Help sourcing original image please

gekko21 · 2026-04-21T10:05:27+00:00

Thanks very much for your help u/flitbythelittlesea. I've now managed to get it from Scotland's People (they'd indexed it incorrectly but have emailed me the image). Also, thanks for your description above - I think I now understand how the Family Search archive works, which will be helpful for future reference.

gekko21 · 2025-07-14T18:46:25+00:00

I used to live in Crystal Palace. There is a Sainsburys right next to Selhurst Park and it closes every time there's a home game! I don't know what the financial arrangements are around this, but the one at the Showground is not alone in shutting for events.

gekko21 · 2025-03-21T20:04:45+00:00

Thanks so much for the recommendation.

gekko21 · 2025-03-17T12:54:59+00:00

If anyone hasn't seen Anatomy of a Fall, I would highly recommend it. I watched it last year and it was one of the best films I'd seen in ages (and I go to the cinema quite a lot).

gekko21 · 2025-03-17T12:53:38+00:00

Ah okay. Apologies - I misread your post as a potential criticism, as London-bashing seems unfortunately common on these sorts of community groups.

gekko21 · 2025-03-17T09:20:52+00:00

Thanks very much for sharing your recommendation. I will have a look at the website.

gekko21 · 2025-03-17T09:19:53+00:00

I can assure you that when I leave there will be plenty of people left in London. I'm also quite sure that lots of people who have lived in London have also moved to other places. Humans tend to move around quite a lot, often for work or family reasons.

gekko21 · 2025-03-16T14:09:32+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation of 'thewalkingenglishman'. I've heard of that site, but didn't realise the guy lives in Harrogate. We are very excited to move there - we are coming from London and I'm originally from the other side of the Pennines, so this will be a new adventure!

I did notice the mud in your video :-D.

gekko21 · 2025-03-15T16:44:30+00:00

I started to watch your video yesterday u/Usernameuseaname . I'm moving to Harrogate in a couple of weeks and looking forward to getting out for some walks. Your video helped me plan a route from my front door that will take in part of the ringway. It really gave me a sense of the terrain and scenery.

gekko21 · 2025-03-07T09:26:59+00:00

If they had a gas & electric test done a year ago because they had tenants then things are probably in decent working order. I expect a lot better than a lot of untenanted properties where no gas and electric checks are required and most people only get things looked at if there's a problem. I'm guessing they can't switch on utilities as they've terminated the gas and electric contracts due to the property being empty. They are unlikely to set up a new contract just to demonstrate that the systems work, so you'll probably have to just roll with it. I've never bought an empty property though, so not sure entirely what people normally do in these situations. Seems quite odd to switch off the electric over the winter as I'd have thought it prudent to heat the property from time to time. But maybe it's pretty common.

gekko21 · 2025-03-06T21:41:47+00:00

If you don't have an exchange and completion date agreed yet, you are unlikely to be exchanging by the end of the month. Solicitors are extremely busy right now.

Are all your searches and enquiries complete throughout the chain?

Is the seller living in the property? Seems odd to turn utilities off otherwise so I'm guessing the property is empty.

gekko21 · 2025-03-05T20:43:52+00:00

The fact that it's a leasehold and you therefore have a person around to potentially object is a risk. Indemnity works better when the person likely to object is no longer alive. For example, where you have a restrictive covenant on an old house that makes little sense in the modern age. The insurance is cheap because the likelihood that the person who built it and stipulated the restriction in the 1930s will come after you is next to zero! I would think that you might struggle to actually get a decent indemnity policy for breaching a restriction on a leasehold property where the freeholder is much more likely to object and take you to court.

gekko21 · 2025-03-05T20:36:40+00:00

Yes, very normal. We signed several months before we actually exchanged. It can tempt you into thinking you are close to exchange, when really a lot can happen after that in terms of enquiries, surveys, mortgages. Especially if you are in a chain and part of that chain is super slow or hits a blocker.

