Help calm me, house buying and selling stress part 2

Thank you all for your recommendations for the vacuum. After playing with lots of vacs decided on a cordless Bosch. Shark and Dyson where all to heavy for me.

I have been pondering about me while washing up and gazing out of the small window to a house in a garden part is next to me. I see the top back windows, roof and top eaves, the walls are covered in old dark pebbledash render. The windows are dark and they have old nets across, looks grubby. Window frames are wood peeling and in poor repair. A male lives there, his neighbour says he is fine. I don`t see over the garden fence and am never likely to meet him. He is quiet and so am I

A thought crossed my mind about all the single people who have no-one to help care for their properties, which could be old like this one, even if not listed, it looks old. My thought was about me and what I would do if I were older/fragile/poor/not interested/no-one else to help or take care of me. If I could afford to be in reasonable comfort and warm enough, then like this male, I would stay and just let the building go to wrack and ruin, especially if I had no-one close to inherit anything. So there is no shame in letting a property go downhill in late life, not if no-one cares enough to help and these thoughts are about me and only me

That property is in a good location, he has buses, shops and the doctor close by.

Hello everyone,

I survived the scaffolders and they've done a marvellous job - it's even got a little yellow door! My daughter went to school with the scaffolding boss's sister, they were all decent and I didn't feel intimidated at all. Gave them a flask of tea and biscuits and left them to it. I'm glad the joiner will be so safe - and my daughter's room and the bathroom will finally be a lot warmer when the windows are draught free. I'm so lucky my husband was so good at saving, I'd be in a real pickle otherwise. When he became weak with his heart condition, he couldn't face work people coming as he used to be able to do a lot of the work himself, and I respected that although I worried terribly about the deterioration.

Franbern, the surveyor didn't say, and I was shy to ask. I was so grateful he told me about the leaking water tank joint, so nice of him. I got onto my plumber this morning. The EA has just phoned - the buyer has been told he will be receiving a verbal sometime this week and the written report soonest. I'd love to be able to see this survey to see how it compares to the one I commissioned. The EA was very nice and said everyone was thinking positive thoughts for a good outcome. I'm not positive about it, and am going to forget about it now. I've just wrapped some xmas presents really badly, my heart isn't in it this year.

Crafty - I think some elderly people whose houses are run down often just don't have the spare money to maintain the house. If you are just on a state pension there's not much left to get in tradesmen who are all very expensive now unless you have plenty of savings. Older houses can be money pits, as I'm sure Mosaic will know. Also, some people are just to frail and ill to organise getting work done.

My late Mum didn't have enough money to maintain her house, we couldn't open all the windows as some were so rotten. My late husband and I lived with her for two years in the late seventies, and did what we could, but we were all struggling for money then. She had a 'lean to' on the back of the house with a plasticky ribbed roof and it started cracking and leaking because moss had grown on the seams - my husband cleaned it all off and did a temporary repair. No question of being able to have it stripped off and redone.

She went on the market and the actual estate agent tried to buy it from her for a knock down price. I'm sure some of my fear of being a victim of a chancer comes from this, I remember going into the estate agents and tearing him off a strip.

Craftyone Your comments ring a bell with me. At the moment my DH is almost an invalid after a stroke and has no interest in organising repairs or workmen.
So it has fallen to me to deal with our roof repairs and I have been ripped off pretty comprehensively and have had to plug away at finding good workmen to put work right. It is really upsetting that £900.00 was wasted on a job by a local firm that cost twice as much to put right. Scaffolding is so expensive and one cannot see what has gone on with a roof and I have had to put so much trust what I have been told.
I am expecting to have the whole roof tiled in a couple of years and really dreading sorting it out.

I was thinking about my post, it was a bit difficult to say what I felt but I think it was about appearance and did it matter. As long as people can be live in reasonable conditions then it does not matter how a property can look to other people. Really it would be lovely if there was a government scheme to buy these homes, to re-home these vulnerable people in sheltered homes or almshouses. If the gov could do these properties up to a good standard so they can be rented at a reasonable rate to families. That house by me was once a good family home

It is going to happen more and more, older people cannot move because of cost, stress and age and they cannot afford to keep up with maintenance and they never moved when they could because bungalows were being bought up by families to extend and they were priced too high. Yes I am waffling but I really do feel for the elderly who cannot cope, maybe that is why we are scurrying to get future proofed because of what we know, what the alternative could be

I haven`t been sleeping too well lately and it might be my pillow, anyway it is time to change my pillow again and this time I am sticking my neck out and have sent for a buckwheat pillow

blossom14

mosaics, I am very pleased about the scaffolders. Next time you see them, go out with a notebook and get various recommendations from them. They sound like decent people

Stay with us blossom14, you are going through a struggle too and we all help and support each other. The thread has morphed and is including maintenance and repairs and bathroom fittings and vacuum cleaners

Blossom14 how awful for you. When my dad was ill he got my mom to get a plumber in to fix the sink. It cost them a lot of money. I went mad when I found out. Dad had forgotten they had Homeserve and mom didn't know. I took over looking after their home affairs after that. Dad wouldn't let me sort out their finances. After he died I took over everything for mom as she hadn't got a clue about bills etc because dad bless him always thought as he was the man it was his responsibility dealing with them. Mom didn't even have a bank account. They were both born in 1927. Dad was 80 when he died and mom was 90. They were wonderful parents and never had well paid jobs but still managed to buy their own house, have a car and we always had a holiday every year in a caravan.

