House Prices #5 Property market, buying and selling

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@whoareyouu when my sister bought her house it clearly showed the shared access to their neighbours drive and what was not included in the house sale - which for some reason in my sisters case included a 1m square parcel of land to the right of their driveway, but on their driveway. Your neighbour is just chancing his arm to make the sale more attractive!
 
We completed on Friday and LOVE our new home 😃 It was absolutely worth the stress and waiting.
 
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We’re hoping to move this year but I really need to replace the floor in my kitchen/diner before we go on the market. Does anyone know how much laminate flooring costs?
 
We’re hoping to move this year but I really need to replace the floor in my kitchen/diner before we go on the market. Does anyone know how much laminate flooring costs?
Don't replace it, just leave it. Your buyers may want to rip it up and replace it anyway.
 
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Don't replace it, just leave it. Your buyers may want to rip it up and replace it anyway.
it’s in pretty bad shape some of it is warped from when my washing machine leaked & some of it got removed when we got rid of the old back boiler as the pump was under the floor. I’d rather not spend the money but I think it will put potential buyers off.
 
it’s in pretty bad shape some of it is warped from when my washing machine leaked & some of it got removed when we got rid of the old back boiler as the pump was under the floor. I’d rather not spend the money but I think it will put potential buyers off.
Ask the estate agent, but there's nothing worse as a buyer than thinking you're paying more than you otherwise would have for something you're only going to rip out anyway. If you've been living with it, then a potential buyer could at least in the short term.
 
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it’s in pretty bad shape some of it is warped from when my washing machine leaked & some of it got removed when we got rid of the old back boiler as the pump was under the floor. I’d rather not spend the money but I think it will put potential buyers off.
We had this dilemma. We had some really manky carpet. We decided to bite the bullet and do it and it made a huge difference. Estate Agent said it was something that all the viewings commented on about how nice it looked. It looked really good in the pictures too. We got 3 for 2 on laminate at B&Q and spent under £300
 
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We had this dilemma. We had some really manky carpet. We decided to bite the bullet and do it and it made a huge difference. Estate Agent said it was something that all the viewings commented on about how nice it looked. It looked really good in the pictures too. We got 3 for 2 on laminate at B&Q and spent under £300
£300 isn’t bad at all. I’ll get some quotes.
 
Has any one got any advice for submitting planning permission? Absolute minefield...
 
@101d what are you looking to apply for? Have you got an architect on board? If not, I'd strongly suggest finding one and they will be able to manage the process for you and provide the scaled plans that you're likely to need.

My day job is a town planner, but we don't really do householder stuff and instead would defer to an architect (until something goes wrong).
 
What does everyone think about using a broker before trying with a bank?
I'm not 100% clued up about them but seems a waste to pay for the broker to apply for your mortgage with a bank when you could have done it yourself?
 
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What does everyone think about using a broker before trying with a bank?
I'm not 100% clued up about them but seems a waste to pay for the broker to apply for your mortgage with a bank when you could have done it yourself?
I've always used a broker but I don't pay him, he gets commission from the banks. I would definitely recommend it. I also did my own research to make sure that he wasn't getting me a worse deal than I could get on my own but it's never been that way. It's always been the same rate or better than if I applied through the bank on my own and he does all the paperwork for me which makes it so much easier.
 
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What does everyone think about using a broker before trying with a bank?
I'm not 100% clued up about them but seems a waste to pay for the broker to apply for your mortgage with a bank when you could have done it yourself?
there are brokers who don’t charge for their services! Ours was free and amazing- they often have access to different deals and are so good at talking you through the entire process. She even re-applied and secured a better deal for us every time the interest rate went down. We didn’t have to prompt her at all.

edit to say: our mortgage is with Nationwide and we always double checked and had a nosey to see if the deal was the same on their site or not.
 
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What does everyone think about using a broker before trying with a bank?
I'm not 100% clued up about them but seems a waste to pay for the broker to apply for your mortgage with a bank when you could have done it yourself?
Our broker is fantastic. He helped us secure a 2.02% five year fix last year because he had us apply earlier than standard (it was our third remortgage after two, two year fixes). We don't pay him, either. He gets commission from the lender. He also helped us through the buying process initially as we were first time buyers.
 
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@101d what are you looking to apply for? Have you got an architect on board? If not, I'd strongly suggest finding one and they will be able to manage the process for you and provide the scaled plans that you're likely to need.

My day job is a town planner, but we don't really do householder stuff and instead would defer to an architect (until something goes wrong).
It's for change of amenity land into a hardstanding area for a driveway.

It's a bit confusing. I don't own the land- the council will sell it to me if I get approval for a dropped kerb. Dropped kerb will only go ahead if I get planning permission. Aaaahh!!
 
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Thank you for your replies!
I'm wondering on behalf of my friend, I've personally never used a broker but my friend is, they're paying him and he gets commission aswell!😦
They've ended up going with a bank anyway so I don't think it was worth it based on the info I know.
 
We’re hoping to move this year but I really need to replace the floor in my kitchen/diner before we go on the market. Does anyone know how much laminate flooring costs?
it depends what size of room and what quality of laminate you want to use, now around twice a year B&Q run a promotion for about a month I think they do it in Spring and in Autumn where for every 4 packs of laminate you pay for 3, it can be an amazing saving. especially with multiple room to do.
 
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