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Pretty sure the survey carries legal consequences for the surveyor?

I must check work’s Knowledge Database on that one.

Granted I only had level 2, but they were both covered in big letters to the effect of "we can't be held responsible anything we didn't find which we were unable to look for" so effectively no, there would be no legal recourse there.

I would be shocked if the higher level ones didn't also say the same. Although I can't be sure.

Might be able to work my particular ticket on that one.

Not gonna say what that ticket is, but in the right circles it carries weight.

But, at least I know I *may* need to work said ticket!

Well I can't argue with that Mr Blofeld

Oh and do be prepared for solicitors being spank. Like really spank. I had a firm fob me off for 2 months, with weekly calls reaching the secretary who assured me they were very sorry and were ready to send the documents that week... for two months. I even lodged an official complaint which concluded there was no issue, someone picked up the phone each week so they fulfilled their promise!
And it doesn't matter how good your solicitors are, if the seller's are spank, you're still waiting around, but now you can't even directly chase them yourself!

So definitely get "no sell no fee" if you can.
You don't want the seller to pull out 90% of the way through and to be left with £2k in legal bills with nought to show for it.

I feel like I'm getting a bit ranty, buying a house sucks!

It is the most stressful thing in life, largely because you have very little control over the process, and if one of the many potential disasters occurs it tends to be eye wateringly expensive to rectify.

You can't work remotely and move back to Scotland, can you? A much more pleasant buying system (though still garbage, because property solicitors ensure it's a racket).

But yes, in England, you offer under - your solicitor should keep you right on how much. Speak to literally everyone you know who has bought a house in the area about their solicitors. Probably everyone had bad experiences but find whoever seems the least aggrieved and use their one.

Buying in cash does remove a lot of risk issues, and makes you a standout buyer - we've bought two homes like this and in both cases were preferred over other buyers who made higher offers. However, in England, with the particular survey system, it does leave you open to problems without bank oversight of them. Use the most reputable surveyor you can find because the seller is absolutely going to challenge loads of their concerns.

The other weird thing for me is having no kids (and no intention of changing that)? Who do I leave it to when I inevitably shuffle off this mortal coil, hopefully a good three or four decades from now.

Should something rubbish that comes with notice happen to my health, I’ll leave it to my best mate, so he can sell it and pay off his mortgage and that. But for long term? Gonna have to pick a friend’s kids I guess.


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nfe wrote:
You can't work remotely and move back to Scotland, can you? A much more pleasant buying system (though still garbage, because property solicitors ensure it's a racket).

But yes, in England, you offer under - your solicitor should keep you right on how much. Speak to literally everyone you know who has bought a house in the area about their solicitors. Probably everyone had bad experiences but find whoever seems the least aggrieved and use their one.

Buying in cash does remove a lot of risk issues, and makes you a standout buyer - we've bought two homes like this and in both cases were preferred over other buyers who made higher offers. However, in England, with the particular survey system, it does leave you open to problems without bank oversight of them. Use the most reputable surveyor you can find because the seller is absolutely going to challenge loads of their concerns.

I do work remotely, and we’ve recently confirmed a permanent office in Edinburgh, but that involves leaving the rest of my life behind. Done that once before as a kid, not doing that again.

So definitely my neck of the woods forever home.

If you want to buy a fixer upper and know some half decent/good/honest tradesmen, do it on auction. Snap up a foreclosure. No chains, no fething about, save a gak ton.

https://www.auctionhouse.co.uk/auction/search-results?searchType=0

I'll echo others on the fixer-upper thing. Getting somewhere that needs the decor updated and maybe a new bathroom/kitchen is usually fine. But anything more than that I'd steer well clear. You just don't know whether a simple insulation job or rewiring is going to turn into a 5-figure bill to rectify the errors of previous owners.

Not sure how it works in England (I live in Scotland) but surveys below whatever the most extensive one is are useless. The one I got for my flat when I sold it was riddled with so many errors I basically had to rewrite it. They claimed it was built in the 1950s, which came as a surprise to my neighbours who lived there at that time and also claimed it had a regular boiler instead of a combi, which is particularly weird since I literally witnessed them looking at the boiler. The solicitors I've used have been universally useless. They were invariably unprepared, lacked any sense of urgency and had the condescension turned up to 11. We asked about some stamp duty implications when buying our current home at one point and our solicitor pulled the "it's very complicated, you wouldn't understand" card, at which point my partner had to explain to him that she's a tax consultant and it would be very nice if he could answer our question. Turned out he didn't actually have a clue. My biggest piece of advice with solicitors is don't let them forget they work for you. It's not like they're cheap, so make sure they work for the money.

