Help calm me, house buying and selling stress part 2

I know I said I wouldn't come back on until I had news, but the garage have just found my daughter a Corsa! Needs some work done to it first so not ready for a few weeks, but I trust him to make it as good as new for her. Phew, will be so good not to don my 'yellow' glasses and do that scary drive!

We're off to the second largest second hand book store to have some fun, the hoovering can wait.

Have a good Saturday all

I don`t think I am the only one to still be acting as though I have a pantry and all the space in it. Thankfully procrastination did not last long and I have been happily busy whilst listening to the bee gees via alexa. One load of washing out, tidied the utility, wiped the skirtings but only the ones I noticed. Took frozen blackcurrants and stewed apple out and have made a crumble with granola mixed into the topping ie guilt-free. The best bit is that I have used several wholefoods and have made granola and only with ingredients that I can digest ie the only seeds are sunflower. Soup is prepped in the soupmaker and ready to switch on

I rather like days like this, no pressure, productive, sunny, tea and coffee on tap, paper delivered. Doubt I will sort any other space today, done enough and the rest can wait. I always tried to have what I called a positive day when the children were little, cleaning was never called positive btw. It was about making something

Have voted, arranged my postal vote before I left Chingford. Definitely not for IDS though!!!

Definitely black outs for sleeping. At first I thought it meant you had to have horrible black behind the curtains/blinds. Silly me, we now have white blackouts in the bedrooms! Makes all the difference to a better night's sleep.
Interesting about cows near South Woodford Franbern. I was reminded yesterday by redirected mail that IDS needed my vote!

Yes Ellianne anyone who bought early days in London will have made money, escape to the country is full of them. The rest of us are lucky if we have been able to step up a bit in stages but always with bigger mortgages

So now I have decided to get organised for very hot summers and this house gets too hot, even with wooden shutters and there is some annoying light pollution in the bedrooms. I have just e mailed to ask the shutters man to come and measure up for all the bedroom windows for perfect fit blackout insulating blinds. I already have them on the french doors and utility window. Love them. I think that will be my last expense, its not a need but a want to improve my comfort and sleep

Still procrastinating but am about to give a kitchen surfaces and sink a good doing so it looks tidy for at least a day

When we first moved to Chingford, LB of Waltham Forest in 1976, there used to be cows wandering around that part of Epping Forest. Something to do with the rights of local farmers to roam their cattle in the forest. I can well remember earlier than that, having my bus to work in South Woodford, delayed by these cows. They would wander (in quite large numbers) down the road, and most houses had a cattle grid across the front of the front gardens, to prevent them coming right up to the house.
Must admit I was quite nervous of them, they are very big when up close. If a car hit a cow in the dark on a road, then the driver was always held 'at fault'.
The children grew up quite used to them, and enthusiastic gardeners used their droppings happily. The horrendous Foot and Mouth disease a few years later stopped all of this and they have never returned.
Very rural, but we were living in a London Borough!!!!
We bought the semi detached Edwardian house in 1976 for £18,500 -pushing us to the limit. Sold it in 2003 for £335,000. Stupid prices!!!!!

Wow that is very remote craftyone and those bullocks would have terrified me!
Interesting value comparisons. We bought our London house in 1982 for the amount you mention and it recently sold for nearly £1 million. It just goes to show the huge differences in property prices around the UK and how some increases in value are so much greater than others.

the position and still isolated today. The farmer did have some old stone outbuildings for his cattle
www.doogal.co.uk/ShowMap.php?postcode=LL15%202HU

I am glad we got that out of our system early in life. Sends a shiver down my back now

omg I have found that house, we sold it I think in 1982 or so, for around 35k. It was 3 bedrooms then and the bullocks used to surround the house and stomp their feet, was scary. No conservatory etc but my husband damp proofed under the floor and put the stairs in. The kitchen was very like that but was an old aga. I think it has mains water now. Was a solid house with meat hooks in the kitchen beams
www.zoopla.co.uk/property/bryn-aur/pentre-celyn/ruthin/ll15-2hu/13142174

