the investigation. You can usually recoup this from the resident making the disturbance once the investigation is found in your favour.

Let me know how you get on - and what council you're in, cause I might know the team there.

N1FFF - if she took a while to repair the washing machine and is too 'cheapskate' to fix the wardrobe, have you considered she might not be as financially well off as yourself? Push her when she's down like.

I live in a fairly new build flat. I hear my neighbors, smell the food and I'm sure they're aware of some of my doings as the sound proofing isn't great. Nobody is making a racket in the small hours, or going out their way to disturb my peace the same as I don't intend to upset theirs. I agree with the majority - move to your own detached house.

I honestly can't tell which posts are joking at this point

Rocsteady wrote:I honestly can't tell which posts are joking at this point

All of these are just jokes: search.php?author_id=561&sr=posts

I'd just post this to the freeholder and be clear for at least 100 years.

Thankfully I was able to get my survey booked quickly - it's happening tomorrow. I'm currently eye balling the first week of Jan for move in - not sure how realistic it is, but thankfully I'm not in much of a rush. Honestly the survey doesn't reveal anything too bad - I went for a level 3 just in case as it was built around 1930 and had some issues resolved in the last few years.

In the middle of getting my remortgage sorted....was wondering what was happening....turns out not a lot:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59226549

I can't even access the website dashboard to figure out what's left to do.

Rocsteady wrote:I honestly can't tell which posts are joking at this point

I'm serious. I'm just trying to help out - I'm quite good at my job and I know it's quite hard to get this sort of thing done by the councils without any previous knowledge.

Very kind of you Stugene. Perhaps N1FFF can post the results here to prove the doubters (myself included!) wrong?

Anyone got any knowledge of the West Midlands, specifically around Coventry/Warwick and areas sort of to the South and East of Birmingham? Might potentially be moving there but have no idea which areas are worth looking at. Will probably have the car and be commuting into Coventry. Probably going to rent at first as it might only be for a two years before moving back to Japan.

Parksey wrote:Anyone got any knowledge of the West Midlands, specifically around Coventry/Warwick and areas sort of to the South and East of Birmingham? Might potentially be moving there but have no idea which areas are worth looking at. Will probably have the car and be commuting into Coventry. Probably going to rent at first as it might only be for a two years before moving back to Japan.

Having lived in South Birmingham all my life, I'd say the best areas around here would probably be Harbourne or Bournville. Both areas are pretty quiet and are well connected to other areas, as well as being alright to look at.

Parksey wrote:Anyone got any knowledge of the West Midlands, specifically around Coventry/Warwick and areas sort of to the South and East of Birmingham? Might potentially be moving there but have no idea which areas are worth looking at. Will probably have the car and be commuting into Coventry. Probably going to rent at first as it might only be for a two years before moving back to Japan.

Parksey, you do know that if you move to my neck of the woods I will have to hunt you down for your Great Betrayal? Obviously, I will take great care of your corpse, preserving its beauty in perpetuity, but still.

Parksey wrote:Anyone got any knowledge of the West Midlands, specifically around Coventry/Warwick and areas sort of to the South and East of Birmingham? Might potentially be moving there but have no idea which areas are worth looking at. Will probably have the car and be commuting into Coventry. Probably going to rent at first as it might only be for a two years before moving back to Japan.

I'm from Coventry, happy to answer any questions about the place if I can - just drop me a PM.

I don't know if anyone remembers but a few weeks ago the lady selling the house I want to by gave me a deadline of 30 November.

Today I found out that my buyer has (finally!!) had his mortgage approved, so I emailed her with an update and to say things are moving along.

She wrote back with a nice email, saying her plans have changed etc and finished off wishing me a merry Christmas. She's obviously not expecting it to complete before Christmas then!

So yeah, Gecko was right.

Green Gecko wrote:Sounds like bluster to force a sale to me.