NPR

Globus wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:48 am Hum. That works. This doesn't. Pity.

Globus wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:48 am Hum. That works.

Globus wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:45 amPiffle.

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:26 am

weegie01 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 9:14 pm

dpedin wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:41 pm

There is a standard set of Edinburgh missives for residential properties which covers some/all of this? Unless stated otherwise in the contract these apply to every residential property transaction in Edinburgh? Is this what you are pursuing through the courts for damages? I know that when I bought my flat I had a bit of an issue because the seller, which was a private company didn't want to use these standard clauses as they were dealing with it as a commercial transaction. My solicitor who was also a mate, told them otherwise and that they had to apply and then advised me I had 5 (or 7 days?) to test all the appliances and fittings, boilers, etc to make sure they worked and if not then report back to my him so he could ensure the seller would be liable to pay for repair/replacement. Needless to say I forgot to test the waste disposal unit in the kitchen properly and ended up having to fix that myself ... lesson learnt.

We did not check everything in the time we should have as tradesmen let us down. However, the likes of the wine fridge was spotted. Their lawyer first of all tried to claim it was not the vendors problem as we had bought the flat as seen. They then tried to argue we'd got the flat cheap as the had no interest at the original price and lowered the 'offers over' price, then lowered it again to a fixed price. Our lawyers pointed out that it was worth what someone was prepared to pay, and besides there was a clause in the contract where they said everything worked.

The vendor then tried to argue it was just used as a wine cabinet not a fridge so in their terms it worked. We had a specialist tradesman look at it, he said it needed replaced. The vendor refused to accept that. They sent their own person who 'fixed' it. It broke down again literally within an hour of him leaving. He came back and finally agreed it needed replaced. They basically said 'sue us' never expecting us to follow through. That as a mistake. We would have been OK if they had just replaced the fridge, now we are going after them for the extra lawyers fees, tradesmen's costs etc.

Vendors lawyers sounds like a twat, he should know all the rules very well and should be advising his vendor accordingly. Embra is a small world, the lawyers all know each other and his name will now be shit amongst his legal brethren. Even now he should be advising they fold and avoid the inevitable large bill plus expenses. Assuming they standard clauses were adopted, and they are in almost 100% of residential transactions, they are fecked!

https://espc.com/espc-policies/edinburg ... rd-clauses

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:53 am Bump for the new year and having bought a house. Key takeaways for success in this as a millennial:
- Don't buy takeaway coffee
- No, and this is crucial, absolutely no avocados
- Inherit money from your grandparents
- Set ambitious savings goals
- Work hard and play by the rules

In no particular order.

Guess I ought to kit the place out. Anyone know of a good place/website for sports photos/paintings/memorabilia? Rugby and cricket top of the list.

Raggs wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:24 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:53 am Bump for the new year and having bought a house. Key takeaways for success in this as a millennial:
- Don't buy takeaway coffee
- No, and this is crucial, absolutely no avocados
- Inherit money from your grandparents
- Set ambitious savings goals
- Work hard and play by the rules

In no particular order.

Guess I ought to kit the place out. Anyone know of a good place/website for sports photos/paintings/memorabilia? Rugby and cricket top of the list.

I do love all the "Here's a 27 year old that bought her own house, it's obviously possible!". And they talk about how they only earn so much, and they've saved hard, and they don't go out often, and their parents bought them their first house which they sold, and it was really tough...

Or as above, inheritence.

Had another where a couple both had OK wages, no massive inheritance, all sounding quite legit, talking about how they managed to overpay their mortgage saving tens of thousands, allowing them to upgrade etc. Only when you look into the numbers, it's clear that those OK wages must have gone up quite nicely not long after, since their mortgage+overpayments would have been more than their reported salaries were when they first bought.

In my parents day, although they didn't rely on a single wage, it was at least doable. A single wage could buy you a house, not an amazing salary either. These days, you'd have to be well above the average, with the same amount saved again as a deposit, to even think about getting a 1 bedroom flat, no chance you could get 2+ bedrooms for a family.

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:53 am Bump for the new year and having bought a house. Key takeaways for success in this as a millennial:
- Don't buy takeaway coffee
- No, and this is crucial, absolutely no avocados
- Inherit money from your grandparents
- Set ambitious savings goals
- Work hard and play by the rules

In no particular order.

Guess I ought to kit the place out. Anyone know of a good place/website for sports photos/paintings/memorabilia? Rugby and cricket top of the list.

Raggs wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 8:13 pm So the property we're buying has just failed it's environmental search, apparently there was landfill right on the border (basically the road at the front). It should only have inert stuff, and the house is something like 40 years old, so the landfill will be older, so I'm not panicking, but it's been flagged that it "may" fail a contamination check/certificate thing.

