House Buying

[lupestripe]

Yesterday, Wolfie and I got the keys to the new house we have just bought. The process was surprisingly quick, a mere five weeks from offer to exchange, but Christmas did put a convenient deadline for all parties to work towards. We also had the advantage that the house was unoccupied and we were renting so there was no chain.

Our new house is very close to our old one, less than five minutes walk, and it is a good property. We are hoping up extend it in due course but it'll be great to have a place of our own with which we can do what we like. Sadly we have the associated death debt that comes with it - and with record low interest rates it's sad that this seems to be only way to invest your money as savings rates are so paltry but that's the country in which we live I guess.

This does mean that my plans of moving to Europe have been put on hold, not necessarily indefinitely (although UKIP and Theresa May will be doing their best to close this avenue for me no doubt), but the reality is I have a good job, a good partner and good friends here and that's too much to sacrifice right now. Plus I love Leeds as a city, it's just the country it's in that frustrates.

By the by, we should be moving in slowly as we have to give four weeks notice on our rental place, which should give us ample time to deal with the utilities and other admin which needs doing. I am looking forward to moving in and ending the hectic and stressful period the last month has been - I got an unidentified rash all over my body at the weekend which could be stress related - but there is still a lot of work to do.

Comments

[sabotlours.livejournal.com]

Yay! Congrats!

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Thanks (:

[canisrufus-uk.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Much appreciated (:

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Well done. No more cash down the drain :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Yep, just sad it's a necessity in this country really.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Will remain so while pensions are so shite.

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Yep, but I imagine with an ageing population, there will be momentum towards improving pension provision in the offing.

[skawinski.livejournal.com]

Awesum! Now you need to throw a housewarming party :D

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Yep we'll let you know when it will be, likely to be mid-January ^^

[bhgobuchul.livejournal.com]

Sounds good, congratulations and good luck for the future :D

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Much appreciated, thanks :)

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Ah, so you'll be able to transfer the Stuff(tm) over at a relaxed pace? Also a great opportunity to tidy, of course - just put everything from where it is, to where it should be. ^_^ (All a bit different to the way my moves have sometimes been, bundling everything into a car and scooting away =:)

How's the kitchen? Is there space for culinary creativity?

Is there something of a garden/yard?

I'd pondered buying a place, but that was a while back. I can't see being able to summon the deposit that'd be required, for one thing, and even if I could, then I'm locked to one locality, which would put a crimp in being able to move around for new gigs, without first ensuring the place were rented out. Still, if I ever were to come into serious money, I suppose there are a couple localities I'd consider putting down roots.

Versus rent, how does the mortgage payment compare?

Anyway, hope the move goes smoothly, with a minimum of BT fun. ^_^ We trust there will be a housewarming?

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

The kitchen is quite small really, enough space for culinery activity for one, but not really much for anything else. We have a front garden of grass and trees and a back patio area which would be good for BBQs.

Rent was £6 more expensive per month than mortgage at current interest rates. However, if you add insurance and other necessaries into the mix, this is costing me an additional £67 a month when compared to renting. It's worth it though.

Yep the lack of flexibility is one of the reasons why I rented for so long - as you say, you could always rent your house out though.

Haven't really had a housewarming, just random people staying over. You should come up sometime ^^