Singing Pig

Not bottle clottie, just sheer desperation.

Bought the place cash, assuming that I could get a buy to let mortgage. (I have been given mortgages on properties that I would not put a pig in, in comparison this one did not look that bad to me!!!!) But the surveyor put paid to that, saying that because one wall needed damp treatment and some of the kitchen doors were missing that the place was unfit for habitation. The property has no central heating and every room has polystyrene tiles on the ceiling painted with gloss paint, surely a more real health and safety issue??? Apparently not so!! Anyway pleaded with the Mortgage Company to just release some of the money so that I could do the work. I told them exactly what I intended to do. Apparently surveyors are god and they have to abide with his decision. What the manager of the mortgage company did suggest (he was a bloke) was that I have the kitchen fitted and put all the floor covering down throughout the house, give the place a lick of paint, this would keep the surveyor happy, then they would release the money for the mortgage. I could then remove the kitchen, have the central heating installed get the plasters in to do the ceilings ruin all the floor covering and repaint the property, put the kitchen back and what was my problem!!! Ashamed to say I gave this guy a mouthful at 9.00am in the morning, won’t be getting any brownie points there.

I asked my financial advisor if a friend of mine could take the mortgage as their personal one, as they have BTL’s but no personal mortgage he said that would be breaking the law, so I am stuck with a property that is unmortgagable (BTL) and uninhabitable until I do the work and not enough money to really do the work.

Believe me I can do bribery but having tried six of the neighbours, they are either very old, on shift work and slept through the day or just didn’t want to be involved that does not seem to be an option.

About the payment, none of the trades people want paying until the job is finished, which I took to be a good sign, so if they do manage to turn up, hopefully the work will be of a reasonable standard.

The central heating, damp proof, ceilings and kitchen will be taking approximately three weeks. I need to get somebody to do the painting and if they guy that is replacing two door frames is any good I will ask him to lay laminate floors, so that will probably be another two weeks. That is the next stage in the planning.

Thank you for kind offer of PM I think I will take you up on that.

wow !! great organisation gal, great organisation !! in great haste - there is lino that looks Just Like laminate - tons cheaper - good luck

---

Clottie the Positive. windswept and interesting !!

"The Lancashire Lady"

oh Katpoo (i wish you would change your name!) if I lived nearer I would help you out here. The other alternative is re-market it as a refurb. Punters are desperate for these. Just a thought.

Cathy

"I am really curious as to where your background comes from. My first degree was Soc/phil and I am strongly interested in feminism I am just so surprised that a guy can be so politically correct. "

My background is in technology (Durham Uni Computer Science BSc), and latterly business, but my interests extend through property, the martial arts, complimentary medicine, health and nutrition. I'm not sure "so politically correct" is a ompliment but I will take it as one! ;) I think many guys, despite what they say, see women as a weaker sex and deny the differences, whereas the reality is that men and women are different (for anyone who disagrees, I recommend John Gray's book Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus) and not just in a subtle way, but in significant ways. Recognition of those differences seems to me to be the beginning, the first step. Part of that is ensuring that these forums provide a space where the differences between men and women are accepted.

I've found it very interesting these last couple of weeks watching The Apprentice on BBC2 and seeing how the two gender teams have worked to compete and it's clear the differences between the genders are showing through.

Incidentally, George, I will not be putting your comments up for a vote on whether they should be removed because we'd descend into anarchy and nothing would ever get done. I make decisions based on my view, which I aim to keep as fair, equitable, and reasonable. If there are specific comments made by women you think are anti-men, I am as keen to hear about those as I am comments that are anti-women. Please hit the yellow button and let me know. But do please take heed that wading into a forum created for women to share their experiences and suggesting it is not worthwhile is unlikely to win you any favours.

As to this forum being sexist against men, I don't buy that. There are organisations that exist to cater to the specific needs of minority groups including asians, blacks, the disabled, gays, lesbians, leukemia sufferers, and so on, and I see no reason why women (as a minority in investing - and to be clear I mean that as measured by the number of women in the field, and not by skill level) should be denied a space to share their unique issues in just the same way that a web forum for lingerie salespeople should have a forum for the male sales agents to cater to their unique issues in that profession, as a minority!

Ollie

---

-Singing Pig-
The Financial Freedom Community
T: +44 870 766 1803
F: +44 870 005 6936
E: ollie@singingpig.co.uk

Well, I for one am glad that there is a woman's forum and it was well worth reading on past the the initial scuffle! I bought my first property four years ago and greener than a cabbage, I was fooled into replacing the boiler. After getting lots of bad advice from friends and family and trying to chase it through the courts, I decided to let it go and chalk it up to experience - though I did call the company that hired him as a contractor to tell them that he was a crook and I was telling everyone I knew they hired fraudsters. So it was an expensive lesson - but once learned.........

My husband and I are expecting our first child and I am taking a back seat in our other business but being a mum and wife doesn't mean that I no longer have a brain, so we are looking to be a bit more clever with the way we spend and invest our money and I'm in charge of getting this going. I am just fact finding at the moment and am no doubt asking lots of stupid questions, but I've learned lots already from this site and this forum.

So - thanks for providing a space for me to chat without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated!

Cheers,
scotslass

Welcome scotslass - in my view, no question is every stupid - generally people who say "dont ask stupid questions" only do so to make themselves appear more important than the small-minded folk they usually are !!

Ask away ........ - but do a bit of reading here first !!!

---

Clottie the Positive. windswept and interesting !!

"The Lancashire Lady"

welcome scotlass, I hope you enjoy this site. Don't hesitate with any question, we are all here to help. Good luck with the new babe too!

cathy

Thanks!!! Talk to you all soon.

x