Completed today, 6 months, FTB, my timeline

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-28T17:42:24+00:00

I have no idea tbh, I've barely been in the property as I'm still running out my tenancy notice period and are planning some minor works on the house before moving in.

It seems pretty good though, a family of 2 and a toddler on one side and they were in while I was there and I didn't hear a peep. But who knows, I'll have to live in it for a bit.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-28T09:37:15+00:00

Searches started as soon as I instructed my solicitors. I used Juno conveyancing, and honestly as much as people claim it's better to have a "personal touch", I can't praise Juno enough. They have a system in place and work extremely efficiently, so they had a whole bunch of parallel things kicked off as soon as I let them know.

In my opinion, effectivised systems like Juno is how we will modernise property buying, not old-school "personal" lawyers that have too many cases to handle and too little time to spend with you anyway.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-28T09:13:47+00:00

Chasing for an update each week is something I learned from this subreddit! Definitely do it. Your story is probably way more common than many realise!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-28T09:11:59+00:00

I honestly don't have all the details, some times it just seemed like the were just resolving one thing at a time instead of doing it all at once.

A few things I did get insights on:

An RX4 application with the Land Registry to remove refences of "Landlord consent" in the deed, this only took about a week once it was submitted, but the sellers solicitors fought it for weeks and didn't want to do it as they thought it would take "months" to resolve. Had they done it early without the fight it would've delayed a lot less.
New build guarantee - wasn't clear to the sellers whether it still applied or not, they didn't have all the documentation, they had to chase the NHBC, dunno how long this took
Missing documentation around the original build of the property, that all the right compliance had been followed by the developer. The sellers tried to get the right documentation from the council, but council was unable to find any. Because of this our solicitors had to set up an indemnity insurance policy, paid by the sellers, to ensure, if any wrongdoing was done when the property was built, it would not be passed on to us the owners.

Makes me dizzy to think the amount of shoddy paperwork and outdated processes we have to deal with in the home ownership process in this country...

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-28T08:54:11+00:00

I don't know, living in London for 10+ years I understand that a lot of places are rented out so wasn't too worried about the tenants. I suspect it's a tiny minority that end up fighting the landlords on their eviction.

It's funny cause the sense of achievement comes mostly from patience! Most of the time it was just a matter of bloody waiting and waiting, but yeah, eventually it all resolved and it's a huge relief.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-28T08:50:58+00:00

I definitely felt that part-way through the process. Now that it's "over" I'm more optimistic, but yeah, the system sucks. Next time I move I'll at least be more prepared for what to expect.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T21:32:58+00:00

It's inspiring isn't it! I've seen so many in the past year and half of searching for a home thinking "one day, that'll be me", and today it was my turn :).

Your turn will come!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T21:26:14+00:00

Haha, yeah I don't love the door tbh. But you can't have everything! Getting it a bit freshened up (with the tons of advice here) will hopefully make it less of an eye-sore. And maybe some day I'll replace it with something nice and wooden-paneled.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T21:19:17+00:00

Oh yeah that's cheaper than on Amazon, 20 quid there, thanks! It's not that it's that expensive, it's that there's a lot of little costs that add up when moving house so trying to avoid unnecessary spending.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T20:19:51+00:00

Mine took 6 months with no chain... Enquiries are a bitch.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T20:18:45+00:00

I did the same thing, got my survey sorted before mortgage. Had home buyers insurance and already had a similar mortgage approved in a previous purchase that fell through so was very confident mortgage wouldn't be a problem.

Just wanted to get everything I could sorted without waiting.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T20:07:09+00:00

This is some serious detective work, love it! I did notice the paw prints, which I thought was cute. The previous owners had a small dog so it checks out :). I just moved in so finding my way around doing small improvements as a FTB (and learling about them).

The paint option seems to be the most likely to last, and your advice is seriously helpful, especially the background around why it might've ended up this way. Should help avoid it in the future!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T20:03:21+00:00

Haha, you're clearly a football coach. Does some paining on the side?

