All your Homebase are belong to... you! / The House 'n' Home Thread.
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The job to get the new steps, doorframe, and door has begun. We have a massive concrete filled hole at the front of the house. Currently there is no access as the old steps have gone completely. Today the bricks and blocks arrived while I wasn't around. They dumped them on the street and left despite being told they need to be within the front yard. I expect them to be stolen overnight. I rang the project manager and they were comfortable just leaving them out.
Turns out the brickie can only start when he's finished the previous job but that's running behind due to the shit weather. I've made it clear that if the bricks get nicked then its on them to pay for replacement materials. -
MyNameIsKrisG wrote:Five days and not a single viewing. I am precisely 50% filled with dread and 50% amused.
Meanwhile...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2023/nov/13/uk-house-asking-prices-fall-economy-growth-slowdown-stock-markets-business-live
I know you're in a difficult situation, but if there is the possibility of renting it out you'll get tenants in a matter of days. -
Yeah it’s an idea we considered, but unfortunately, it’s an impossible thing to be in a business partnership with people you cannot trust.[quote="Moot_Geeza"]I hope you've been putting lotto tickets on recently Kris. You're overdue a bit of luck. [/quote]
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Pseudoscot wrote:I rang the project manager and they were comfortable just leaving them out. Turns out the brickie can only start when he's finished the previous job but that's running behind due to the shit weather. I've made it clear that if the bricks get nicked then its on them to pay for replacement materials.
You put that in writing right goddamn now. "Just to confirm our conversation earlier today...." etc. -
Got my flat move done over the weekend. First boxes went up on Friday afternoon and I dragged the last, heavy as fuck box up the stairs at 8pm last night. I don't think I've ever felt so tired coming into work this morning.
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All settled in, Kaz?[quote="Moot_Geeza"]I hope you've been putting lotto tickets on recently Kris. You're overdue a bit of luck. [/quote]
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Still living in a forest of boxes and bits 'n' pieces scattered across different surfaces, but it is starting to feel like home. It's funny, I'm still having to pop downstairs to the old place to finish up some painting and tidying ahead of handing over the keys on Friday, and it already feels so small in comparison.
Though the young guy who's bought it asked to come up last night to measure some spaces - he brought his mum along and was just adorably excited about the whole thing. You forget how nice that feeling of anticipation about your first home is, right down to scraping together donated furniture and your dad renting a transit van to help you get moved. Hopefully he's a decent neighbour. -
The house was on sale for two weeks before...! Drumroll!... It was broken into.
So I guess technically it's still for sale, but with a big boarded up conservatory door.
My luck is neverending![quote="Moot_Geeza"]I hope you've been putting lotto tickets on recently Kris. You're overdue a bit of luck. [/quote] -
Ugh you are on quite the roll -
acemuzzy wrote:Ugh you are on quite the roll
Indeed! It appears the big "For sale" sign on the side of the house has invited entirely the wrong kind of viewing!
The missus wants to knock 20k off the asking price, just to get shut of it now. I don't blame her - if it were mine I'd be going under £300k now and offloading at top speed.[quote="Moot_Geeza"]I hope you've been putting lotto tickets on recently Kris. You're overdue a bit of luck. [/quote] -
That really sucks. Take it there was no one in the house at the time? Was there much stolen or much damage done?
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What sort of cretin breaks into an empty house???Come with g if you want to live... -
It was at 23:30 and I got an alert on my phone that my cameras had picked up movement. I connected to the camera to find it lying on the floor, so called the in-laws who live on the same street. The conservatory door is smashed in and they've stamped on the camera to try and break it. The place has been ransacked, but they'll have been in and out in a couple of minutes flat because of the alarm.Frosty wrote:That really sucks. Take it there was no one in the house at the time? Was there much stolen or much damage done?
g.man wrote:What sort of cretin breaks into an empty house???
Second time in just over 2 years
It's just an easy target now. [quote="Moot_Geeza"]I hope you've been putting lotto tickets on recently Kris. You're overdue a bit of luck. [/quote] -
It's likely kids. House next door to me was empty for over a year and kids had smashed windows at the back. Likely looked around and found nothing. Neighbour other side had chased kids away.
Arranged with the neighbour on the other side to keep an eye on things as we had a contact number (the owner had been moved to a home and we had his solicitor's number).Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
But … who expects to find anything worth stealing in an empty house? I guess we’re not talking MENSA candidates here. -
Your average crook isn't Lupin, he's some fucking thicko who can barely tie his laces but knows how to kick a door in. -
I can second this.Kow wrote:Your average crook isn't Lupin, he's some fucking thicko who can barely tie his laces but knows how to kick a door in.
