The Money Pit

Parque Flooring

Ever wondered what 40m² of original parque flooring looks like? Me neither! Until my girlfriend bought it on eBay and the van arrived to drop it off. The dining room is full of the stuff!

Looks like the van might not be big enough after all. There were doubts in my mind that everything would fit in anyway, now I'm pretty sure it won't. Looks like we'll need a tranny the week before the move just to get all this down there.

On the plus side, it was a bit of a bargain I suppose - having payed just £12 per sqaure metre. Compare this to B&Q's cheap laminate at £18 per m² and their "real" stuff at £35 per m². Well done to Karen for finding the stuff on eBay.

Apparently it all came out of a local school. The guys that bought it first got the job lot and this is what's left over! They've been here this morning to drop it off and give us some advice: use bitumen to lay it on floorboards. Sounds like a permanent change to me.

It's going to be a huge job to get it all cleaned up and laid and sanded. Should be worth it though. Done right, this stuff can look amazing.

The only thing that worries me is the drop from the room with this flooring to the one without. Each block of this stuff is about 1" deep. Obviously there's going to have to be a ramp in to the room. Probably something you wouldn't notice when it comes to it but I can't help thinking about it....

Offer Arrives

So, the offer arrived this morning, but with one huge mistake. The Conveyancer they have listed is the wrong one. We changed solicitor about a week in to dealing with the one our estate agent "recommended" us to as they seemed completely unable to answer or return calls.

The Halifax say they have no record of us ever changing this and that the offer now has to through the whole process again and could take another 7 days. Not good when there are only 5 weeks until we move.

Our mortgage advisor can't remember us telling him of the solicitor change either. Now I've thought about I think we only ever told our estate agents and assumed they would deal with it. All they did was tell the new solicitor. Our mortgage advisor was none the wiser. Being a nice chap though he's going to fib to the Halifax and try and get them to skip "the process" and just reprint the offer - which should mean a delay of no more than 24 hours.

One thing I am learning is that it's worth making a note of every phone call and written/verbal instruction you make. There's so much involved and over a long period that it's way too easy to forget who you told what and, hence, who to blame when the shit hits the fan. So, make a note of everything!!!

Update: Our advisor has been on the phone to his direct contact and called me back. Apparently the girl I spoke to "didn't have a clue". There's no reason the process has to start over and the updated offer should be with us within a day or two. And relax...

And finally, some good news

It was a bit touch and go for a while but we've finally had our mortgage agreed and the offer is in the post. The problem started when the Halifax failed to inform any of us that the fax copy of our passports was illegible and so they left the applciation sat doing nothing for almost 6 weeks. When this was highlighted it was made clear that they would now need to call my accountant and make sure I am on their books. This was the point at which I started to worry. Being self employed means it's never easy to get a mortgage. But when you've taken a year out and earnt very little you have to tread carefully. We had been assured that putting down 25% of the house's value as a deposit meant there would be "no questions asked". This is good as, at the time, I didn't have an accountant. Our advisor still named one on our application though, thinking they wouldn't go as far as calling them. When he found out they would he called to say I needed to actually get on the books for real, for as long as it takes to get the deal approved, then cancel with them. For a while I thought this would never work and was expecting to have to fight for the money and have to dig out the P60s. Lucky for me I don't need to do that anymore and I can get back to worrying about other things. Like earning the money to pay for the house in the first place...

Proving who I am

In order to take our mortgage application a step further we both need to "pop in" to a Halifax branch with both our passports and driving licences. This will be the third time we've done this so far! Ok, so the first time was to prove our legal existence to the solicitor (probably for the purposes of land registry or something). But the other time we've provided both documents was with the "independent" mortgage advisor. Why then do we have to show them again to the mortgage company itself? Presumably because there's a bad line between them. Or could it be becuase there were two applications under our name, as we discovered yesterday.

Now, I don't want this site to turn in to a negative view of buying a house. What I want to do is offer a true representation of the process, as it happens and as I see it. If good things happen I will tell you about them too.

