This Ordinary Life

As part of fixing up our flat, we need to "do the garden."  Now I've seen plenty of Alan Titmarsh's Groundforce to know that even a small space can be turned into an oasis. However, we need to first get our garden to Ground Zero before we can even think about creating our own Grand Design.

Part of this involves removing the weeds that have bedded in over the last 2 years. At first I thought this would be a walk in the park as there is a geotextile that covers much of the ground. However, once I began pulling this up, I realised that it is actually undermined by kilometres of tuberous roots.

It's seems a bit like something out of Attack of the Body Snatchers where you pull on the long roots, they keep coming and then eventually break off. I've filled two black bin liners already and there are likely to be 3 to 5 more before I am done. I am concerned that even though I've removed the bulk of the weeds, the fragments will re-establish themselves forcing me into trench warfare.  However, I do have a plan. Basically, I will dig up the first 12 inches of soil and sieve out the fragments. This will be very time consuming, but it looks like this is the only way to win.

By the way, I don't actually know what the weed (a plant out of place) is that I am battling. If you happen to recognise this plant (see picture), please let me know as knowledge is power in the fight against plants out of place!

Posted by this ordinary life at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doing painting yourself can save you a lot of money and spruce up a tired home in no time.  However, painting can be one of the most excruciating activities if you don't know the tricks.  There are three secrets to painting:

1. Plan
2. Prepare
3. Transition

Plan

As you are likely to be looking at whatever you've painted for some time, make sure you think about colour and contrast.  Paint can make a room look brighter or darker, larger or smaller and welcoming or oppressive.  Take a bit of time to test out colours before you spend a lot of money on colours you end up hating. 

My personal favourite for lightening rooms and giving them an updated feel is the colour, Barley White.

Prepare

Preparation can make or break a painting project.  Make sure that you take extra care during this stage of the project.  My advice is to think of 3 things:

• Take extra time to prepare the walls.  Fill any hols with filler and sandpaper smooth.  A tube of wallpaper adhesive can be invaluable to re-attaching loose wallpaper.  Use sugar soap to wash off any residues and a vacuum cleaner can help you suck up dust and paint chips. 
• Use masking tape to cover all edges of window, door, outlets, etc.  This will ensure that they don't get paint splatter and will give you neat and tidy edges.  It's worth taking extra time to make sure you get the edges straight.
• Use plastic sheeting to cover carpets and furniture.  This will ensure that paint doesn't soak through and make an unpleasant legacy.  A tip is to use masking tape to stick the sheeting to the skirting boards and you will be sure to keep your carpet and skirting boards clean.

Transition

Many painting projects take more than a day to complete.  This means that many people have to clean their paint brushes and other equipment time and time again to avoid the paint drying out.  Well, here is probably the most valuable painting tip you will ever be given... use cling film or a plastic bag to cover your brushes, rollers and paint tray.  This will ensure that everything is ready to use the next day and save you all the hassle of washing everything.  We painted 3 rooms over the course of 4 days and only cleaned everything once at the end of the job.

Painting doesn't have to be a chore if you know the tips.  Most people think it's all in the technique, but as I have shown, it's preparation and transition that makes all the difference.

Happy painting!

Posted by this ordinary life at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, well, well...

It's not over until the Fat Lady Sings, but with our deposit having been sent to the solicitor, we can but think its a done deal. Our buying property experience has taken us through highs and lows, successes and failures, and elation and depression. In the end we have "hopefully" triumphed, but we had to work at it.

Over the next 7 Frugality entries, I'll take you through our process to see if there aren't some tips and tricks you can use to help you in your own property purchase. Who knows, there could by something that tips the scales in your favour in your own transaction. Sometimes that makes all the difference.

The 7 Steps that helped us successfully buy a leasehold property in the UK are:

1. Do your homework
2. Get good help
3. Getting Financing
4. Surveys
5. The Lease
6. Negotiating
7. Finalising the purchase

Posted by this ordinary life at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This may be not be news to many of you, but the world is in crisis.  Banking systems and economies are collapsing, the house of cards built on debt is falling down.  Now normally this would be all doom and gloom, but if you if you bucked the trend and put a bit of money aside, you may actually be able to pick up some bargains.

 As or me, I have put some of my money aside for a rainy day and pooling together with my girlfriend, we actually have enough to wade out into the world of property.  However, as first time buyers in a distressed market, we had to learn the hard and fast rule of buying property in the UK.  Given everything that we've been throught, I thought I might be able to share them with those of you that might also be looking to buy property at the moment.

1. Know your seller - selling a property can be emotional or clinically business.  We are buying from an institutional investor and we've learned that they are all business
2. First offers under the asking price are likely to get rejected flat out - we made an offer that was rejected and made the mistake of upping our second offer too much.  It's likely that only a small increment would have sealed the deal.  Let's just say the seller's real estate agent did a good job in scaring us into it.
3. Do your homework - scour the internet, explore the local area and make sure you check the local Council databases.  We discovered subsequently that the flat is in a conservation area (very restrictive, but actually not all bad) and that a large development was being built down the road (likely to be bad for traffic, but good for local amenities)
4. Solicitors are all rubbish - even though you pay these guys up to £1000 for their services, their hearts never really seem to be in it.  Ours missed a number of funamental errors in the lease wording and also that the flat was in a conservation area.  It's also important to note that there is no incentive for the seller solicitors to make any effort, so be sure you double check your solicitors work the best you can.
5. Negotiate if you can - just because the lease say something, doesn't mean that it has to stay that way.  We were able to negotiate changes and also have things be allowed that are explicitly forbidden in the lease through licenses.
6. Have patience - unless you are going to be homeless if your purchase falls through, take your time.  Seeming too eager can often be interpreted as desperate and sellers will take advantage of this.  This is particularly true if your seller is an institutional investor or doesn't have time pressures to move.
7. Unless you are willing to walk away, pay the price - If you get down to negotiating over a few thousand pounds, remember that if you are not prepared, you might as well bite the bullet and pay the money.  If you are prepared to walk away, might as well play hard ball as you never know what you might be able to achieve. 
8. Have fun - buying a flat is one of the biggest investments most people will make in their lives.  If you a buying something that will become your home, enjoy the experience of buying as it will make living in it even more enjoyable.

Well, I hope the above tips give you a bit of a headstart on buying property in these turbulent times.  There are some desperate sellers and some real bargains to be had.  We estimate that the prices are currently back to about 2004 levels (which is about the time I last said I need to buy a property).  Although we might not have the same crazy boom that just busted, at least in London, property is likely to be a reasonable long-term investment for many more years to come.

 In my next entry, I take you through what I consider to be a step by step guide to successfully buying property in the current market.  I'll follow that up with entries on each step that takes you through things in greater detail...

Posted by this ordinary life at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)