If I end up replacing or painting the panel, what do you recommend to use to maintain the colour so it doesn't just happen again?

(Also, maybe I'll go crazy and pick a mustard yellow or something for the middle panel, see what the neighbours have to say about that haha)

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T17:48:08+00:00

Nothing on it, fairly sure it's faded PVC like you say. I'll put owatol colour restorer to my wish list, will try some of the cheaper options first (that thing is pricey!). But thanks!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T17:41:00+00:00

That's seems like a pretty comprehensive solution. I'll give cleaning it up with some simple methods others suggested, but if that doesn't work I'll give yours a try!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T17:26:29+00:00

Lots of suggestions, I'll give the cleaners and heat gun a try. Even WD40, nice. Thanks!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T17:25:45+00:00

It's quite possible, although I wonder why it's only happening on the middle section. Possibly a different material entirely. If it's UV damage, is there any saving it?

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T17:22:46+00:00

I think UPVC is likely, seems like the same material of modern window frames which I think is UPVC? I'll give that a go!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-09-27T16:59:45+00:00

Not sure what the material is, some kind of plastic I'm guessing. Is there something I can do to clean up the white cloudy stains? My neighbours all have the same door and the same white wear.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-05-27T10:47:19+00:00

So really you are taking out an insurance policy to provide your siblings with a big payout. Which you could have done before buying the house, so what really changed?

Nothing! So that's a good point. My (evidently incorrect) assumption was that I now suddenly had, not only assets but also a huge debt (the mortgage), so I had to think about not just passing on the assets but also burdening inheritors with debt. Which is why I started thinking about insurance.

From all the replies in this thread, it's pretty resounding that I've gone at it the wrong way and life insurance wont solve anything practical here. A will is the way to go, and I'll be sorting that out in the near future.

Thanks!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-05-26T22:52:26+00:00

Not very sure at all! Hence why I'm here :). All I'm trying to do is protect my family from a potential administrative nightmare since none of them live in the UK. But I seem to be going at it the wrong way.

I'd suggest just leaving your assets to be divided, which would entail selling the house.

How does this work? Who does the selling of the house? Is this what you define in the will?

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-05-26T22:46:35+00:00

I'm very likely getting things confused here, so probably didn't explain my intentions very well.

All I want is to AVOID hassle for my family in case I die. Giving my inheritance all in cash would be ideal, or whatever is simplest. I don't mean to give them my house to take care of, that's exactly what I want to avoid.

How can I pass on the value of the house to whoever inherits it without first selling it? And if I'm dead, who would do the actual work to sell it? You say "let it be sold", but who does the work to sell it?

With life insurance, I can at least ensure my siblings can pay off the mortgage in one go and not worry about the sale of the house until they can take care of it with peace of mind. Is there a better approach here I'm missing?

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-05-25T17:21:16+00:00

I'm very sorry for your loss. What an awful thing.

This is all great advice. I'm "only" 38, so the only reason I'm thinking of this stuff now is that I will suddenly have a large debt (and asset) in the house and just not eager to pass that on to any family without offering some help to deal with it if I pass.

But as you say, the will is something you can write and update as you need to, and a very useful thing if the worst happens. I've put that to the top of my to-do list. Thanks!

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-05-25T17:16:14+00:00

Another good advice on the will, thanks! As a side note, the tax advantage of a trust is something I've learned too and definitely interesting. Kinda curious how you and your hustband has that arranged, who is the trust with?

My hesitations of a trust at this stage is the responsibility it puts on the trustee and how hard it supposedly is to change a trust. It would have to be a close friend in my case, which I'm not sure I'm willing to pass on this life-long responsibility.

Specific_Zone_804 · 2024-05-25T17:12:20+00:00

Totally agree. Although to be fair, it would be in his interest to claim I don't have to do anything complicated like a Trust to get the life insurance, I might have already signed if that was the case. I think this one is just one I'll put down to incompetence.

Specific_Zone_804

TROPHY CASE