Meeting With The Solicitor

I mentioned previously that we were meeting our solicitors and that I generally distrust them. No reason why, just a feeling I have. It was good to find that our guy was really nice and extremely helpful. It would be easy for him to treat our ignorance with contempt. Instead he helped us out and put us right about almost everything that was on our mind.

The meeting itself couldn't have been at a better time really, as it highlighted a huge problem that we were unaware of. Halifax (our lender) hadn't sent us our "mortgage offer", without which we could go no further. When we spoke to them on the phone they said they were still waiting for money to carry out the survey on the property we wanted. Funny, as we'd paid the money, the survey was completed and the results were in front of us in black and white as our "mortgage valuation" letter. It turns out that there were two applications in the offing, both in our name. Why they hadn't gone any further than the valuation on one of them is anybody's guess. The other is now closed and we hope to get our offer ASAP. It's just a good job we found this out now and can get the ball rolling again.

As I've said before moving house is only stressful because of the incompetence of others....

Self Move Continued

I mentioned a van we may be able to borrow from a friend's friend's dad to move house with. This was this the risky option (what happens if he changes his mind with a day to go!?) and now it looks like it's a no go anyway as he assumed we meant at the weekend. To move during the week he wants his costs covered for a day's lost work. Instead we are going to have to hire one instead. Easier said than done.

They say moving house is the most stressful thing you will ever do. In my opinion, this is not because it needs to be, but because of the incompetence of others. Already this morning I have tried three of the large rental chains and had no luck.

Budget have a useless website, so I called them. They do have some 7.5 tonne trucks, but only 6 of them in the country. Not bad at £95 a day but there's a stipulation that the driver has to have had their licence since 1986, which rules out anybody under 35. Looks like my dad would have to drive, who ironically, at 62, is probably the most likely to crash. The nearest depo with a truck is Leeds (can they not drive it to Nottingham for us?) so out of the question really.

Sixt only go up to 3.5 tonne but have one in Chesterfield, which is handy. Again their website tells me nothing I want to know, so I called them. The girl who answered was nice enough but when she tried to put me through to the Chesterfield branch to get availabilities I was left hanging and ending up putting the phone down.

Practical have a Mansfield depo, which is perfect. Their website is a little better than the others in its relative simplicity. Without messing about with pickup and return dates you can see a list of vehicles and prices. What it doesn't do is show you the vans. How do I know what an LWB High Roof is? I can only guess it's smaller than a Luton if it's cheaper, and hence no good for us really.

Since starting this entry a friend rang and happened to suggest Maun Motors in Mansfield. Don't know why I was surprised to find they have a website. It doesn't look much but it's the most useful I've found so far with a list of all their vehicles, full details and photos. One short call later and we're in business. They will rent the 7.5 tonne to me as I'm over 25 and had a licence since before 1997. They do ask that I declare working knowledge of a tacograph but my dad will be with me and he knows about that kind of stuff. Brilliant. Job done. Just goes to show it's always better to deal with the little fish. Cost of hiring this massive truck for 24 hours = £98. Cost of labour (dad and a friend) = nothing. Cost of diesel = £60. Total saving = £860.

Your very own rugs

Another temptation from Patchings were the custom "hand"-woven rugs by a lady called Jo Lloyd. She's got a permanent workshop there open all year round. You can go in there with the colour scheme of the room you want a rug for, choose the design of the rug you want and have those colours used to create your very own version of the rug.

They take a couple of days each and cost about £300. Well worth it though based on what I saw in the workshop. Look forward to having chance to order my own.

When I say "hand"-woven it's because it's not like she sits for hours with a needle or pushing and pulling on a loom. Instead she uses a tool that looks like a hand-held pneumatic nail-gun. An impressive sight.

Meeting the Solicitor

Tomorrow afternoon we have our first meeting with the solicitor dealing with both the buying and selling side of our move. Hopefully it will all go smoothly but I have my suspicions. I have a deep distrust of solicitors and can't help but imagine things will be anything but smooth. Already this is our second solicitor! The first bunch seemed completely unable to return a phone call or even to care when I called to tell them to forget it. It's as though there are plenty of people moving house, which means plenty of business for them and hence the carefree approach to customer relations.