My sympathies Blossom14. My late husband was greatly weakened by his heart condition in 2012, and I often had to find tradesmen for urgent work. We paid £1200 in cash to a 'roofer' who made such a botch of it I was told by other roofers I invited to repair his work the only option was to pay £25K to have the whole roof redone. We just lived with the leak and had to put a washing up bowl under it every time it rained, the ceiling started to become very damaged.

When my husband passed in 2016, I invited a few roofers around and finally, finally, found someone who knew his craft. He repaired it in about two hours, and charged me the very small sum of £120.00. Unfortunately this lovely man is being treated for leukaemia, I was lucky to get him during a 'well' period.

I wish you luck finding good tradesmen, it's a minefield and even personal recommendations sometimes fail. Thanks for the tip of asking the scaffolders craftyone, I will see them when they return to collect it.

I'm like a cat on a hot tin roof tonight - my daughter might be able to 'run' and catch the earlier train that stops locally. If not, it's the 11 pm pick up twenty miles away. The weather is so bad tonight

There used to be a government backed scheme that helped financially to bring mainly sturdy properties with some problems (roof, damp course, wiring, etc.), up to date and in that way ensure these properties can continue to be good homes for a long time to come. Probably long since been discontinued under the present government.
I have lived by myself for over twenty years, and even before that was often the one responsible for sorting out any problems.
These days I have used local Next Door websites to get recommendations for tradespeople, and they have all been good.
I am having to start again now I have moved, but - so far - have used electrician, plumber, aerial man, joiner and all have been fine. I always ask for proper written quotes, and - if they can do a job too quickly I would be suspicious. Today had the entry phone moved from close to the front door of my flat to into my living room, plus a second one next to my bed.
Does mean that I am having to wait until early February to get my fitted wardrobes done, and early March for my bathroom, But i have checked out the work these local companies have carried out and they all look good to me,.

Good reliable tradesmen are worth their weight in gold. I don't mind waiting for them as the good ones are always busy. All the ones I have used have been recommended to me . My kitchen fitter was recommended to me by my decorator. The kitchen fitter said all his work in the last 10 yrs has come via recommendations. He does all home improvements. Next year he is putting in a new shower room , 6 New doors , moving the loft hatch and putting new insulation into my loft for me.

I agree about good tradesmen and women!
The garden girl who came yesterday has her own business. She has a horticultural qualification. She is the DD of friends so I've known her since she was small. I ask her to do the skilled pruning jobs and give advice and don't waste her time on cutting the grass. Just as well as our grass is soggy.
The great joiner we had 40yrs ago, died. He was so cheery and made light of everything but also did an excellent job. I think the council recommended him.
I've now found another great guy. He's put a code pad on the back door so we can't get locked out. I wish I'd done that years ago. Like my ensuite shower! I can't think how we managed when all 4 DC were growing up here, maybe we didn't wash!

It does use up savings I guess, but I think we deserve some comfort later in life. Also now DH is not too well there's an urgency. Especially if we don't move house, we need to keep it wind and weathertight.
The plumber and gas man have both retired so we are back to square one, trying to find good people.
We have a great electrician but have to wait as you say.
.anyway I'm rambling, but I do find your experiences helpful.

I am going to start making a dedicated trades list today. I have a plumber which is a start. I must copy the trade names off the vans that are still here, their trades are all excellent.

Yes craftyone good idea! When I needed a roofer. (I do again but it's not raining today!) I asked for recommendations and a couple of young guys a friend had used, turned up. One scrambled out of a skylight and, tied with ropes, he walked about. He came down and showed me photos of my roof and where all the problems are. It was all very impressive but the quote for repairs was enormous so I declined and the next quote I had, was much smaller. I took the 2nd but maybe those guys were right because there is still a leak.
Living in a big old house has its problems.

Grammaretto, when I to have roofer earlier this year. Quite minor work on the roof of the house - ridge tiles had become loose and some were broken, the one I chose did as you say. Took photos up there and then showed exactly what the problem(s) were, and then further photos when they had carried out the work. Pleased I had that done, was just a week before the private survey by my purchasers, and the surveyor used binoculars to look up at the roof, would have spotted those broken tiles had they not been repaired!!!
I was actually thinking of how much I spent on maintenance just this calendar year on the house, - having the stairs, landing, hall painted early on, repairs to roof, drain (I thought it was just a connection on a downpipe that was loose, when they came, it was discovered that it was actually the drain that was totally and completely blocked. Then I also paid for a (lady) gardener to come monthly for a couple of hours, window cleaner fortnightly, urgent call-out to my boiler maintenance man.
Taking all these into account I am now very much in pocket in this flat - the annual maintenance charge I now pay is low and also covers my boiler/heating maintenance, and all my water bills. No worries about roofs, drains, garden etc. Self cleaning windows. No wonder I am so much more relaxed now - there always seemed to be something I was concerned about in the house - and it was in pretty good nick, but at nearly 90 years old obviously was in continuing need of something needing to be dione.