Surveys pointless. Ex got one for £1800, failed to spot anything. Oddly non come with guaranties with financial recompense...

I got a flat that needed 'some' work in SE London. In January. Estimated move in April. Note that was in 2024. It has had the wiring replaced, plumbing mostly replaced, new carpets and laminates, plastered and painted walls, new toilet and bathroom, new kitchen and it gets the required doors that were missing this week.

With a 'normal' house you might replace a kitchen or do some flooring and painting. Once it has got to the stage that some plumbing or wiring needs doing you either have to face that it is all on the way out and you can patch now and patch again soon, or do it all. Fixer uppers seem to be teetering on that do some of it now/do it all now.

If you are on a budget you are constantly waiting for sales or discounts and hunting round for credible tradesmen who aren't charging the earth, who also need supervision. So have burnt through over 40 days of leave, paid and unpaid, the past 12 months.


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Oh and solicitors suck. I went through 3 firms before it finally completed. First wanted to change costs, second discovered it wasn't insured to do buildings over X height and third was just terrible and I am still chasing them for stuff.

As a side note?

Getting my credit cards paid off has sent my credit rating skyrocketing. To the point I’m now advised to have a small balance on each card to improve further.

So, if I think it makes sense, and lets me get a nicer place? I could get a small mortgage. Which I’m open to, as I can always overpay to reduce its duration, and overall cost.

But first I need to to know what my exact upper budget limit is. Probably in the region of £300k.

Property prices are increasing faster than mortgage interest still, and you only get to skip stamp duty once on a house

So I definitely think it would be better to get the best house you can first time round. You can overpay a mortgage quite a lot without extra fees if the appetite is there so you can reduce it very quickly

My town is weird for house prices. 4 bedroom places listed anywhere between £230k and £325k (and probably more, but £325k is the upper limit on my searches).

And yeah, location plays a difference, as there are some crappy parts of town I wouldn’t want to live in,

You know, I might change my search to £350k tops, see what difference that makes. I was previously entirely sold on “nae rent, nae mortgage, we won’t be charged again!”. But, if a smallish (£50k) mortgage lets me get a nice house in a nice location? Worth it.

Damn, that's not bad. Barely get anything in my neck of the woods for £230k, let alone a 4 bed house...

The town is undergoing regeneration. It’s a bit tentative at times, but since I moved here in 2022, it’s felt like a Town That’s Trying.

Decent, if bloody expensive, train link to London, easy motorway access and Euro Tunnel on the doorstep has its attraction to people moving out of London.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Decent, if bloody expensive, train link to London, easy motorway access and Euro Tunnel on the doorstep has its attraction to people moving out of London.

Trains are bonkers - the other day I was pricing up York to Birmingham and got prices between £23 and £100+ (or something in that region I can't remember the numbers exactly). The difference?
NOTHING - it was the same route, the same trains and the only difference was one internal trip within Birmingham being 5 mins earlier than the other.

Oh they want £78 Peak Return to London. Which is ludicrous. Hence, I drive. Still not cheap, but doable.

Yeah its crazy - if the prices came way down I'd expect they'd more than make up for the sheer volume of people that would actually start using the trains (and then who knows perhaps they could sell a little bit of food on the train and in the stations and make even more money!)

What might be nice is if once I own, the town is gentrified.

I mean, I don’t exactly have anyone to leave my estate to when I shuffle off this mortal coil (and, bad luck, I’ve no intention of doing that anytime soon). But for retirement, the potential to do a risk-free, this decision doesn’t impact anyone but me, equity release would be nice.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


You know, I might change my search to £350k tops, see what difference that makes. I was previously entirely sold on “nae rent, nae mortgage, we won’t be charged again!”. But, if a smallish (£50k) mortgage lets me get a nice house in a nice location? Worth it.

That's a good idea. £50k is small enough that some concerted effort in overpayments can pay it off very early but if it helps you stretch the initial budget to a better house and/or location it's almost certainly worth it. Location is the key thing for me. Don't fall for the "up and coming" area spiel. Make use of your local knowledge and buy in the best area you can afford without compromising too much on the house itself. A great house in a terrible area is, unfortunately, usually a terrible house to live in.

Indeed. I’m also mindful of which areas have a high proportion of rental properties.

