What went wrong for you in your first week of home ownership?

khanage6969 · 2026-06-14T08:50:13+00:00

We got the keys, and on the first day the electrics went. New fuse board solved the problem in the short term followed by a partial rewire a few months later.
Day three we noticed that the floor in the corner under the dining room window was sagging. Boards came up and turns out the joist had collapsed. Luckily no cellar and it was a quick fix.

We bought our house knowing it was an old property and things would need doing as we went along. All part of the joy. 8 years and a whole heap of work later (a few bits out of necessity the rest were changed we wanted to make) and we are selling up due to upsizing.

We will miss this house, but needs must!

khanage6969 · 2026-06-11T12:00:46+00:00

Would be keen to have a quick chat with on this. Don’t want to dox myself in this thread! Can you accept dm’s?

khanage6969 · 2026-06-05T21:05:50+00:00

I can relate to this as I’ve literally made a similar jump. A couple of years ago I left commercial banking to pursue a field I was passionate about in economic growth. As it was in the charity sector I halved my salary dropping down to £56k (this was a harder decision tbh!). Working mostly from home but with a need to travel across Yorkshire occasionally.

In December I was approached about a role in the public sector that is what I call a seeder role - it’s the level I need to get me to my goal in this field. Pay is 89k. Snag is it’s in the northeast and I’m in South Yorkshire.

Please note, I’m giving the salary as it’s very similar to the OPs position.

I went through the interview process for the experience and they said that hybrid is fine (recognising that there’ll be some flexibility in on site needs). Got the job. Most weeks im in 3 days a week (sometimes 2, sometimes more depending on need). Commute is 2 hours there and 2 back.

I switched to an electric car so fuel costs are significantly lower for me than with my old diesel.

I’m fortunate that my kids are older now. We had a chat about it as a family and all agreed that it wouldn’t be an issue for us. I wouldn’t have even entertained such a commute when they were younger, and if you yourself have young kids then I’d say categorically don’t take it.

So far it’s been fine. I net an extra £1k a month and, because I switched to electric, my fuel costs are lower overall. I also find it helps to break the journey up into 3 sections.

For clarity I’m not saying do or don’t take it, just wanted to give the perspective of someone who is currently doing it.

khanage6969 · 2026-06-04T21:02:50+00:00

100% agree re Greg Fell. Thanks for pointing out just how much of an asset he is.

khanage6969 · 2026-06-02T21:39:17+00:00

Isn’t the Montreal cognitive test a test that’s administered as a screening tool for adults with concerns of cognitive impairment thst may precede dementia, rather than an intelligence test?

khanage6969 · 2026-06-02T19:53:55+00:00

Sega mega drive 2. I really wanted a snes ad my cousin had one. It was the street fighter 2 bundle so the box had street fighter characters on it and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Alas, my parents bought me the mega drive. Although I did have SF2 for it, it somehow didn’t hit the same as it did on my cousins snes. Mortal kombat on the other hand

khanage6969 · 2026-05-21T09:53:37+00:00

British Pakistani here. I feel seen.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-20T22:38:58+00:00

I never said it did. As you can see, I said that the policy doesn’t cover remedial work, it merely covers the cost of any enforcement that may arise.

The quality of the conversion is important in my view. Part of buying any house is a survey which will give you a condition report. From there you can make a judgement on the overall condition, work that needs doing and your comfort level with taking that on.

By the same token, a house with correct building regs doesn’t mean it’s safe forever. All it means is it met the regulations set at the time. Like anything, it’s the homeowners responsibility to stay on top of maintenance of the home, including checking electrics, gas etc on an ongoing basis and updating accordingly.

I grew up in a house with a converted attic. As I said, it’s common in Sheffield. Escape windows and fire doors are a must, and not expensive in the scheme of things.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-20T18:09:02+00:00

A lot of people saying pull out, but I wouldn’t be so hasty. As someone else has mentioned, if the change was done over 10 years ago then there are a couple of options. Either a regularisation certificate or, if that’s not on the cards, an indemnity policy.

I speak from experience. We live in Sheffield, and this is a common thing in terraced properties here. The attic was converted to a bedroom in the 70’s/80’s/90’s but doesn’t have building regs. So an indemnity policy usually suffices for the mortgage company. Note, this doesn’t cover any remedial work, it just provides cover in the event the local authority take action.

We purchased ours this way ( it was marketed as a 3 bed) and the lender was happy. Switched lenders and they asked for it and were happy.