Most of the ones I dealt with were thick as mince and made some epically stupid decisions which lead to them getting caught.
One guy smashed in the gates at his elderly mother's house and tried to break in to the house. He ran off when she screamed that she's calling the police.
15 minutes later I'm sat on her kitchen taking a statement when the doorbell goes.
My colleague opens it, it's him.
I smiled, said "ah, just the man I'm looking for, turn around would you? I have some nice wrist jewelry for you!"
Not everything is The Best or Shit. Theres many levels between that, lets just enjoy stuff. -
I've left it all to Tweedle-dumbfuck and Tweedle-dipshit to sort out. I'm kinda past caring. It's going to cost the missus money again, but I still think it's kinda funny that the in-laws idea of getting rich is more fucked by the day.[quote="Moot_Geeza"]I hope you've been putting lotto tickets on recently Kris. You're overdue a bit of luck. [/quote]
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Drop in a group chat 'I bet they wouldn't have done it if someone was living there'.
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Wookienopants wrote:
I can second this. Most of the ones I dealt with were thick as mince and made some epically stupid decisions which lead to them getting caught. One guy smashed in the gates at his elderly mother's house and tried to break in to the house. He ran off when she screamed that she's calling the police. 15 minutes later I'm sat on her kitchen taking a statement when the doorbell goes. My colleague opens it, it's him. I smiled, said "ah, just the man I'm looking for, turn around would you? I have some nice wrist jewelry for you!"Your average crook isn't Lupin, he's some fucking thicko who can barely tie his laces but knows how to kick a door in.
The ability to think ahead and consider consequences seems to be rare with those who engage in low grade crime. I suppose that's why they do it. But I can't accept anyone is that stupid....it's ones upbringing. If you don't have any expectations in life then crime seems to be a easy road.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Starting next year i'll have monthly contributions going into a government housing providence fund, which feels like the most weirdly adult thing i've ever done. Gonna get pension sorted too soon.
I don't like it. Feels wrong. -
ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:What's the providence fund?
So like, a lot of employers in China will give a housing allowance tied to a certain % of your base salary, so you get salary + housing allowance every month. The Chinese gov housing providence fund is a thing where you put an employee-matched contribution into a housing fund, with your contribution being put in before you're taxed on your base salary, thus lowering your overall tax. The employee contribution is them putting your housing allowance there rather than giving it directly to you.
You can then draw out 60% of the contributions back out each month, if you need. So, you end up with a little less in pocket that month, but because you pay less tax you're slowly growing a separate bundle of savings.
When you go to buy a house, you can then draw that money out. Or you can take it and pump it into an existing mortgage after 6 months or so, if you needed.
If a foreigner leaves China, they can just withdraw the whole lump sum. -
Do you get to own a ghost city soon then?
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New Kowloon Project. I'm offended.
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Minnesänger wrote:ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:What's the providence fund?
So like, a lot of employers in China will give a housing allowance tied to a certain % of your base salary, so you get salary + housing allowance every month. The Chinese gov housing providence fund is a thing where you put an employee-matched contribution into a housing fund, with your contribution being put in before you're taxed on your base salary, thus lowering your overall tax. The employee contribution is them putting your housing allowance there rather than giving it directly to you.
You can then draw out 60% of the contributions back out each month, if you need. So, you end up with a little less in pocket that month, but because you pay less tax you're slowly growing a separate bundle of savings.
When you go to buy a house, you can then draw that money out. Or you can take it and pump it into an existing mortgage after 6 months or so, if you needed.
If a foreigner leaves China, they can just withdraw the whole lump sum.
What an incredible progressive attitude for a government to take towards helping its populace house themselves. Think it’d be genuinely useful if stuff like this actually got reported over here. Might shift that narrative of china being an evil spy state wanting to take over our (bestest) Western way of life. -
No, how dare the government interfere in your freedom to have nowhere to live.
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acemuzzy wrote:Do you get to own a ghost city soon then?
I will do my best. -
So much happens in my ongoing saga that I forget if I've mentioned it here or not.
This weekend we pinged the in-laws to ask what was happening with the broken door they said they'd sort. Turns out that answer is "fuck all" and we can do it ourselves.
Well, that's another 3 weeks and a few hundred more pounds wasted. Still, it's only been going on for 2 years and 7 months, what's another few weeks? It also proves there have been no viewings since they put it on sale.
It's going well then![quote="Moot_Geeza"]I hope you've been putting lotto tickets on recently Kris. You're overdue a bit of luck. [/quote]
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