The solicitor is now pushing the sellers to buy indemnity insurance because the mortgage company require it (less than £250), I'm just wondering if we should be pushing for a drop in price? Anyone with experience? Also, just in general, at this stage, how much more paperwork and delay does a drop in price produce? Seeing as we'd in theory need a new mortgage offer, all the paperwork needs to be re-done showing the updated price I presume? And I guess if interest rates have gone up, it's probably not even worth a few grand?

petej wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:24 am

Raggs wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 8:13 pm So the property we're buying has just failed it's environmental search, apparently there was landfill right on the border (basically the road at the front). It should only have inert stuff, and the house is something like 40 years old, so the landfill will be older, so I'm not panicking, but it's been flagged that it "may" fail a contamination check/certificate thing.

The solicitor is now pushing the sellers to buy indemnity insurance because the mortgage company require it (less than £250), I'm just wondering if we should be pushing for a drop in price? Anyone with experience? Also, just in general, at this stage, how much more paperwork and delay does a drop in price produce? Seeing as we'd in theory need a new mortgage offer, all the paperwork needs to be re-done showing the updated price I presume? And I guess if interest rates have gone up, it's probably not even worth a few grand?

As a seller I would classify you as a not a serious buyer if dicking around very late in the process and be having words with the estate agent. If they put it back on the market how much interest would they have and would they be able to get the original price?

Uncle fester wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:41 pm

petej wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:24 am

Raggs wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 8:13 pm So the property we're buying has just failed it's environmental search, apparently there was landfill right on the border (basically the road at the front). It should only have inert stuff, and the house is something like 40 years old, so the landfill will be older, so I'm not panicking, but it's been flagged that it "may" fail a contamination check/certificate thing.

The solicitor is now pushing the sellers to buy indemnity insurance because the mortgage company require it (less than £250), I'm just wondering if we should be pushing for a drop in price? Anyone with experience? Also, just in general, at this stage, how much more paperwork and delay does a drop in price produce? Seeing as we'd in theory need a new mortgage offer, all the paperwork needs to be re-done showing the updated price I presume? And I guess if interest rates have gone up, it's probably not even worth a few grand?

As a seller I would classify you as a not a serious buyer if dicking around very late in the process and be having words with the estate agent. If they put it back on the market how much interest would they have and would they be able to get the original price?

There's a landfill on the property.
He's right to be looking at his options.

petej wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 1:42 pm

Uncle fester wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:41 pm

petej wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:24 am
As a seller I would classify you as a not a serious buyer if dicking around very late in the process and be having words with the estate agent. If they put it back on the market how much interest would they have and would they be able to get the original price?

There's a landfill on the property.
He's right to be looking at his options.

Next to and over 40 years ago. If there were structural issues that needed immediate attention that had come to light then or asbestos then could understand wanting a price drop to have that resolved. Raggs, define fail and get a copy of the report. Environmental regs are constantly being updated (pfa's are going to be fun), tightened and new materials and substances added. I've had buyers solicitor's kick up a fuss about a brook under 50m but all downhill with nothing on map relating to flooding near the property on the local flood maps.

Raggs wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:47 pm

petej wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 1:42 pm

Uncle fester wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:41 pm

There's a landfill on the property.
He's right to be looking at his options.

Next to and over 40 years ago. If there were structural issues that needed immediate attention that had come to light then or asbestos then could understand wanting a price drop to have that resolved. Raggs, define fail and get a copy of the report. Environmental regs are constantly being updated (pfa's are going to be fun), tightened and new materials and substances added. I've had buyers solicitor's kick up a fuss about a brook under 50m but all downhill with nothing on map relating to flooding near the property on the local flood maps.

Next to meaning within a few meters of where the house is, and seemingly under the front garden, it's not like it's 20m away. Not worried about anything else, it's far away, same with flooding, it's down the hill. I've got a copy. Fail is defined as the environmental search has failed. The mortgage company will want an indemnity insurance in place.

We offered a little over asking (couple of grand), and it sold quick, but then they want a quick sale due to their circumstances. And in the end, whoever the next buyer is, is going to go through the same process, and receive the same failed search. There might not be asbestos in the house, but if there's stuff leaking up in the garden from landfill contaminating anything we might fancy growing in it (fruit, veg etc), it's worth asking the question. I'm not too worried, but wondered how others have treated such things. I've not done this before hence the question.

A few things are coming up in the property that are starting to add up, leaky flat roofs, some issues with electrics etc, I'm happy to leave the price as is, but getting to the stage where I want these things fixed before we move in at their expense (or at least split). This is just another negative.

petej wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:39 pm They are at least proper issues. Unlike my buyers who pulled out and genuinely did try it on with the brook within 50m. When selling my at the time recently widowed mum's property the lack of building certificates on a single storey separate garage built after the house but still over 40 years ago led to the original purchaser wanting to drop the price. Estate agents on the latter did try to pressure her to concede so we got rid. My tolerance of estate agents and solicitor's is low.