On advice we've receive we are going to try and insist on getting the exchange part of the deal out of the way now. All we have to do then is "complete". We will also insist that funds move between banks by 12pm on the day of the move. Not the standard way of doing it but apparently it can be done. It worries me that I've seen too many TV programmes where the chain has been stalled by funds that failed to move on the day.

We've been really lucky so far in that the chain is short and all in it want to move on the same day. All that remains is for the solicitors to do their bit properly. Watch this space...

Unique Arts and Crafts on the Cheap

Moving house is a complicated affair. Not only do you have to deal with the stress of the buying and selling but you also have to make it your own in ways other than legal. You need to add your own stamp. It would be so easy to move in to a house, give it a fresh new look, but still appear as though you're living in a show-room for Ikea. What is harder is to have a fresh, modern look but keep it unique and individual. I've not really got anything against Ikea but I'd love to be able to avoid the same old look wherever possible.

For adequate inspiration I don't have to look any further than my parent's house. My mum has spent years gathering piece's of craft from the various craft fairs she travels to. It's a lovely warm, welcoming house that people can't help commenting on when they first visit.

Today I went to one of these fairs - Patchings - near Calverton, on the outskirts of Nottingham. It's never obvious these events are even there and this one was expensive at £7 simply to get in and park, but well worth it. There's a great selection of artists and craftspeople there with their wares on display. Most of these items are not only different but quite unique.

We came away with some framed art from a artist called Sheila Wood of Calverton, some lovely tea mugs (fresh out of the kiln that morning) and some vases. The surprising thing was how reasonable the prices were. The framed art was given to us as a deal at £30 each. The mugs were between £6 and £7 each. The vase was £8. No more expensive than anywhere else.

I think arts and crafts ware like this might be seen as expensive. Normally as you only ever see it in shops where they add a load of mark-up and try selling to the unsuspecting. With craft-fairs like this the producer is selling direct to the public and has no rent to pay on a shop. Admittedly you can spend a small fortune if you let yourself. Best bet is to do as we did and only take a certain amount of cash. Only a few accept cards so it's hard to go over budget.

What I'll try and do is pass on the location and times of these events. The trouble with them is that only those "in the know" ever go. They seem to only happen every now and then which adds to the confusion. Next time mum warns me I'll pass it on...

The Cost Of Moving

How can you put a price on moving house? Impossible surely to count all the little hidden costs that combine to make it the single most expensive thing you are ever likely to do in your life. In an effort to lessen this financial burden we are making every effort to move "on the cheap".

A big part of moving is actually moving. Your stuff that is. Personally, I own no furniture and could fit all my belongings in one "tranny" van. Not so for Karen who has a furnished three bed house. Moving all this stuff was never going to be easy or cheap. Not when the removal companies are involved anyhow.

Our first removal quote was from the big boys - Pickfords. Including insurance and help with the packing they wanted close to £1000. Even the smaller outfits wanted something up toward this figure. No way I thought, we'll do this the cheap way.

Last weekend we made a start and packed away as much of the things we could do without before the move. We then hired the cheapest van we could find and drove it all down to Mansfield (14 miles from Nottingham) to leave it at my parent's house. We were going down there anyway so would have been paying for the petrol either way.

Cost of hiring van = £108. So far so good.

Hopefully the rest of our stuff will all move on the final day. This is where friends and family really come in. We've got a friend who knows somebody with a 7.5 tonne truck, with tail-lift. We can borrow this as long as we put the diesel in, have a driver and make sure the owner is looked after. The plan is that my dad and a friend drive it up here, help pack, stay over and drive down with us on the moving day.

Whether or not the total will end up close to £1000 is yet to be seen. I can't see how.

As with everything else in life it pays to keep well in with the people you know. You never know when you might need them to help you out. In life I hardly ever turn down a friend's plea for help. One day you might need the favour returned...