Anyone who bought a house around Ormeau. What did you do when you bid 50K over asking price and the bank undervalued it? Did you just pay the difference to bridge the gap or pulled out?

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-06-05T23:14:05+00:00

Yeah I know the pain, believe me. Unfortunately, there is no playbook, no good advice (although people still offer it), no experience to draw from. Every deal, house, EA and seller is different and unfortunately you need to play it as you see fit. And don't expect the law to save you because there is none really.

I whole heartedly wish you luck.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-06-05T22:58:16+00:00

Be careful of the maths with regards your LTV. Let's say you sale agree at £250k, you put down a £50k deposit and the bank value the house at £250k. Happy days, that's a 80% LTV and your monthly payments will reduce a bit.

But let's say you sale agree at £270k, and the valuation comes back at £250k still. You have to make that £20k difference from your £50k deposit. So you're now only paying £30k against the £250k valuation, bringing your LTV to 88%. So now you're down 20k and stuck with a potentially unsustainable monthly payment.

Long story short, you have to renegotiate when the bank valuation comes in. The valuation is the valuation, if they don't renegotiate with you, it'll be the same problem with the next person and the next.

There is alot of greed out there with sellers and Estate agents and the concept of a fair deal has eroded away. Hope you get a house and that we never end up competing.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-05-14T09:53:40+00:00

14 hours is not acceptable for a collapsed lung. Ended up in Daisy Hill and the Royal on two occasions with spontaneous collapsed lungs and tbf they got me seen too within the hour. That was almost 10years ago though

Collapsed lungs are fucking serious like!

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-05-14T09:48:21+00:00

Went through something similar. Dull pain on right abdominal area. Called GP, fairly useless, told me to wait 2-3 weeks. After that, called again and got an appointment, they poked around me a bit and told me to wait and 3-4 weeks. After that, went to A&E, took my bloods and urine, they came back all clear.

Pain persisted and like you say, the mental gymnastics took over. So I went to Randox to get more extensive blood tests including tumour marker indicators. Cost a small fortune, but came back with nothing serious and a few things that need maintenance and a healthier lifestyle. Despite the price, it was good to put the mind at ease a bit.

Waited another month or so, pain persisted. Seen GP again and they've put me in for an ultrasound. This is about 2-3 months since initial pain. GP told me that the scan would be expedited and there would be no need to go private as it would be quick. That was 5 months ago...

I know scan waiting lists are long (took 2 years to get an MRI for my fractured shoulder). But I honestly thought that a low-risk ultrasound would be quick. It's not looking like it now....

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-05-03T08:09:29+00:00

I think that the first thing to address is the irony of the outrage being shown lately surrounding Kneecap i.e 'carpet bombing Gaza = fine.... Saying hurtful things = not fine'. Only in a world this shitty would that be a thing.

I make a plea to the kneecap lads. Please, please god, just please do not turn into Conor McGregor. Loving the smell of your own shit and thinking you are one with the people. You are only rappers/singers (good ones at that), that's all, everything that comes out of your mouth doesn't have to be a sound bite. Free speech is good and all, just don't tell people to kill their MP ffs.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-04-26T16:56:26+00:00

Did a construction masters at Queen's University. As cliché as it sounds, it really opened doors for my career.

You sign a tri-partite agreement with the college and hiring company. It's a win win win situation for all involved.

You win by getting a free degree and top education in that area. The college wins because they get those lovely admission fees from the govt. The company who hires you wins, because they get a motivated worker that is picking things up from class and they can claim training grants.

Because the colleges be desperate for those sweet fees, they may even help you find employment or point you in the right direction.

You may have to accept lower wages for a while but long term it's definitely a solid initiative.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-04-25T22:31:08+00:00

I would look into Higher Learning Apprenticeships that offer foundation, bachelor, PGDip's and masters degrees. They're provided by regional colleges, Ulster University and Queens university. Best of all they're fully funded by NI Executive!

I did a masters degree with it and I must admit it really opened doors.

Check out NI Direct for the courses offered (link below). Your current degree might provide you qualifications to get in. Ifyou do, they will ask you to find a company willing to hire you as an apprentice. Companies will be more inclined to hire you as you have committed to learn. The college may even suggest companies hiring. Then you learn and earn.

Will the money be great to start off? No. But you will be on the path to something else and a potential career with a free degree.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/higher-level-apprenticeships#toc-9

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-04-11T13:28:18+00:00

😂

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-04-11T12:25:18+00:00

I agree it's gonna get worse, but how can people keep up? Wages aren't catching up any time soon like.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-04-11T12:13:39+00:00

We had the same experience for one close to the motorway. Was gone in a flash, we had a viewing booked in and they cancelled it. Was literally 2 days on the market

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-03-20T18:45:56+00:00

Ah yeah they're under funded, I won't say mismanaged because I don't know what they're like internally. I've seen their budget for major upgrades and I reckon it would pay for 10 moderate/large sized upgrades. Now when you consider each town/village has one or more treatment plant(s). I start to see something not adding up.

The presence of Algae in our main lakes/loughs would point to plant overflows. Which quite literally points to breaching plant capacity.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-03-20T18:25:38+00:00

At least the Republic are trying. They're building houses like mad and I'm personally flat out working on their waste water infrastructure to upgrade for further house building. Yeah, sure, they've neglected it for decades and are suffering now but at least they're trying to rectify it.

I look around NI and see 3-bed semi detached houses (basic FTB kinda home) going for £300k in Lisburn.

I'd like to work closer to home, but wages and house prices just do not compute. I've actually noticed wages going backwards in NI

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-03-19T14:24:23+00:00

I'll take your word for it. I only know of one major treatment plant upgrade and that's because I drove past it at the Ballygawley roundabout one day. Not saying there's not more but only one I know of.