I guess try to get info from the council on the landfill and any contamination assessments/measurements. Ultimately buying and selling houses is really painful and it depends how much you want the house. I've never understood why all the searches etc... aren't done before the house goes on to the market and part of the pack. It would decrease the number of people wasting others time as they aren't really wanting to sell and issues like raggs from emerging later in the sale.

petej wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:39 pm I've never understood why all the searches etc... aren't done before the house goes on to the market and part of the pack. It would decrease the number of people wasting others time as they aren't really wanting to sell and issues like raggs from emerging later in the sale.

Raggs wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:24 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:53 am Bump for the new year and having bought a house. Key takeaways for success in this as a millennial:
- Don't buy takeaway coffee
- No, and this is crucial, absolutely no avocados
- Inherit money from your grandparents
- Set ambitious savings goals
- Work hard and play by the rules

In no particular order.

Guess I ought to kit the place out. Anyone know of a good place/website for sports photos/paintings/memorabilia? Rugby and cricket top of the list.

I do love all the "Here's a 27 year old that bought her own house, it's obviously possible!". And they talk about how they only earn so much, and they've saved hard, and they don't go out often, and their parents bought them their first house which they sold, and it was really tough...

Or as above, inheritence.

Had another where a couple both had OK wages, no massive inheritance, all sounding quite legit, talking about how they managed to overpay their mortgage saving tens of thousands, allowing them to upgrade etc. Only when you look into the numbers, it's clear that those OK wages must have gone up quite nicely not long after, since their mortgage+overpayments would have been more than their reported salaries were when they first bought.

In my parents day, although they didn't rely on a single wage, it was at least doable. A single wage could buy you a house, not an amazing salary either. These days, you'd have to be well above the average, with the same amount saved again as a deposit, to even think about getting a 1 bedroom flat, no chance you could get 2+ bedrooms for a family.

Crash669 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 11:48 am

Raggs wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:24 am

Paddington Bear wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:53 am Bump for the new year and having bought a house. Key takeaways for success in this as a millennial:
- Don't buy takeaway coffee
- No, and this is crucial, absolutely no avocados
- Inherit money from your grandparents
- Set ambitious savings goals
- Work hard and play by the rules

In no particular order.

Guess I ought to kit the place out. Anyone know of a good place/website for sports photos/paintings/memorabilia? Rugby and cricket top of the list.

I do love all the "Here's a 27 year old that bought her own house, it's obviously possible!". And they talk about how they only earn so much, and they've saved hard, and they don't go out often, and their parents bought them their first house which they sold, and it was really tough...

Or as above, inheritence.

Had another where a couple both had OK wages, no massive inheritance, all sounding quite legit, talking about how they managed to overpay their mortgage saving tens of thousands, allowing them to upgrade etc. Only when you look into the numbers, it's clear that those OK wages must have gone up quite nicely not long after, since their mortgage+overpayments would have been more than their reported salaries were when they first bought.

In my parents day, although they didn't rely on a single wage, it was at least doable. A single wage could buy you a house, not an amazing salary either. These days, you'd have to be well above the average, with the same amount saved again as a deposit, to even think about getting a 1 bedroom flat, no chance you could get 2+ bedrooms for a family.

We're in exactly this position, young(ish) professionals, decent income, no debt, don't have expensive hobbies and while we've just been approved for a reasonable mortgage for what we're looking at, we're only able to look to buy because my wife's grandma just died to top up the deposit. And of course while the mortgage we can get looks great, everyone's paying over the asking price, so it's adding 5-10 grand to everywhere we're looking, so suddenly that deposit we've got doesn't go very far.

Ultimately we're lucky because our salaries are high enough and jobs secure enough that we look great to lenders, but fuck knows how anyone under 30 ever expects to buy a house.

fishfoodie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 10:34 pm

See it's really easy to afford houses; you useless, lazy proles !

Spoiler

Show

It’s a word that disappeared as quickly as it arose: avocado. From the mid-2010s, it became the go-to cliché for older and middle-aged people to mock a younger generation’s struggle to buy a home. The idea was that millennials had no financial sense and frittered their money away on expensive breakfasts in restaurants, which was keeping them from building up their savings. No one could really believe millennials were literally spending all of their money on avocados (or, more specifically, avocado toast), but avocado-spending was supposedly indicative of the spoiled, expensive lives that young people wanted but could not actually afford to enjoy.


Over the past few years, that word has largely fallen out of use as its enthusiasts have noticed it was getting less and less attention, and realised they had to shift gears to continue making the same point in a way that didn’t immediately trigger eye-rolls. The “avocado” should now be implied, but not explicitly mentioned.