After all, if the neighbouring houses are indeed rentals? Who knows how quickly tenants turnover - and it’s only a matter of time of time until some absolute Junky Bumhat moves in.

I currently live next door to an adult care home, and that’s an experience I don’t wish to repeat anytime soon. No privacy in my garden, and occasional bouts of aggression at night when one of them kicks off.


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Quick example of what a difference £25k can make?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158285984#/?channel=RES_BUY

Nice area, typically quiet, very close to Nephloof. House in seemingly good nick, and plenty of space for me. Third bedroom will be a library.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
The other weird thing for me is having no kids (and no intention of changing that)? Who do I leave it to when I inevitably shuffle off this mortal coil, hopefully a good three or four decades from now.

You can always leave it to a charity. If the estate is unclaimed after a few years then the money goes to the Government to waste instead, so you may as well have it go somewhere more aligned with your values.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Getting my credit cards paid off has sent my credit rating skyrocketing. To the point I’m now advised to have a small balance on each card to improve further.

Credit scoring is largely witchcraft, but one thing that hurts it is not using any. So whilst it sounds counterintuitive, having a small balance and paying it off monthly (ideally using a cash back credit card) shows you're a better risk than not borrowing at all.

So, if I think it makes sense, and lets me get a nicer place? I could get a small mortgage. Which I’m open to, as I can always overpay to reduce its duration, and overall cost.

But first I need to to know what my exact upper budget limit is. Probably in the region of £300k.

Buying and selling houses sucks horrible, so you ideally only want to have to do it once. Borrowing a small amount to go from "that'll do" to "I can see this being a forever home" is going to be well worth it. You'll have enough equity that you'll get a good interest rate and it'll be pretty low risk. If the worst happens you can always sell up, downsize and pocket the difference.

Also don't forget that the score isn't all they'll check out. So its possible to get a high score but also not get good lending because, again you're not actually borrowing much or paying many utility bills and such.

But yeah there's a load of witchcraft/twists turns and so forth all bundled in there and that's before you get to the whole "you can only view details of your credit score by paying us" angle many of the score review sites use.


It does amuse me though that they'll give you positive points for being low in debt but also negative points for not using a credit card at the same time - so ergo also being low in debt

Also, if you are looking for a forever home to spend the rest of your days, look into accessibility. Is there a full bath on the ground floor? If you needed to get around with a walker/wheelchair could you? How many stairs you need to deal with?

And could things be modified later to include these features?

There are a few with the bathroom through the kitchen. Very likely a relic of Victorian/Edwardian era building, when you had an outside lav, and baths were taken fireside.

Definitely not interested in living in a flat. See comment about turnover of neighbours. Also too many horror stories of the ground rent and maintenance being an unregulated Wild West for spivs and Think Of A Number increases.


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Overread wrote: It does amuse me though that they'll give you positive points for being low in debt but also negative points for not using a credit card at the same time - so ergo also being low in debt

A track record of responsible borrowing and repayment counts for more. Seems counter intuitive at first, but there is logic there.

Oh and don't forget travel distances to games clubs

Stay away from Leasehold. Check if it's in a flood risk area, the Council tax rates, what the phone reception is like. Is it a busy road, with lots of people walking past? You might end up with a lot of litter in your front yard. Where are the electricity and gas meters? Check the window: cracked panes; painted shut; blown double glazing? Is it in a conservation area? That might limit what work you'd might like to do.

Right, we’ve accepted the offer on Dad’s place. Once missives are exchanged, that’s that locked in, so we’ve some wiggle room right now should a higher offer be made.

Which means it’s time for me to start arranging viewings. I also need to find a conveyancing solicitor - and I’ve no idea how I go about that!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Right, we’ve accepted the offer on Dad’s place. Once missives are exchanged, that’s that locked in, so we’ve some wiggle room right now should a higher offer be made.

Which means it’s time for me to start arranging viewings. I also need to find a conveyancing solicitor - and I’ve no idea how I go about that!

It's really straightforward- just look for a local solicitors office that handles conveyancing and give them a call for a quote. You'll need some basic information on the house involved, sources of funds etc but nothing that you won't be able to answer. Once you've found one that you are happy with and commission they'll tell you everything that you need to do. I'm in my third house now and it's never been more stressful on that front than gathering the documents they ask for and taking them into an office.

Groovy. Have had a quick Google, and there’s a couple within walking distance I’ll go bother.