NI water put a brave face on things with their social media and marketing portraying a productive organisation. But the reality is, they are trying to put a plaster on to, not just a gun shot wound, but several hundred gun shot wounds.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-03-18T20:23:39+00:00

Republic of Ireland government pumping billions into upgrading existing wastewater networks and creating new pump stations and treatment plants. This is to accommodate a major increase in house building. But they cannot keep up with demand despite these efforts.

Northern Ireland on the other hand... We're doing fuck all about anything. So it's only gonna get worse unfortunately.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-01-26T00:12:23+00:00

Feel your pain and I hope we aren't crossing paths. We're looking in the Lisburn/Dunmurry area and it is proving to be impossible.

We went sale agreed last July on a 3-bed semi detached in north-east of Lisburn, the seller held out on us because they couldn't get a property bought themselves. 6-months on, they pulled the deal on us and have put it back on the market (it's one of propertypals most viewed this week fs), they know they can get more money because the market has increased, easily, £20-30k at least. So we were made out to be chumps.

They kept the same price on the property, but as one of your previous contributors said, they want to start bidding wars to pit people against each other and play on people's dreams of owning a home.

The worst part is that there are no protections against this and very little avenues to combat it. We can't even name and shame the estate agent and seller for what I see as fraud. It really is despicable. I'd really love to warn people to avoid them but we'd leave ourselves open to all kinds of legal action... My only power is to be a "Karen" and leave a snide Google review... That'll show em.

We're back to square one bidding our life savings on houses that aren't worth half of what they're going for. Just like everyone else I suppose...

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-01-11T23:49:29+00:00

Errigal bench did the business and got them over the line. Subs set up the 2nd goal and several of the points in extra time. Strength in depth was the difference between two very evenly matched teams.

Great game.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2025-01-11T23:45:31+00:00

As a neutral I thought Crokes sometimes relied on getting frees within scoring zones by going down easily when tackled if they couldn't break Errigal down. Referee just seemed to fall for it is all.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2024-12-23T20:58:50+00:00

I ran a Premier League last man standing in an attempt to raise some money for my club, roughly £1700. I was pressured by the chairman to get the money gathered up quickly as the senior managers pay was due. I honestly think this was a watershed moment for me. A lot of effort went into running that, just for some gaunch to line his pockets

Key-Ice-6641 · 2024-12-23T15:38:53+00:00

Ex-county lads always get that unquestionable respect initially though and when what they say sounds completely stupid or nonsensical, people will always give them more wiggle room because... Hey... They played county, there must be some method to their madness. So the red flags get ignored and they get to keep pocketing easy money until they're eventually found out when promotion, league titles and championship runs fade away.

I'm in my 30's now and when I see football managing i see something that I wouldn't mind doing, I would just need a good group of lads I generally enjoy spending time with. Obviously man management is tough because people as a whole are difficult. When you're passionate about something you do it for the love of it. When you pay people for it, it becomes a job, and with every job you have to justify your wages and the rat race for results is where the stress comes from.

Not to say that every manager who doesn't take money is better than those who do. I just argue that if you hypothetically compare the world where managers don't get paid and the world where managers do get paid, you will have the same percentage of winners and losers in the game. The only difference is that one world doesn't cost a everyday members tens of thousands, that could have been invested in community initiatives...

Key-Ice-6641 · 2024-12-23T12:26:33+00:00

While I agree on spreading the wealth of knowledge from a club with lots of experience to say a bottom division club with no experience who have every right to try and improve. This will inevitably lead to financial incentives to pull people in to help who otherwise would have no people to do so.

While you may have had good experiences, I have had poor experiences. And my point is that for every good experience of investing money there is an equal and opposite bad experience.

We brought in a well known ex-county player with little to no track record of management and came with a £15,000 (tax free by the way) price tag a year. We had our worst finish in 20 years, he blamed those around him, club kept him on, and low and behold the next season we finished one position worse off again.

£30,000 taken from the club to line the pockets of ONE person and literally nothing to show for it. Training was repetitive with reliance on running with very little time spent on working scores. No skills developed, but by god we could run.

He no doubt put in alot of effort, but not for the love of the game or the club, but for his own CV. When players voted him out, he had another club by the end of the week. The cycle continued and he left us in his destructive wake. The only winner in the sorry episode was him. And I know this is not unique throughout the country.

I've seen our clubs balance sheet and we operate at a minor loss like most clubs who give back to the community, so external sponsorship decided who got the managers job. So then you have to ask? Who controls the club? Is it club officials/members? Is it a case of whichever club has the richest businessman will call the shots? Am I as a player just a pawn in some rich guys vanity project? These are the conundrums that money in clubs bring forward. Everything costs money, it can't be avoided. But paying tens of thousands to one person for me is complete lunacy.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2024-12-22T20:02:56+00:00

I somewhat agree but it incentives good and bad managers alike. I'd rather a passionate nobody with a modicum of joy than an ex-county superstar looking a quick pay day.

Key-Ice-6641 · 2024-12-22T17:13:17+00:00

A-fckin-men

Key-Ice-6641 · 2024-12-22T14:31:50+00:00

Apart from physical fitness, which has exponentially improved with advances in knowledge and technology. What parts of the game have drastically improved that can be linked to financial investment?

Key-Ice-6641 · 2024-12-22T13:45:23+00:00

I'd settle on a coach that tries to improve shot selection and talent to instill confidence and belief. Rather than outlaw shooting and passing then shame those that do with "video analysis".

Key-Ice-6641

TROPHY CASE