OT: House buying/selling

[The Nomad]

Very!

Shame I ain't got that sort of cash :-(

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[newshound]

I sometimes think it is a pity we don't have the Scottish system where, as I understand it, making an offer is much more of a binding committment.

[Graeme]

In message , Muddymike writes

Good luck!

Haven't we seen that house before, in connection with something? Possibly snow blowing, or similar? Maybe just my imagination.

[Muddymike]

Yes it has featured in the background of a video of my snow blower.

Mike

[Robin]

AIUI yes - and no. [ This is law ;) ]

I'm no expert but in Scotland the offer's not binding until conclusion of missives (the equivalent of exchange of contracts in E&W). So eg an offer "subject to survey" is still no more binding than a soggy shortbread.

I think a large part of the traditional difference in experience stemmed from the way property in Scotland was usually marketed through solicitors rather than estate agents, and the solicitors were regulated by the Law Society of Scotland. Eg IIRC it was their rules rather than any difference in law that made gazumping more difficult.

[Chris J Dixon]

Our removals van was late on the day, BT had already changed the number and wouldn't tell me what it was (ex-directory), so nobody could ring back to explain what was (not) happening (1). Eventually it arrived, accompanied by a breakdown truck.

We were only about half out when the new owners arrived. Two vans and crews, the HGV breakdown truck, the incomers, all milling around - time for a brew.

Our stuff was going out of one door whilst theirs went into the other. To help speed unloading they sent a second crew, and we got everything in by teatime, though it was unloaded so fast that it was difficult to make sure everything ended up in the right place.

Then we realised that our allocation of sitting room and dining room really didn't work, and spent the evening shifting the piano...

(1) This was way before mobiles. After a couple of calls, during which my incredulity that BT would not tell me the number of the instrument I had in my hand got me nowhere (2), they eventually compromised by contacting the new owners, to get them to call us and tell us the number.

(2) Way before usenet, so I didn't know about the ringback number.

Chris

[Chris J Dixon]

Or, more relevantly, the workshop.

You might ask them to check their spelling. "subturranean " ;-)

Looks nice, I hope all goes well for you.

Chris

[JoeJoe]

Looks really nice.

This sort of money won't buy you a studio flat in London.

[dennis]

two and half months, but that included building it.

[dennis]

You ring someone and look on the caller display. You prefix with 1470 if the line has hide caller ID enabled.

[Muddymike]

Hen house was it:-)?

Mike

[NY]

We didn't have that, but we did have a removal van arrive that turned out to be too small for out furniture (I'd dictated an inventory of furniture over the phone when booking the van) so it had to make two journeys on a 100 mile round trip.

We were moving into smaller rented accommodation because we'd sold our house and not yet found anywhere to move to. We'd rented self-storage near the new house.

We didn't find out that the van was too small until the men had filled it and said "right, we're ready to leave" but half the furniture was still to be loaded. So I had to drive to the self-storage unit, wait for the van to turn up (it was limited to 50 mph on motorways), and let them unload. They managed to fit everything in the storage unit - but only just: they doubted they'd be able to fit in our large fish tank that was part of the second load.

So I had to hastily load up the car with as many boxes of books as possible from the storage unit, which I dumped at the cottage; after two runs I'd made enough space for everything.

I then went back to the old house where the removal men were loading everything, and we went back with them to finish off at the storage unit and unload the rest into the house. By this stage it was late in the evening and the removal men were getting tired and careless: they were rushing to finish and didn't stop to think how to fit objects around a tight staircase and under a ceiling that was only a bit taller than our bookcases.

We noticed that some of the bookcases were scratched - either in transit or as they were unloading - so I made sure that was written on theri job sheet.

The guys finally left at about 11:30 PM.

When we had more time a few days later, we unloaded most of the furniture from the storage unit and repacked it a *lot* more efficiently. As we were doing so, we found loads more damage, including a bookcase that had been loaded so a to strain the legs of a table (fortunately not causing any lasting damage).

They really were a bunch of cowboys and I would never use the firm again. It's only the laws of libel that prevent me naming and shaming the firm here.

[whisky-dave]

a bit slow, as you can build a 3D printed house in a day.

[Chris J Dixon]

Old dial phone, how would that work exactly?

Nowadays, yes, but did you see my note that this was before mobiles and usenet? It was 1983 to be precise. No CLI, no display.

Chris

[Terry Casey]

But it wouldn't do any harm to mention the area you were moving from - assuming they were local.

[Tim Streater]

In the US of A you sign the contract at the *beginning* of the process, not the end. And it typically includes penalty clauses for non-performance.

[Reentrant]

Dial the BT engineer's test number 17070. An automated voice reads out your number ("This circuit is defined as nnnnnnn").

Pretty sure that would have worked even in 1983.

[DJC]

Yes,

That and also the market in Scotland isn't so manic, so less incentive to make offers because prices are rising etc.

I had a whole series of abortive conveyances before I finally sold my flat. Mainly due to prices rising so fast people made offers first and thought about it after.

[DJC]

Also, if a mortgage is involved the solicitor will also be acting for the mortgage provider, you may be paying the bill but the solicitor want to keep that lucrative position on the mortgage company's approve conveyancer list.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The other variation on this I've seen go wrong is they are calling you but getting no answer, because BT already transferred your number to the new house.