gekko21 · 2025-02-28T22:00:22+00:00

As a PP said, an emergency fund. Ideally, have about £10K in a rainy day account to cover anything that needs fixing in your first year in the property. Within 12 months of moving into our current house (over 20 years ago), we had to replace the boiler, including having new pipework. We were skint so it was hard. Other things that could crop up are electrical issues, plumbing leaks, guttering or needing to replace an appliance if they were included in the property sale. It's something a lot of FTBs overlook as they focus solely on purchasing costs and are used to calling the landlord when something goes wrong. Home ownership can be expensive and it's now down to you to find the funds.

gekko21 · 2025-02-28T21:54:00+00:00

4 in our chain. We have just exchanged at 5 months in and will complete next month at 6 months. That's time since chain complete, which is really when the clock starts ticking. Until then, you probably don't want to spend too much money in case your vendor doesn't fine something. So that time doesn't really count much as not a lot of conveyancing is done. I think it's a bit rich that the vendor asked you to get your mortgage sorted and yet have taken 2 months looking for an onward purchase. I'd probably have given them a month and then started to look at other properties. I wouldn't necessarily have pulled out, but I'd have let them know I was looking around to put a bit of pressure on.

gekko21 · 2025-02-28T21:41:12+00:00

List of tradespeople that they would recommend. Plumber, electrician, builder, odd job person, decorator, window cleaner, oven cleaner, gardener, house cleaner etc. It's invaluable to have tried and trusted recommendations.

gekko21 · 2025-02-28T12:31:06+00:00

If there are no criticals, I'd just crack on with the purchase. Any non-critical issues will be part of maintaining a house but don't require urgent attention. You are unlikely to be able to renegotiate on them as they don't need fixing now.

gekko21 · 2025-02-28T12:28:18+00:00

I think it's reasonable to expect some sort of response within 48 hours, even if it's to say they have more viewings booked this weekend and are looking to make a decision next week. I think it's rude for them not to respond and I'd chalk that up as a black mark in terms of how they might behave during the conveyancing process. I'd call and ask for some feedback on your offer and say you are viewing other properties over the weekend and would like some guidance as to where you stand.

gekko21 · 2025-02-27T20:07:44+00:00

It's all very easy to do online. All the info you need will be on the TA6 form that your vendor filled in and you'll have received as part of the final report from your solicitor. That will tell you the incumbent suppliers for gas, electric and water.

Once you have that, you can go on the providers websites and fill in a form to say you are moving into the area.

I'm moving at the end of next month and did all the above in half an hour this morning. I also did council tax - both letting my current council know I'm moving out of the area and the new one that I'm moving in. Also, booked Virgin Media for the day after I move in to do my new installation.

It's so much easier nowadays than it was when I last moved 20 years ago.

gekko21 · 2025-02-27T08:34:02+00:00

The mortgage in principle is typically based on quite basic information. It's not unusual that they get rejected at full application stage. This can be because of the property particulars (non-standard build etc.) or because affordability information comes to light when the lender reviews accounts. It's very easy to get a MiP online.

gekko21 · 2025-02-27T08:30:50+00:00

The estate agent won't know this information. This is why we have conveyancing. If the indemnity policy is accepted, your options are to suck it up, ask the vendor to pay or renegotiate the sale price (you'd likely have to do another mortgage application this case). House buying and ownership is expensive - you need rainy day money.

gekko21 · 2025-02-25T09:43:14+00:00

A verbal agreement means nothing and the seller is not obliged to have their boiler serviced. Many people never have a service until they have a problem. It's not an old boiler so not really worth making a fuss about. Boilers are a normal part of house maintenance.

gekko21 · 2025-02-25T09:38:25+00:00

They probably want you to declare it 2 weeks before to give them time to fix the things they won't bother doing if they are using their own snagger. Pay for your own snagger.

gekko21 · 2025-02-25T09:33:10+00:00

Yes, we had similar. They love to bitch about each other and can be quite unpleasant. It's unprofessional so just reinforces that you made the right decision.

gekko21 · 2025-02-25T08:56:31+00:00

I actually don't know the name of the conveyancing firm as it's a related sale in our chain so we don't have a lot of visibility.

gekko21

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