Just a quick comment on Whiff's post re. parents. Mine were born twenty years earlier than Whiffs. Mum lived until 80 (not bad considering when she was born, her parents were told she had a heart murmer and would not live long!!), Dad until 84 yrs.
It is so interesting to think how different their lives were - they never had central heating, drove a vehicle, had a check book.
Both came from East London, worked hard, were never able to purchase any property (but were fortunate in that they got council housing in 1950 - originally a house on a new estate - later exchanged out for a flat back in East London), never had a car, were never in debt for anything -(don't get me started on my Dad's comments when I wanted to buy something on HP -the never-never).
The only reason that I and my fiancee, back in the early 1960's were able to get a foot onto the housing ladder was down to the then London County Council, that brought in a scheme which gave 100% mortgages ( at a slightly higher than the market rate of interest), to anyone who lived in London. No deposit, and the property itself was the security - if mortgage not paid, then the property was taken by the LCC. Do wonder if a similar scheme could help young people these days.

That's interesting about property ownership Franbern.
My DS says things like "They were giving out houses like sweeties when you were young!" it wasn't quite like that, was it, but we were able to get on the housing ladder in the 1970s with an almost new property and a mortgage which was 2.5 x our income and affordable.
The housing market then boomed and we were able to sell at a profit but of course prices rocketed crazily so when the next generation were in the market it was really hard and they needed 2 good salaries to pay their massive mortgages and there was very little public housing stock.

I think houses should be places to live in, whether owned or rented securely, but not treated solely as investments.
Now I wish all our DC had a place of their own.

That is why I have put away some of my savings for the DGC, to help them onto the ladder. I don`t have expensive wants any more and appreciate that through hard work and being frgugal we did manage to get onto the property ladder at 2.5 x the annual salary too. We had the best of it, not the fancy gizmos but we were able to run free with a bag of jam sandwiches and a bottle of water. Hardly any health and safety so we took risks such as sliding on ice and climbing trees. We made real mates, neighbours looked out for each other and we could walk into jobs without complicated CVs or scary presentations

I am fortunate, in that all five of my children own (or nearly own) their own houses. My eldest daughter managed to get on the housing ladder back in the early 1990's when she was employed as a Health Care worker by the NHS, so very low salary. There was compulsory overtime, and the Bldg society took that into account.
She purchased a 1-bedroom flat, using the two grand she had been given when she broke up with her partner as deposit. Seems incredible now that she was able to do that on such low wages.
My son, bought a small house in university city with his, then, girl-friend. When they broke up, he returned to London and left that house empty. He continued to pay the mortgage, but time meant there were on-going maintenance problems. Eventually, a friend of the family (a general builder), suggested to him that the two of them could go every other weekend and completely do up that property and then sell it with each getting 50% of the profit,. Took a year, but worked out well. However, it scared my son off buying and he settled for renting, nice flat with his girl friend (afterwards his wife). Eventually she did persuade him to go along the purchase route again.
The main aim of my adult children nowadays is to become mortgage free, one has already achieved it, son is very close.
However, how my g.children will cope with all of this - housing stuff, I have no idea.

We spent a small amount this year on our London house in order to sell, approx £4,000 and it worked to our advantage. In our new place we have already spent around £6,000 so had better wait until 2020 before planning any more jobs. I remember Kirstie and Phil saying you should spend 1% of the value of your house on jobs/maintenance every year, (London narket).

Both my children own their houses out right. My mother in law left some money to both the children. My son and daughter in law brought a housing association house they where selling for cash. Had the builders in for 10 weeks and spend a lot of money making it beautiful. My daughter and son in law were buying their house with a mortgage but was able to pay it off with the inheritance. Both couples had spent years in rented accommodation working all the over time they could get to save for their own homes. Not bad for 2 couples one couple both 36 the other both 32.

We brought our first house in 1980. Married in 1981. Remember when mortgage rates went to 15%. Talk about tightening your belt. But like many here we made it.

My niece and boyfriend are renting but saving for a house. They found out what mortgage they could get last year but after looking at houses they could afford they have decided to save more money.

Age brings a lot of worries but I am glad having a mortgage isn't one of them.

My grandparents were very proud when my parents told them they were buying their own house. My mom had always saved so they had the money to start with. There was another couple after the same house the estate agent . Said the first couple to arrive with £5 got it. This was in 1953. They lived with my grandparents for 3 yrs after getting married.

Like Franbern I dread to think what my grandsons will do for housing in the future. Mine you the oldest is only 3.

I offend wonder how old my children will have to be before they get a pension. I'll get mine when I am 66.

If offspring were to inherit enough to purchase a house outright, would it make sense to buy something more expensive and get a small mortgage for future credit ratings?