I just had a flashback to me being 25 with 2 very small children, doing that thing of getting an old house. It was 1750 and stupidly near ruthin in n wales, the most unfriendly place to the English on the planet at that time but we were not to know. We spent just 2 years there in the middle of no-where, no mains water and the water ran dry, had to collect drips from off the hill. A solid fuel aga and my husband put in velux windows and so on. We had no money and it was one of the hardest times in my life. We sold it, no profit. Later we moved to s wales and those 32 years were the happiest with the lovely warm and kind people there. No-one spoke to us in n wales and everyone spoke in s wales. It was a bad episode but we learnt to find out about an area before actually moving

A normal weekend coming up, just a walk to the local shops and a few things for the charity shop. I`ll be on my feet for most of the day, need to do some cooking and will sort a couple of areas, still not really finished from moving. Could not find my dress making pins the other day

Ooh yes, I ordered a carry on collection on one dvd and also the dinnerladies series. I like to get some nice things in for the long christmas holidays and I have a wonderful shawl to knit. Got to plan ahead, in case of bad weather when I will sensibly stay put

I daresay your buyer will have his or her own ideas for what they want to do and pay for it. They will have to love it won't they. Nobody buys an old house, especially a listed building, without wanting to retain its features and individuality,
I would expect we will have trouble selling ours for similar reasons as its even older than yours mosaics and we have not had the money to maintain it as well as we'd have liked over the 40 years it's been ours.

I always remember Roy Brooks EA, ads in the Sunday Times and the Observer, back in the 1960s with his personal style of selling houses. He was so funny and brutally honest but appealed to those who wanted something different.

I like to think it worked. Did it?
www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/opinion/roy-brooks/

I too think it's nice to start afresh with furniture in your new home and setting money aside for that is important. It's like going somewhere nice on holiday but also having enough spending money to enjoy yourself to the full.
I have bought from John Lewis a 3 door wardrobe and matching bedside tables, a king size bed, single beds for the DGC's room, an oven, a microwave, a fridge and a freezer. So they did quite well out of me! From Next I bought dining chairs and checked armchairs for the sunroom. From M &S I bought a love seat and 2 armchairs as well as multiple cushions. A local shop made the curtains and blinds and fitted the carpets, and a rug.
Oh dear now I've written it all down I need to have a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie.
So all I brought with me from our old house was my washing machine which I love dearly, tumble dryer, sofa, dining table, chest of drawers, book case, garden furniture and TVs.

Morning all, thanks for bringing some brightness to my days, I am sorry to be such an anxious misery.

I've just had a call from the EA, she rang the buyer - nearly typed his name! - apparently he only received the survey yesterday and is reading it. I don't really feel any better knowing this, but it was good they have made contact. My survey was brutal, and I suspect this one will be worse, but the house is 172 years old. I'm really going to miss it.

Painter is outside and has just told me the joiner will be coming to inspect his work to decide if he can trust him on other jobs, I do feel sorry for him, he didn't rub it down enough and there are obvious raised areas of old paint underneath. I offered him lunch again, but he only wanted a flask of tea - I can't understand why he doesn't have a flask of his own. Had to laugh yesterday when I emptied the flask - poor man had black tea, I'd forgotten the milk, I don't function well at 7.30 am!

Off to the PO with my Dad's 'mitcham mint creams' and xmas card parcel. I'm estranged from my brother and his wife, it appears his wife is now doing my Dad's cleaning and I know she will be looking at everything, so I won't be sharing my news with him.

I won't post again until I've had news, have a good weekend all

my neighbour went through a divorce and he has started again with very little money, everything in his house is ikea and it looks very nice.

I got back to the EA I was buying from just one day after reading the survey and also getting some objective advice that evening, the actual written survey arrived one week after it was surveyed. He rang me the day following the survey. I didn`t want the single older widowed seller worrying while waiting. I withdrew because the work facing me was daunting and the house too big. When buying here I was in touch with my seller`s EA at least weekly, to reassure that it was going ahead in spite of hiccoughs.