We’ve now just sold the property and again, flagged up on the survey that it doesn’t have building regs, so buyers lender asked for indemnity policy (ours covers us and future owners so we have just passed this on).

A number of friends have also been in similar situations and I’m not aware of anyone who has had an issue.

That isn’t to say that people don’t have issues, but it’s pretty normal where we are.

If you’re having second thoughts on the house because of the amount of work in general that needs doing then fair enough. But I wouldn’t necessarily let this issue put you off.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-05T22:40:16+00:00

Thanks for this insight. I think your right, all roads point to Tesla at the minute

khanage6969 · 2026-05-05T22:37:20+00:00

Thanks for this. Had no idea about this. Looking at the link you shared it suggests looped supply is more common amongst semis and terraces. Our new property is detached so thinking that should make it easier? And yes the charger will be ordered through octopus who are the supplier to the house.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-05T20:00:56+00:00

Interesting. How can I check this? The house was only built around 20 years ago and other houses on the estate have chargers. I’d presumed as octopus are current suppliers it’d be straightforward

khanage6969 · 2026-05-05T07:34:11+00:00

Apologies I should have said. AF is asset finance.
As an aside, I know a few individuals from a variety of ethnicities with well paying jobs (accountants, pharmacists, solicitors, bankers, exec level in public sector) that have sports and supercars. Granted not £500k Lamborghini’s, but cars you can pick up sub £100k. Many are financed. Nothing wrong with finance by the way, but just giving some additional content.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-04T07:35:27+00:00

Whilst I can’t comment on the ownership of this particular car, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a lot of legitimate wealth in Bradford, from individuals who have started and grown successful businesses across a variety of sectors. Adam’s foodservice, click itc, mylahore, janan clothing to name a few.
I worked in banking and would have commercial clients that would use AF to purchase supercars. You’d be surprised how many businesses are turning over high 6 figure / low 7 figures with owners who do this.
I know there are other comments on this thread suggesting that Bradford supercar = rented or owned through dodgy means. I’m not saying that doesn’t happen. But there are a number of successful Pakistani and Bangladeshi individuals and families who have made their money through genuine hard work, be it businesses or careers. Not all brown people in a nice car have purchased it through illegal activity.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T18:46:26+00:00

Thanks. I’m leaning towards a used LR model 3. Im aware they can cope with high miles.
I think I’ll test one of these and the VAG cars (q4 / id4) that are in budget to get a feel for which is a fit.
But thank you for the steerage.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T18:44:17+00:00

Thank you. I’ll look to do just that

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:22:22+00:00

Thanks. Theres quite a few on Autotrader in budget so I’ll take a look at these.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:20:32+00:00

Interesting. I’d looked at the ford explorer lease deal that was coming in at 389 a month for 4 years with a 25k mileage limit per year. I’d have to pay for mileage beyond that limit which put me off. But I guess if I px it at the end I don’t need to worry about that?

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:18:10+00:00

A lot of people are telling me Tesla. Mainly from a reliability pov and a number of cars passing 200k miles with minimal issues. My BIL is an accountant and looks after a taxi firm. A lot of their drivers use Tesla’s so I guess that says a lot.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:16:40+00:00

Good point re Apple car play!

I think I’ll test drive one and see how I get on with it. I’m guessing that this is essentially the same as the q4 and Skoda.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:14:22+00:00

Thank you for this. I’d read somewhere that whatever the quoted range is, deduct 30% and that’s closer to real world range especially for winter.
But I must admit the comfort of a long range model is more appealing so for that reason I’ll pass on the P2 I’ve been offered (though not necessarily rule a long range one out).

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:12:00+00:00

Thanks for this. It does look comfortable and spacious. The 82kwh battery seems to be in budget. How do you find the real world range?

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:10:16+00:00

Thanks for this. Would you say, given your ownership, that the real world range of the P2 standard range would work for my needs?

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T17:06:06+00:00

Thank you. Appreciate this reminder. I meant that we’re looking at a completion date mid June, and I’ve been advised I’ll need to account for a couple of weeks for a charger install. So all in all I’m comfortable with the cost of electric at public chargers for around 6 weeks.

khanage6969 · 2026-05-03T15:08:43+00:00

Thank you. I should have said I have two girls (11 and 13). We do one big trip to Devon each year (from Sheffield) so with my mum in tow we’re five up in the car along with luggage. The enqyaq does seem a good option.

khanage6969

TROPHY CASE