There are hundreds of examples of this new form of the same argument, but the greatest one was uttered this weekend, when Kirstie Allsopp, presenter of the TV show Location, Location, Location, gave an interview with the Sunday Times.

In the piece, headlined “Of course young people can afford a home — just move somewhere cheaper”, Allsopp argued that millennials could buy houses if they looked somewhere beyond London and made changes to their lifestyles – changes she believes would allow them to save tens of thousands of pounds. “When I bought my first property, going abroad, the easyJet, coffee, gym, Netflix lifestyle didn’t exist,” she said, implying that these are the main drains on young people’s finances, forcing them to keep renting because they cannot save up for a deposit. She also suggested they could skip going to university and live with their parents. “I used to walk to work with a sandwich. And on payday I’d go for a pizza, and to a movie, and buy a lipstick.”

We have heard variations of this theme countless times, but not usually from someone famous for analysing the housing market. The nonsense in this thinking is obvious. House prices (and, by extension, rental costs) have increased dramatically more than wages in the past 50 years, making it nearly impossible for young people (or at least those without a large inheritance or significant financial help) to buy a home – even if they did give up every expense but their weekly food shop. So why would Allsopp enforce this older generation’s view of millennials’ economic ineptitude when her job all but guarantees she must understand these problems?

The only logical answer is boomer mathematics: it inflates and miscalculates the cost of the entertainment closely associated with young people.

At the heart of this boomer paradigm, as well as in subsequent generations such as Allsopp’s, is the idea that stereotypically millennial things are synonymous with luxury. The implication is that even cash-strapped millennials are choosing to dive deep into their overdrafts in order to keep up glamorous appearances – that the new things older generations didn’t have, such as Netflix or a gym on every corner, must automatically be expensive. But the numbers reveal this assertion to be a complete absurdity: a Netflix subscription costs £5.99 monthly, a gym membership can be as cheap as £20 a month, and a long weekend in Lisbon could be less than £300. Not only are these things inexpensive, but they are often savvy economic decisions. A single cinema ticket – which Allsopp said she used to buy – today costs more than a month of Netflix.

This “luxury” is a misconception. Sweating in a grotty PureGym or consuming all of your entertainment through the computer hardly seem spectacular over-indulgences. Easy access to an abundance of these things becomes equated – wrongly – with overspending, superficiality and frivolity. What drives the argument is not logic but resentment that life appears more fun for young people today, which turns into derision when they dare to complain that they can’t afford the basics.



What makes boomer mathematics so appealing to older generations is that history tricks them into believing their calculations are justified. It isn’t that millennials have it harder when it comes to affording the core needs in life, it’s just that older generations knew how to make smarter decisions – something younger generations are refusing to do by neglecting to make simple sacrifices. Putting aside the crucial fact that even if they did, millennials would still not be able to afford to buy a house – should we not want to live in a society where someone can enjoy low-cost pleasures, such as a cheap holiday, and have it become a barrier to owning a home?

More importantly, older generations never actually made smarter decisions. There was no system that they gamed. They were in the right place at the right time, lucky enough to be born during a period of time when housing was actually affordable. Today’s young people have not been handed the same good fortune.

Cultural differences around what is or isn’t considered indulgent have fooled older generations into believing that young people are hypocrites – they moan about not being able to afford a home while spending endlessly on frivolous things that keep them from having one. Of course, this simply isn’t true: the young merely have access to more cheap forms of entertainment, while not being able to afford one of the fundamentals. Giving up these things might save them roughly a grand a year.

What Allsopp (and others her age who hold the same misguided opinion) fail to grasp is that the conversation shouldn’t be about what small luxuries millennials should sacrifice, but how to make buying a home less impossible for future generations.

I like neeps wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:57 pm It's funny how the news cycle works.

2019 - young people eating avocado toast and buying coffee is why they can't afford a house.
2021 - young people staying home and not eating avocado toast and buying coffee is tanking the economy.
2022 - young people eating avocado toast and buying coffee is why they can't afford a house.

Crash669 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 2:01 pm

I like neeps wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:57 pm It's funny how the news cycle works.

2019 - young people eating avocado toast and buying coffee is why they can't afford a house.
2021 - young people staying home and not eating avocado toast and buying coffee is tanking the economy.
2022 - young people eating avocado toast and buying coffee is why they can't afford a house.

It's a good point and I can't believe someone hasn't made it already. Preferably with a picture.

Crash669 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 2:01 pm

I like neeps wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:57 pm It's funny how the news cycle works.

2019 - young people eating avocado toast and buying coffee is why they can't afford a house.
2021 - young people staying home and not eating avocado toast and buying coffee is tanking the economy.
2022 - young people eating avocado toast and buying coffee is why they can't afford a house.

It's a good point and I can't believe someone hasn't made it already. Preferably with a picture.