Mosaic - I wouldn't worry too much yet about no feedback on the survey. My buyers took 3 weeks to get back to the EA about the survey. It does take quite a time to read through a survey and check what work is important and roughly how much it would cost. You might consider how much less you can accept if he comes back to you with a reduced offer. My EA was great at that stage. We had 3 weeks of back and forth with me getting quotes for jobs needed.

Part of the fun of moving home, is the getting new furniture. I have never been sentimental about possessions, after all - that is all they are. Only thing I do like to keep are the painting my Dad did in his later life (I have five of them.
-I do have lovely golden=oak coloured modular units, wich I really did want to bring with me as they provide a very large amount of suitable storage and a display cabinet.
These are not heavy or large, and fit in - even better - in the living room of my new flat.
I spent so many happy hours looking up different types of furniture and kitchen whites I was likely to need, and every time I saw a flat I liked I would happily fantasise a to how I would lay out furniture.
Knowing the area I was going to helped. So, some six months before I moved (or had even offered on this flat) I found bedroom chest of drawers and dressing table I really liked at local shop and also new dining table in same place.
Most of the furniture I got rid off I gave away - it was so much easier to do that than the hassle of trying to sell it.
As has been said, I have a 2-seater electric recliner sofa, a one-seater recliner armchair (mine) and a further armchair with its own footstall, in my Living room. If I have more people there, they have to sit on dining chairs.
My lovely new dining table -round - seats four and can be very easily extended to take 6 comfortably and 8 at a push.
In my main bedroom apart from that lovely new chest of drawers and dressing table there is one fitted full hanging wardrobe and I am waiting to have another wall fitted with double railed hanging and lots of shelves. All I brought with me for bedroom was my bed and bedside cabinets.
Getting rid of 'stuff 'is extremely cathartic.

Morning all - an earthquake craftyone? How scary, I've heard of them happening in the UK, I always think of my friend in California who has all of her ornaments 'blue tacked' down as she lost everything during a big one.

Thanks Whiff, I did ring the auctioneers weeks ago to investigate and they didn't phone me back, I will ring again. My daughter thinks I'm being far too impatient about the sale, and doesn't think a year is long for such a unique house. I was alone here when my husband died, the front lawn is a daily reminder to me

I also opened a PO account after your advice craftyone - just found the paperwork in the front of my 'house' book! No memory of doing it.

Painter has just been, it's too wet for him to 'gloss' today and the undercoat has leaves stuck on it after yesterday's high winds.

Ahh whiff, its so nice to be needed. Some woods like lime are very easy to carve, you don`t even need a mallet just very sharp gouges

I woke up at 10.45 last night, I never ever wake before 2 or 3 a.m and now I hear that we had an earthquake at that time. It is strongest at the epicentre so must have scared people there

I too think that you need to get out of there mosaics, it is damaging your mental health and you are sounding more fragile week by week. Imagine how worried your husband would have been about you right now and what he would say. You always put a brave face on it but that is only sticking plaster and we are all quite worried for your situation and cost to you this winter. A large rented caravan and a lock up storage container would hold all that you need for your new house, both can be arranged quickly. Personally, when my husband passed, it made me sit up and appreciate the transcience of life, how we leave with nothing and possessions mean nothing at the end. Fact is that you physically cannot get a large house contents into a small bungalow. One 2 seat sofa and 2 easy chairs at maximum. Some versatile storage units. one small dining table and 4 chairs. A few rugs, some cleaning equipment. One bed per person

Please get your (auction) backstop in place, your EA should have heard from the buyer by now even if only to say that he is waiting for survey results to be finalised. . If he was going to buy then he would be doing his bit now to reassure you that he was a serious buyer. No-one has heard from him and that does not bode well after this amount of time. I don`t know the legalities but at some stage you should get rid of the EA, if going to auction.

Like you Franbern I was classed as a cash buyer but needed to sell my house to be able to buy my bungalow. I think they class cash buyers as those who don't need a mortgage. My first 2 buyers were classed as cash buyers but they both pulled out on me. My buyers in the end was ones with a mortgage.

I know it is daunting Mosaicwarts but if your buyer pulls out seriously consider going to auction. I know everything has to be done quickly once sold that way but you seem so unhappy. Have a good talk with your daughter and between you both start having a really good sort out and declutter. The only way I got through it was to be strict with myself. My children said you if you haven't used or looked at an item in the last 6 months then you don't need it. Since moving I have found I brought things with me that I don't need so they have gone to the charity. Emmaus is a good charity they have branches in various parts of the country. They took my fridge with a little dent in the door and freezer which had a crack in the handle. Other charities won't touch them.

Craftyone your wood working sounds lovely. Do you have to be strong to be able to do it? Or are the type of wood you use easy to carve?

My daughter has a job interview this morning so I am looking after my grandson. Love being on hand when the family need me. It's something I missed living so far away.

Hope everyone has a good day.

carving class and carving group are two different things

can you imagine the extortionate cost of energy if we are trapped into electric or oil. It will never happen, the great majority have gas and it is far cheaper for central heating. I have electric everywhere else and love the very easy induction hob

Carving class was lovely again today. I started a new piece, the last one is now on the side of the fridge.The carving group has a show next week and I have to take anything I have made, this will be the first time for me as I had a very long break. I have 2 completed items to take and 3 wips (works in progress). The class is so calm, we get some individual help from our master carver teacher and we carry on through the morning. We get a drink and have lovely music the whole session. Its an oasis of loveliness

Re properties, I was looking during october/november/december and there was nothing and it was so frustrating. The one I am in kept popping up on RM the whole time and I kept rejecting it because it seemed too small but fate had a hand and here I am

I rang person from U3A, she is very lovely and has left the door open to me if I need company. Making friends here is going to be so nice

Mw - surely so-called cash buyers are only those people who will not require a mortgage as they will have enough cash equity from whatever they are selling. Suppose, I was a cash buyer - but still had to wait for my own property to be sold. All prospective viewers should be screened properly by your EA, to ensure they are financially viable. Do not restrict who views your property too much - you just want one purchaser who will proceed. Could still be the present one
Re. gas, most blocks of flats are now electric only - my block was built in the mid-1980's and does have gas. some of the flats also have gas hobs in the kitchen. When I had the integral freezer removed from under the hobs, I discovered the original gas pipe (properly blocked off), For a few minutes I did think of changing out the electric hobs for a gas one - but thought that was a step backwards. Have now sorted out best way of using this hob and am happy with it and it is so easy to clean - do like gas central heating though, although they are saying that soon all new properties will only have electricity not gas and that, eventually, domestic gas will be phased out.
Hope you have not given up on your current prospective buyers - the fact that there is no news, must be that they have accepted the surveyors report.

Thank you craftyone, gas is now on my 'must have' list. I have just paid out £364 for this month's oil, it's terrifying. I don't want a woodburner either, I so hate the splintery ashy mess of it all. Did I tell you I saw an article about the hot ash giving off carbon monoxide fumes? I have left our metal bucket of hot ash in the lounge occasionally.

Had to laugh at my mistake - 2.3 million hits, not 23 million! Thanks for the heads up Framilode, I am prepared though, had a viewing on the 8th and 14th January this year, house always looks so bare immediately after decorations are taken down. I am going to ask the EA to screen the viewers more vigorously, I want proceedable cash buyers only. As I thought I'd sold to the cash buyer in September I decluttered so much the house is no longer our 'home' and I am desperate to start again somewhere new.

Framilode I'm guessing if the price is pitched right the viewers will show up even between Christmas and New Year. Our daughter is just about to embark on the moving malarkey in a very popular fast moving area but where she wants to buy hardly anything comes on the market. Difficult decision when to advertise.

Framilode - I'm not sure if this is still true or maybe it depends where you are. When mine was on the market I had lots of viewers in October and November and then none until late January when I reduced my price.